Nos histoires

Vivre la foi chrétienne dans l'un de nos pays restreints peut avoir un coût énorme. Un membre de l'équipe de Scripture Union dans l'un de ces pays partage son témoignage sur la façon dont la foi peut grandir même dans les circonstances les plus difficiles. 

"Je suis née et j'ai grandi dans une famille bouddhiste. Depuis mon enfance, j'ai connu les conflits, la haine et l'absence d'amour dans la famille. Mon père était un ivrogne. Ils avaient l'habitude de faire beaucoup de pujas/rituels pour apporter la paix et le bonheur, mais nous n'avons jamais connu la paix et l'amour. 

As I grew up, I started to long for good things such as love, peace, good clothes and good food. I started raising questions about the gods to whom we worship. Due to my father’s drinking habits and constant conflict in the family, our condition was very bad. We were in poverty and I had to discontinue my schooling. My elder brother was put in the school hostel, one day one of his school friends gave him the bible as a gift, and at the same time he told him that whatever you pray to Jesus,  “you will get it.” During the winter vacation my brother came home and gave me the bible with the same message, ‘’Whatever you ask to Jesus, you will get.’’ That made me curious to read the bible. As I read, I came across a passage which said, ‘’If you ask anything in my name, I will do it,” and so many other similar passages. My curiosity grew. I was very young, I had lots of desires – dreams of getting back to school, having new clothes, good food, peace in the family. I wanted to see my father stop beating my mother and I wanted to see him stop drinking. 

C'est avec ce désir que j'ai prié Jésus. À ma grande surprise, l'année suivante, j'ai été admise à l'école et j'ai reçu de nouveaux vêtements. Lentement, ma foi en Jésus a commencé à grandir et j'ai commencé à demander davantage, ce qui m'a finalement conduit à la maison du croyant. J'ai commencé à en apprendre davantage sur Jésus, jour après jour. En 2001, j'ai été baptisée, et c'est à ce moment-là que mes parents ont appris ma foi en Jésus. Ils ont fait de leur mieux pour m'empêcher de suivre Jésus, mais je n'ai pas arrêté...  

En conséquence, j'ai été battu à plusieurs reprises par mon père. Toute ma famille s'est dressée contre moi. J'ai été chassé de chez moi à plusieurs reprises. Avec beaucoup de fardeau et de larmes, j'ai commencé à prier pour ma famille et j'ai partagé l'amour de Dieu avec ma mère. Peu à peu, elle a commencé à croire en Jésus, mais à cause de l'opposition des autres membres de la famille, nous n'étions pas libres de prier ensemble. J'envoyais ma mère aux toilettes et dans la jungle pour prier, et plusieurs fois nous avons utilisé les toilettes comme salle de prière. La présence de Dieu était si réelle et tangible, même dans ces endroits. 

I was beaten by my father every day. All my brothers and relatives used to encourage my father to beat me because they thought that my faith in Jesus would bring destruction and a curse on the family. In December 2001, one fine evening, just one day before my exams, I was preparing for my exams in my room. At 9pm, I saw my father coming towards me. At first I thought that he was just coming to wish me well for my exams, but as he entered he started throwing my books around and then he started beating me. My mum ran to call the neighbours for help and somehow with the help of our neighbours, she broke the door open and rescued me. One of our neighbours carried me out and placed me on the open ground. With the full moon, everything was visible outside. I was fighting for my life.

Everyone left the place after making my father calm and made him sleep, but after some time, I could see my father rushing towards me with a big knife. As I was badly beaten up I could not run away. I was lying there helpless and I thought that was the end of my life. I didn’t know what to do. But the only thing I could do was cry out to Jesus. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t ask for any help, but I just cried out, thinking about dying. As I started crying to him I could feel the warm presence of someone all around me. My father just passed behind me, I could feel the touch of his feet on my back, but he did not see me. Several times he came in search of me but he didn’t see me. I didn’t know how, but today when I traced back to that moment, I am sure it was God who protected me. When my father didn’t find me, he went to his room.

