Raj  Upadhyay’s  Story  Though,  I  was  brought  up  in  a  God-­‐honouring  Hindu  family,  I  was  not  myself  particularly  religious,  performing  the  daily  darshans  chiefly  to  avoid  my  mother’s  displeasure.    But  I  did  grow  up  with  the  idea  that  God,  The  Most  High  (Brahma,  Om,  Ishwar)  is  an  absolutely  holy  being  and  true  devotees  should  also  be  showing  this  holiness  in  their  lives  by  pursuing  a  righteous  life-­‐style.      Moving  Away  from  Idolatry  My  disillusionment  with  Hinduism  began  after  1970.  I  

was  ten  years  old,  when  the  Shri  Narayan  Laxmi  Temple  was  inaugurated  on  Janmastami.    It  took  years  to  put  the  funds  together  for  this  project  and  so  its  completion  was  a  huge  achievement  for  the  Bhojpuri-­‐speaking  migrant  community.  The  temple  was  not  a  particularly  remarkable  piece  of  architecture,  but  it  was  3-­‐storeys  high  and  located  smack  in  the  centre  of  busy  Little  India.  It  announced  that  Bhojpuri  people,  like  their  Tamil  and  Punjabi  counterparts  had  finally  come  of  age,  and  were  a  complete  community  with  their  own  space  and  identity.    Artisans  were  hired  from  abroad  to  make  and  install  the  idols  in  the  temple.  A  chief  priest  and  an  assistant  were  brought  in  from  Varanasi  to  preside  over  and  perform  the  religious  rituals.      It  was  a  proud  and  very  happy  moment  for  us.    But  it  turned  out  that  the  temple  became  a  centre  for  scandals,  scams  and  sinful  depravity  committed  or  acquiesced  by  the  priests  and  officials  and  it  appeared  as  though  it  was  all  done  in  the  very  presence  of  the  gods  and  goddesses.  I  stopped  going  to  the  temple  after  Janmastami  of  1975  because  the  Righteous  God  whom  my  mother  taught  me  to  worship  was  definitely  not  to  be  found  there.      Coming  Towards  Jesus  One  day  I  was  passing  by  a  Christian  bookshop,  which  had  these  words  displayed  on  its  wall:  “God  is  light;  in  him  there  is  no  darkness  at  all.”  The  thought  that  immediately  struck  me  was,  “Where  can  I  find  this  God”.  So  I  went  into  the  shop  and  asked  about  the  caption.  The  girl  at  the  counter  brought  out  a  Gideon’s  New  Testament  and  helpfully  showed  me  the  place  where  the  verse  could  be  found  (1  John  1:5).  Over  the  next  one  month  I  read  the  book  cover  to  cover  and  the  Gospel  according  to  John  again  and  again.    Together  with  the  verse  from  1  John  1:5,  the  Holy  Spirit  lined  up  these  verses  for  me  on  a  virtual  screen  in  my  mind:  

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (Jn 8: 12). So Jesus said to them, "The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. (Jn 12:35) I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness (Jn. 12:46).

 God  was  offering  his  hand  to  save  me  from  the  disappointment  and  disgust  that  had  filled  my  soul  and  dragging  me  down  to  spiritual  despair.      I  could  not  discuss  with  my  parents  about  the  exciting  things  that  I  was  learning  from  my  reading  of  the  New  Testament.  So  I  discussed  these  things  with  a  friend  in  school.  He  led  me  to  faith  in  Christ.  I  

confessed  my  need  for  a  Saviour  and  asked  Jesus  to  come  into  my  life.  My  friend  then  introduced  me  to  a  discipling  group  led  by  Campus  Crusade  staff  at  a  nearby  church.    What  a  glorious  day,  a  glorious  year  it  turned  out  to  be.  I  was  so  happy,  so  blessed.  Two  years  later,  when  I  was  in  standard  12,  I  told  my  parents  that  I  had  become  follower  of  Jesus  Christ.    If  not  for  my  sister’s  impassioned  pleas,  I  would  have  been  turned  out  of  the  house  that  very  evening.  I  could  continue  staying  in  my  parents’  house  but  the  tension  with  them  was  always  palpable.    Slipping  Away  The  following  year  I  was  conscripted  into  the  army.  The  new  environment  was  godless.  Christians  were  particularly  marked  for  derision.  There  was  no  time  to  read  the  scriptures,  no  quiet  place  to  meditate  or  pray,  no  Christian  friends  to  turn  to  for  spiritual  support  and  no  weekly  sermons  to  strengthen  my  relatively  new  and  now  increasingly  feeble  faith.  On  the  other  hand  there  were  a  lot  of  unwholesome  distractions,  organised  and  subsidised  by  the  army.  I  backslid  in  my  faith.    When  my  time  in  the  army  was  over,  I  focussed  on  my  advertising  job  with  a  local  newspaper  and  hanging  out  with  mostly  non-­‐Christian  friends  when  I  had  the  time.  I  missed  Jesus,  missed  going  to  church.  I  was  always  busy  and  totally  stressed  out.  My  relationships  were  failing  and  I  had  a  recurrence  of  migraine.  Then  in  1984,  out  of  the  blue  an  old  acquaintance  from  my  teenage  years  invited  me  to  his  church.      Restoration  Sometime  later  and  by  pure  chance  the  pastor  of  that  church  met  me  in  the  Bible  Society  book-­‐room.  He  recognised  me  from  my  previous  visit  to  his  church  and  there  began  a  long,  fruitful  and  spiritually  uplifting  relationship  between  a  man  of  God  and  a  confused  lost  sheep.  Under  his  guidance  and  with  full  support  from  my  parents  I  took  baptism  on  Easter  Sunday  in  1985.        In  1992  I  became  a  full-­‐time  worker  with  the  Asia  Evangelistic  Fellowship  based  in  Singapore.  In  1995  I  obtained  the  post-­‐graduate  Diploma  in  Intercultural  Ministry  (now  renamed  Diploma  in  Mission)  from  the  Singapore  Bible  College.  When  AEF  moved  its  offices  to  Australia,  I  joined  XPact  Society  which  sent  me  to  India  as  their  missionary.  In  India  I  served  under  the  supervision  of  Operation  Mobilisation  from  1997-­‐2002.  In  2007  I  returned  to  Singapore  and  did  my  B.Th  at  my  alma  mater  and  graduated  in  2011.      I  married  Anjali  in  2001  and  now  have  two  wonderful  children,  Abhisha  (aged  10)  and  Satya  (7).    After  returning  from  Singapore,  I  joined  Grace  Bible  Church,  as  my  family  had  become  a  part  of  the  church.  Pastor  Kuru  asked  me  to  preach  and  then  join  the  ministry  team  of  the  church.  On  April  27,  2014,  when  Pastor  Kuru  retired  from  the  position  of  being  the  pastor  of  the  church,  he  handed  over  the  pastoral  responsibilities  of  the  church  to  Rev  John  Thomas  Raja  and  myself.