“You make known to me the path of life;
You will fill me with joy in your presence,
With eternal pleasures at your right hand.
– Psalms 16:11

I wonder if you can think back to your journey with God and how He has made known to you the paths of life and led you as your Shepherd to enjoy His presence and the eternal pleasures at His right hand, where Christ is seated. I had often wondered about Psalm 16:11 and recalled how Christ was making “known to me the paths of life” by bringing that truth to me not only in a very personal way but also in a contextual way, within the worldview and lifestyle I was brought up in. It was so unique to me. 

It was at the Hethne Conference organised by SCGM and WEA mission commission that this need to use contextual forms to reach the lost and disciple new believers came to the forefront for me. At this conference a Hindu festival was celebrated using Hindu forms and rituals but these symbolism were translated into scriptural truths which proclaimed the truths of Christ. 

This understanding set the stage for an encounter with a Hindu youth and his family. This youth had been surviving by selling key chains on MRT trains and my friend witnessed to him and he received the Lord. I was asked to help disciple him. As his parents were strict Hindus who had told him that they will disown him if he changed religion, so he kept his salvation a secret. 

But he was in relationship with a Hindu deity, and given a guiding mentor spirit. When he tested the spirit, it became a vengeful spirit that tried to attack him. One morning at 2am when he learnt the way of Christ and the Christian path of life, the demonic spirit left him and could not approach him anymore.

Soon he was enlisted to the police force for national service, something he had asked of the Lord. It was at his passing out parade that I met his parents and younger sister. However, one year later he accidentally shot himself in the head and died. I was in rural Thailand then. On my return I shared with his parents about his faith as a Christian and only then did they understand the changes in his lifestyle. I told them he had found the path of life through Christ and he is experiencing eternal pleasures now with Christ. I told them they can see him again if they accept Christ and was glad to lead them in prayer to accept Jesus.

I visit them every year on the 29th June which was his birthday. They often have dreams which baffle them and God has used those dreams to disciple them, especially this year where their ‘son’ appeared several times in their dreams and they felt perplexed. However, the Lord helped me interpret the dream and the message and they realised scriptural truths through that.  

This highlighted to me how we can show the path of life which leads to joy in His presence using the contextual form of a pathway that former Hindu converts are familiar with and are thus willing to tread on. This form of a pathway is more likely to lead them into eternal pleasures at the right hand of God, where Christ is seated.