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Transformed at Tea Time

March 4, 2010

Intense family pride kept the message of the Gospel from sinking into Swapna's heart the first several times she heard it. Her family was especially devoted to their deities, and no one was going to change that—or so she thought.

Swapna was a schoolgirl visiting a friend's home when she heard of Jesus for the first time. While the seed was being planted in her heart, she outwardly rejected her friends for choosing to follow Christ.

Later, two Gospel for Asia–supported missionaries gave her some Gospel tracts. Swapna ran into these missionaries several times and finally started avoiding them because she didn't want to keep hearing their message. The missionaries continued sharing Jesus with her. They suggested that she go to a camp at a nearby Bible college campus. To their surprise, she agreed.

It was at this camp that Swapna's heart finally opened to the truth of the message she'd been hearing for years. She realized that the gods she worshiped could never give her peace or happiness.

However, fear of her family's intense commitment to their religion kept Swapna from receiving the Savior.

Slowly, Swapna started studying the Bible on her own, gradually becoming more and more convinced that Jesus was the true God. She started praying to Him. But the turmoil inside between choosing Christ and living peacefully with her family members became too great. She finally went to the two missionaries and poured out her heart.

To help clarify things for Swapna, the missionaries invited her to a tea they were planning. There, as Swapna listened to a GFA–supported missionary clearly answer all her doubts and fears, she felt a new peace—and chose that day to follow the Lord. With her newfound boldness, she went home and declared her decision.

Her family was immediately angry and continues to oppose her new faith. Yet she continues to courageously hold on to it, even sharing with others by actively helping the two missionaries who led her to Christ. Swapna shares her faith with any friends and family she can. She requests prayer for God's strength through the opposition she is facing.