“Another verse that jumped out at me was Second Corinthians, chapter five, verse twenty-one, ‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’
“After reading it three times, a lightbulb went off inside my head; it dawned on me that God’s salvation wasn’t a reward for the righteous, or from doing good deeds, it was a gift for the repentant guilty, for those who knew they deserved to go to hell and had nothing to offer, in and of themselves, to satisfy the demands of a just and holy God!
“With my eyes opened spiritually, I fell to my knees in worship, realizing only Christ could atone for my sins, which He did, praise His holy name! How could I not love Jesus, after He died for me, a wretched sinner? God, who is rich in mercy, made me alive with Christ even when I was dead in my transgressions.
“What started out as a possible theory for me has since become an undisputed fact, making my conversion to Christianity the only logical choice. In fact, I’ve concluded it’s the only religion on the planet that can legitimately offer eternal assurance to all its true followers.
“All other religions, by being works-based, can in no way offer eternal assurance to their spiritually-blinded followers. This includes Hinduism. How can anyone feel secure while hovering in between two eternities, hoping they did enough or were good enough to satisfy their gods, thus allowing them to make it to the good side when they die?
“How could anyone possibly feel peace under those uncertain conditions, when we’re all sinners and we all fall short of the glory of God? Placing the final outcome even partly on the shoulders of sinful, self-centered humans, as if we have the power to save ourselves, can by no means be considered eternal assurance on any level!
“If anything, it’s like playing spiritual roulette! How could anyone feel sustained joy under such conditions? That used to be me. But no longer, praise Jesus! Christ really is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no one can come to the Father except through Him.
“Now that I know the Truth and have been set free by God’s amazing grace and love, I hereby publicly renounce the Hindu faith I clung to all my life, and the millions of other gods that are worshipped in my country, and trust in Christ alone for the salvation of my soul, even at the risk of losing my life. I’ve already lost everything else…
“I know my words will upset many in my country, especially Hindus, but according to Proverbs sixteen, twenty-five, there is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death. This is true for everyone believing in Hinduism or trusting in anyone else other than Jesus.”
Ajit Laghari took a deep breath and exhaled, “Finally, I’m convinced that the antichrist recorded in the divinely inspired pages of the Word of God is living among us. I met this man in Brussels, Belgium. That man is none other than Salvador Romanero. Scripture tells us this man will possess great powers unlike no other man in all of human history. Yet, he will proclaim to be a man of peace.”
Laghari looked troubled, “I felt Romanero’s power last November at NATO Headquarters. I also heard his constant cries for peace. At first, I confess I believed him. Now I know better. Let me assure you that he is no man of peace; he is a destroyer of souls; he’s an agent of the devil!”
“My prayer is that everyone watching this video will flee from antichrist and reconcile with God before it’s too late. Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call on Him while He is near. Yahweh God promises in His Word that those who seek Him with all their hearts, minds and souls will surely find Him.
“That’s my hope for everyone watching this video. Let the wicked forsake his way and return to the Lord. Repent and trust in Jesus, for the time is at hand. Only then will God have mercy on you and abundantly pardon you. Grace and peace be with you all…”
The flashlight was turned off and the video ended.
Yogesh sat up on the couch and rubbed his forehead. He couldn’t contain his astonishment, especially the timing of it all. Instead of being turned off to what he’d just heard, he felt this deep stirring inside. Laghari’s words had really penetrated his soul.
Three days before the package arrived from America, Yogesh had a dream about it. On the surface it was no big deal; since Salvadora’s birth, the Patels received packages every day from people all over the world.
But what made this one different was that it was addressed to him alone, not Hana, like he saw in the dream. He sensed whatever was enclosed would drastically change his life for the better. Yet, before he could open it to see what was inside, he was roused from his sleep…
Yogesh woke up thinking he already had everything in life a man could possibly want. A beautiful wife and child. A new house. Newfound riches. What in that box could possibly top his recent good fortune? Certainly not the clothing for baby Salvadora! The only other thing enclosed was the Christian Bible. Could that be it?
Hana broke his concentration, “Lunch is ready, my love…”
“Be right there…”
Yogesh would watch Laghari’s video again when Hana took a nap with the baby. He would also explore the Christian Bible Brad Henriksen had sent him, to see what had caused one of the top Hindu minds in his country to flee a life of comfort and end up living in hiding because of the Message enclosed within its pages.
On the surface, it made no sense to him. If for only that reason, Yogesh felt compelled to read it for himself in search of answers.
What’s happening to me?
LYING IN BED THAT night, Hana kissed her husband on the forehead, “Are you okay, dear? You were quiet all day…”
Yogesh scratched his head, “I talked to the American man today...”
“Brad Henriksen?”
Yogesh nodded, then grimaced.
“What did he say?”
“Not much, but he sent me the video Ajit Laghari made in hiding.”
“You watched it?” Hana whispered softly, so she wouldn’t wake baby Salvadora.
“Yes. Apparently, they believe the same thing. Ajit’s words frightened me…”
Hana studied her husband’s face. “Didn’t he speak badly about Salvador Romanero?”
Yogesh nodded yes.
