Ex-Sikh Christian:
Bakht Singh

Colin Melbourne

© 03-08 Born-Again-Christian.info

The true story of how a zealous Hindu Sikh, with an intense hatred for Christians, was converted by God's Love into India's most prolific church planter

I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. Holy Bible John 3:3 NIV

Reading this Scripture transformed the life of a devout young Sikh, who subsequently testified;

'I had a beautiful Bible given to me after I had passed my Intermediate examination. I tore out the contents, and kept the cover because of the beautiful leather binding. Throughout my school and college days I remained a bitter enemy of the Gospel of Christ. I was very orthodox in my own religion and spent many hours in the Sikh temples observing all the religious rites. I was very bitter against the Gospel of Christ. Though I was educated in a mission high school in the Punjab and spent seven years there, I never cared to know anything about Christ.'

'Most of us boys who were studying in the school hated Christians, and we used to make fun of Bible teachers and pastors. For five years I was in the boarding house. The Hindus and the Muslims lived on one side, and the Christians on the other. During my five years stay in that boarding house I do not think I ever visited the Christian side. That will give you some idea of my bitterness towards Christianity. I do not remember what I learned in those days, but I recollect that I used to hate the Christian boys who were studying with me. Most of us Hindu boys had a similar hatred against Muslims. But while with Muslim boys we used to play and talk freely, I do not think we ever made friends with Christian boys.'

Not very promising material from which to make India's most productive indigenous Evangelist, unless that is, you look through the Redemptive Eyes of Almighty God, who revels in transforming the worst of sinners into humble saints.

Born Once: A Sikh

Bakht Singh was born in 1903 under the imperial heel of the British Raj in Indian Punjab, now part of Pakistan. His parents were devout followers of the Sikh religion, which originated in the fifteenth century as a development of Hinduism. The word Sikh means disciple, and most share the family name, Singh, meaning, lion. Sikhs believe in 'the unity of God and the brotherhood of man'. A typical Sikh observes the five 'k's: Kes (They never cut their hair), Kangha (Use a special comb), Kirpan (Have a sword), Kach (Special shorts), and Kara (Wear a steel bracelet). However their most conspicuous emblem is the wearing of a colourful Turban in public. As a Sikh boy, Bakht would spend hours studying and praying in Gurudwaras (Sikh temples) and observed all the religious rites. His family were fairly well to do, and sent him to boarding school where his hatred for Christianity developed, as you can see from his comments above.

Like most young men he was ambitious to travel around the world, to obtain higher education, enjoy the friendship of all kinds of people, whilst remaining faithful to his religion. Similarly he had a desire to wear smart clothes and eat high class food. By the time he'd gained his B.A. he was eager to go to England to study Agricultural Engineering at King's College, London, but his Father refused, counting on his eldest son's help in running their new cotton factory. So Bakht approached his Mother, and she agreed to persuade his Father to let him go, on condition that he would not forsake his Sikh religion. To which he replied, 'Do you really believe that I would change my religion?'. The stipulation seemed superfluous, he was very proud of his traditional faith. Finally his Father relented, and promised to supply whatever funds he'd need for his foreign studies.

Vanity of Vanities

So it was, in 1926, that the impressionable young man began his higher education in Edwardian London. He surmounted the culture barrier, learned to eat our pallid British menu with knife and fork, and developed the English refinement of saying, 'Thank you', and 'Sorry', at every opportunity.

It's a feature of the fallen human nature that whatever noble standards it sets itself, the enemy of our souls always succeeds in dragging us into the pit of sin. It's not until a person is born of God that they defeat the Tempter, and overcome the world.

Within months of his arrival, Bakht compromised his conscience by lying to his Father, exaggerating his personal expenses. The extra income permitted him to indulge in 'high living', and satisfy his ambitions for the trappings of society. Just nine months into his studies he renounced his Sikh faith, cutting off his beard, henceforth calling himself an atheist and free-thinker. Like his fashionable friends, he began smoking and drinking alcohol, travelled around Europe, and claimed he'd, 'soon become a fully-fledged European'.

It was then that he began to assess his situation, as follows,

'I had travelled all over Europe and England; been to museums, art galleries and picture palaces; had worn expensive clothes, eaten grand meals, made friends with rich and poor, taken part in social functions, indulged in amusements, acquired as much education as I wanted: yet I was unhappy.

