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When he heard that his grandmother in India
was sick, he was overcome by deep sadness. He
couldn't afford to let her go before he sees
her again. So, hastily he plans a short trip
to India from the US.
This time he is also filled with an overwhelming
desire to offer her the redeeming message of
Jesus, as true homage.
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Hailing from a Brahmin lifestyle,
his family was deeply hurt when he articulated
his new found faith in Jesus a decade ago. In
spite of that, both he and his wife have been
praying that his family in India would have an
opportunity to understand and receive the greatest
gift from God. He was willing to take the risk
in articulating the controversial message of Jesus,
one more time.
When he reached India, he
was glad to hang out with his grandmother and
see her health improve over the next few days.
As she recovers, he attempts to explain to her
the good news about God's plan to redeem humanity.
Unfortunately, he is not able to articulate in
a manner that she can comprehend. He was using
terms that did not make much sense to her and
matters are made worse by her faint hearing. Out
of shear frustration, he utters, "Jesus died
for our karma". Immediately she responds
back, "How is that possible?" That's
the highlight of their conversation that night.
That night he recollects how his grandmother was
the first one in his family to introduce him to
spirituality, during his early childhood. He was
saddened that he was not able to connect with
her and wondered what else he could have said
to make the connection. His wife continues praying
that perhaps God would help her understand this
message in a dream.
That night he recollects how his grandmother was
the first one in his family to introduce him to
spirituality, during his early childhood. He was
saddened that he was not able to connect with
her and wondered what else he could have said
to make the connection. His wife continues praying
that perhaps God would help her understand this
message in a dream.
The next day as his grandmother
wakes up; she pulls him to her bedside and says;
"I had a dream yesterday. I saw a man (dressed
in dhoti, a formal Indian outfit) standing at
the doorway offering a thamboolam to me".
<i>Thamboolam is a tray with beetle leaves,
nuts, fruits
and coconuts. It is usually offered only to special
guests when they are being invited for a wedding.
The
wedding party honors the guest by coming all the
way
to their home to offers them this special invitation.
By doing so, they also emphasize the importance
of having
this guest at the wedding. </i>
He asks her who this man was. To his amazement,
she smiles and responds, "The same man you
said died for our karma". Obviously, being
a Brahmin, she was hesitant in mentioning the
name Jesus. He asked her, what she did with the
thambool. She said, "I accepted it"
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