I was brought up listening to bible stories as a child.

When my parents came to tuck me

in for bed they used to tell me different stories and we had family prayer together every
night. I was brought up being taught right and wrong according to the Bible and I was
generally nice to everyone. I think this is what planted the seed in my heart.
When I was 9 years old I developed a sinus infection which spiraled into a series of
surgeries I had to undergo. The whole process is what took my parents from being
namesake Christians to following and living to serve God. However, considering I was
unconscious for most of it, I wouldn’t be able to tell the story right. What I do remember
though, apart from trying to say one word and my lips forming another, and learning to
walk again, is how during some nights when I was scared and couldn’t sleep, I used to
ask my mother to tell me Bible stories and they brought me a sense of peace. Once again
even the thought of God brought my semi-conscious self peace. In a later incident, after
having a stroke, I was in the intensive care unit for 2 days unconscious. Every 2 or 3
hours I would wake up and cry saying “the wall is coming, the wall is coming, put me
down. If you touch me all you’ll have is my body” That's when the nurses would sedate
me again. All the teams of doctors watching over me came together to decide whether
they wanted to keep me on life support or if it was time to give up. My parents were
praying and the doctors were discussing the options. After a while I opened my eyes,
looked at my dad, and said “dad that's enough, I can’t,” and closed my eyes. Similarly
after 10 minutes I looked at my mom and said “amma that's enough, I can’t”. I'm sure I
scared them, my mom is a psychologist who’s dealt with patients nearing death and that
was the kind of behavior I was showing. After another 5 minutes, I opened my eyes again
and said in my mother tongue, “Jesus papa, I’ve had enough, please don't let me bear it
anymore.” To everyone’s surprise, after a bit, I woke up, smiled and asked for water and
that night my fever finally started to go down but I still had surgeries after that; my time
at the hospital wasn’t complete yet.
I remember my parents' faces as they helped me walk again. As I took my first steps
again, God used that time to guide them to a small town in North India to serve and share
God's love. I was enrolled in an international Christian school to start middle school.
Despite all going through 8 brain surgeries, and a stroke, God still allowed me to
continue my education without missing a year. At Woodstock school, I had teachers who
kept pouring into my soul through various Bible studies and retreats. I smiled through the
whole process of my hospitalization but as I spent more time in middle school, I became
more aware of the change my surgeries had on me. This led to me questioning God, why
me of all the kids this could have happened to. The questions turned into accusations and
I put it all on God. However, God was still my safe space, I took my pain to him and was
comforted.
It went on like this until grade 10. That's when Covid hit. I was in a bad place. I didn't
speak much to the local kids since I didn't speak the local language and all my friends
from school were gone due because classes were being conducted virtually. After months
of it, of no real communication with people, I started to be more irritable and lethargic.
During this time all I did was play basketball alone at local courts. I spent little to no time
thinking about God.
One day there was a new face at church, after the sermon was over and people were
clearing out, he came up to me and said "Rohan, I came all the way here to tell you to
make sure you have God above everything else in your life." I had no clue how this man
knew my name, I asked my parents if they had told him and it turned out they hadn't. This
made me think but it didn’t change anything. The next day was a Monday. I was going
out to play basketball as usual and I ran into this man again and he asked me why I
played basketball, trust me when I tell you I had a lot to say. After listening to it all, He
said, “It sounds a lot like Basketball is your God,” That stuck with me. Basketball was
what I brought all my problems to now, It was what brought me peace. This stayed on my
mind as I kept playing.
Once the lockdown was lifted and schools started having in-person classes again, I found
myself at a new school as the one I was at previously didn’t offer the courses I needed for
what I planned to do for my further studies. At this new school, I was a complete oddball.
I had been away from Indian school culture for 9 years, I was a complete foreigner.
However, I was pulled into all the different cliques. It gave me chance to see how
everyone was in their groups and individually. What I learned was that the students were
separated according to their interests but the general values stayed constant throughout. It
stood out to me how the students casually showed no remorse in their actions or words as
if they didn’t even know it was sinful or wrong. I was silently grateful for the knowledge
of God and I prayed for the strength to patiently and lovingly co-exist. It wasn’t easy for
me, I dreaded each day, the senior block where I had my classes seemed to be engulfed in
a cloud of evil; It wore me out daily.
One day out of the blue, I reached out to a person I knew but had never talked to before.
The idea that he ran a youth group somehow entered my mind, I hadn’t ever thought of
this person before, I just knew he existed from when I was introduced to him almost 6
years earlier. I asked him about the youth group and we met and he asked me about my
faith and why I sought this out all of a sudden. I told him honestly that I didn’t know,
something just came over me. He helped me a lot in my faith journey and it helped me
mature and handle my time at that school better. I was constantly questioned about my
faith, one person even asked me why I don’t just change my religion to Hinduism so I
could fit in better. I had to constantly defend my faith and grow in knowledge and faith to
do so. Somewhere along the way I consciously submitted my life to Jesus and dedicated
my life to being a man of God.
I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs but I see how God’s working in my life and
guiding my path. It's very obvious and I’ve seen how he listens to prayer. I strive to honor
him and bring glory to him through my life and my interactions I believe this school
could be one step forward in my path of building a life that seeks to serve God.
And now, I’m finally getting the opportunity I was longing for, to serve God in ministry.
I was accepted and invited to serve at the FCA’s (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) 2024
Global Impact internship where they use sports the share the good news.
I desperately want to serve as a missionary doctor and I want a Godly environment to
nurture my spirit as I do. My parents are missionaries too and they aren't sponsored or
supported by anyone so I'm reaching out for all the help I can get to make this possible. I
trust that God will guide me along the path he wants me to take.