She sat across the room with her Mallu hubby. She spoke hindi..she is from Orissa..he knew a smattering of it. Strangely they understood each other perfectly.
"How come you got married to him, a christian?" I queried.
"It's a long story", she began. "Our dad used to drink every day and then beat us sisters and Mom without fail. Mom was at her wits end. Someone advised her to offer up a human sacrifice in the nearby temple to appease the gods there.
The next morning she woke up before the others did and picking up her infant son, rushed to the temple, chopped off a bit of her precious son's tongue and handed it over to the gods."
"What?" I cried, shocked beyond words.
"Yes, it's true. But things went from bad to worse. One day a christian woman living next doors, invited my older sister home, to tell her they had hope. Jesus could heal her family and bring peace into their lives if only they would believe He could. So she began reading the Bible. She spent whole nights praying for our dad.
One morning he discovered the Bible hidden in the room. Wild with rage, he thrashed us both and admonished us never to mention the name of this foreign god ever! He rushed off on a tour to Delhi, where he had to deliver some stuff to his clients urgently. En route, travelling in an auto with two other men, he stopped for some tea. The auto sped off with his suitcase. He ran after it and somehow got a hold of the handle of his case. The men pushed him off and fled in the vehicle.
Dad lay on the side of the road, weeping. The case contained a huge sum of cash, to be given to his clients.
Suddenly he felt someone standing by him.
"Here's your case, don't weep," the voice said.
Dad looked up to see a very tall man standing holding the suitcase. Exactly similar to his.
"This is yours" he said.
"But how? Those men just snatched it away some time ago."
The tall man then proceeded to tell my dad the exact amount of money he had in the case. It was impossible. How on earth could this man know about it? Dad was totally puzzled. The key was with him, no way the stranger could have accessed it in any way.
But it was indeed his suitcase, no denying that.
"Who are you?, he asked the man, trembling.
"Look at this entire place all around you, as far as your eyes can reach. The whole place belongs to me." The man replied.
"And one more thing, NEVER restrain your daughter from calling out on the Lord's name," he admonished and left.
The phone rang. It was my sister. "Dad, your stuff is safe, the Lord told me last night to pray for you and I was up all night praying for your safety."
This shocked my dad even more. He had told none yet about his ordeal.
Confused and totally bewildered, he returned home. Dad was a changed man now. He stopped drinking. He began behaving better. It took him a little while more to put his trust totally in the Lord...but miracles began happening after this incident."
My friend paused.
"But..what about that youngest brother of yours..is he okay?" I wanted to know.
"Absolutely. By God's grace he can still speak well, though he lost part of his tongue."
Amazing indeed.
What a story!
A true one.
How God can change lives if we only trust Him to.
My hunger for the supernatural had just been whetted.
I want more of Him!
