Around 12 years back, during the Diwali holidays, a young man attended Campus Meet '96 in Nirmala College, Muvattupuzha in Kerala. His name is Binu Asokan, yes it's me ;). He was a shy, introvert, struggling guy. Many in his college (Mar Athanasius College of Engg, Kerala) thought he was a bubbling personality, one of a coolest kind - and that's what he wanted others to think too; but deep within he was hiding so many things - lack of satisfaction, confidence, hope, direction etc. He was very talented in many areas - whether it was sports or arts, and he had quite a few fans too. His jokes (many a time having double meanings and untidy words) too had fan following (unfortunately). But none of these fans nor the closest "cool" friends knew what he was going through within.
He had his "first-love" relationship broken a year back then, since he found himself helpless when the girl (of his same age) told him that her parents were considering proposals for her; and this guy was very sure that it would take him at least 7-8 years more to get settled in life. They had then mutually decided not to continue with the relationship, since there were so much of uncertainties ahead of us, and we both did not want to put our parents in trouble because of us.
Again, in the recent times he had some incidents of painful memory. He used to love his campus and friends so much, since that was the place where he got a lot of recognition and appreciation, and friends thought of him as a cool guy. He used to even have "hostel-sickness" (instead of "home-sickness") when he went his home on weekends. But now, the situation had changed. The wave of "students' politics" had swept over their batch, which used to be earlier known for its "batch spirit and unity". He, being a good sportsman, was elected that year as the Sports' Secretary of his College Hostel under the banner of the "red-flagged party". (Each hostel had its own unions, and the elections were conducted on party basis). He then had to undergo a painful experience from his party because of his impartial opinions made in the Hostel Union meetings. Some of those decisions supported by him were questioned in the "party meeting" and he was asked to give an "explanation" for his decisions for which the party had a different viewpoint. The most shocking was that his own room-mate - one of his closest buddies - was the one who raised his voice the most, pointing finger at him, counting the "undisciplinary" decisions made by him. Many others of his dear friends watched the firing silently. His face fell, so did his heart. He started feeling uncomfortable and lonely in his campus, since the greatest thing he treasured - his "friends' circle" - was the one that "betrayed" him.
Now it was not very accidental that he decided to attend the Campus Meet '96. There were certain incidents in his life, which drew him to the event. He had a friend, a classmate, named Hormise. He was not the closest friend, but was a very good, loving, caring, understanding friend. Once as these two were traveling in bus on their way back to homes on a weekend, Hormise enquired with Binu whether everything is alright or not. Binu replied - "Yes, everything is going alright." Hormise' approach was very encouraging, and then he said - "I once heard that you and some of your friends were involved in (some particular activity) in your hostel, and I was a little worried about you, and that night I went on my knees and prayed for you!". Binu was shocked!! 'What was there in (my activity) that he felt I needed prayers?' He felt something different about this. 'Either this Hormise was crazy, or... he might be right too, but then there might be many things that I might not know.' The second possibility, if there, was something Binu wanted to know more of. He also felt that Hormise was a person with whom he felt more comfortable than all the other buddies and "cool guys" he knew. There was something special about him!!
Binu later learnt that Hormise was a part of a Catholic group called Jesus Youth, which had a small prayer group for the students of their college, and that Hormise was a firm believer of God. One day, while he was feeling disturbed and uncomfortable about certain things that were worrying him, he invited Hormise to go to Church together. (Now, Binu was from a Hindu background. He used to be fascinated by the Hindu mythological stories which his grandmother used to narrate when he was very young. He knew more such stories than most of the urban guys of his generation. When the 'love-break' happened a year back, he had given a try to find solace and comfort by visiting a nearby temple frequently, but it was not of much help, apart from a satisfaction and hope that some day things would be OK.)
Hormise obliged, and they went to St. George Cathedral on his bike. Binu did not know what to do and how to do in a Church, so he decided to do what Hormise would do. When Hormise knelt down and made a sign of the Cross, he too did so; when the former sat on a bench, the latter too did. He was watching the former very carefully. After around 20 minutes or so, Hormise, stood up and came outside. The follower did his part too. Hormise invited him to sit near the steps, and was all prepared to listen to what Binu had to say. Now Binu, slowly opened up, with a lot of reluctance, that he needs a big change. It was not so easy for him, for he did not exactly figure out what is troubling him the most. Now, at the end of this sharing, Hormise asked him whether he shall pray for him. Binu was more than happy to let that happen. He was to witness something that he never expected in his whole life. He watched Hormise speaking to his dearest friend - Jesus Christ - as if He were very much present right there. To him, Jesus was a familiar person, to who he had a chat with very often. He surrendered all the struggles and pain of Binu, acknowledging that Jesus was the only person who loves Binu the most, and the one who knows and understands Binu more than any other person in this world, and the one who can solve all the problems of his life!!! Tears started overflowing Binu's eyes. He could sense a divine presence, that slowly turned his burdened heart into a free and light one. He experienced a deep sense of relief and hope.
Both of them returned to hostels. Binu thanked Hormise for his time and patience. Though he experienced peace and comfort, he was a long way from believing that it was really God's presence that made the difference. He thought that it could be a good psychological experience only. But he had a sincere appreciation for Hormise and his "Christian faith" that can lead to such psychological effects!!!
