| Sunny Side Up November 17, 2004 �2004, Kathleen Gibson Suri's remarkable faith While in India, I spent time with a Mennonite mission team, helping national pastors spread the Christian message in rural villages. A handsome young Indian man drove one of the Jeeps that transported us. Suri, in his early twenties, reminded me of my son; tall, thin, with shining dark eyes and a shy smile. Though not fluent, he spoke enough English for us to understand each other - the important bits. We managed the rest with laughter and sign language aplenty. Before leaving India, I'd learned a bit of Telegu. Suri's English had improved substantially. Plodding down dusty lanes, Suri followed our teams from thatched roof mud huts to simply built concrete homes, often offering to carry the cloth bag containing our Telegu New Testaments. Over and over he heard repeated: "We have come with a message for your village. It's a good message, about someone named Jesus." Suri listened as our Telegu translators read from that book. He heard that between God and his creation spreads a wide gulf that no person, no matter how good, can cross. And he heard God's solution: "For God so loved the world," they read, "that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." Repeatedly, Suri watched entire families - whole neighbourhoods - embrace that good message of spiritual liberation. Time after time he reached into that bag for one of those Bibles, placing it with utmost reverence in each waiting hand. The thing I found strange about all this was that Suri didn't share our Christian faith; a faith that has at its heart a message of exclusivity: One God, One Way: Jesus Christ alone. Suri was brought up to worship and serve a panoply of gods. But rather than offend him, the message in that book seemed to make him thirsty for more. He came to me one afternoon. "Madam," he said. "I have good news." Brown eyes flashing, smile wide; he told me that he too, had chosen to accept that liberating message. I was thrilled - and concerned. If his choice was determined, it could jeopardize his position in his home and community - perhaps even his life. Scripture contains this interesting instruction: 'Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.' Never is this more true than for people like Suri and those villagers, emerging from ancient traditions outside Christianity. After the initial euphoria, it's a difficult journey following the light, and a dangerous one. But I met hundreds of people like Suri in India. People who persist in following Jesus, despite the fact that in many provinces, Christians are alienated, persecuted or worse. They're not alone. In sixty countries around the world today, two hundred million people face imprisonment, torture and death simply because they embrace the Christian faith. Nov.21 is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. If you follow Jesus, take time to pray for your Christian sisters and brothers around the world. And remember Suri. You can respond to this column at [email protected] Return to 'Just As I Thought' Home page |
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