Former Dalit Alcoholic Becomes Powerful Witness

In their village tradition, they worship the tools they use for work, because through them they receive their daily sustenance.

If you would have told Santosh as a child that his life would later be one of incredible purpose, sharing the Gospel of hope, he would not have believed you. Yet today, because God transformed the life of a Dalit who once was headed down a destructive path, there is a new church with 18 active believers—people who now have meaning and hope through Jesus.

The oldest of nine children in a very poor Dalit family, Santosh knew little beyond his own village traditions and mindset, and he assumed that was all there was. There were no good schools in his area, and he had to drop out of the school he did attend due to financial struggles.

His parents married him off at a young age, which is a common tribal custom. Santosh began working as a blacksmith, crafting iron tools used around the house and in farming. And like most in his village, Santosh worshipped the tools he made.

Santosh squandered virtually all his earnings as a blacksmith on his drinking habit. His wife and children lived in constant stress and fear, dreading the next time he would come home and beat them. They would flee to the nearby jungle for refuge—anything to escape his drunken rampages.

Then two Gospel for Asia–missionaries visited Santosh at his little shop, but he scorned them at first and told them there was no god but Biskarma (or 'tools'). They had compassion on him and continued to reach out. Running across him in town one day, they invited him to church. Surprisingly, the following Sunday Santosh came to the service and sat in the back.

Hearing the music in his native tongue delighted Santosh. At first he just listened, but soon joined in, singing and clapping his hands. He welcomed the missionaries into his home each Saturday for a Christian meeting and started regularly attending Sunday worship. As he continued to hear God's Word taught at these meetings, Santosh received Christ and was freed from his alcohol addiction.

Now knowing the one true God, Santosh felt a special burden for his people who still worshipped tools as their god. With the missionaries' help he applied to study at a GFA Bible college.

The opposition Santosh faced in his village for choosing to follow Christ was intense. The day before he was to go to the Bible college, a large group confronted him, threatening to beat him and chase him from the village if he did not return to his former religious traditions. But Santosh stood firm. The opposition against his family did not die down after he went to the Bible college:When it escalated, he brought his wife and children to the college campus to live.

After graduating, Santosh continued his outreach in the village he had ministered in during his last year of studies. In addition to the main church, he has also started five small fellowship groups in surrounding areas.