NOTES FOR THE JOURNEY
Following Jesus, staying South Asian
By C. Rasiah & Robin Thomson. South Asian Concern. 187 pages. £5.99
ISBN 978 0 955 000 737
South Asian Concern is a UK-based charity focusing on South Asia and South Asians, dealing with faith, culture, social justice, development and bridge building and well qualified to produce this helpful book, which gives much awaited help.
It has been produced beautifully, with much wisdom and knowledge from both sides of the fence. It has been written to help young-in-faith South Asian Christians grow in Christ in spite of the opposition from their culture, while at the same time helping their families and friends meet with the real Jesus and experience his love for those who attack him.
When God saves a person, he not only saves him from his sin, but also from his solitude, and he is saved into a community, his church. Difficulties arise for the young Christian caught up in a conflict of wanting to grow as a Christian and not make his old family fear that they have lost a member of their family.
This book will be a great help to the new follower of Jesus, without compromising his faith to live in friendship with the old family and show Christ’s love for them by the way he lives.
It is a thoroughly practical book to help the new convert grow as a Christian rooted in the Word, growing in prayer life and being part of his newfound family. There are many internal cross references to help make points clear and each chapter has a section for group discussion and personal study.
When a person becomes a Christian, the children are not automatically converted as in other South Asian religions. So they look at a nominal Christian, which most of them are, and misunderstand the new Christian as a ‘proselyte’ and not a new creation (2 Corinthians 5.17). When they look at the cross, they see that someone is crucified, but have no understanding that Jesus died for them and that without that cross they will positively spend the rest of eternity in hell.
This book will, therefore, immensely help the church to help the new South Asian Christian value his/her family and win them to Christ, rather than cause enmity from the start. It should be on the bookshelf of every Christian.
There are many other helpful, precious nuggets in the book, and you will have to read it to benefit.
Vijay Menon,
formerly a devout Hindu, evangelist, honorary staff member at St. Helen’s Church, Bishopsgate, London
