Pastor Prasanna Kumar was an extremely worried man. The collections in the church were barely sufficient to pay for the electricity bill to feed him and his assistant. Though he could not blame it on the miserliness of the church members, he knew they were a poor lot and barely surviving with nothing to spare in the form of tithes. He never demanded tithes in his church being aware of the precarious situation of his sheep. Sometimes they offer their local produce of rice and vegetables which he badly needed given his precarious situation.

The past months were extremely taxing first with one week of fasting prayer for the marriage of Lalitha followed by another week of fasting prayer for employment of Raghu. And some more fasting prayers followed. Then came Lent with the mandatory fasting for 40 days. His health was going down with all these fastings and he was feeling weak. Then a new problem came up.

For the last two weeks or so a thick liquid was oozing out of his organ and he was terrified about it. He was a diehard celibate and despite all the temptation was grimly holding on to his celibacy.  Particularly that girl Shyamala who makes her pallu slip during prayers whether by design or by mistake, he is not sure. She sits in the church in such a way that she exposes her side view in all its glory as if she is taunting him. He had great trouble in averting his gaze from her during prayers. There were many more distractions with other females so he stopped praying by placing his hand on anybody’s head.

 As the symptoms were not subsiding, he wanted to seek medical help. With his precarious financial situation, he could not afford treatment at a private hospital. So he took a bus to the town and went to the district medical center seeking an appointment with Dr. Ranga Rao MBBS MD FRCS (Lond), the Chief Medical Officer. There was a long queue and his turn came after waiting for half an hour. He explained his medical condition to the doctor who without even looking up at him told him to go to ward no 16.

Off he went to ward no 16 and was shocked. His world came crashing down. It was the HIV ward! How did he get it? He had not taken any injections or blood transfusions even in the distant past. The last known sexual encounter was twenty years ago when he had oral sex in an unguarded moment.  He confessed to it several times at Vailankanni and also in Retreat at Chalakudi in Kerala

. He was told his sins were forgiven, but why is this calamity visiting him now? Is God punishing him for his secret sin now? His spiritual quest took him to the Divine Retreat Center at Chalakudi near Ernakulum for one week of prayer and sermons. Accommodation and boarding were provided at a nominal cost for a one-week residential program. Something extraordinary happened at Chalakudi Retreat.

In one session, a preacher said to the assembly in general without pointing at anyone. “Remember that night when you were stopped on your way to the hostel by two cops? Who do you think came to your rescue that night?”

He was stunned as this incident happened to him thirty years ago while studying for a college degree. He was returning to his hostel on a walk after a rendezvous in a slum. As he turned into the main road, two beat cops were at some distance behind him, blowing their whistles and shouting at him to stop. His first instinct was to run but he stood his ground. The cops approached him and asked, “Where are you coming from?” He replied that he was coming from his friend’s room at the medical college hostel. Then they let him go without further questioning. He was surprised at the outcome as he expected to be grilled and taken to the police station for further questioning. That would have exposed his lie and after that, he would have left the college in utter shame. He was amazed at the power and love of God who came to his rescue even without asking Him.

In one sermon the preacher said, “Remember the heartbreak in your college days.” He was referring to the loss of his only love that he loved madly. Every day he would always hang around her home to catch a glimpse of his angel. Then she went away to study medicine and he went away to a different city. But he was sowing wild oats on the side in secret. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. To his utter shock, she got married to her classmate and left for the US. Jesus consoled him but surprisingly He did not judge him.

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Prasanna Kumar understood the power of sin which separated him from his loved one. Yes, sin is real and not to be bandied about casually. He prayed to God, “Lord, I deserve this pain and I am solely responsible for losing her. She deserves a better person than me a, philandering no-good bastard.” Yes, sin is real and it also made him a better person.

Then he came back to the present crisis. What if the laity comes to know about his medical condition? That would close his church and end his service to God. And the resulting scandal will add to the ongoing campaign of vilification of Christianity. Does the gestation period of AIDS extend to 20 years? It seems God did not forgive his secret sins but only waiting for the right time to punish this dreaded disease After all He is known to be a vengeful God and the retribution shall be swift when He acts.

He came back to his village much depressed and was seeking answers to his predicament. Then he saw a quack named Basava Raj RMP (Electro homeopathy) whatever it means. He had only 10 rupees with him but decided to meet the quack anyway. He went in as the “doctor” was alone. He explained his condition and was taken to the examination table. After examining the relevant part, he wrote Becozinc six capsules as the prescription. The fee was 30 rupees which our pastor did not have with him. The “doctor” told him “It is all right, you pay whenever you can.”

He purchased six capsules with the ten rupees he had with him and took one after lunch. The next day morning there was less discharge but to be on the safer side he continued the treatment all six days. The pastor’s ordeal came to an end with just six capsules of Becozinc. Had he seen a specialist instead of a quack in the village, the outcome would have been tragic.

After this “miracle,” Pastor Prasanna Kumar started praying to God with renewed vigor. His sermons were filled with love faith and mercy of God.

Tag words: Chalakudi, Divine retreat center, Becozinc, HIV.

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