Ralph's Salvation Story: It was on 26th of June, 2010, that 15yr old Ralph (son of David and Monica) got baptised, accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord of his life, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit with so much of Joy, Happiness & gratitude in his heart
My journey with Ralph started almost 6 month back when some brothers and sisters from San Francisco visited Bangalore church. They taught me along with many other E-Soccer volunteers, how to help the special needs kids like Ralph to study the Bible, help them understand the word of God & the gospel of Christ. After getting the study materials designed by Michael (Brother from San Francisco) for special kids, Samson , Redeep and I, along with Ralph’s Dad, David, started studying the Bible with him. It was a challenging job for all of us & especially for me, who, never had a close interaction with special kids. We had 9 studies to do. (The word of God, The Kingdom of God, The sin, The Cross, Repentance, Discipleship, Baptism and other Character studies.) Each study took at least 3 days to complete because, we could teach only according to his limits of concentration. We were all very amazed because the kind of response and the eagerness that Ralph showed in each study. He used to remember everything that we taught him even 10 days before. Sometimes we would miss to recap a few points but he would remind us of those points before going to the next study!
As the studies progressed, we saw great changes in his daily life. He was more eager to pray and to confess his sins to almost everyone who would initiate to spend time with him. This attitude in fact encouraged even many other teen disciples to open up their unconfessed sins and to make progress. Ralph’s dedication, determination and commitment always motivated me to give myself fully to Ralph. In fact he would follow-up on all of us to make sure that we don’t miss any of our study appointments with him.
There were many times when Ralph’s response was not just faith building but challenged my own faith & love for Christ. The one moment very close to my Heart was when I did the Cross study with him, and he prayed with tears in his eyes because he had understood that it were his sins that nailed Jesus on the Cross. It really moved my heart because in my 11years of a disciple’s life, I never saw anyone giving such a genuine response from a contrite and broken heart. I witnessed the power of the living word of God which led to godly sorrow and true repentance.
Ralph’s commitment towards knowing God and loving Him, gave him strength and knowledge that surpassed all his difficulties and disabilities (we were proved wrong in our assumption that we would be forced to go slow with a special boy like Ralph). Moreover our Lord and our God showed us that nothing is impossible for HIM because it is HE, who provides wisdom and knowledge those who earnestly seek HIM with all their heart, mind and soul.
Looking at Ralph’s life, I am reminded of the scripture, that man looks at the outward appearances, but God looks at the heart. No doubt God gifted Ralph with a genuine heart to seek Him and love Him above all. Today his baptism gives hope for many disciples across India who have special needs kids that their kids too can become disciples. He is also a source of inspiration to normal teens who struggle to take a decision to study the Bible and accept Jesus as Lord in their life.
I am also grateful to brothers Dinesh and Roger, who constantly helped us and got personally involved with Ralph’s life. Above all, undoubtedly, this miraculous dream conversion came true because of the faith, trust and constant support of David, Monica and Riya, Ralph’s family.
I want to end this with the scripture 1 Corinthians 1: 27-31; “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let those who boast, boast in the Lord.” “
So let us all boast in Christ for HE alone is Loving and Sovereign Lords above all and to HIM belongs the Glory for ever and ever Amen!!!
Written By Abhijeet Kale
Indian Church of Christ,Bangalore
Teens presented a moving skit and sisters presented a wonderful dance.
