I was lost.......
Message: My name is Sibu Giri. I was born into a middle class Hindu family in Kathmandu. Throughout my childhood I wasn’t fond of going to the temple and putting on tika’s. I used to read Hindu texts(Swasthani Brata katha) and I knew all about the Hindu gods and goddesses. At school I was very good at my studies especially music and sport. At the age of 16 I joined
college. It was at this time that I started to smoke cigarettes, marijuana and use cough syrup. I got into a bad circle of friends and very soon I was also abusing sleeping tablets (Nitrazepam). I was fond of western rock music and I aspired to live my life like the stars of Metallica and Guns N’ Roses,it sounds so funny now.
When the government of Nepal banned the open sale of Nitrazepam and cough syrup I started to inject Buprenorphine (Tidigesic, Subutex). Because of my new addiction I couldn’t complete my studies. After three years I stopped college and started to take brown sugar as well as the norphine. I spent the next ten years hooked on drugs. In this time I went to jail three times and was in custody more than forty times. In 1996 to escape the police I ran away to Delhi and continue taking drugs. In Delhi I attempted suicide by cutting my throat with a razor. Having failed in my attempt I woke up three days later and was sentenced to 45 days in prison for trying to commit suicide. Looking back I know that god had a plan for me but I didn’t know this at the time. In 1998 while still in Delhi I heard that my mother had become a Christian. I was penniless but wanted to return home and so I prayed to Jesus ‘Please escort me home’. I went to New Delhi train station and boarded a train in the third class carriage heading for the border of Nepal. As a Nepalese man and as I was in poor condition Indian people misbehaved me but God protected me with Gorkha soldiers who gave me refuge letting me sit with them for the 30 hour journey and share their food. On the Silgurhi border I asked a man for 20 rupees to get me to the Kakarvitta bus station and on arrival there I told the bus drivers that I was helpless and needed to get home. One driver agreed to take me to Kathmandu. Through this journey Jesus showed me that he is my refuge and my fortress. When I returned home my family welcomed me and treated me like the lost son. I was baptized but I hardly read the Bible and didn’t pay attention to the sermons at church. Members of my mother’s church would visit our home but my brothers like me were both still addicted to drugs and so we’d all run out of our house when we saw the Christians coming.
As a drug addict I brought shame upon my family. In 2000 I was diagnosed with HIV. Not wanting to bring more shame upon my family and discrimination I left once more for Delhi. I didn’t value life and was glad when I thought I’d be dead soon. I went to Delhi to die. I lived there using drugs for two years and working in restaurants and factories. One day I phoned my sister and she told me that a friend of mine had established an organization for people with HIV called Nava Kiran Plus. She requested that I return home, I had money but was in bad condition and dependant on drugs. When I arrived in Kathmandu I went to Nava Kiran Plus where I later became an advocacy officer and board member. Even though Jesus had miraculously brought me home in 1998 and I’d been baptized shortly after I didn’t have faith and I wasn’t attending church as it was too far from my office. I started to believe in Humanism.
At the start of 2012 over New Year I used drugs once again with friends for fun. Very soon I was hooked again and in a bad condition in my home. My brother and sister in law collected me and took me to the family home. It was here that I experienced a miracle during fellowship. They prayed over me and when I stopped taking the drugs there were no withdrawals. I realized that there is power in prayer and I started to read testimonies of believers. After a week I went to the Vision Rehab Centre where we have fellowship three times a day. I’m now a volunteer at the centre and enjoy sharing the word of god with the residents. I still work for Nava Kiran Plus but I now want to do my work for Jesus. I spent more than ten years as an addict and ten years working in social work. I now want to spend my life doing things in the name of Jesus to bring glory to Him.
My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge Psalm 18:2
Daily
Put Your Email To Get Our Latest Updates
Posted by
, Published at
03:14
and have
0
comments
No comments :
Post a Comment