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Satish Phalle

#2838380

A real-life story of a Hindu Priest, whose life is transformed by God’s Grace, and obeys a call to serve Him

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              I was born and brought up in a Hindu family. My grandfather was a priest in a temple and he used to take me regularly to worship our Hindu gods. My family dedicated me to our family gods when I was 5 years old. From the day of my dedication until I was 16 years old, every morning from 6:00 AM to 7:00 AM I had to visit the temple and worship our family gods. We had almost 300 gods in our temple and I had to worship 200 gods every day. Whenever I visited the temple to worship in the morning, I had deep fear about my future, wondering what would happen to me if I did not worship our family gods. Even though I was doing the duties of a priest in the temple, I did not have a good relationship with my father because I felt that he never loved me and provided for my needs. He had several addictions like drinking, smoking, and gambling. I always felt lonely and wondered if anyone truly loved me. I began to think, “Is there a living God in this world who loves me and has a good plan for my life?” Neither my family members nor my friends had an answer to my question. This question was constantly bothering me. In addition to it, my father’s behavior and his bad habits made me extremely upset and angry all the time. How I received Christ On January 26th,1998 at about 6:00 PM I completed our worship in the temple and was returning home. On the way home I noticed a big movie screen and JESUS Film was being shown. This was the first time I heard about Christianity and Jesus Christ. There were about 200 people watching the movie. At the end of the film, two people that came from another city to show the movie told us that if anyone needed more information about Jesus, they can meet them. I thought to myself, “This is my chance to finally ask my longstanding questions.” I asked them to give me some books so, I could read more about Jesus. That night, they gave me a booklet titled “Four Spiritual Laws” and a New Testament. After I came home, I began reading the booklet and immediately my attention was focused on the first page where it was written, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” These words gave me hope and hope for my future life. On page 10 there was a prayer. I prayed through it and invited Jesus Christ into my life. I was able to complete the booklet on the same day. After I began reading the New Testament, I learned several things about God’s character and His plan for each person’s life. One verse that attracted me was, “I came that they might have life and might have it abundantly, that it might be full and meaningful” (John 10:10). After one year of reading and discovering more about Christianity, on October 1st, 1998 I decided to follow Jesus Christ. 
            How my life transformed after receiving Christ After I received Christ, my family began to persecute and discourage me from following Christianity because in their opinion it was a British religion. In spite of the rejection from my family, I continued my faith in Jesus Christ and gave more time to read the Word of God. However, I stayed with my family for almost one year during these challenging times. One day my father told me, “You have to make a choice. If you want to follow Jesus, then you must leave our house but, if you reject Jesus and worship our Hindu gods, you can stay with us.” After 3 months, I chose to follow Jesus and leave the house. It was really a tough decision. After graduating from college, God put a heavy burden on my heart to evangelize an unreached community in my village, whose population is 1 million. They never heard about Jesus Christ. Because of this burden, I decided to dedicate my life to serving as a career missionary with CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ) in India. For the last 20 years, we have been involved in the mission and are still enjoying our missionary journey with Jesus Christ. I have a great burden to see my family saved. God has done amazing work in my heart, enabling me to truly love and pray for my family and friends so, they too come to know and experience the true love of God. My desire is to see my family members, friends, and all the people that I know back in our village come to know Jesus Christ. Looking back, I am amazed at the way God has transformed me. I used to quarrel with my father and other people as I was filled with anger all the time. I did not have peace in my life but, now I am enjoying my life with the Lord and my family (wife and children). Indeed, my life has been transformed because of Jesus Christ. For the last two years, my wife and children have relocated to the Philippines to complete Biblical studies at the International Graduate School of Leadership. By the Grace of God, my wife and I have completed our Biblical studies in May 2020 and returned to  Pune, India to begin a ministry as part of our commitment to serving the Lord through CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ, India). 
To God be the glory!
Satish & Hetal Phalle, Phone +91 9028489246


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