A woman shares her testimony of the Lord’s healing and redemptive power in her
life. Names, locations and sensitive details have been protected for security
purposes.
My name is Loukya. I was born and brought up in a family that followed a
traditional Asian religion. I am married and my husband, Naathim, farms.
Since I was born and brought up in a non-Christian family, I practiced all of
the rituals according to our doctrines. Since my childhood, my parents taught me
all the religious customs, which influenced me badly. I remember those days when
my parents would offer prayers especially to one goddess whom they believed was
powerful.
Woman Stops Worshiping Her Goddess, Falls Sick
When I turned 25, I got married and started a new life with my husband. He never
compelled me to worship the gods, so I did not perform any kinds of rituals in
my house for one year.
While everything was going well in my family life, one day I became sick and
began to suffer from a headache and other illness [weakness and nausea].
However, I did not take my bad health seriously.
As the days went by, my headache started to develop day by day, and I became
more ill. By that time, my husband took me for several medical checkups, and I
was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
My husband did not tell me this. Everyone in my family visited me at the
hospital and encouraged me with their lovely words, [saying] that within a week
I would be all right. The doctor said to my husband that I had to undergo a
major operation immediately, which would cost us a huge amount. While my husband
was sharing these issues with an elder brother, I found out about my brain
tumour, and I became afraid.
Enveloped in Darkness
That particular evening, I started to think about my past behavior and how I had
not worshiped any gods for the last year. I thought to myself, That could be the
reason I got ill, and now I am going to die. I had no hope for my life. I felt
heavy darkness surrounding me, and death was following me. Those days were a
bitter experience in my life.
About two weeks later, I was admitted to a private hospital and got general
medication, which gave me a little relief for the time being. Then my parents
took me with them to live in their house. My husband was also with me. With the
help of local villagers, I went through naturopathic treatment in my mother’s
village.
In those days, my husband happened to meet with a witch doctor who advised him
to memorize some sacred words and chants by which I could be cured. One evening,
the witch doctor visited me at my mother’s house, chanted some mantras and gave
me some handmade medicine. Early in the morning, my husband would recite some
mantras for my healing, but all became useless. Nothing could heal my disease;
rather, my problem started to increase every day.
When all hope had vanished, a group of women [from Women’s Fellowship] came to
visit our village. Their names were Hafiza, Paavai, Sabrang and Tamarai. They
shared with me about the name of Jesus and gave me some literature to read.
Given Hope to Live
First, I did not understand why they gave me a small book. Tamarai told me about
how Jesus died on the cross of Calvary for the redemption of mankind. Then I
started to share my personal problems with her, saying, “For the last nine
months, I have been suffering from a brain tumour. I have gone through several
medications, but nothing could heal my disease. Rather, every day it is
developing. I have lost hope of living on this earth.”
That particular moment, Hafiza and the other sisters joined their hands and
prayed for me and assured me I’d be in their daily prayers. They gave me hope to
live in this world. To my amazement, the whole day I had no headache, and my
faith began to grow.
Faith Blossoms Into Love for Jesus
From time to time, the sisters visited me and prayed for me, and they conducted
weekly prayer meetings. As days passed by, the Lord healed me, and my husband
and I opened our hearts to Jesus and began attending the church in our village.
When Loukya went for a checkup, the doctor couldn’t find any tumour on her
brain. Today Naathim and Loukya are strong in their faith, and they’re
faithfully involved in their church.
With permission from Gospel For Asia . Received on October 10, 2014
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