The story continues from the October 26 Northern Lights Article Baptisms and Mysterious Guests.
This story continues in the words of Sasa Andelkovic. district pastor of the West Sacramento and Sacramento Yugoslavian churches:
Recently, after a sermon, I made a call to baptism. Seven guests in the back row all stood and emphatically raised their hands. I didn’t even recognize them!
Observing the seven new faces in the back row, all eagerly raising their hands for baptism, stirred a multitude of questions in my mind: Did God guide them to us? Is this genuinely happening?
Post-service, I approached them, discovering they had recently relocated from Nepal and were raised in Hinduism. Their journey to Christianity began in 2010 when the compassionate acts of local Christians moved them. Engaging in community service and medical missionary projects, they gradually embraced the message of salvation in Jesus.
Despite their limited understanding of Biblical theology, they remained faithful, praying daily for guidance. Baptized in Nepal under the belief of purification, they continued reading the Bible, seeking the truth. As they studied and prayed, they felt God warned them that “the end is near and that they must be ready for it.” Not fully grasping the Biblical meaning of “the end,” it indeed became a real threat in their lives. At the same time, they started experiencing much persecution from gangs in their local community.
They were bullied constantly and even beaten with sticks. One of them was stabbed. Another was pushed to the ground and run over by a motorcycle. Astonishingly, the faithful band was still willing to risk their lives for Christ, somebody they admittedly did not wholly comprehend yet. What they did come to understand was that God is real, loving, and was collecting them to Himself.
As time passed, they were able to flee to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where a hired “travel consultant” took their passports and consigned them to a debtor sweatshop. They had to work for a year, “earning” their
documents back. But their faith didn’t waver. Eventually, with the help of some missionaries, they traveled to Guatemala and then to Mexico. From there, they could enter the United States with refugee status, later settling in Sacramento.
So how did they end up standing in my church, all at once, in joyful hand-waving after my baptism call? They met Linda Quillen, a Granite Bay Hilltop Church member. She encouraged them to attend one of our churches, and through that introduction, they eventually stumbled upon one of my sermons online.
Reflecting on this experience, they lived their lives with the same unknown we do, not knowing much, but they followed God the best they knew, and God brought them to the destination. What is also astounding to me is that we prayed that God would send us people hungry for the truth. Little did we know that God would bring this wonderful Nepalese group to our humble West Sacramento church. It was like God looked at the globe and said, “Let me see what church would be right for them; here it is West Sacramento.”
Featured in Northern Lights, November 30, 2023
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