Baptized with Snakes
And there were king cobras, it was the capital of the king cobra snake in all of India in this area.
Welcome to “Ron’s Adventures,” the podcast that highlights the adventures Ron Pearce has experienced throughout his 30-plus years following God around the world. With me in the studio today are Ron and Charis Pearce.
Joy- Hi guys! Welcome back. I’m really excited for this particular podcast because I’ve heard it has something to do with snakes and water and to me that combination just sounds fun!
{laughter}
Ron- It’s snakes and water in India and what had happened was, many years ago, probably about 15 years ago, I was in India and we were being taken by some national church planting leaders to the various outcroppings of their ministry in and around Hyderabad. Hyderabad is sort of in the middle of the triangle of India, right in the very middle, and we were going around to the church plants that they had done. I remember the first day, we went to this one church and the people were so poor, they were crushing rocks beside the road and they were selling these broken rocks to a truck that was coming by and they were basically making gravel by hand. They would get a little bit of money but they were so poor. And there were king cobras, it was the capital of the king cobra snake in all of India in this area.They had a huge church there, 400, maybe 500 people who, when they heard we were coming they came running from their crushing of rocks and they came to the church together. Many of those people that day would have had little if no food because they didn’t crush many rocks but they wanted to come to church.
Joy- So their entire job was crushing rocks to get gravel?
Ron- You got it, and they would drag them out of this lake that had all dried up. They would drag these stones and big rocks to the shore, they would crush the gravel, a truck would come by, they would push the gravel onto it and they would get a few rupees of money for food. They were also farmers at the same time but farming wasn’t doing well, there was a huge drought at that time. And so that was the one day. The next day is where I’m going to pick up this story to tell you because I’ve been in sort of scary situations but as you say, Joy, snakes are not one of my favorite things. I feel a little bit like Indiana Jones.
Joy- Well, actually, I said it was a little fun but I’m taking it that you don’t think it was.
Ron- No, it wasn’t because there were snakes all over the place there. So we pull up to the church and there was a large congregation there, they were waiting for us. They wanted to give words of greeting to me to be in India and I was supposed to go up and give a message and pray for the sick and the usual things we would do at a meeting of that sort. They brought these folks up and this one gentleman came forward and he looked deathly sick. He and his wife were there and he became sick all over my shoes. He was thin, gaunt, and I just prayed for him and his wife and they appreciated it so much. They were strong believers, he was just sick and elderly, probably near death. So after that adventure, I went into this house. This was a very very poor shack/hut and I was going to do a water baptism that day, across the road a couple of hundred yards into a field and so I had to go in there and take my good clothes off and put on shorts and a t‑shirt and get ready to go into the water. So I go in there and the lady of the house had just gotten rid of all the king cobra snakes out of the house before I got there, and I felt so grateful for that!
Joy- That was so nice of her! {laughter}
And there were king cobras, it was the capital of the king cobra snake in all of India in this area.
Ron- So nice! And then, I go in to get changed and I’m sitting there on the edge of a sort of wooden little bed, and I’m looking across the room and under the same bed on the other side of the room is the biggest rat you’ve ever seen in your life! I thought it was a cat! This thing was massive and it was staring right at me. I thought this thing is going to attack!
Joy- Do rats attack? {laughter}
Ron- I don’t know but this one looked like it was going to! It had its beady little eyes on me so I thought I better get out of there. But he was sort of close to the door so it was either crawl out a window or try and go past him. So I gathered up my clothes slowly and walked over and this thing didn’t move. I was probably about three or four feet away and he was just staring at me. Usually, I think they would run away but I think I was doing the running that day because this thing was massive.
Joy- And that’s why the king cobras come, to eat the rats? Wow!
Ron- Yes, they eat them. I don’t know how this thing got so big, anyways…
Joy- He’s a survivor!
Ron- So I got changed and here we are going out across the road and being followed by about 10 or 11 people that were being water baptized, as well as the congregation of about 200. I was at the head of the pack with the pastor and this young man and a couple of little children who were beating the pathway ahead of us. They were trying to scare the snakes away in the field that might be there. So we get down in the middle of the field and for some sort of irrigation, there was a concrete cistern, I’m going to say it was four or five feet square and it had about four feet of water in it, dirty water, and I thought, okay here we go.
Joy- Did you volunteer for this job?
