You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you. (John 15:16) I begin my testimony in the hope that it will be a mighty testimony that will glorify the Name of Jesus Christ! Hindu family . I was born into an orthodox Hindu family who worship all the Hindu gods and, into an upper caste Indian family. right from my childhood i am taught to fear gods , and i accepted Jesus as one of the gods . They used to say that Jesus is a ‘Mahatma,’ a great soul, enlightened one. My mother had read many books on Hinduism, meditation, yoga, Buddhism ,kundalini , raja yoga chakras (psychic centres), prana (subtle energy), and bindu (drops of essence). Shintoism and Confucianism. She had known about Christ and she said He was a Master but, He was not the only One, there were others. I felt that He was calling me I thought that Jesus was a great Master and I felt that He was calling me. I began to read the Bible and I felt a great peace. I had read the Ramayan, Gita and other Hindu books but did not find the true Peace that I found in the Christian Bible. Mary, the Mother of Jesus Mary, the Mother of Jesus, came to my heart before this. I was about four and a half years old and I began my pre-schooling in Saint Aloysius Catholic School. In that school, there was a big statue of the Madonna and Christ Child, a big icon of the Sacred Heart and, up over the blackboard, there was a huge Crucifix. Once, I asked my teacher, “Why is Jesus on the Cross? She said, “He Died for your sins!” I asked her about the Sacred Heart picture, “Does Jesus Love anyone?” She said, “Yes, He Loves you!” During classes and even at break, I used to look at the Madonna, the Crucifix and the Sacred Heart. She gave me a medal I went with my money one day and bought a sticker of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and stuck it to my cupboard. My teacher saw me while I was buying it and, the next day, she gave me a medal, a beautiful silver medal which I had until fifth grade. During classes too, I would bring flowers for Mary and Jesus on the Cross. Who Loves me very much Now the statue of the Madonna is placed on a very big pedestal but I was not at all afraid and I used to climb up to give flowers to Mary. I had no problem even if I fell down, I just had to give these flowers to the Mother and Her Son, who Loves me very much as my teacher had said. Climb up again Once, while I was climbing to place the flowers, I fell down from the pedestal and all my other little friends laughed at me. My teacher was shocked, not only that I did not hurt myself and I did not even cry when I fell down but, that I immediately started to climb up again! She took me to the school clinic but the doctor said that I was well. He is addicted to it To be honest, I used to steal the flowers from the fridge at home where they were kept fresh to decorate the Hindu altar. It happened, one day, that my mother saw me. She thought that I was eating chocolates and sweets but soon discovered that I was taking the flowers and she laughed. I was afraid that she would not give me the flowers but she smiled and gave them to me. My mother is a close friend of my teacher and my teacher told her that I had climbed up the pedestal and had fallen. My mama told me not to climb anymore but I still climbed it. “He is addicted to it!” My mama said to my grandpa as he used to drop me off at school to take me in and hold me up so that I might place the flowers. Where is the Baby? The next day while going to school, I said, “I want flowers!” My grandpa got a little afraid that I would become a Christian. He said to me, “All gods are one, Mary is god here.” He took me to the Hindu altar and said to me, “The Hindu goddess is my mama Mary.” I said, “No, where is the Baby!” The statue had a demon under her and had a garland of skulls. I wanted to only give flowers to Mary, not this goddess. He said, “Ok.” He then took some flowers that were already offered to the Hindu gods and gave them to me. I said, “No! For Mary and Jesus they need to be fresh and not offered to anyone!” He said, “Mine are fresh. All gods are one.” He gave me the flowers and took me to school and gave me to my teacher. Feast Day Poor grandpa! He did not know that I left the flowers . That day was a Feast Day. I do not remember which. I think it may have been Saint Joseph or Visakha Puri, Mary Matha – a Feast Day of Mary in India. I shared those flowers I told my teacher that I had forgotten to bring flowers and she said, “I have some,” and she gave them to me. I was very happy. My fellow classmates were jealous. My poor friends cried and said to the teacher, “Give us flowers as well!” My mother had a few flowers that she had given to the nuns. I shared those flowers, everyone was happy. The ‘Mary prayer’ My teacher cried when I had to leave that school to move to another one! My next school was a Protestant school. my grandma used to pray a prayer about blood of christ . then i am hardly 5 i did not understand why blood , and how will blood shed from an innocent man be a armor . and many times i heard christians shouting victory to the blood of jesus and i even saw that on my school calender . My mama said that I never cried going into school as some children do. So, I went to the Protestant school thinking that Mary was in every school but Mama Mary was not there. I cried for the first time because Mama Mary was not there. We prayed the Our Father My new Protestant teacher’s name was Prassana Gloria. I was saying Mama and the teacher thought that I was calling my mother but I said no, I am calling Mariyama (Mary). She was surprised and she took me to the office. There I saw a big