“My family are Christians [in South India] so we used to go to church every Sunday, and then afterwards, we would eat chicken curry. Every other day of the week, we would eat vegetables, but Sundays we ate chicken. I liked chicken! But before we could eat the chicken, my father made us recite Bible verses. I never really remembered much about the verses. They didn’t make sense back then … I just wanted the chicken! But then after school, I went away to study nursing. My sister was already there, and she asked me to come to the Christian fellowship. I didn’t want to, but she said I should come and see. The first time I went, the Pastor spoke from Psalm 95. ‘Today, if only you would hear his voice. Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah …’ (verses 7-8). The Pastor talked about the incident in Exodus, when Moses struck the rock, and I’d heard about that, but that day it was different. Suddenly it hit me. God was real. He was with us. And my heart had been hard. Before that, I had wanted to go to college and have fun. I wanted to live my best life, for myself. But I realised that Jesus died for my sins! God was real and alive! Suddenly, I wanted to praise him. So I started to pray. As I did, I saw a vision – of a fire and a cross and a dove. It was like the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, revealing himself to me. I started to praise him! I knew it was the truth, and everything was different from then on. Later, I went back home, and I understood what my parents had been trying to tell me!”
Sheeba’s story is part of Eternity’s Faith Stories series, compiled by Naomi Reed. Click here for more Faith Stories.