Au milieu de la nuit, j'ai réussi à aller dormir chez mon voisin. Le lendemain, mon père est venu me proposer deux options. Premièrement, il m'a dit que si je voulais continuer mes études, je devais cesser de suivre la religion chrétienne. Deuxièmement, il m'a dit que si je n'arrêtais pas d'être chrétien, je devais arrêter mes études et qu'il ne paierait pas mes frais de scolarité. J'avais décidé de suivre le Christ et, en conséquence, j'ai été chassé de chez moi. 

Je ne savais pas où aller. Un frère chrétien m'a emmené chez lui et m'a gardé pendant un mois. C'est à ce moment-là que mon père a porté plainte contre mon pasteur et moi. Le pasteur a été mis en prison et j'ai été convoqué au poste de police. L'officier de police m'a posé plusieurs questions, il m'a demandé comment j'étais devenu chrétien. Je lui ai répondu honnêtement que c'était en lisant la Bible. L'officier était tellement en colère contre moi qu'il m'a dit : "Vous savez que je suis plus instruit que vous". Il a commencé à m'insulter et m'a finalement demandé de renoncer à ma foi. Je n'ai pas accepté de renier ma foi et j'ai donc été battu par lui, devant mon père. Il m'a ensuite remis à deux autres policiers. 

They took me to the room where they deal with the criminals. On the way to the room, I saw my father standing with his friends. I thought he would say a word to stop them, but he asked them to do whatever they wished to bring me on track. They took me inside and asked me to take off my shirt. As I took it off they saw all the scars on my body. They told me that I had already been beaten by someone. I felt very bad, I could not control myself. I burst into tears and cried out aloud. I felt lonely, helpless and abused. The policemen left me alone. I took a chance and started praying loudly in tears. I don’t know how long my prayers went on, but when I opened my eyes, I saw that the two policemen were just sitting next to me. I prayed for them too. I thought that again they would beat me. But they did not. 

All I could hear from their mouths was, ‘’Go’’! I went out, but I had no place to go. My father had warned me not to go back home. It was then that one of the believer’s brothers came forward and directed me to Grace Bible College in Haryana, India. It was the first time I had left my village. When I arrived at the Bible College, it was a new place and a new climate, and since I had never been exposed to the outside world before, I started falling sick. Everybody thought that I was useless. Nobody came forward to support me. 

Two years later I wrote a letter asking my family to allow me to come back home, but they replied, “No!” For sometime, I thought that I was there because I had been sent out and had no place to go. But it was during this time that the Lord renewed and affirmed His plan and purpose in my life. When I was in the final year of my studies at the college, I was sick for almost a month, suffering with Chickenpox. After having a fever for so long, I needed a bath, but I had no soap. I used to go to bathroom after bathroom collecting the pieces of left over soap and gathering them together. I used to crush those pieces to form into big sizes so I that I could wash. I would sing out in the bathroom to the Lord, “Reign in me sovereign Lord, captivate my heart, let your kingdom come, establish your throne let your will be done…’’ 

C'est à cette époque que le Seigneur a commencé à me parler de sa Parole. 
“Be still and know that I am God, wait for me” Isaiah 43: 2  “When you pass through the water I will be with you, when you pass through the water they will not sweep you over, when you walk through the fire you will not be burned, the flames will not set you ablaze.”
Et dans Philippiens 1:6 "Celui qui a commencé en vous une bonne œuvre la poursuivra jusqu'à son achèvement, au jour de Jésus-Christ". Et il y a tant d'autres versets par lesquels le Seigneur a affirmé son appel sur moi. J'ai donc entièrement consacré ma vie à son royaume. 

With much burden I started to pray for my family. It was in 2008 that my father had a stroke and became half paralyzed, he was fully bed ridden and he called Christian people to pray for him. As they came and prayed, he was healed completely. Slowly, he started believing in Jesus. I was able to go back home that year. Now all my family have accepted Christ as their personal saviour and Lord. 

Après avoir accepté le Christ, je n'avais que deux désirs. Le premier était de voir tous les membres de ma famille accéder à la grâce salvatrice du Christ, et le second était de voir ma nation connaître le Seigneur Jésus-Christ, depuis la famille royale jusqu'aux citoyens ordinaires. Ce premier désir a été exaucé, puisque mes parents et les membres de ma famille sont tous sauvés. Maintenant, c'est pour la nation que je prie. 

Aujourd'hui, je marche avec ce fardeau et cette vision, pour atteindre les perdus à n'importe quel prix".