glass painting of the Head of Jesus and then she took me to the chapel and I saw Jesus with sheep in His Hands. I felt a little better but I was still sad. Then it came to prayer time. We prayed the Our Father and I was glad I was learning a new prayer. I did not forget Mary so I prayed the Hail Mary. Blessed art Thou among women . i had been a very devout hindu as well . i used to perform ritual worship to the cold idols . i had a great devotion to krishna . shiva and i am was taught that shiva is god the father . and the son is ganesh the elephant god , these things just filled in tie and remained on the surface of my life .i had been taught to fear the gods and do nothing that would anger them , for they were great and could be very severe , i had never thought of a god as a friend or helper , but now my heart was so desperate. when i am in my 4th grade i went to a very famous temple build with god . i am so happy feeling really i could see god . when i am inside the shrine , a shrine of one of the famous hindu gods , there was a long line of people waiting to enter the temple and i though my turn would never come , however , as the lie gradually shortened and i came closer to the entrance , i jumped with excitement and a great awe ,trembling as i entered the sacred doorway . my eyes watched keenly for the glimpse of the god , quickly looking here and there inside a small enclosure in the centre of the floor . sitting by the stone a hindu priest ,but where was the god himself . people are worshiping a idol pouring milk . strangely the priest perform marriage to the idols and pour milk , honey , ghee . and when i am coming out of the temple i am given a ladoo these had been blessed by god and i was to eat them with reverence , which i did still wondering when i would see the god . and i never saw , the disappointment and disillusionment were almost more than my 9 year old heart could stand , and the next day i and my family visted a temple its 3 o in the afternoon , we arrived there and were not allowed to go inside to have a glimpse of the god idol because he was sleeping . i could not help but think what kind of god is this who goes off to sleep , this was the beginning of a serious doubt about my own religion as days passed by , i experienced great unrest, but deep down within my heart . i became a hungry and miserable soul . i asked krishna to give me peace and be my friend i even used to go to classes of krishna consciousness . they always make me by heart the mantras , thought the mantras chanted are in a different language . i was forced to memorise them . i did not understand why must i learn mantras and for what ? that had been a question , over some even poked fun on our fathers prayer the religious teacher said whats there in the our father prayer , give us today our daily bread . we dont eat bread and why do christians here pray , others were laughing , i raised up voice defending i said guruji (teacher) you say its foolishness that they pray there prayer and we pray prayers and chant mantras which we do not know . who are we to judge the guruji was angry but he hid his anger . they said me that i have to chant the hare krishna and hare rama mantra 108 a day . prayers without knowing the meaning goes away in vain but yet my strong desire to see a god made me do . and the guruji also asked me many questions on the stories of hindu gods , demi gods , semi gods . Shocked at my knowledge Bg 5.29 bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati Word for word: bhoktāram — the beneficiary; yajña — of sacrifices; tapasām — and penances and austerities; sarva-loka — of all planets and the demigods thereof; mahā-īśvaram — the Supreme Lord; su-hṛdam — the benefactor; sarva — of all; bhūtānām — the living entities; jñātvā — thus knowing; mām — Me (Lord Kṛṣṇa); śāntim — relief from material pangs; ṛcchati — one achieves. Translation: A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries. if god is soo supreme i did not understand why there are still demi gods and semi gods . I had been a speaker at Krishna consciousness.Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet. (Bhagavad-Gita 7.23) When I spoke there they were all shocked at my knowledge.I had a great knowledge on Hinduism.Later, when I was in sixth grade,and i am thaught that the hindu holy trinity was vishnu , siva and four heads god brama and they are gods many fight that vishnu is god and some say siva is the main god they fight among themselfs . the isckons It is clear from the Vedic scriptures that Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma, Lord Indra are demigods who should be respected but not worshipped as God. And those who worship Gurus (Sai Baba, Swaminarayan etc..) as Gods are most degraded followers of the Vedic religion. Those who worship Lord Krishna as God are the purest followers of the Vedic religion (Hinduism). The hare krishnas represent the purest Hindus. The hare krishna movement is based on krishna consciousness, thus the name, the international society for krishna consciousness (ISKCON). Srila Prabhupada clearly wanted his followers to worship only Lord Krishna and not demogods or Gurus as God, thats why he set-up the International society for krishna consciousness (ISKCON). In the temples he built (to my knowledge), there were no dieties of demigods (Shiva, Ganesh, Bramha) on the altar, only Krishna and his incarnations. The reason being we should focus on worshipping Lord Krishna only, only Lord Krishna. If there are many dieties on the altar, then the focus on Lord Krishna becomes diluted and thus we gradualy diverge from krishna consciousness. Thus diverge from