Called to Serve

SUNDAR was now embarked on a life of such complete self-abnegation and suffering as falls to the lot of few men in this world. His path from Hinduism to Christ had been one of thorns all the way. But, after his vision of the thorn-crowned Jesus and his acceptance of the peace his Saviour brought, nothing seemed too great to give up for Him. In the undying words of Dr. Watts :—

Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were an offering far too small ; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Nothing less than ‘all sufficed to satisfy his ardent nature, and one cannot wonder that on entering the sadhu life in that spirit he determined, as he says, that ‘“‘ His grace abiding” he would live no other, so long as life was his to spend for Christ.

Though but a boy-in years, the heart of Sadhu Sundar

Singh then, as now, was filled with a divine passion for human souls, and his intense devotion and love for the Lord Jesus caused him to choose as his first field: of labour his own village, from which he had been driven only a short time previously. Only a few months after his rejection by his family the young Sadhu returned to the familiar streets of Rampur, and there in every strect he bore faithful witness to the power of the Saviour and the new-found happiness he had in Him. Not only so, but even the zanana doors of Rampur were opened to him, and he went from house to house telling the women the same wonderful story. From there, and alone, he passed on to the villages round about, and fearlessly testified to the people everywhere of the great peace only obtainable through Jesus Christ.

‘He then continued his way through many other towns and villages of the Punjab, working his way up towards Afghanistan and Kashmir. This was a long and extremely arduous tour, and, unused to the hardships of sadhu life, Sundar suffered severely from the cold and privations of the way. Moreover the work was difficult, for his message met with little response. It was however at the ancient city of Jalalabad in Afghanistan that he met some Pathans, who, planning his destruction, were eventually willing to receive his message. An account of this will be found in a later chapter.

Up to this point it seems as if God had, little by little, weaned Sundar from all that life holds dear. Relatives, wealth, home, had all gone for Christ. Entering the new world of Christians the comfort and almost certain preferment that would have been his, were to count for naught to him who had set out on his first tour to make Christ known in the heathen villages amongst the mountains. ‘The cold picreed his thin clothing, the thorns and stones cut his bare feet. The nights came with no certainty of shelter from the bitter winds and pouring rain, and the grey dawn often brought days of hunger and suffering such as he had never known. Even his fervent soul quailed at the hardship that seemed to bring so little return, for often his message was discredited and he himself cast forth to spend a hungry night in caves or any poor shelter the jungle might afford. His sadhu’s clothes gave him entrance everywhere, but often when it was discovered that he was a Christian, Sundar was driven hungry and helpless from the villages to live or die.

But nothing can discourage him. Incapable of drawing back in face of danger or death itself, Sadhu Sundar Singh continues his sublime mission in the darkest corners' of India and the regions beyond. Year in and out he has laboured for the souls of men in plain and mountain, in city and viJlage, and amongst the scattered peoples and wandering tribes on the frontiers of India. It has been amongst these peoples that he has suffered so severely, but amongst them too he has had the supreme joy not only of making Christ known, but of leading men to His feet. His chief work has been done amongst non-Christians, to whom he feels God’s call to be clear and unmistakable