Pastor P. Yesupadam is one of my closest friends in the world and the most authentic Christian I know. But he was not always a follower of Jesus. To the contrary, although his father gave him the name Yesupadam, meaning “the foot of Jesus,” he grew up hating that name along with the caste system of India. That’s because he was born into an untouchable family, suffering terrible deprivation and nearly dying of starvation as a boy.
Then, at the age of 11, he was recruited by a radical Maoist communist (called a Naxalite). This gave him a sense of purpose he had never had. Now, he would fight against the caste system, stealing from the rich—violently, if need be—and giving to the poor.
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By the time he was in his early 20s, most people considered him a lost cause. In brief, he was an atheist, an alcoholic and a terrorist.
But his Christian wife and some other believers were praying for him (his marriage was arranged, of course, as per Indian custom), and God intervened in his life.
As he sat on his chair one afternoon, he saw something in the sky that got his attention, but it seemed far away. Then as the vision drew close to him. He realized he was seeing Jesus. Yesupadam saw the pierced and bloody hands, now stretched out. And he heard the Lord say, “Son, I have done all this for you. Now, what will You do for me?”
At that moment, Yesupadam was radically and dramatically born again, going out on the street, clapping his hands and shouting, “Have you heard? Jesus died and rose from the dead!”
Since then, he has done more good work in more tangible ways than anyone else I know, planting 10,000 churches in previously unreached tribal regions in India, raising and educating thousands of orphans and needy children, caring for the elderly and the handicapped, building hospitals and more. And he has replicated his work in other continents as well.
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