The ultimate purpose of life is to meet God and return to the kingdom of heaven by receiving salvation through Him. To put it another way, our lives can be referred to as the process of preparing for the eternal kingdom of heaven. Many people live without knowing the essence and meaning of life, but I believed I was different. After converting from Hinduism to Christianity around 1996, I thought I’d finally found my way and there was nothing more I could wish for.
A dozen years later, I heard the message of the Bible from a colleague, who I had led a religious life together with and accepted the truth later in Nepal. Then I realized I too was missing the essence of salvation. Now that I knew God came again with a new name for our salvation, all the existing knowledge meant nothing.
The secret of salvation commenced from the new name awakened my soul at once. How could I have known that the true God came a second time at the ends of the earth in the east? Never! I was very grateful to God for sending me the message of salvation all the way to India.
I had to wait a year to receive the promise of salvation because there was no Church of God nearby, but it never was a problem. I ought to dedicate my life to testifying to the Savior, whom the world did not know yet. I couldn’t possibly keep this absolute, unmistakable truth to myself. With uncontrollable happiness that I realized the truth, I began to preach the word of God to my families and neighbors as well as my acquaintances I used to go to church together with.
To deliver God’s word to my friends, I left for Sambalpur; I’d shared a Christian friendship with them for a long time. I didn’t know much about the gospel and I wasn’t fully ready, but I told them the truth, based on the notes I’d carefully written down. The study started in the afternoon and ended early the next morning. My two friends distinguished the truth from falsehood, and from that time on, the gospel was consistently preached and a house church got established in their region. At present, there are over twenty members who are keeping their faith.
After I received baptism which I’d earnestly wished for, my feet got busier to preach. Heavenly families grew in number in the meantime and the worship space got incommodious. However, under God’s grace, we were able to set up a worship space on one side in my yard.
Just as it is written, “The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation” (Isa 60:22), shortly afterwards, a great work occurred in our small worship place. The fruit bore another fruit, and the number of members doubled repetitively to 50, 100, and 200.
No matter how hard I worked, the budget was always tight as I had to afford living expense for my wife and children, and expenses for preaching and meals for the members who came for worship services despite two or three days of distance. When difficulty kept going on, I didn’t know how I was going to make it. But every time Father and Mother opened the way and let me focus on the gospel work.
Meanwhile, house churches were established in Keonjhar and Sundargarh and the gospel got preached more speedily. Now many members do not have to walk for two or three days to keep worship services; there are Zions nearby. We cannot, however, be satisfied with the present. Because many are still living without knowing the meaning of life as they haven’t heard the gospel. Our Zion members’ wish hasn’t changed; it is to establish Zion in all regions of Odisha.
Hoping that our wish will come true as soon as possible, we deliver the truth to everyone we encounter. It’s not easy. There are few Christians in Odisha and many people have no room to hear us out due to their hardscrabble lives. When we’re out preaching, many unexpected things happen.
One time, several people blocked my way and threatened me in a rural village. I didn’t back down but exclaimed, “I wasn’t afraid when even a bear in the forest blocked my way, and I fought against it. I’m preaching the truth. Therefore, nobody can stop me. God is with me, so who can dare to stop me?”
Before, I really experienced capturing two bears while hunting. In front of these people, however, I didn’t rely on myself but God. In this way, there was nothing I couldn’t overcome when I was with God and God always led me to the blessing in the end. Not long ago, even nineteen families in one village were led to Heavenly Mother.
As time passes, the number of the heavenly family members increases. These days, I’m paying more attention to God’s word with these members. If more gospel workers are produced to provide the spiritual food to many people, I believe God will release the blessing of bearing fruit more abundantly. Until all our brothers and sisters in Zion grow as approved workers in the eyes of God, I too will not spare my effort.
Since I accepted the truth, my life has been a succession of joy. If there hadn’t been tears of Father and Mother, my joy couldn’t have existed. I will never disregard the blessing God has given to this insignificant sinner. I hope that Father and Mother, too, will enjoy only happiness from now on. I will preach the gospel without rest to people in Odisha and all other regions of India, until the entire world is aglow with God Elohim’s glory. Thank You, Father and Mother!