My name is Sumitra, and I come from a Marwari background in rural Rajasthan. In my culture, society at large is very patriarchal. Women are expected to remain silent, submissive, and dependent on the men in their family. Opportunities for education or independence are scarce, and their value is often measured only by their ability to serve husbands or bear children. This was the world I was born into, a world where my voice seemed to carry no weight.
Before I found Christ, I felt my life was without purpose. I often asked myself why God had created me only to live in despair, unseen and unheard. The emptiness weighed on me daily. But then, by God’s grace, I encountered a man of God who shared with me the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For the first time, I heard that there is a God who loves me; not for what I can do, but for who I am. When I learned that He gave His only Son for my sins, it felt as though light had broken into my darkness. This message was not abstract or distant. It was deeply personal, and I accepted Christ as my Savior. The peace I felt in that moment was beyond words, a joy I had never known.
I began attending a small house church, gathering with other believers quietly in our village. But I was unprepared for the hostility that would follow. When I shared my faith with my husband and relatives, they reacted with anger and rejection. Soon, word spread through the village, and the entire community turned against me. Local religious radicals learned of my faith and reported my church and pastor to the police. Our gatherings were surrounded, and threats were made to stop worship or face consequences. My husband himself joined the voices against me. The weight of the opposition was crushing.
In recent years, India has passed strict “anti-conversion” laws in several states, including Rajasthan, where I live. These laws are presented as measures to stop “forced conversions” and the spread of Christianity. But in reality these laws are used as weapons to harass and intimidate Christians. Even sharing one’s faith with a neighbor or loved one can lead to police complaints, imprisonment, or violence at the hands of mobs who claim to be protecting Hindu culture. This is what happened to me. My pastor encouraged me to file a counter-complaint, since freedom of religion is promised in the Constitution of India. But few officials were willing to listen. The pressure from the radicals was so intense that my life was under constant threat. Only by God’s grace did the police finally agree to register my complaint.
Because of my decision to follow Jesus, my husband abandoned me, and my community completely boycotted me and my daughters. We were cut off from family ties, from support, from even the basic relationships that define village life. I never imagined that saying yes to Christ would cost so much. Yet even in this suffering, I could not turn back. The love He has shown me is greater than all the rejection I face.
Today I live alone with my two daughters. I work daily-wage jobs to provide for them, though some days it is not enough. Yet God has not left me without help. My pastor has been a beacon of hope, standing with me, caring for my children, and reminding me of Christ’s promises. The Bible you provided is one of the greatest treasures we own. In Rajasthan, many people consider Christianity a foreign religion, and so we must keep our faith hidden. We cannot openly read or display our Bibles, yet in the quiet of our home, those pages have brought us courage, comfort, and renewed strength. My daughters read them as well, and their young faith inspires me to keep pressing on.
I do not know what the future holds. The opposition is real, and life is often lonely. But I know that Jesus has been faithful through every trial. He has not abandoned me, and I am determined not to abandon Him.
Please Pray:
- Pray that Sumitra and her daughters will remain steadfast in their faith despite rejection from family and society. Ask that God would surround them with courage, joy, and unshakable peace even in loneliness.
- Pray that the Lord will provide for Sumitra’s daily needs as she works to support her daughters, and that He will shield them from threats of violence and harassment under India’s growing anti-conversion climate.
- Pray for the underground church in Rajasthan, that God would raise up strong leaders, open doors for safe worship, and turn the hearts of persecutors – including Sumitra’s own family – toward the love of Christ.
Something Greater
Nepal is best known for the highest mountain peak on earth, Mount Everest at over 29,000 feet (8848.86 m). This year over 1000 people will crowd the mountain between the beginning of April and the end of May in an effort to reach the summit. It is a dangerous endeavor. Over 200 frozen bodies litter the mountain. Climbers prepare for years honing their skills on smaller mountains before they undertake Everest. The cost to try is from $40,000 to $100,000 to spend two months in below-freezing temperatures and a few brief minutes at the summit, if you are successful.
Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit first in 1953. In a Forbes interview, Hillary said, “Clients are spending a large sum of money just to trek up our route, mainly so they can go back home and boast about it more.” Climbing is a welcome industry in Nepal that attracts adventurers looking to accomplish something “greater.”
What is not particularly welcome in Nepal is a testimony of the power of Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, in whose name salvation resides. Over 80% of the country is Hindu. Less than 2% is Christian.
Imagine believers gathered in a pastor’s home to pray, study, and sing. When suddenly local Hindu extremists surround the house, shouting abusively, demanding the Christians cease their worship, finally torching the home and burning it to the ground. What do you do? You move to a relative’s house where you continue to, quietly and humbly, pray, study, and sing while rebuilding the pastor’s home. You stay the course knowing that God is at work. You live daily prepared to respond to any who would ask “why?’ (1 Peter 3:15).
Christ calls us all to live as our Nepalese brothers and sisters on the frontline of Satan’s attack against His Church. Resolute. Confident in Christ. Given fully to God, all we have, all we own, all we are. Knowing we need look no further. We have found the Greatest. We boast in Christ alone.
