At our Easter outreach event on campus, we met a student whose quiet presence gave little hint of the remarkable story she was about to share.
When I followed up with Amar soon after, she opened up about how her family in India—originally from a Sikh background—came to follow Jesus. Their decision to embrace Christ has come at great personal cost, yet their faith has remained firm in the face of hostility and persecution from their own loved ones and wider community.
I asked her, “What led you and your family to believe in and follow Jesus?”
She replied, “We encountered Jesus through many miracles that God graciously did in our family, especially healing. No other god could do what Jesus did. We were so excited to share about Him, but others didn’t believe us. They treated us as traitors to our community and said, ‘We have thousands of gods—why is your God the only true one?’ My dad was even hospitalised for a few years because of the pressure from our community. But God is good. This year has been the most peaceful our family has experienced in a long time.”
I then asked how she managed to stay strong in her faith.
“We’ve seen Jesus’ power with our own eyes—we can’t deny it,” she said. “I believed in Jesus when I was 14, and over the years I’ve become so thankful. I know who I am in Christ. I don’t need to follow the crowd or seek identity in relationships with boys like many of my peers do.”
When I asked if she had any dreams for her time at university, her face lit up.
“Yes! I’d love to see a South Asian Christian group on campus,” she said, “where we can meet regularly, encourage each other, and reach more South Asian students.”
Praise God, Amar and I now meet regularly for discipleship and for praying into this dream. I truly believe this is God’s work. Gathering South Asian Christians and reaching others from their background has long been on our hearts and in our prayers.
*Name changed for privacy.