“Perhaps you should stop communicating with Brad. Look at what has become of Ajit. Life is finally being kind to us. I want nothing to distract from it, including Brad’s version of the Truth, whatever that is.”
Yogesh sighed.
Hana kissed him on the lips and turned the light off. “Get some rest, my love.”
In the darkness, Hana couldn’t quite describe how she felt. Though she knew nothing about the American man, something about him rubbed her the wrong way. Even thousands of miles away, she felt this negative vibe.
It frightened her.
Come daybreak, she would seek the counsel of her new friends. They were older, more mature, and were deeply entrenched in the most desired socialite circles in Chennai.
Surely, by having access to so many brilliant minds, they could best advise her with this new and unexpected dilemma in her life...
22
A FEW DAYS AFTER the first birth was recorded at safe house number one, the first miscarriage was recorded. The patient was Lila Choharjo, a former Hollywood actress.
Of Cherokee Indian descent, Lila was born and raised in Oklahoma. Even at 43, little had changed from a physical standpoint. She was petite and pretty, with dark brown hair. Her smile was radiant; her green eyes, dashing. At least before all hell broke loose last November.
Her eyes were too damaged to look dashing these days.
One of the 77 expectant mothers, Lila was part of the cafeteria crew. She quickly befriended Marta Gonzalez. Even before she appeared on the big screen, Marta knew Lila from seeing her in soap operas.
The moment Marta heard the news about the miscarriage, she raced underground to comfort her friend.
Lila’s Cherokee name was Galilahi, which meant “attractive”. When she moved to California as a teenager, to pursue acting and model
ing, she went to a psychic in Beverly Hills. The psychic suggested she change her name to Lila, the four letters at the center of her name. She said it would bring more balance to her life, whatever that meant.
As the fetus was taken to be buried, Dr. Singh tried distracting her patient. “Did the Rapture drive you away from Hollywood?”
Lila shook her head no. “Even before the Rapture, I started distancing myself from Tinseltown. I confess, it started out of embarrassment, when I could no longer take my daughter to the movies, due to the violence and vulgarity. I once asked in an interview, ‘Is this the best we as an entertainment industry could do?’ Ended up being blacklisted for it…”
Meera asked, “What brought you to faith in Christ?”
“I always considered myself to be extremely spiritual. I was deeply involved in the New Age religion for many years. I saw beauty in all religions and enjoyed going to services, despite what the sign on the outside of the building said. I believed they all offered good insights.”
Lila rubbed her belly softly, wishing her child was still there, “Do you know I was in a lesbian relationship before the Rapture?”
The three women nodded yes. It was widely publicized.
Lila continued, “Life was seemingly perfect for me and Gabriella, especially after one of our gay friends offered to get me pregnant. After giving birth to Xenia, the father of our daughter invited us to his church one Sunday. It was a Christian church that catered to the homosexual community. I enjoyed it very much. So did Gabby.
“The Bible we read from was a newer translation which focused solely on God’s love, not His wrath. Homosexuality was never frowned upon. If anything, the Bible we read encouraged the kind of love we shared as just another unique form of God’s love in motion.
“Guess you could say we clung to a form of Christianity, believing bits and pieces of the Bible, but avoiding all parts we disagreed with in the older translations, especially the parts that exposed our sin.
“When my daughter vanished before my eyes, I became a recluse and stayed in my room day and night. One day I found an old Bible stuffed in a box in my walk-in closet. It was given to me years ago, from Christian friends I later learned were among the disappearances.
“I felt particularly drawn to it. I couldn’t explain it at the time, but it felt different than my all-inclusive Bible. For the first time ever, I felt God speaking to my heart. One thing that became apparent to me was that there wasn’t a shred of evidence anywhere in the sixty-six books of the authentic Bible translations supporting homosexuality on any level.
“That came in more recent translations. Which explains why genuine conversions in homosexual communities were nonexistent. At first, with my sin laid bare before me, I felt my situation was hopeless.
“That is, until I finally understood we all fall short of the glory of God. With my eyes opened, I realized only Christ had the power to take away sins. By finally reading the true Gospel, I discovered not only how to have eternal assurance, but how to be delivered from my sinful lifestyle. Part of that deliverance was admitting my lifestyle was actually sinful.
“I took a deep look within and closely examined the way I had been living my life. Not only was I living in sin, I flaunted it. I was more interested in social justice than what God thought about it. After bathing in God’s mercy and grace for the longest time, I repented of my sins and called upon the name of the Lord for the salvation of my soul.”
“Hallelujah!” Marta said.
Tamika smiled, then asked, “How’d you end up here?”
Marta already knew much of Lila’s story and how she ended up in Chadds Ford. She never grew tired of hearing Lila tell her story on cafeteria duty. She held her hand and listened.
“When Xenia was taken from us in the Rapture, it was the beginning of the end of the relationship between me and Gabriella...”
Lila sighed, “After I was saved for real, I tried explaining to Gabby the reason for the disappearances, and how everything was clearly spelled out in the Word of God. The more I spoke, the more furious she became.
“Never saw her so angry. She told me God didn’t exist. And if He did, she chose atheism over a heartless monster like Him.”
