SEND! magazine Fourth Quarter 2007: From Riches to Rags

From Riches to Rags

One Woman's Journey to Grace

It was midnight when the sound of crashing glass woke Namisha's relatives. In the darkness, Namisha had bumped into a wall and dropped a bottle of poison she was carrying—and with it, shattered the only way she knew to escape the cancer and despair that were consuming her. But she was about to learn how her quest for grace would transform her future—and how she, a member of India's revered high caste, would spend her life among people she would have formerly shunned.

As a child, Namisha Chettri had a dangerous interest. Her well-educated and curious mind latched onto the ideas she had discovered in some Christian literature she had read. She knew the white smear of ash on her family members' foreheads meant they were set apart—more holy and powerful than others in her village. And her father continually reminded her that their superior social position wouldn't allow her to consider the Christian writings.

"This is foreign," her father warned. "You should not read it."

Still, her interest deepened.

Her family's status was based entirely on tradition, devotion and ritual purity. Every year, Namisha watched her family sacrifice the heads of 100 goats. And she couldn't bring her lower-caste school friends to her house because she knew her family would reject them as unclean. Her place as a member of the Brahmin caste affected every aspect of her life, down to which side of the road she would walk on.

Christianity seemed so different.

Cast Out

Namisha was only 10 when her parents died. But their teaching had made its mark. At 19, she married a Brahmin man just as devout as her father and, according to Indian tradition, moved in with his family.

Namisha's interest in Christianity began resurfacing at the same time that it was becoming more obvious there was no grace in her world.

When an atheist visited their house, her husband threw him out. And when Namisha's in-laws discovered her husband had a drinking problem, they forced the couple to leave the family home.

Things went downhill from there. Her husband abandoned her for another woman and took their two small sons. Namisha was alone—rejected by the system that was once her pride. And a final blow to any remaining hope came when she found she had cancer.

Namisha found refuge with relatives, but they had little sympathy for her. So late one night, she decided to end her life—but her suicide attempt failed when the bottle of poison broke.

The very next morning, three missionaries came to their home. Like finally getting a deep breath, at last Namisha heard the full Gospel message that had intrigued her for so long. She clung to it and gave her life to Christ—and in doing so, crushed any possibility of ever being reunited with her immediate family.

Finding a New Family

India's Caste System: No Gray Areas
Urabrani Devi, a Brahmin woman in Uttar Pradesh, India, committed a social taboo by inviting a Dalit to her dinner party earlier this year. According to AsianAge.com, Urabrani and her family are now considered unclean. No one in her village will talk to them or let them draw water from the village well.
"We are not asking for too much," village elders told reporters. "All she needs is to purify herself by taking a dip in the Ganga [Ganges River] and organize a puja and a feast to atone for her sins. "There is a social system and we are all part of it. We cannot break tradition at will."

But what Namisha found in a local church led by a GFA-supported pastor was a family different from any she had ever known. It was a new community, based not on which rituals to perform, but on grace and love—and she found it among the very people her caste had taught her to avoid. It was life—changing, especially when God answered prayer and healed her of cancer.

An unconscious, inbred dignity still surrounds Namisha, whether she is handing out tracts, hulling rice or serving food to young people in her church. She also shares something most women in her church don't have: the ability to read, which first introduced her to Jesus. Namisha clung to God's Word through all of her difficulties, and now she wants the other women to know His words as well.

Today, Namisha never misses a chance to encourage believers or share her story with unbelievers. People are often curious to hear what this high-caste lady, now living alone and in poverty, is so excited to tell them.

After all she has been through, Namisha continues to trust in the One who has not failed her: "God is faithful. If anyone is experiencing difficulties, don't be discouraged. Stand firm in the Lord. He is faithful."