A Family's Journey From Hinduism to Christ

In Acts 17.26-27, Paul writes, “From one man He made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.”

 

In 1993, I came to Milwaukee to go to the Milwaukee School of Engineering. During my time in Milwaukee, I was invited and began attending the Milwaukee Church of Christ. Subsequently, November 25 2001 I got baptized and became a disciple of Jesus. My parents however were in the Middle East at that time and even though I told them over the phone that I was going to church I couldn't tell them I became a Christian (I thought that was a conversation better had in person). My parents came to visit me in Milwaukee the following year (November of 2002) and I told them over dinner that I had gotten baptized and was a Christian. My mom was extremely upset and seriously considered disowning me. My dad was worried he had lost his only child. What is more is they didn't understand why I chose another religion. They believed that all religions taught the same thing basic things and no matter how much I tried to explain why I did what I did, they weren't satisfied with my explanation. In their minds, it was an abandonment of them and our culture.

 

Since 2001, they started coming almost twice a year and started building friendships with disciples in Milwaukee, whom they slowly started to consider as family. Even so, they still didn't see Christianity as any different than other religions and my dad and me would “discuss” why Christianity was indeed different, but to no avail. Every time they came to visit me, I would still continue in my service to our Lord. They knew I was very involved with the church and serving the poor and needy through HOPE worldwide and every chance I got I would share with them why I do what I do. My dad and I would get into deep discussions every time we spoke but we would both eventually have to agree that we loved each other and whatever differences we had we would let love prevail.

 

That was to me a turning point in our relationship. Prior to that, we had an adversarial relationship. I would try to prove to him that Christianity is the right way and he would try to prove to me that all religions lead to God. However, something interesting happened once we decided to love each other in spite of our differences. Through that decision to just love my parents, God moved to bring us to a topic that they would find different than all other religions. When they heard about the resurrection of Jesus they said, “This is different, no other religion has this, we want to know more.” They had heard the core element of the Christian doctrine and it had stirred something within them.

 

My mom would come to visit me for extended periods of time and actually started studying the Bible with other women. My dad however, had to work so he would drop her off and head back to the Middle East, so his exposure to the Bible was much more limited. As my mom started studying the Bible she saw for the first time God's love displayed on the Cross and in the resurrection and wanted to get baptized. However, she was not sure how my dad would react and so when they would skype she would share what she is learning from the bible studies and also her fears and anxiety about becoming a Christian and dividing the family. My dad wanted to encourage my mom so he started reading the New Testament for himself. But the more he read, the more he started to believe and to see God's mercy displayed on the Cross and in the resurrection.