We met with an Unsung Hero the other day, and I want you to meet him too! His name is Prakash.
Yes, my name is Prakash. You can call me Prakash, it’s fine. I’m so sorry for coming late–it’s Hindu festival time, and the traffic! But I am so pleased to meet you. I am from a Hindu family–my parents are still very strong Hindus–from the Brahman family. It is the family of priests! the highest name of all castes. Well, I will tell you my story–do you want to hear it?
I was a rebellious man in 1990, studying in a school in southern Nepal. That was during the Maoist Rebel Movement, when our country was conflicted, and I was fighting in it. I took a bullet to my stomach, which blew through my back, and I needed twenty-seven stitches! At that time, I asked myself, “Why am I still alive? And what is the purpose of life?” Those are very important questions, but my rebellious heart still increased, and I bought some guns and gathered my friends to kill the leaders, who I felt were very selfish. So we fought with other student groups, and in one fight, they nearly killed me. My head was terribly injured, and they buried me in the sand, thinking that I had died. The police found me there, and took me again to the hospital. There my classmate gave me a New Testament–here in Nepal, where Christians were so scarce!
Matthew opened up to me, and I read about Jesus Christ. He was so selfless, and I, so selfish. So why not follow Him? I saw that He was a perfect Leader. And that, friends, is how I gave my life to our Savior, that night. And I started going to church. My parents? They certainly had trouble with my conversion! Do you know, they are very strict Hindus, and in the Brahman family–they made me an outcast and said, “You are not our son!” But three months later, I was baptized in the first church of Nepal, resigned from my job, and became a full-time worker there. You know, in Nepal, being a Christian means losing your money. So my father told me that if I would become rich or be in politics, then he would believe in Jesus. But I said, “God has called me to HIS Kingdom!” A few years later, we were reconciled, even though I was an outcast; and my parents now come to church! They ask for prayers, but they have not been baptized because of our relatives.
I’ve been to Bangelor, I’ve been to Kathmandu; pastors have invited me to live and work in London and Boston, but I am not happy anywhere except in the villages of Nepal. Do you know that there are 6,000 villages here? And many Christian workers are in the cities, but not many are in the villages. God clearly spoke to me from the book of Hebrews, which says that Moses, though a prince, left his position and chose to suffer with his people. So I took my family to the villages. But the villagers, who are in the low caste, tell me, “You are Brahman; you are coming to control us!” And it is quite dangerous to work with them. My wife and I need to come under them and be with them. We have been attacked, but God is with us. Once when the district chief came against me, he asked whether I knew who was the chief. “You are a man,” I answered, “created by God. Tomorrow you may not be here. Everything is under Him.” And I asked him to please understand this reality! He said to me, “I can put you in jail,” and he had the power to do that. I simply asked him to understand that there is a higher power.
When he sent police to guard our house day and night, I was afraid, and talked again to the chief. “Why do you do this?” I asked him. The leaders had given him orders not to touch Prakash–not to touch me. Then his policemen told me that it was for security, to which I replied, “I don’t need security!” “No, not for you!” they told me, “it’s because the leaders said not to let anything happen to you!” Three months later, the chief was kicked out; and do you know what? That same day, he came to me and told me he was sorry. But I had forgiven him from the first day, and told him so, and that in Nepal, there are not only the poor and the rich, but we are also Nepali Christians. Don’t look down on us. Whoever kicks on the Throne, for that person it will be hard. So I forgive you. Please do not be corrupt, but believe in Jesus Christ, and you will be forgiven. Now he is in the department of the foreign ministry, and says, “I met a brave Christian.”
My friends, sometimes I feel like I am walking on mines, like apostle Paul, who was always in danger. But pray for me, and for my family, please. I have been offered a position in the political system, and need to be elected–or selected–in order to give Christians a voice in Nepal. Christians have not been involved in politics for sixty years, but now they are emerging day by day. Nepal is now politically unstable. The Hindus say that Christians are outsiders and that I am not Nepali because of my belief in Christ, and therefore, that we have no citizenship here. They treat us like second-class citizens. My own family had rejected me. But I tell you that many poor people, sick, and lepers have been kicked out of their homes and made outcasts, and as a result of their rejection have come to Christ.
As Brahmans, people naturally respect my wife and I, and want me to be a member of the political party. I am thinking about it; but if I am selected, I will pray for them and not waver in my faith. I want to be there to reconcile the people and encourage the leaders, to help the orphans, widows, the poor… Whether I’m on the street, a church leader, or a political leader, my focus will be on Jesus, not on prestige.
I am an Unsung Hero!
