INDIA: I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS

After the devastating violence AGAINST Christians in Manipur State, India LAST YEAR, Christians BRAVELY continued to gather AND WORSHIP. AND ONE OF THE SONGS THEY CHOSE TO SING HAS, OVER MANY YEARS, BECOME A SOURCE OF HOPE FOR PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS ALL OVER THE WORLD.

Picture the scene. You’re in rural India. A man stands outside a small house, keeping watch for attackers. Music drifts from the open windows. People inside the home sit on plastic chairs, standing to sing. 

The words are in a local language—but the tune is familiar. 

“Though none go with me, still I will follow … “

The group sings quietly, finally ending:

“No turning back, no turning back.”

The Christians gathered in this house live and worship in Manipur State, India, where ethnic and religious violence erupted last May, killing hundreds of people, leaving many homes and churches burned and reduced to rubble. Thousands of Christians were forced to flee. 

This particular congregation is made up of Christians from the Meitei people. They’re the most populous group in Manipur State—and most of them are Hindu. When clashes began last summer, largely between the Meitei and the mostly Christian Kuki tribe, Meitei Christians were caught in the middle. On the one hand, they were Meitei, so their ethnicity made them targets for Kuki extremists. But on the other, they were Christians, so their faith made them targets for Hindu extremists among their own people.

This was especially evident when religious extremists burned down their church building. 

One of the church members opened a house he had built for his son so the church could continue to meet. The believers who gather for worship know they are at constant risk of another attack, so they put one person to keep watch. 

And still, they sing.

The song they chose was remarkably appropriate. “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” is sung by Christians all over the world—but it having it’s roots in India. Some claim the powerful words come from the story of Nokseng, an Indian Christian who saw his family killed for refusing to deny his faith in Jesus. It’s claimed he sang the words to the song, before being martyred himself. It’s a powerful story. The full lyrics are below. Use them as a prayer for yourself and as you say the words ask God to give strength and courage to your church family in India, and other places around the world where Christians are facing persecution:

I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
no turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me, I still will follow;
though none go with me, I still will follow;
though none go with me, I still will follow;
no turning back, no turning back.

The world behind me, the cross before me;
the world behind me, the cross before me,
the world behind me, the cross before me;
no turning back, no turning back.