Discipleship Exploredfeatures documentary-style films and inspiring real-life stories from around the world. This is Prasoon's story.
Early years
Born into a Hindu family, it wasn’t until my late teenage years that I heard about the Lord Jesus and put my faith in Him.
My family was devoted to the Hindu faith. Growing up, puja (a prayer ritual) was a daily practice in our home along with visits to the nearby temples. I remember my father frequently making special visits to the Hanuman, Shiva, and Durga temples. He often consults gurus and pundits for important life matters.
Along with daily practices, my parents would take my elder brother and I on pilgrimages every year during our summer holiday.
Yet, despite these routine practices, I didn’t have peace. I myself was not very religious in practice, but yet I wholeheartedly followed the customs of my predecessors.
In my personal life, I was trying to be happy by living an immoral life. Accompanied by friends, I indulged in drinking alcohol, lying and cheating people. I was very proud in my dealing with other people in day-to-day affairs.
Moving to New Delhi
After finishing school at the age of 17, our family decided to move to a bigger area called Mukherjee Nagar in New Delhi.
Here in our new neighborhood, we lived next to a Christian family. As we got more acquainted, they started to share about their faith in Jesus. At that point, I was not interested in knowing about their Christian God.
The turning point in my spiritual life came when my mother began attending church with our neighbours. She would return from church saying that people at church were praying for our family. This was a new concept for me, as in Hinduism one prays only for himself and not for others.
Very soon after this, other people who had faith in Jesus came to our house to visit and pray with us. Our neighbors also used to invite me to their Bible studies. I attended a few of these gatherings and found them interesting because there used to be guys and girls my age.
It was fun to be around others of my age group and discuss social issues from a spiritual point of view. The host family for these gatherings were very kind and made it enjoyable.
My family willingly opened up our home to the visitation of a Christian guru named Pastor Ivan Moses and other Christians from church who were close to my mother. They were open to hear about the teaching of the Bible, but did not allow our house to be a meeting place for a Bible study group.
A new life
One day the Christian Pastor invited me to attend a camp for young people. It was here at this weekend camp that I came to a full realisation of my sin. I believed that Jesus died for my sins and that I could receive a new spiritual life through Him. On 1 October 2000, I made this decision and told my family about my new faith in Jesus.
In the initial days my parents scolded me for trusting in Jesus. They thought this new spiritual life would be an idea that would go away after a short time. However, as time passed, they began to notice that I was really a changed person due to my life and faith in the Lord Jesus.
Although my parents were not very happy and I was still dependent on them, I did not worry about my future or what would happen if they rejected me.
I began to grow in faith and even share about my faith with others. Many people who shared faith in the Lord Jesus contributed to my spiritual change by teaching me about the Bible.
The desire to know and obey God’s plan increased in me with time. At this time I was in my final year of taking some computer courses. As I read the Bible, I felt God was speaking to me. I started to understand that God wanted me to prepare more to share my faith with others who did not know Jesus. So, after university studies, I attended a school to study the Bible for four years.
Currently, I share a very caring and loving relationship with my family. I have shared about my faith with them several times, but they remain uninterested. They take seriously my opinions and suggestions about daily matters, but at this point do not care to know more of my changed life.