Later, there happened a retreat for their college. Hormise invited Binu, but the latter was not much interested. It was during this time that the "Hostel Elections" happened. It was a celebration time for him, and retreat had no place in his agenda. But since the post-election "party-dose" turned out to be a bitter cup for him, he remembered the "psychological experience" with Hormise, and waited for the next opportunity to attend Jesus Youth programme.
That opportunity came in the shape of Campus Meet '96. Jim and Tojan, some of the prayer group members showed him the brochure of the event, and Binu was deeply impressed!! The theme verse of the event was - "In Him was life and that life was the light of all men." (John 1:4). The is Word somehow penetrated his heart and disturbed him. He thought - "'In Him was life'... even I have life. What's so special about 'His life'? Yeah, His life was the light of all men, but mine is in deep darkness!" He longed to understand more about this life, and if possible, to experience it (If what this verse claimed was true). He made a decision to go for this programme. Since then, whenever he saw the posters and brochure of this event, he felt that he was getting closer to what his heart was yearning for - GOD. His confidence grew when he spent a few minutes a day at Jim's room, when Jim would open the Bible for him. Always he used to receive portions that Jim had underlined during his retreats - the Words of healing and comfort, assurances of His powerful presence with us. Jim used to say, "I had marked these portions during my retreats so that I could locate them easily. But usually when I open the Bible I don't get these passages. But when you are with me, I am always getting such beautiful messages. I am sure God is speaking this specially to you!!". Such words were truly those of hope and encouragement. Jim had also shared with him his retreat experiences, inner healing, and the physical healing of his ear that used to have puss problem on which doctors had given up.
Binu came to Campus Meet along with the college prayer group members. He saw that the whole atmosphere was so beautiful and different from the kind of pleasures of the world that he was after. When he entered the hall, he saw around 700 youngsters singing along with the Music Ministry and worshipping God!! Something he could never even imagine!! So many youth asembled there have no shame acknowledging the existence of God!!! In this programme, he was touched by the testimonies of several youths who shared their God experiences, and he wished that even he could have so many beautiful experiences of God's intervention in his life. The praise & worship, adoration, group dynamics, video presentations, skits and interaction with so many people, all was so new and wonderful to him. It was also a time when he heard from his friends that to lead a life acceptable before God, we need to be holy, and forsake all the ways, habits, words, attitudes, companies etc. that do not conform to His will. It was a tough lesson for him, for he knew that he was not holy, and was not sure if he could bid good bye to many of his ways and habits. But he somehow felt that if God demands holiness from him, He would also strengthen him enough to do what it required to meet the demand. He made some firm decisions in the presence of the LORD.
When they were back from the event, Binu started to attend college prayer meetings at Vimalagiri High School, had daily rosary with Tojan, had frequent interactions with Hormise and other prayer group members. Now the college prayer group had been planning for a one day retreat for the college, and they had a daily intercession meeting in Vimalagiri. Hormise invited Binu to join that, and one evening he went for the same. By this time he had learnt to say the Rosary. They used to say 3 rosaries together. By the time they finished one Rosary, Binu started to experience something strange. His hands started feeling cold, and soon he felt something like electricity passing through him. It was real, it was soothing, and he learnt later that it was the Spirit of God manifesting in his body in a tangible way. He felt revitalized, and from that day onwards, he got strength to overcome several of the temptations of the Evil One that once used to drag him to bad habits, bad talk and bad lifestyle. His faith was dramatically confirmed, and he did not had a slightest of doubt at that time till now that it was God's hand that touched him and did the work in him. About a year and a half he spent in his campus was a time of transformation and growth. The formation he received in the prayer group was awesome. It was as if God gave him a Crash Course on faith, not compromising on the syllabus!!! He grew in faith, hope, love, character, understanding, wisdom, hope, confidence, direction, inner-healing and much more! May be if you look at Binu today, you may not find anything so special, but still if you compare him with the old Binu he used to be, ie. Binu in his BC and now in his AD, there is a far cry between both!! I am sure.
My story of conversion does not end here. Probably at a later time I can narrate the events that happened later. I have done this excercise of taking more than 3 hours in the night recollecting and writing my testimony, for a specific purpose: I want you to realize the difference that a Campus Prayer group can do to someone's life. Are you fortunate to be born as a Christian? Do you feel complacent with that? Don't you think that you have some duty towards those who have never heard of a Saviour, or those who have heard of him, but never have experienced Jesus as their Lord and Saviour? A prayer group, that was started in 1986 by the initiative of a few ordinary people led by our very own Soney (Noble) chechi, could win many souls like me in the campus. I was not the only one. In fact, in my final year, out of the 12 core group leaders, 4 were non-Christians, and 2 others were non-Catholics (Of course, all of them were in Catholic faith). The group had also touched the lives of many Christians themselves, who otherwise were nominal Christians.
Campus is a place/time where the youngsters seek a lot of fulfillment in life, where they do different experiments with life, and often do experiments on themselves too. Many tend to trod the wrong path after they enter the campus life. We are dreaming of building Campus Ministry in each and every College in Mumbai, so that every soul may experience Jesus, and not be lost in the deceptions of this world!