Then I thought perhaps it was due to the fact that I was not fully civilized. So I began to ask my English friends, 'Are you happy?'. I asked this question of students, professors, and clerks, I used to say, 'You have beautiful homes, lovely children, extensive parks, and can get almost anything for bodily comforts. Are you happy?' Yet I couldn't find anyone who was really happy. So I said to myself that the whole world is 'vanity of vanities'.

I used to think if India were civilized it would become a heaven, and that education and sanitation would remove all evils from India. Now I saw that England could not get rid of her evils by education and sanitation. Rather, I saw far more evils in England than in India. So I was convinced that culture and education could not solve this problem. I used to consider the question in this manner. A poor man in India uses a dirty rag to cover his wound, while a rich man in England conceals his wound with a beautiful white bandage three yards long, which however, cannot remove the pus and the dirt underneath.'

One Touch from God

In the summer of 1928, Bakht sailed to Canada with his fellow students as part of his course of study. During the voyage curiosity drew him to attend his first Christian church service, which was held in the first class dining room. Seated at the back, he fell asleep during the sermon, and at the concluding prayer found himself the only person still seated, the congregation were all on their knees. His nationalistic pride rebelled against joining them, 'These people do not know anything about religion. They have exploited my country, and I have seen them eating and drinking. What do they know?'

The 'atheist' decided to leave, but discovered he was hemmed in by gentlemen kneeling on each side. So rather than disturb them, he resolved, 'I've been to Muslim mosques and Hindu temples. I've taken off my shoes, and washed my feet to show respect for those places. I must honour this place too out of courtesy. So breaking my national pride, I knelt down.'

I love the way God works on proud sinners don't you? We evangelists have our doctrines, Scriptural techniques, and methods of bringing souls to salvation, and praise God He's gracious and works with us. But I'm glad He's God, aren't you? I mean, I'm glad He's in charge, and not us. So that He can sovereignly touch a rebellious sinner, and open their eyes to his glorious love without any human intervention. Remember; Bakht had never read the Bible, never heard the Gospel, and nobody had ever spoken to him about the salvation of his soul. Even the service he was now in would have been the typical lifeless ecumenical religious routine common amongst nominal Christians.

As soon as he began to humble himself, here's what God did,

'When I knelt down I felt a great change coming over me. My whole body was trembling. I could feel divine power entering into me and lifting me up. The first change that I noticed was that a great joy was flooding my soul. The second change was that I was repeating the Name of Jesus, I began to say, 'Oh, Lord Jesus, blessed be Thy Name, blessed be Thy Name.' The Name Jesus became very sweet to me. Before, I used to despise it, and during discussions and conversations I had made fun of it.'

Isn't that beautiful? One touch from Almighty God. He doesn't come in wrath to judge us as we deserve, He comes in Love, gentle, with redemption and boundless grace. The Hindu and Sikh scriptures, like most religions, paint an awful fearsome picture of God, beyond reach, unapproachable, unknowable, and most definitely out to get you. Is that how you imagine God to be? If so, it's time you looked at the Lord Jesus Christ, Almighty God in the Flesh. When you look at Him, you're looking at Almighty God in a human body, when you listen to Jesus you are listening to Almighty God speaking. Oh He's so beautiful!

Born Again: A Christian

Of course, Bakht Singh wasn't saved at that point, as we will now see, but this encounter had a profound effect on the young student. All desire for smoking and drinking left him, and he simply fell in love with the Lord Jesus Christ. However he told nobody about the event until eighteen months later. Once again back in Canada for his engineering course, he asked a friend to lend him a Holy Bible to read, and the friend gave him his own pocket New Testament. (Do you carry a pocket full of 'dynamite' with you? Look what happened because this man did.)

'This was my first pocket Testament. I brought it to my room and began to read the Gospel of St. Matthew. I kept reading until three a.m., I became engrossed in the Word of God. In the morning I found the ground was covered in snow, so I remained in bed, reading all day.

The second day, I was reading the Gospel of St. John, 3rd chapter, when I came to the 3rd verse. 'I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.' I stopped at the first part of the verse. The words, 'I tell you the truth', convicted me. As I read these words my heart began to beat faster. I felt someone was standing beside me, saying again and again, 'I tell you the truth', I thought, 'The Bible belongs to the West,' but the Voice said, 'I tell you the truth'.

I have never felt so ashamed as I felt then, because all the blasphemous words I had uttered against Christ came before me. All my sins of school and college days came before me. I learned for the first time that I was the greatest sinner, and I discovered that my heart was wicked, and filthy. My petty jealousies against my friends, my enemies, my wickedness, were all clear. My parents thought that I was a good boy, my friends regarded me as a good friend, and the world considered me a decent member of society, but only I knew my real state. Tears were rolling down my cheeks, and I was saying,

'Oh! Lord, forgive me. Truly I am a great sinner.'

