I’m going to share my testimony here. My name is Uma Muti. I’m going to share my long testimony but in a very short manner, just in brief. I came from Chennai. I was born and brought up in a very Orthodox Hindu Brahman family. And the way the Lord touched me was very different and very miraculous. I was born as the last daughter among the four daughters in my family. The Lord chose me but I wonder why because all my other sisters are much better but the Lord said “I choose the foolish things of this world to put to shame the wise.” The best part is we all studied in Christian convent school right from kindergarten and I was surrounded by a lot of Christian friends. They used to share the gospel to me every day, almost. And I just used to take them in this ear and out the other ear because I was such a stubborn Hindu, like you can never see my forehead without…Everyday I used to go to those temples and worship those idols. I used to chant a lot of mantras and I used to sing praises to all those idols. So I was such a stubborn person I thought I was sinless, I was so pious, I thought I was so holy. And it so happened in the year 1998 when I was doing my 12th grade, just for the fun paft of it, I just went for a camp. The message fortunately touched me. It was a message said by a sister from Isaiah chapter 45. She said the Bible says that we cut wood from a tree. One part of wood we make into an idol and we worship it and the other part of the wood we just use it as firewood for cooking. We are actually worshiping the created object and not the Creator. So if you have brains, think this. She pointed out to me in front of the whole crowd among my friends.
So I felt so bad that day. “If you have brains!” You can imagine, you know somebody pointing out when you are a teenager. So that night I had a sleepless night. So out of a critical mind to just research and criticize, I just opened the Bible and started reading it. Because I’ve never understood all these things my friends said “no one can convert another person.” You say Christians convert others but it’s not possible. I’m proof of that because conversion doesn’t happen by compulsion, it is a conviction of the heart. “Salvation is the Lord’s” the Bible says that. So happened when I started reading the Bible for the first time in my life, I got to know that idol worshiping was a sin. I’ve never known that. How can I create an object and ask the Creator to come and sit into that. Such a big great God who created me, who wants to carry me, I want to carry him now. How can I do that? For the first time in my life I got to know that I was formed with sin in my mother’s womb. Because I was so proud I was sinless, I was pious and holy.
And the second thing which really catch me was I can call this God as my own father. The God of the Bible is my father my Abba father. When I was a Hindu I used to call the names of 1000 gods, almost 33 crores gods I was worshiping. But no god that I have a personal relationship like how I have with my Jesus. I got to know only this Jesus wants to have a personal relationship with me. No other God can do that and above all I had a surprising news that I can worship this God however I am, wherever I am in whichever form I am, like whether I’m clean or not physically because most of the times in Hinduism on certain days you are not allowed into the holy Sanctuary, the temple, etc. Even Islam follows that I suppose. But it was real good news to me that I can worship this God irrespective of my physical uncleanliness. I can just worship Him from anywhere, however I am. He sees all of my heart, not my physical and cleanliness. And he doesn’t expect my sacrifices because he has already sacrificed himself on the cross of Calvary. I needn’t climb the Himalayas, I needn’t get myself dipped in the Genghis. I didn’t go to do all the sacrifices for him because he is a sacrifice for my sins. He carries me. I need not carry him.
So on that day I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior because he sacrificed for my sins. He carries me. I need not carry him. So on that day I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior. The Lord spoke to me from 2nd Corinthians 5:17 that if any of you is in Christ he is a new creation, the old is gone and everything has become new. So that day when the Lord spoke to me – I’m against stressing this. Nobody told me to do take baptism – the Lord spoke to me to take baptism from 2nd Corinthians 5:17. That day I got baptized as well as the Holy Spirit and the journey wasn’t that good. The Christian part is such a narrow, tough part. Of course a lot of persecution, a lot of tribulation, a lot of cries. On most of the days, my restrooms are my prayer rooms. It was so tough, the journey. Again long story made short but finally the Lord was good, carrying me and he guided me in my profession, in my education, he made me a lecturer and everything. And my parents were seeing this and slowly they accepted the Lord and they started praying for my marriage and I was so stubborn that I will get married only to a born-again believer. And according to my parents’ wish to get me married to a Brahmin convert, according to their heart’s desires. The Lord fulfilled their heart desires too and God is giving me a good husband and good children. He’s giving me everything. Of course there’s problems this side and that side and everywhere. But you know the Lord is holding me, he’s guiding me. He’s beside me. I can never be put to shame anywhere because wherever I was put to shame he honored me. He has never let me down anywhere. He’s been so faithful, so good, a God of faithful promises he is. As for me and my household, we will worship the Lord. Amen. All glory to Jesus.