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No Longer a Slumdog<br />

And it is a bondage. But the problem was, even<br />

though I wanted to get freedom from this, I could <strong>no</strong>t<br />

because we were <strong>no</strong>t educated. I didn’t understand<br />

how to get liberated. I wanted freedom, but there was<br />

<strong>no</strong> way to get out. In the society that I grew up in, it<br />

is destined. I could <strong>no</strong>t become a higher-caste person<br />

because the cycle is always there, and this is what I<br />

believed. It was all <strong>no</strong>rmal life for us.<br />

After some years, I became sick and could <strong>no</strong>t tell<br />

east from west, and I could hardly stand. My family<br />

did all sorts of pujas and rituals for my healing, but<br />

<strong>no</strong>thing worked. My father came, and for six years<br />

he prayed for my healing, shared the Gospel with me<br />

and encouraged me. But then one night, he asked<br />

some other Christians he knew to pray for my healing.<br />

My family who did <strong>no</strong>t k<strong>no</strong>w the Lord said, “If<br />

Jesus can heal him, then we will accept Jesus as our<br />

Savior.” That was the challenge they set.<br />

As my father prayed, I felt a strange kind of feeling.<br />

The next morning, I was able to ride my bike<br />

again. I was completely healed. The whole village was<br />

shocked. They had <strong>no</strong>t k<strong>no</strong>wn Christ could do such a<br />

thing.<br />

Because of this miracle, I gave my life to the Lord.<br />

I understood that I was freed from the bondages of<br />

the caste system. In Christ, there is <strong>no</strong> high caste and<br />

<strong>no</strong> low caste. And when the barrier is <strong>no</strong>t there, I’m<br />

<strong>no</strong> <strong>longer</strong> under bondage. I’m free only in Christ.<br />

And this is what I love. My main desire is to go<br />

and make people here in the village realize that we<br />

can be freed. If people can realize there is <strong>no</strong> difference<br />

in a person, whether from a Dalit society or from<br />

high society, their bondage will be broken. Their eyes<br />

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