“How old was Xenia?”
“Four…”
Tamika grimaced, “I lost two sons. Jamal was five. Dante was four.”
Lila reached for Tamika’s hand, “I’m sorry, Tamika.”
Tamika lowered her head. “The pain never leaves me. When Leticia gave birth, it intensified. I always remind myself that they’re in Glory now. If I didn’t have that assurance, I might not be alive now…”
Marta said, “I can relate. I also lost two boys; one was pulled from my womb. Only Leticia was left behind with us.”
As the only one in the room to never experience childbirth, Meera Singh couldn’t truly relate to how they felt. She remained silent.
Lila dabbed at her eyes with a tissue, “I told Gabby when she died, she would no longer be an atheist. But by then, it will be too late. She demanded that it was either God or her! I told her I loved her, but I was His before I was hers. If looks could kill…”
“What happened next?”
“It went downhill from there.” Lila became teary-eyed again, “Gabby was much stronger than me. She used that strength to beat me senseless before storming out of my life forever...”
“As the days passed, I felt lonelier and lonelier, and all alone without my daughter. More than anything, I missed being a mother. I longed for companionship and kept battling to tame my homosexual tendencies.
“When Romanero announced the contest, I met a man online who ended up getting me pregnant…” Lila started weeping, “I was a believer at that time and knew better. Can’t help but wonder if that’s why I had the miscarriage. Once again, I’m childless.”
Meera grabbed her hand. “Like you said, we all fall short of the glory of God. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sinned since the Rapture.”
“Yeah. It’s not like you dug up your grandfather’s grave…”
Lila snorted laughter. She was familiar with the bizarre path Tamika took to come to faith in Christ.
Meera Singh quoted Psalm 37:23-24: “‘The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.’”
Marta said to Lila, “Did I tell you I had a brother who was gay?”
“Really?”
“When Felix was eighteen, he left Rhode Island and moved to Miami and fell in love with an older wealthy man. They traveled the world together. His lover, who my brother called ‘savior’, was on his private plane when it went down on the day of the Rapture.
“Felix visited us a few weeks after the funeral. By that time, Julio and I were Christians. Never saw my brother so devastated. I tried explaining what happened, but he refused to listen. He was furious and cursed God for taking his lover away from him.
“He couldn’t understand why I wasn’t mad at God for taking J.J. from us, not to mention the child inside my womb. Felix loved J.J. with all his heart. He used to send him gifts from all over the world.
“It infuriated him how I could speak so lovingly about a so-called God who destroyed the entire family, by taking his lover and my two kids in the blink of an eye. He became severely depressed after that.
“When he went back to Miami, I honestly thought he was suicidal. We didn’t speak again until after Salvador Romanero appeared out of nowhere, giving Felix a reason to live again. I warned my brother that Romanero wasn’t a good person, that he was the antichrist.
“He told me to shut up and to stop judging him. He said the Miracle Maker was the only human in history who loved everyone equally without judging them, including homosexuals.
“I told Felix after Jesus died for me and saved me from hell, I hated all sin, not just homosexuality. I told him I was just as much a sinner as he was. The difference was when I sinned, I felt
too guilty to boast or celebrate. How could I feel happy after disappointing God? He insisted that he wasn’t living in sin; he was born that way.
From that point forward, he ignored my calls. But he texted Leticia day and night urging her to get pregnant so someone in the family line would finally get to experience a world where everyone was welcome, which we all know isn’t true.”
Marta grimaced, “He even offered to impregnate his own niece. Imagine that? When I told Julio, he was not happy. He called Felix to confront him. He listened to everything my husband said, without interrupting. When he was finished, my brother said ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, blah blah blah…’ before ending the call.
“Needless to say, he was thrilled when Leticia told him she was pregnant. On Universal Children’s Day, Leticia went to the festivities in Providence. Felix went to Miami. They kept texting each other up until the explosions. Leticia made it home. Felix didn’t. He was killed in the explosions...”
Lila sighed, “Sorry to hear that, Marta.”
“Just wish he would have left that lifestyle and trusted in Jesus. Too late for him now.”
Lila said, “Homosexuality is a hard yoke to break. Before the disappearances, I was quite the flamboyant type. I assure you had I not been converted; I would have gladly volunteered to be placed on the front line in Romanero’s fight for equality for homosexuals in places where it was still punishable by death.
“By reading the Word of God, I realized I wasn’t born a homosexual despite what society proclaimed. No one is. It’s a learned behavior—a lifestyle choice, a societal one—which oftentimes can be traced back to past traumatic experiences often suffered during adolescent years. But when you’re caught up in it, it feels quite natural.”
“What drove you into the homosexual community?”
“I was a victim of sexual abuse, by my uncle, no less…”
Meera Singh sighed, “Can’t say I’m surprised.”
“I was so damaged that I shielded myself from the opposite sex and became deeply entrenched in the homosexual community. My hatred toward men in general was intense. I wasn’t alone. Many of us fell victim to sexual molestation and other abuses during our adolescent years, all perpetrated by members of the opposite sex.
The Sealing Page 15