In India These Books Helped Me

I was born in a Christian family. My father came from a very high class Hindu Brahman, or priestly family. One day, when he was going to his office, he saw some Americans selling Mark’s Gospel on the streets. This was in the 1960s, when communism was coming to India, so he thought it was written by Karl Marx. So he bought a copy of Mark’s gospel, and got a coupon stating that if he wished to know about the Lord Jesus Christ, he should fill out the form. Consequently, he enrolled in the Emmaus Bible Correspondence course, and was converted, by the Lord’s grace. He gave up his business to serve the Lord. My mother was a schoolteacher and she also gave up her teaching career. So I grew up in a Christian home.

I went to the Assembly Brethren Church, which was very strict. When I was about 14 years old, I got baptized and I was pretty active in the Assembly Church we were in. But when I went to a different city to do my bachelor’s degree in biological science, I was confronted with evolution. By God’s grace, I tuned to a radio station and heard Dr. Henry Morris. My faith was restored through a long process, by God’s grace. When the time came to decide what vocation I was going to take, God led me to an elderly man in our congregation who said, “If everybody wants to make money, who is going to do the Lord’s work? Why don’t you think about serving the Lord full-time as a Christian publisher to spread booklets and leaflets for evangelism?”I prayed about this and decided that I would serve the Lord and work full-time for a Christian publisher. My friends ridiculed me, but I knew I was following God’s call.

When I was in the ministry I became exhausted from often criss-crossing India and South Asia, meeting with Christian pastors and evangelists. I came down with hepatitis B, and the Lord almost called me home. But the doctor said, “Look, if you really want to live in this world, you need to rest.” I could feel my strength dissipating to the point that I couldn’t do anything except rest, so I started getting books. I called a local store, and asked, “Can you give me some good Christian books?” By God’s grace, the man said, “I don’t know what books you are looking for but here is J.I. Packer’s Knowing God and his Among God’s Giants, a book about the Puritans.”

As you know, South Asia is very hostile to the gospel sometimes, and as I read about these Puritan heroes in this book the Lord started speaking to me. I said, “I need to get hold of at least two people’s books.” One was John Owen, and another one was William Gurnall’s The Christian in Complete Armour.

The first book I read was John Owen’s Communion with God. I still have that tattered copy. I read it over and over. The second one was the three volume Banner of Truth Trust abridgement of The Christian in Complete Armour. Now I can tell you, that it was then-only thirteen years ago-when I was truly converted. God drew me by His grace. I came out from the Assembly church where I was worshiping; I finally understood what the grace and the sovereignty of God are. I also read another book in line with Puritan thinking that had a great impact on me- A.W Pink’s The Sovereignty of God. Earlier this year, we lost our second child. Twelve years ago, I read that book. I remember that night, that book; I pulled out the copy. But I still remember that night when I heard that we would not have our second child. The book really ministered to us; that book came alive in January by God’s grace.

I then began reading more Puritan writers; I started collecting all Puritan writings, especially Banner of Truth publications. By God’s grace, I now have all of the Banner Puritan paperbacks; the Banner of Truth so graciously sent me all the volumes I didn’t have. But in 2001, I left a publishing agency, and started Know the Truth Resource Center. By God’s grace, we are building it up. The reason we started this Know the Truth Resource Center is to share this valuable resource with Christian pastors and leaders in our country who do not have anything apart from their Bible.

I have come across many who have nothing but their Bibles. For the past six years, I have been publishing a quarterly magazine of the Puritan writings in simplified English. We have four articles per issue, and we send them to nearly 1,000 pastors all across India. We are also building a small resource center where pastors and Christian leaders can come, give themselves a break, and read this literature which we have been collecting for many years. We encourage you to pray for us because the situation we live in is very hostile, and not very encouraging sometimes; yet many people and pastors draw their strength from these Puritans who suffered for the truth because they took a stand.