the principles of Srila Prabhupadas ISKCON. Thus although having many dieties on the altar (Lord Krishna and demigods) may be looked upon as diluting krishna consciousness. This can also work for the benefit of ISKCON, by attracting the average Indian Hindu who is currently in ignorance of the Vedic scriptures as he worships demigods or Gurus as God. The aim of Srila Prabgupadas movement is to help the fallen souls which includes helping most Indian Hindus come out of ignorance by making them krishna concious. i got confussed .i could not understand who is true god . in Hinduism there are 33 crores ( millions) gods. i really got confussed if i chant a name of one god then i cant chant the others name , there are myths saying that people can curse gods . and later a protestant pastor came to our house .he said us that . jesus is the only god . my mother said him my son likes jesus and we respect jesus . i asked him to give me a bible . he said i will give you tommorow . he gave us a pamplet it is written that those who worship idols made shall be casted into hell . it says that there is only one god , jehovah , jesus christ the son , and holy spirit we though that holy spirit means mama mary as i did not know before . the next day the pastor came and gave me a telugu bible . he said us not to place it in unholy places . the next day the pastor came and took away the bible he said us . god said me in a dream yesterday night that the bible will be placed before the idols . after he took the bible my mother read the leaflet and said jesus is a good god but christians mix up and write in the bible that there is no other god . then i tore the leaflet with my hands and now with my hands i give them . but yet i loved jesus i felt he can satisfy my thrist for a true god and a true friend . i asked my grandmother to get me a bible . she got a english version of good news bible I started reading the Bible more and I had completed the book of Genesis which deals with the story of creation and Adam and Eve. Hindus say that this story is false but I even loved the story of Abraham, as well as Isaac and Jacob! Then next I came to the book of Exodus. There God says that He is the only God and He destroys the false idols by fire. And He says he is the only God, I was very sad. Thou shalt not 1. And God spake all these words, saying, 2. I am the Lord, thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. 4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth: 5. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them for I the Lord, thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; 6. And shewing Mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My Commandments. 7. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord, thy God, in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain. Exodus 20:1-7 I am the Truth! I thought these verses were not given by God. Some people had told me that other Christians made up their own sentences and changed the true Bible. So I believed that. But, it was as if someone was saying in my heart, “Why do you doubt Me? I am the Truth!” From this I understood that Jesus was calling me. So, whenever I had the time, I read the Bible and became closer to God! No one taught me about Christ but He invited me to come and sup with Him and I accepted Him.The peace that I had longed for There were Protestants who wanted to let me know about Christ but I told them that the Lord would let me know. I prayed that He would let me know what is true. He spoke to me through His Word! In the next few days, my Grandmother became possessed by a spirit of suicide and tried to hang herself from a ceiling fan. The evil spirit within her started singing songs to all Hindu gods. I was shocked because my grandmother does not know those songs. It sang in praise of Hindu gods and I understood that the Lord wanted me to know the gods were pagan. No one told me she was possessed, I just knew she was. I was not afraid. I trusted in Jesus. I prayed to Him but she was so afraid of Jesus Whenever I showed her the Cross she would scream out, “Please, leave me.” I did not leave. I said, “I trust in the Lord!” I prayed and prayed and then the spirit left. At this time I was eleven years old. Even the high priest of Islam did not have the power to do that! I then understood there is surely none but Jesus Christ. He gave me the peace that I had longed for! The true Church Later, the Lord made me understand that the Catholic Church is the true Church. My Protestant friends said, “Catholics adore Mary!” One day I got a high fever. Then, that night, I called out, “Mother!” Then, I felt Our Lady, Mama Mary, lay Her Hand on my forehead and by the morning I was healed I became more and more faithful and I grew closer to the Lord and His Mother. i felt the whole bible is the only word of god . After the Angel appeared to Gideon and left again, he broke down the altars of baal and the idols of baal!! He tore down the baal flowers, plants and trees and built an altar to Jehovah God. I felt the Lord, the God of Israel, was saying to me: “No strange gods to be placed at My altar!” Before the mighty God of Israel, Gideon broke them down, the false god altars, so the Holy Spirit told me to. I broke down my idols and burnt them. I realised that they were all false images and idols! I am a servant of His Heart I felt the Lord saying to me that I am a servant of His Heart. I thank Jesus so much for choosing me! I love You but cannot love You as much as You Love me. You have a True Love. Praise always be to You, Oh, Lord! “I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 30:17 Silent little angels