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1 minute read
Hold Fast
Testimony from a Baptist Women’s leader from Telangana, India
HOLDING ON TO CHRISTIAN FAITH in India is a unique and a challenging personal experience altogether. India is a nation with many religions, traditions and cultures. In many places throughout the continent, many elements exert an influence on and challenge Christianity and Christian believers like me: the majoritarian religious fundamentalism, caste, class, patriarchy, corruption and more. Some churches, Christians, educational and social institutions also encourage and practice such divisive factors.
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I am a fourth generation Christian and I still see many challenges, not only in the village where my forefathers lived, but also in the well-developed cosmopolis where I now live. One morning a Christian teacher confronted me, asking which caste and class I belonged to. I was not comfortable answering. My parents had never discriminated against anyone nor had they taught me to discriminate.
“I am a Christian, ” I answered. I then explained that I did not encourage these questions. Because of my reply, the teacher developed a grudge. She started involving herself in my personal and social life. I felt so agonized as she began manipulating my academic studies. This troubled me deeply and at last I decided to get transferred to another college, no longer able to endure this fellow Christian.
This was the time in my life where I felt I was lost. I felt the darkness hovering. I felt hopeless, stuck in a no-win situation with all doors closed and my dreams of pursuing my education shattered.
This was the time when I learned that God had a great purpose—to I am a Christian
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