Dear Fellow brothers and Sisters
Greetings at love and happiness in the name of our lord and savoir Jesus Christ. I hope this letter finds you well! I’m writing to share with you my testimony and life Story. I am writing this story because it’s not about me. It’s about the one who created me, called me, leading me and who is taking care for every minute of my life.
About Me
I am Sajeev, 25 years old. I am from South India, Andhra Pradesh State, i was born in a faithful Untouchable Christian family,
My Family in India
I would like to introduce my family. My dad, Rev G. P. J. Victor Babu is a Pastor in a village called Gollanapalli in Andhra Pradesh State in India. My mum, Subha, helps my dad in ministry. I am the only son to my parents, and I have two married sisters, Swapna and Sindhura.
About My Community
I think you might have question of what is Untouchable. Here I would like to tell you about Untouchables - social evil, Caste system in India. Caste system was created by Hindu religion 3000 years ago. It says mankind divided into four main castes. The main four castes are: Brahmins - Priests and Teachers; Shatriyas - Rulers and Soldiers; Vaisyas - Merchants and Traders; and Sudras - Laborers and Servants. There is one more caste called Dalits. The Dalits fall beneath this structure and are considered less than human. They are approximately 300 million people in India who are deemed "Untouchable" and comprise the lowest rung of the Hindu caste system. Their position in Asian society is justified by ancient Hindu religious texts such as The Laws of Manu. Dalits are expected to perform menial, degrading tasks that include unclogging sewers, disposing of dead bodies and cleaning latrines. Dalits are forced to live in separate settlements, prohibited from worshiping in temples, barred from using the village wells, and their children often denied education or made to sit in the back of the classroom. The Indian constitution outlaws the caste system and reserves nearly 25 percent of government jobs and university spots for Dalits. However, more than a million of these posts remain unfilled, or filled by dishonest non-Dalits. Even simple Dalit assertions of their lawful rights and privileges have touched off hate crimes against them by members of the upper castes. These have included rape, harassment, violence and murder. The average literacy rate among Dalits is approximately 37 percent. Among some Dalit communities it is as low as 10 percent. Every hour, two Dalits are assaulted, three Dalit women raped, two Dalits murdered and two Dalit houses burned, according to the Human Rights Education Movement of India, yet only one percent of those who commit crimes against Dalits are ever convicted. In India alone, the combined population of Dalits and other low-caste groups equals approximately 700 million people. While Brahmins comprise just 5 to 9 percent of India's more than1 billion people, they control 78 percent of India's judicial posts, approximately half of the parliament and 89 percent of the nation's major media outlets.
Hope you understand what it means to be like an untouchable caste man in India. I was born in such caste. I faced many embarrassment moments in my life being untouchable. Untouchables don’t have freedom as others even though India got freedom 63 years ago. Indian Dalits are still under the bondage of high caste people.
But the good news is majority of Indian Christians are untouchables and finding freedom in Christ. We are so glad and Thankful to our God who treats every man, His creation as equal without any differences.
God Saving My Life
When I was an young boy, I was shy and timid. I kept my faith mostly to myself and I was not much bothered about my appearance. As I began to enter my teenage, I was very keen about my looking. One day, as I was looking at myself in the mirror, I became very keen about the scar on my body. I can still see burnt marks on my ear and arm. I didn’t know how and when those marks have appeared. When I asked my Mum and Dad, they told an incident, a bitter incident…
When I was a baby [13 months old], I was playing on the bed and there was a boiling dish down near my bed. Unfortunately and accidentally I fell into a hot dish which was full of hot spicy soup. I was burnt severely and hospitalized. My condition was severe and my parents were in the state of depression and desperate. There was only one HOPE for them which is JESUS. My parents are Christians and cried for help from above. Particularly, my father made a promise in the presence of the lord that he would dedicate his son [me] for the lord’s work if his son alive from the terrible accident. God had been so gracious to me and I was completely healed. After this incident I was named Sajeevnadh which means Eternal and Alive. As I heard this incident, tears filled with my eyes.
This bitter incident has changed my life in big way. I surrendered myself to the lord and I accepted Jesus as my personal saviour and I praise God for his wonderful miracle that took place in my life.
Life in Australia
In 2008 I was excited to receive a calling from God to get equipped in Discipleship training school in the YWAM Perth. It took me about one year to overcome many battles like Visa Challenge and financial battles as i am preparing to come to Australia we sold everything we own. Finally i have landed Perth with 1000 dollars. To do my training i need 6000 dollars. But i don’t know where the rest of the money is going to come. But God is faithful to his promise. Miraculously God has provided through some friends in our training program.
Even today i testify God’s faithfulness i have been as a staff in YWAM Perth all most an year when i first came i have no supporter i don’t know how i am going live as a missionary in Australia, but after few months i have got one supporter who supports me with 10 dollars per month and eventually i got another supporter supporting me with 150 USD. But i have been always some debts to ywam. So last month i had a fundraising event which helped me to clear most my debits in ywam , which is another cool testimony in my life.
I am so grateful to God how he leads me and care for me.
My Dream /Vision
God gave me a Vision and Passion that to love, Care, for the Orphan hungry and homeless children. And to educate them and teach them to be self reliance. i love to see community developed by training life skills job especially so they might have a better life.
Thank you for taking the journey with me, spending your valuable time and patience till now. Please pray for my vision that it would come to reality
I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.
In His Great Mission,
Sajeevnadh Guruvindapalli