For a time I felt that there was no hope for me, a great sinner. As I was crying again the Voice said, 'This is my body broken for you; this is my blood shed for the remission of your sins.' So I knew that only the Blood of Jesus could wash away my sins. I did not know how, but knew that only the Blood of Jesus only could save me. I could not explain the fact, but joy and peace came to my soul; I had the assurance that all my sins were washed away, I knew that the Lord Jesus was reigning in my heart. I just kept praising Him.'

Now he was saved, a Christian! Notice, he was saved through reading the New Testament, specifically John's Gospel, and responding to the Holy Spirit's prompting to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nobody had ever spoken personally to Bakht about Christ, God worked directly through His Word and His Spirit to save the man.

New Life: New Purpose

Christ commands all believers to be water baptised and to go into all the world proclaiming the Good News, here's how our subject responded to these injunctions.

'On the 4th of February, 1932, I was baptized in Vancouver, Canada, and after baptism I went from place to place giving my testimony. During the first week of April, 1932, I was invited to give a talk about India. After the meeting was over they kept asking questions, 'What do you think of the missionary work in India?' I began to criticise it very harshly.

I came home and knelt down to pray, but I found I could not pray, and the Voice said to me, 'Who are you to interfere in my work? You want others to be sacrificing but yourself lead a life of comfort.' These words pierced my heart like a sword. They were true. I had so many plans to come back as an Engineer. I had said that I would give all my money for the Lord's work. But He said, 'I do not want your money: I want you.'

That morning I knelt down, asked His forgiveness and said, 'Oh! Lord, will you accept me? I am prepared to go anywhere, whether to India, China or Africa. I am going to give up everything for thee, friends, relations, belongings.' The Lord said, 'You will have to live on faith. You must not ask anyone for any thing, not even your friends or relations. You must not ask for even a cup of coffee, you are not to make any plans.' I said, 'Lord, on the one hand you want me to give up all my claims on my property and home, and on the other hand you want me to live simply by faith. Who is going to provide for my needs?' The Lord said, 'that is not your business.'

Although, six years have passed, I can testify to His glory that I have never asked any man for anything, not even my best friends. But the Lord is richly supplying all my needs. For one year I remained in America as a preacher, because I had given up all my plans to become an Engineer.'

A Life Sown for Christ

Returning to the land of his birth in 1933, he immediately shared his Christian faith with his parents who responded by forbidding him to come home. Undaunted, he started proclaiming Christ in the streets of Bombay and immediately began to bear fruit. Gradually the Lord worked on his parents; they saw the peace of God in their son, his passion for souls, Christ's love for them, and they too became Christians.

Bakht had found the purpose of his creation, to preach the Gospel, and he set about it with zeal from the Lord. Singh sparked revival in a denominational church in Martinbur during 1937 that is widely perceived to have been the start of one of the most significant movements in the history of the church in South Asia. Singh established an indigenous church-planting movement that was crucial in making the Gospel applicable in Indian culture. Eventually more than 10,000 houses of worship were planted, he also set up churches in Pakistan, Australia, France, America, and England.

Bakht Singh's Closing Remarks

I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. For there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men, the testimony given in its proper time. Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. Jn. 3:3, 1 Tim. 2:5, Ac. 4:12

"My dear reader friend, I invite you to accept on this occasion these words in the Name of the Christ. As you read these words, fall upon your knees acknowledging Him as the Lord of lords, the Prince of peace, the King of kings, and as your own personal Friend. I can say from my experience that there is no joy in the world to be compared to the joy of having the Lord Jesus Christ living in us. He is solving my problems; answering my questions, bearing my burdens, giving strength to overcome temptations, and enabling me to share my joy with others, and at the same time He has given me the honour of walking and talking with Him every step of my life's journey. Will you accept Him as your Lord and Saviour this very day? May the Lord Jesus bless you. My prayer is that the Lord may grant you an understanding of his hidden mysteries, and that by simple faith you may claim great things from Almighty God."

Postcript

Bakht Singh's ministry was praised by the most prominent Western Christian leaders of his time, and countless souls were led to Christ through his message. Hyderabad, where his ministry headquarters is situated witnessed the gathering of over half a million mourners at his funeral in 2000. He passed into Glory at the age of 97.

Are Catholics Christian? No they are NOT!

Tamil This Was Your Life English

Tract images © Chick Publns. Used by permission