| a foreign language in its own land |
April 2006 index|
“Brought
up a Sikh, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour through
the witness of a committed Christian. Initially my parents rejected
me, but the Lord gave me strength and provided his own family.
I share my faith with others wherever the Lord leads. By the
grace of God I have witnessed to a number of people and after a
while they too have given their lives to the Lord.” Seva
Singh |
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When Norman and Denise Critchell moved to Slough they began looking for ways to build friendships within the Asian community. Amongst other things, they offered themselves to the local college to teach English to people from the community in their homes. Norman tells of two people the college gave them . . . “I was given a Pakistani Muslim man who was very charming and eager to learn. I will always remember our times together, because every time on my arrival I was presented with a large bowl of chips to munch during our lesson. We also began a ‘friendship’ so that when I see him out and about, we have a good chat about families and faith.” One of the ladies Denise was given to teach was a Sikh from India. She wanted to learn English because she could neither speak nor understand ‘this strange language.’ and because she had to take her disabled son regularly for hospital appointments and couldn’t even understand the signs. Through the lessons and the confidence this gave her, she not only handled hospital visits and speaking with consultants and doctors, but went on to become a nurse herself. Now she has a very responsible job in Social Services. “She has become a firm friend along with her husband and their whole extended family. We have food together when we can and we are able to discuss faith issues, always on a very deep level. What
we did has made a difference to those we taught and has given
us friendships with them and their families that are deep
and in which we can continue to share and live out the
love of our Lord Jesus Christ.” |
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