September 1. Alok. Alok was a young man in India—a young man who faced addiction and deception and thought running away was his only choice. But one day, during Alok’s private devotions, God spoke to him and sent him on a whole new adventure.
God gave Alok a new life of purpose. Now Alok leads a group dedicated to planting churches in northern India, where both Hinduism and Buddhism began. When Alok started preaching, not even one percent of the people there were Christians, but today there are more than a million Christians and 22,000 churches!
Running from God? He has a rescue plan.
When Alok was in his teens, too often he had watched his parents crying and begging the gods to help him. I cannot be a good man, thought Alok.
Alok wanted to be a good man. He wanted to please his parents. And he wanted to please the three-eyed Hindu god, Shiva.
Because Shiva loved marijuana, Alok smoked it. This would help Alok build a relationship with him. Instead Alok was trapped. Powerless to break his addiction to marijuana, drugs, and alcohol, he left home and planned to kill himself. Maybe they will be sad one or two days, thought Alok. But then their suffering will be over.
Now, far from home, Alok stared at the nearby railroad tracks. He would try to please Shiva one last time. If the god didn’t communicate, Alok would lie on the shining metal. Smoking marijuana and drinking, he refused to sleep or eat, but he chanted all night and all day. The gods required Alok to chant his mantra 108,000 times. It was impossible to count, but surely two days of chanting would get Shiva’s attention.
Nothing happened.
“There is no god,” Alok said. “Just darkness and death, so I must go and die.”
Indulging in one last alcoholic binge, Alok stared toward the railroad tracks when a painter caught his attention. A new message gleamed on the building across the street. It read: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23 NIV).
In a drunken stupor Alok danced and sang out, “Jesus, if it is true, please save me because I’m going to die!” Then he passed out.
Alok awoke in a bed and tried to get up, but he had a fever and was vomiting. He slept fitfully throughout the day. About five o’clock, he heard someone say, “Alok, get up.”
Where had the voice come from? Weak, he crept from bed, looked beneath it and all around the empty room. There was no one there. He got back into bed, fully awake, and Someone touched his back.
He jumped.
“Alok, get up.” The voice was sweet and soft, like a father calling his son, but Alok saw no one.
Terrified, Alok clambered out of the bed, and he ran. He ran out of the building.
Outside, the falling rain streaked his face, and the wind whipped about him. He stared across the street, and a song floated from a building over there. “Jesus is calling you,” sang a chorus of voices.
A presence propelled Alok forward. As he reached the building, his bones began cracking, and a black shadow came out of his body!
“You have come to a good place, my friend,” the people in the building said. “God loves you.”
A god loved him?
A man in the front of the room talked about Jesus, and then Alok knew where the voice had come from. Somebody loved him. Somebody had died for him! Alok rushed forward. “I want to know Jesus!” Falling on the floor, he rolled around and cried for a half hour.
A few days later Alok returned to his parents. “Your son has now changed,” he told them. “He has become a good boy.”
Maybe, like Alok, you have felt the hopelessness of sin and the weight of deception or addiction. Running from God? He has a rescue plan. Run to him.
Based on an interview with Alok in 2018.
Would You Like to Learn More About This Man?
You can also read more of the story in Treasures in Dark Places by Leanna Cinquanta, published by Chosen Books, a Division of Baker Publishing, 2017.
Story read by: Peter R Warren, https://www.peterwarrenministries.com/
Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter
Audio production: Joel Carpenter
Story written by: John Mandeville, https://www.johnmandeville.com/
Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/
Project manager: Blake Mattocks
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