Now a pastor in Pataudi, Mr. Om Prakash 70 yrs old, was born in a small village named Mandpura, Haryana. His story of conversion and call to mission is quite intriguing and inspiring. I recently had a privilege of getting to know this great life. Hope it serves you for the good.
He had been happily working for a quite a long time with NHPC in gov. service with a salary of 60,000+ a month back in 90s (Around 850 $ USD). Which was pretty high government pay of the time. Interestingly enough, one day he observed a man who was his co-worker, hailed from south India routinely reading Bible on the same table he used for playing cards. Mr. Om Prakash was addicted to playing cards. So one fine day with the amazement Mr. Om stumbled upon this man from south India with a question; "What do you read in this book all day? What’s there so fascinating?" And being missional enough, the man replied with the perfect use of the opportunity of sharing the gospel with Mr. Om.
Having heard the gospel, Mr. Om not only resisted it at the outset but began question his own aged faith too. One night sitting in his room, heavily surrounded by the idols of possible all the famous gods and goddesses he looking up on the roof began questioning, “who is the real God amidst this plethora, show up” if it is Jesus, then, show up, talk to me or is there anyone else? Having pleaded for hours now, in the middle of the night, he heard a voice. At first, he thought he is hallucinating and ignored. But on the repetition of the same, his ears got straight and he heard it cautiously. It was a verse of the Bible being sounded for the second time which he never read.
Ezekiel 36:25 KJV
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
On the very morning, he packed every bit of idols and put it on a sack and dumped away from his reach, becoming committed follower to Christ.
After days of conversation, the man from south India managed to get Mr. Om to the water tank for baptism. Hilariously enough, after almost having reached close to the water tank Mr. Om ran away, saying, “I won’t get baptism”. There was a kind of demonic influence that attacked him for a while and struggle before he eventually water-baptized. At the same time, Mr. Om’s wife contracted fever which never went down in temperature. After suffering for a long time she was healed by God through a prayer of a pastor only to become a follower of Jesus like her husband. They both faced a lot of opposition from their whole family for accepting Christ. Consequently, the whole village conducted an assembly and excommunicated Mr. Om from the village. But they endured all and came out shining more brighter than before. After having saved as a family this couple began strongly feeling a call for the mission. But it was not easy to manage ministry alongside gov. service. Irresistibly, having dodged this strong and persistent call for more than a couple of times they plan to sit in fasting and waiting for the Lord’s final say. And Mr. Om fasted for 7 days and wife fasted for three days without informing husband. But God revealed Mr. Om that your wife is fasting for the same too. And towards the end of the fasting session with a specific call to mission through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, Mr. Om was led to quit his job. That attracted scores of criticism, both, from family and friends. Because the kind of job he was enjoying would be denounced only by a lunatic or someone crazy for Christ. And since then, Lord Jesus has never ceased to wonder this family with amount miracles every then and now. There are numerous people who have made their way towards Christ through the ministry it Mr. Om and his beloved wife. Not only outsiders but their own sons were blessed through their ministry. Mr. Om sons were not less than some hooligans and notoriously infamous goons of their area, having solid political and social influence. Ironically, now they are ministers of the gospel, holding a strong testimony in their vicinity and also mightily used in the various states of India. Since Mr. Om quitted his service the Lord has always met their need from the door of heaven; though not plenty but always sufficient.
Beside ministry, he also decided to pursue his theological education. Amazingly, at the age 60 he painstakingly finished his M.Div. from Delhi Bible College, affiliated to Cohan University, USA with the daily classes of five to six hours for three years and received his ordination from the Church of God. It's is indeed a great encouragement for Bible students.
This story is truly inspiring in a world where people could always be seen prioritizing money, job, and fame over Christ, ministry, and faith.
The aforementioned picture features Mr. Om with his wife and younger son with his wife and two sons. His pastor Arvind is running two churches in Delhi and travels around India for the cause of the gospel.
0 comments:
Post a Comment