“If That Is What the Lord Wants, I Will Go”

Hindu man sitting on ledge in a public area

What would it take for you to go to the very people you once hated?

For Rahul Pal and his future wife, Suhita, the answer was simple—but not easy. It required complete surrender to the call of God.

In the late 1990s, Rahul Pal was a student at Southern Asia Bible College (SABC) in Bangalore, India. Rahul’s grandfather had been a practicing Hindu and had passed his religion on to his grandson. Yet, in God’s providence, Christian neighbors encouraged young Rahul to attend their church and hear about Jesus. Not only did Rahul receive Christ as his Lord and Savior, but he soon sensed that God was calling him to preach the gospel. Recognizing his need for preparation, Rahul applied to SABC and was accepted as a student.

Muslim men

I first met Rahul in the early 2000s while conducting a seminar in Calcutta. Rahul, along with his wife and infant daughter, traveled from Upper West Bengal to attend. During that visit, he shared part of his testimony with me.

“Back when I entered SABC,” he said, “I carried a heavy spiritual burden. While I was still a young boy, Muslim radicals burned my grandfather’s home, and from that time I hated all Muslims. Even on the day I entered SABC, I still harbored that hatred. I stayed away from Muslims as much as possible.”

Rahul went on to explain what happened shortly after arriving at SABC. “Soon after I became a student,” he said, “the director of your ministry—at that time it was called the Center for Ministry to Muslims—spoke in chapel and challenged us to reach Muslims with the gospel.”

As the CMM representative spoke, Rahul came under deep conviction. He sensed that the Lord was calling him to devote his life to reaching Muslims, specifically in the Upper West Bengal region of India. He resisted the call and, for weeks, refused to deal with it, hoping the burden would simply go away.

Another reason Rahul resisted so strongly was because his fiancée, Suhita, was equally vocal in her dislike of Muslims. Similar to Rahul’s experience, she had suffered serious mistreatment at the hands of Muslims and carried a deep resentment toward them. The thought of spending their lives ministering among Muslims seemed unthinkable.

Eventually, Rahul found the courage to share with Suhita what he believed God was saying to him. He even told her that he felt called to serve in the northern areas of West Bengal. At first, Suhita refused to consider anything that involved Muslims.

Rahul continued to pray quietly and wait patiently on the Lord. Then one day Suhita spoke words that would change the course of their lives:

“If that is what the Lord wants, then I will go.”

After graduating from SABC and getting married, Rahul and Suhita moved to a heavily Muslim area of West Bengal and began reaching out to Muslims with the gospel.

One of their first decisions was to change their names. Rahul became “Omar,” and Suhita became “Fatima.” In their words, “This would help us fit in better in the Muslim culture of this part of West Bengal.”

Fatima was trained in naturopathic medicine, using natural plants and remedies to bring healing to her patients. She opened a clinic and used her medical skills as a bridge to minister to Muslims and help establish their ministry. The Lord gave them favor, and Muslims began accepting Christ as Lord and Savior.

In the early years, Omar traveled to various outstations by bus. He was thrilled when our ministry provided funds for a motor scooter. That scooter greatly expanded his ability to reach surrounding communities.

Omar employed contextualized approaches when appropriate—such as sitting on the floor with those he ministered to—but he never compromised the message of the gospel. By 2020, Omar and Fatima had established 26 churches and preaching points throughout West Bengal.

Baby dedication

As mentioned earlier, I met Omar and Fatima at a seminar in Calcutta during the early 2000s. They had traveled all the way from Upper West Bengal and brought along their newborn daughter. To honor their appreciation for our ministry, they asked me to dedicate their baby girl.

I will never forget how humbled I felt as I prayed over that beautiful child and dedicated her to the Lord.

What an incredible testimony of God’s transforming grace!

Here were two people who wanted nothing to do with Muslims. Yet God used a Global Initiative (formerly CMM) representative to challenge them with His call. Today, they are among the finest church planters serving among Muslims anywhere in the world.

There are many powerful lessons in this story. But for me, the most significant moment came when Suhita surrendered her own plans, fears, and prejudices and simply said:

“If that is what the Lord wants, I will go.”

Question mark

Perhaps the Lord is speaking to you about His call on your life. Perhaps He is calling you to serve in a place you never expected, among people you never imagined, or in a role you never planned.

Have you reached that critical moment where you can honestly say:

“If that is what the Lord wants, I will go?”

 Note: For security reasons, all names in this blog have been changed.