You Will Never Be Able To Marry

I have known Christopher for over a year now.  When he first started to attend our church, I watched him from a distance and occasionally spoke to him either for greeting or for the goodbyes in the church.  But things began to change when I noticed him paying full attention to what I had to say every Sunday; he often came around and made some encouraging comments on my sermons, illustrations and gestures. 

Then, I saw him and his beautiful family joyfully taking part in extra activities of the church; always willing to lend his helping hand in every circumstance.  He appeared to be a person longing for a genuine Christian fellowship and friendship.  By nature, he is a person with passion for life and learning, and with his weak body in some years ago, today he is a healthy person with magnificent body; taking active part in the world of body building and fitness.  He is a magnet for friendship and social interaction, and yet, deep down in his heart, there is a longing to be the witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is also blessed with many godly people throughout his life who have left lasting influence in his beautiful soul.

A few months ago, Christopher had offered me to lend his expertise in maintaining good health and had invited me to join his gym in the university where he teaches.  But I had never entered a gym in my life.  Although I have overcome the fear of public speaking, I am still as shy as I was in my teen years when it comes to social activity; gym is rather intimidating for a person like me who cannot bend any mussels.  The only sport I really enjoyed was Table Tennis but it has been more than a decade since I last played a real game. 

When the doctors told me to lose weight or face the danger, I took refuse in my wife’s company and started to climb mountains and walk along the river trails in Daejeon.  It is now nearly 10 years that we are walking together; it not only brought my health to a normal stage, it also brought our married life to a new level of joy and happiness.  Many hours of walking hand in hand brought us closer like never before.  Even though we have enjoyed walking and climbing, I could not bring back my waist line to a normal size and lately I have had some difficulty standing behind the pulpit for more than 40 minutes.

Last week, Christopher walks up to me after the church and offers his help again, this time along with my son.  Because my son was with us for the winter break, I could not resist Christopher's offer this time.  In reality, my son is no different than I.  He is as shy as I am.  But, father and son, we felt we could pull this off.  So now, we are with Christopher every day in his gym for two hours and within these few days, I can feel the influence Christopher has on us.  I am no longer conscious of others in the gym nor am I worried what I can and cannot do; I have begun to enjoy my workout and so too my son. 

Today while three of us were in the treadmills, Christopher shared his early experience of entering a gym with his skinny body and a person close to him made such a remark that still rings in his ears, “Chris…tow…phaar,,,,…youuuu…toooooo....”!  Sadly, the person passed away but how he longs he had the chance to show to that person the beautiful body he has achieved in the last 8 years.

As Christopher was sharing his experience, I shared with him how one of my best friends in high school made a remark about me that still rings in my ears.  He said, “Unless you revert back to Hinduism, you will never be able to marry because no girl will like you unless your parents search a bride for you”.  While in the high school, I accepted Christ as my Lord and savior.  This put me in direct conflict with my Hindu parents and my prospect of getting a wife from within my culture evaporated.  There were no single Christian women in that part of Nepal in those days; I only knew a handful of men who had become Christian.  So, my friend had challenged me that if I ever wanted to marry, I had to revert to Hinduism and ask my parents to look for a bride according to our age old tradition. 

After high school, the Lord called me into the full time ministry.  I was ostracized from home and community, and never returned to my hometown for about 14 years.  After 14 years, I had to take my wife and five years old son to my hometown for some legal documents.  When we arrived in the nearby town, it was a dark evening with lazy rain drizzling outside. We entered a small roadside restaurant, lighted with oil lamps as there was no electricity, for dinner.  Seated across our table was a man who was constantly staring at us; I tried to gesture, trying to tell him how annoying his gaze was, but he would not take his eyes off of us.  As my family did not speak Nepali, he was simply fascinated to see this strange family coming to his small town and speaking in a foreign tongue.

I could no longer tolerate his gaze, and thus walked over to his table and asked him if he wanted to say something to us.  As I was standing over him, he kind of froze and stood up and said, “Are you Bhojraj Bhatta?”  “Yes”, I said and he sat down without saying anything.  Again I asked if I could do anything for him.  In replying, he told his name; there we sat for a long time reminiscing the last 14 years.  He saw his prediction fall to the ground and I was able to share with him about a God who determines our destinies.  He is yet to accept Christ.

Faith in God is so amazing that it can help us overcome anything that was placed upon us to restrict our potentials.  Some of the negative words spoken during our formative years do have a grip like power over our soul.  But in Christ, all of them can be broken.  Christopher has seen it happen in his life.  I have seen it happen in my life and anyone who trusts in God will see that happen again and again.