When Sudhakar, a member of Feba’s Bangalore team, visited an evangelical church in the Indian state of Goa, he met a listener called Samuel. Samuel related how God had intercepted him in a disastrous course of action, brought him to repentance and transformed his life.
Goa is best known as a holidaymaker’s paradise. Long sandy beaches, a relaxed lifestyle, exotic cuisine, friendly people. Around 30 per cent of the people are professing Christians, a legacy of four centuries of Portuguese rule which ended in 1961.
Samuel, a personable businessman in his forties, was raised in a family that was nominally Christian. Although not a churchgoer, he liked to tune in to Feba in the morning as he was getting ready for work. He and a partner had built up a business together that was doing well. Life was pretty good – till one day Samuel noticed that something was not right in the books. A small amount of money had gone missing. As the days went by, larger sums began to disappear. He realised his partner was cheating him.
Anger built up
Samuel was deeply upset, and anger built up in his heart. He became obsessed with the idea of revenge. He decided he would kill his partner! One morning he armed himself and prepared to go round to his partner’s house. As usual his radio was tuned to Feba. Suddenly Samuel heard the presenter say: “In a rage of anger we want to kill and finish the person, but God who is rich in mercy and the creator of human beings wants to save his life … God says, ‘Repent and forgive him – you have no right to take another’s life.’”
Reconciled
“The statement pierced my heart!” said Samuel. “I wondered how God knew my plot to kill my partner! I confessed my sin to God and pleaded for mercy. After the programme ended, I went immediately to my partner’s house and we were reconciled. It was a memorable day in my life.”
Samuel, now married and a worship leader in his church, says he will always be grateful to Feba for the message he heard that day. “Had I not listened to God’s Word on the radio,” he comments, “my life would have been a different story.”