Rajula
RANMOOR
Journeying towards Jesus
Jesus chose me, accepts me and sets me free every day. This is the difference knowing him has made.
I was born in Uganda in 1969. My Grandfather emigrated to Uganda as a 12-year-old, with his older brother, leaving his parents and younger siblings back home in a small village in Gujarat in Northwest India.
My parents were raised and married in Uganda. In 1972, the Ugandan President, Idi Amin, ordered the expulsion of the country's Indian population. It was a frightening time, and I am sure I picked up on the stressors that my elders were experiencing at the time. Unsettling feelings had begun to set into my three-year-old heart.
We arrived in England in October 1972. I felt completely bamboozled! Everything felt alien. One day I was home and the next, I was not.
Life was hard for my parents and extended family in the early years. They had left homes, businesses and belongings in Uganda. We were now called 'Refugees'.
I was raised in a traditional Hindu family. From a young age, I was taught to feel pride in my religious and cultural heritage and to allow it to define me.
Daily life revolved around religious puja (worship), fasting and religious events to celebrate and honour the numerous Hindu gods. Krishna, Ram and Ganesh were some of the family favourites. To engage in these religious activities and to do good would bring you favour with the gods and improve your chances in this life and in the life beyond.
School was a terrifying experience at the age of 5–7. It took me ages to learn the English language, to read and write. It was, however, at school assembly that I began to hear about Jesus, who I thought was the English God, that was mild, lowly and born in a manger. Christian hymns taught me wonderful stories about this God and in them I know the love of Jesus was already reaching out to me.
My maternal grandparents were living in Leicester and when they moved into a new house, I found a hymn book in their attic which I presumed was left by the previous occupants. Every time I visited during school holidays, I would find this book, seek out an empty bedroom, close the door and sing my heart out! I felt fear heavily, but also a slowly invading peace. I can now see that God was reaching out to me in a way which made sense and was meaningful to me at the time.
It was around the age of 15 years that I met a Christian family who openly shared the "Good News" about Jesus. I was initially antagonistic and disgruntled that they talked about Jesus being the one and only true God, but it really didn't take long before I was drawn and captivated by the person of Jesus, his character and what he had done for me. He wasn't someone that I was fearful of as his offer was love and forgiveness, friendship and acceptance.
I don't know the time or the place when I accepted him as my Saviour and God, but I know for a fact that he had been protecting me and calling my name from being a very small child.
I had been scared, fearful and lost. I had felt misunderstood. Jesus chose me, accepts me and sets me free every day. This is the difference knowing him has made.
I still love hymns and am grateful that I also have a Bible. I want to close with the verse from John 6:68:
"Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life'."
This verse resonates with me as I have come to realise there is really nowhere else I would choose to go.