Ron- Well, I was supposed to do it, but I really didn’t want to do it. I really don’t like doing those things in another culture, I’d rather they do it for their own people, but no, they insisted so here I am. So I go into the water and I sink into what had to be six inches of mud and I’m praying Lord protect me, don’t let there be anything in here,
Joy- Like leeches, I’m thinking leeches.
Ron-Well, leeches, I’m thinking more like snakes or something that could bite and cause pain. So I sink through the mud and standing there thinking, this is okay, when all of a sudden something slithered through my toes and I remember thinking, don’t move, don’t move. I thought, I have got to do this quick. So I’m in there with this slithery something or other, I never got bit, I was okay, but I did not like it. So the people would come in, they would give a testimony, the testimony would be translated, I would water baptize. This went on for, I’m going to say nine people. The tenth person was this lady that came in and she was crying, I mean she was in tears, and I looked at the pastor and said, “Are we ready, is she ready for this? Should we postpone this for her?” He said, “No, no, I know the situation, it’s okay, do it.” She comes in, she’s crying away and gives her testimony through tears, and then I said, “I will baptize you.” And I baptized her, she wasn’t crying when I baptized her, the ladies help her out of the cistern etcetera, and we’re walking away and she was fine but then she broke into tears again. So I said to the pastor, “What was that all about?” He said, “You see that group of men over there?” I would say probably a quarter of a mile away, on the main road there was a hut there, and it was a meeting hut for the militant Hindu faction in the area. These were the guys who wanted to persecute and suppress Christianity and they were having a meeting and they were going to march down and do damage to the church and to me and everything like that. They were probably getting their courage up while we were baptizing. And so he {the pastor} told me, “That lady, that is the militant leader’s wife,” and he said, “she was crying because she knows that she will be taking the biggest beating of her entire life for being water baptized, confessing her faith in Jesus, and walking away from Hinduism.” And he said, “She knows what’s in store for her.” And I said, “She didn’t want to back off and wait?” But the pastor said, “She knew she had to declare her faith because she was not ashamed of the Gospel.” I just thought, oh my goodness, this is where reality sets in both to following Jesus in India, as well as obedience to the Gospel over the beating of a husband. It was really incredible. So we walked back to the car and we were ready to go.
Charis- Water baptism is especially significant in India because of all the gods that they have, adding another god on isn’t such a big deal but forsaking all their gods and being baptized is an outward expression.
Ron- Exactly, Charis, in fact, I remember the first time that I saw that was in Calcutta. I walked into this house and I remember seeing over the door that there were three pictures. A traditional picture of Jesus was one of the pictures and two other Hindu gods, above the doorway. So I walked into the house and asked, “What was going on here?” and the pastor told me, “At that time, this person has made a commitment to Jesus as being a god,” and, therefore, it was sort of like you said, adding another god onto the billions of gods they’ve already got, well we’ll just add Jesus on for safety sake, to make sure they’ve covered all the bases. So I asked, “Is this person seeking or are they saved?” And the pastor said, “We say they are seekers right now, and when they take all the other pictures down and leave the picture of Jesus up on the wall, that’s when they are making a commitment and saying I am a Christian. And then when they are water baptized, that is when we know that they are a firm Christian to follow the Lord at all cost.”
Joy- So that would be, through the eyes of Hindu, to forsake all other gods, that is quite the statement and commitment they are making.
Ron- Oh it is big, totally. So, that was my adventure, from the rats to the snakes to the slithery things in the bottom of a cistern, to a lady crying. I’ve never had a lady crying through a baptism before except this one time. And then to hear her story was very inspiring and it goes back to my favorite verse; I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. (Romans 1:16)
Joy- A final question, when a believer commits their life to Christ that was Hindu, do you know if she would stay with her husband, would he kick her out?
Ron‑I really don’t know. She would stay, and I’m going to say this, if he wanted her. She might be expelled. There’s all sorts of things that I’ve heard happen so in this situation I don’t know. I don’t think there is a general rule.
Joy- Right, with Hinduism it’s a little different but with other religions I’ve heard that they are completely expelled from the faith and out of the community.
Ron- Absolutely yes, that is a big issue. It’s not so much of being kicked out, it’s the fact that this woman was bold enough to try and bring Jesus into the family. She wasn’t concerned about the price she was going to be paying, but she was wanting her husband, children, and relatives to understand about Jesus because she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was the answer and they had been looking to other gods but she found THE God.
Joy- Alright, I knew it was going to be a good one, thank you Ron and Charis.
Listeners you have heard another episode of “Ron’s Adventures,” the podcast that reminds you if you see a giant rat, do not make eye contact and just keep walking.