I was horrified to see the pictures of the aborted babies. I felt so sad about how much pain they face. They are silent little angels. I felt like crying, reading the Messages about the aborted babies. I dreamt about them. I read more Message Books and Newsletters, the great Messages given by the Lord, His Mother, His Angels, His Saints. Jesus was speaking to me I felt inspired by those Books. I felt that I was not just reading a Book but I felt that Jesus was speaking to me. I prayed Sometimes, it was as if people called me. I could not hear them calling me, I felt only that I could hear the Lord’s Word! I prayed that the Lord would choose me and I prayed that He will make me a vessel as I am a broken vessel and the Lord came to fix me! He did not leave me, as He said, “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee…” He is my Provider He answered my prayers in almost everything what I asked for. He is my Provider and how miraculous my life seems now. I am so glad that I have come to know the Truth of the Lord. He provides as I really want. Glory always be to Him! I prayed and asked Him that I could get more Christian friends and He gave me many good friends and I have made friends from almost every country in the world. These are prayerful friends. I found the page I asked Jesus: “Please let me talk to Your Prophets. I went online and opened the website. In the Newsletter there, I found that the Sacred Heart House of Prayer was on Facebook. I searched and I found the page. From that I found Patrick Rushe. Accept me as a friend I prayed that he would accept me as a friend on Facebook. The Lord said he will and he did! Big in age but a childlike heart I spoke to him and I felt very close to him. He is such a kind man, big in age but a childlike heart. That is why Jesus said you need childlike faith to enter His Kingdom! Jesus spoke to him about me one day when he was in prayer. Jesus said that I (Pavan) was thirsty for Him and that He would give me Living Water as He promised to the Samaritan woman: 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.” John 4:10 Give up your search Just like her, before I found Christianity, I read and followed many religions but I say I have none! But when I was searching for Truth, like as if I was fetching water, Jesus came, He said, follow Me, give up your search and know that I am God! I thank thousands of Saints I grew so close to the Lord, I could not take Him out of my mind for one moment and I felt very true words from my Patron Saint, Saint Dominic Savio. He was born on 2 April 1842 and died on 9 March 1857 and was an adolescent student of Saint John Bosco. He was studying to be a priest when he became ill and died at the age of fourteen. He said “It is better to die a hundred times than to sin once, it causes a great pain to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!” I prayed many prayers: the Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the Chaplet of the Immaculate Heart, the Chaplet of Love and the Chaplet of the King of Love and I thank thousands of Saints for their intercession. A special Lady had been given a great space in my life! She is the most Holy Vessel used by God, the Father, the Lord of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Isaiah 7:14 says that a Virgin will bear a Son. Involved in an accident In the summertime just past, I was coming home from my physics class. It was 9pm. I was on my bicycle and I was involved in an accident. I knew about two seconds before it happened that it was going to. I just thought in my heart, ‘Let it be Your Will! Save me!’ I was hit by a car And then I was hit by a car driven by a Hindu priest. My parents, who were with me, did not see at first. But, when they saw what had happened, my mama went into shock and dropped her phone. Lord, take my suffering! As I was being rushed to hospital, I said, “Lord, take my suffering!” I told my mother who was still in shock to trust in the Lord, the Lord is my Healer. She said she will operate. The doctor said they may have to operate. I said to them, “Jesus will heal me!” She said how can this be possible, she said she will operate. The Lord is testing my faith The next day, I was in I.C.U. I did not feel any pain. I prayed. When I saw the bleeding, I had Christ in my mind and I said, I trust in the Lord, I am not afraid. I thought, the Lord is testing my faith, lucifer had done this. I remembered Job - that even he, a righteous man, was tested. I believed in the Sacred Heart and in the Divine Mercy of the Lord. I trusted. No need for an operation Then the doctor said, “There is no need for an operation but I have to give some painful injections.” As the nurse injected me she said, “This is a painful injection, don’t shout or cry out.” I said, “Why will I? The Lord will take away my suffering!” I did not feel any pain And He took it and I did not feel any pain. Everyone was surprised to see my faith in the Lord! The doctor told me that soon I would be shifted out of I.C.U. to another room. I was moved to a room with a T.V. and I listened to Christian songs. I prayed that the doctor might get surprised every day when he saw how well I healed day by day. I felt so close to Jesus and within the next six days I was healed! Jesus is the ONLY way! Now, I am fourteen years old by His Grace and I have a life full of miracles. Thank You, Lord! Some people might doubt Jesus and His Church and follow other false religions but I have read many books, books even about atheists and the ‘Big Bang’ theory! Jesus is the ONLY way!
Posted on: Mon, 19 May 2014 04:49:42 +0000
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