More than a hundred years ago a boy named Sundar was born in northern India. His family was quite wealthy and they had a very comfortable home. At school some teachers explained stories from the Bible, but Sundar had no intention of listening because he had been brought up to believe a different religion. He did not believe that the Bible was God’s Word and he tore a copy of the Bible he had got to pieces and burned it. He even threw stones at the preachers in the street.

Sundar‘s mother was very good to him and she loved her son deeply. But when he was 14 she died. Sundar felt terribly sad and angry. He felt empty inside. He was searching for the true God, but he did not know where to find Him.

He got up one dark night and prayed again. He decided that if he received no answer he did not want to live any longer. He planned to throw himself in front of the express train that passed very early each morning behind his house.

But that night his prayers were answered! God was good to him. A very bright light shone in his bedroom and he seemed to see the face of the Lord Jesus in the light and to hear Jesus say, “I died for you.” He was reminded of what he had been taught in the Bible classes at school – Jesus had died for his sins, but that He had risen again. Jesus was right there speaking to him.

From that moment, Sundar became a Christian – a true follower of the Lord Jesus. He told this to his father and the other members of his family. They were furious! They tried to persuade him to stop talking about the Lord Jesus and about the Bible. But when Sundar thought of God’s love that was the reason He sent His Son Jesus to this world to save us from our sins, he could not stop talking about it. Sundar was like the four young men in Babylon who wanted above all to please God by their lives and by their words.

His father told Sundar he would have to leave the house. He no longer belonged to the family. Poor Sundar! His father would not even give him food. So he set off and in the years that followed he travelled all over India – sometimes very hungry, sometimes with nowhere to sleep, sometimes very lonely, longing that he could go back to his home and his family.

What did Sundar do? Everywhere he went he told people about the Lord Jesus and explained to them how they could become God’s children if they were prepared to turn from their sins and trust in Jesus as their Saviour.

Sometimes the people treated him very badly and drove him away. Despite all of his problems Sundar was a very happy person. He had peace in his heart. He knew that his sins were forgiven. He had real joy in teaching the Bible to people and helping them to know the true God.

One day he set off on a long journey on foot. He never arrived at the place where the people were waiting to see him. What happened? We don’t know. He just disappeared. Maybe he was killed by bandits. But one thing we can be sure of, Sunadar is now in Heaven where he will be richly rewarded by God for all his work and his suffering.