Rakesh's story

I wasn't planning on telling Rakesh's story, but Campus Crusade for Christ Australia just did a story about him in one their national newsletters. Pretty sweet :)

Here's the article:
JESUS IN A BUCKET OF CHICKEN
by Tezza Brooks on Mon, 11/15/2010

Born and raised in India’s mixed religious culture, Rakesh Kumar was taught everyone’s god is right. It diminished his desire to seek God. When his family took him to the temple, he would ask how anyone could know that the Hindu gods were there. He never got a straight answer. Eventually he was driven toward atheism.

When he came to Australia over three years ago, he attended Deakin University where he met Nandeeta, a girl from his hometown. She was a Christ-follower and spent much of her time telling Rakesh how God changed her life.

One day she needed a ride to church and asked Rakesh to take her. For two months he sat with her in the back of the church, eventually becoming curious. Rakesh remembers: “So just as I did when I was a child, I asked her how she knew God was there. She said it was because she had a relationship with Him, God reveals Himself to her. She said the only way I’d understand is if I asked God to show me that He was real. Only then would I understand.”

A few days later Rakesh was walking to his car after an exam. He began feeling very hungry and weak. Nearly to his car, he became faint and could not walk anymore. Falling to the ground, he remembered what Nandeeta said. So he very bluntly told God: “Look God, I’m hungry, I would love some food. Show me You are real.” He was in one of the most remote places on campus. Hardly anyone parks there, and rarely does someone walk by. Suddenly a friend came around the corner with a bucket of chicken, saying he had been looking all over campus for him. “He wanted to share the meal and thought about finding me. So we sat there and ate KFC on the ground, and I just shook my head in amazement. God had revealed Himself in a bucket of fried chicken. He sure knows how to speak to a college guy.”

The next Sunday Rakesh went back to church very excited. However, he had no clue how to accept Jesus into his life. The pastor talked about repentance and how Jesus gave His life for all. “He told us all we had to do is believe in our heart and confess with our mouth. That’s it. It was that simple? I sat there thinking this can’t be right.” Rakesh thought there had to be more. He was used to doing heaps of good deeds and reciting memorized prayers. “Surely God needed to assess how good I was before He accepted me, right? After a discussion with the pastor and several questions, I prayed to receive Christ. Peace flowed into me, and I felt so light and full of joy. It’s not that way for everyone, but for me, I saw an instant change from that day on. I stopped partying and became more patient with people. That was 2007.”

Rakesh began reading the bible on his own. He did not know how to pray, so he just began talking out loud to God. He searched online and found anything he could to study. “God was teaching me to pursue Him. So I did. I researched bible college websites for downloads and read it all.” He began to have a heart for others who needed Jesus. He shared his story with anyone who would listen, even preaching at McDonalds and getting burgers thrown at him.

Eventually Rakesh developed a strong desire to start a bible discussion group. About that time he met Dave, an American missionary working with Student Life, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. Dave had already done all the footwork to form a small group bible study, so he invited Rakesh to the group. While there Rakesh matured in the Christian faith and learned how to evangelise more effectively. “I’m so thankful for Student Life. I got that bible study I wanted and so much more. It’s awesome to see how God’s hand was on me and where He brought me from.”



Rakesh is now one of our most motivated and evangelistic KVs. Praise God for showing up in buckets of chicken!