I was born into a devout Sikh family. My mum had four girls, and she desperately wanted a son. She prayed, and promised that, if God would give her a son, she would give that son back to serve in that Sikh temple. That’s when I was born. My mum decided to leave me at the temple when I was 14, but she died before then. My dad decided to take me to the Sikh temple after I was 18 — but I met Jesus.
Sikh scriptures gave me questions such as: if God is One, why do we have so many religions? If God has created these religions, I do not want anything to do with this God. But if the religion is made by man, then I do not want anything to do with the religion. Can I find God without religion? This was the beginning of my search for reality, which ended in meeting Jesus. I found the true God without a religion.
As a religion, Sikhism is the best in the world, because of its foundations of service and sacrifice — but it’s a work-based righteousness. God will have grace on you only if you work towards that. Then God may have mercy on you when you stand before him on the day of judgement. If he’s happy, he will bless you with life with him, but, if not, you will be sent back to live 8.4 million lives before you get next human life. It promotes love, peace, equality . . . but Sikhs practise the caste structure. A true follower of Christ would not do that. True followers of Sikhism are still forced to follow the caste system.
I have a very high regard for the Sikh gurus, because they were honest about their search for God and their desire to be forgiven of their sins, and they haven’t claimed to have found the answers. On the other hand, the Bible gives clear answers to the problem of sin, and the solution given by God is not based on human efforts, but, rather, on the pure grace of God and the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
Jesus cleanses our heart first, and then our connection with God is established.
My family had some spiritual problems, and Sikhism was not able to provide the answers. When someone offered a simple prayer in the name of Jesus, we got the answer we were waiting for. That was the first time I had an encounter with God.
I work with London City Mission as a missionary team leader in Hounslow. We equip churches to bring the gospel to different ethnic communities. Every borough has a team which partners with churches, teaching them their neighbours’ religious and world-views, and the best ways to engage with them — not just classroom sessions, but bringing that teaching alive in their daily lives, and developing teams to continue the work.
There can’t be any mission without social life. We help the Church to understand God’s story from Genesis to Revelation: we’re not just making people part of the Church, but transforming individual lives, families, communities. Jesus has promised that he’ll restore everything to God’s original design when he comes back.
Eternal life, according to Jesus, starts here. How do you practise that in schools? Shops? Businesses? Homes? It’s a taster of eternity with Jesus. We’re not simply becoming better churches: we’re becoming better and more obedient followers of Jesus.
Most of our churches are quite mixed, but many have a majority or complete ethnic identity. Reception is mixed: some are excited and see the need. Others feel that they are well-equipped for mission, which is great. Some have problems: no funds, no staff or volunteers.
What I’m learning is that the first-generation immigrants of any age feel more affinity to their own cultural churches, but the second and third generations are not so comfortable in those churches. They’re British. There’s a lot of church movement — and that’s OK. Wherever people are comfortable, they should worship there.
The Church in India is closer to Acts 2 when it comes to social life. The feeling of belonging to a community of the followers of Jesus is much stronger. Someone who becomes a follower of Jesus from another faith here sometimes becomes lonely. This is really sad. You will not hear anyone say that in India.
Most of our time goes in studying, preparing sessions for churches, and spending time with them, doing ministry in the streets. Sundays are busy, and some Saturdays as well. My wife works at a charity store at her church, so her schedule is quite flexible.
I studied first in a Hindi-speaking school, and then in Punjabi-speaking school. I felt very limited in God’s work because of not knowing English. I knelt and prayed to God to teach me English, because I didn’t want to be limited in my mission for him. God graciously answered my prayer, and this new language began to come out of my mouth.
It wasn’t perfect, but the Holy Spirit gave me grace to practise and polish it well. Soon, I began to interpret and translate. Translation became my career and means of supporting my family. Since then, I’ve worked on many small and big translation projects, including books, Bibles, study Bibles, and even dictionaries.
Most of my work as a Bible translator has been as editor of the translated Bibles in Hindi and Punjabi, particularly three study Bibles. I’ve translated The Action Bible by David Cook into Hindi and Punjabi, and I’ve just edited the translation of the English Standard Version Study Bible into Hindi.
I had peace in my heart from the Lord when I applied for this work with the London City Mission. I wasn’t sure whether I would be granted a visa to come to the UK; so, when it was granted, this was the confirmation I needed from the Lord. We arrived here on 18 August 2022. Our two daughters cannot join us. One is an online singing teacher, and the other is studying for a degree in the culinary arts. My heart still goes after them. We’re praying that God will open a door for them to join us, but God has his own plans for them. My common prayer for them is just that they and we shall see it.
Two things surprised me about life here. The quality of life is better than in India, but the loneliness in the UK can be very harsh for some people. We come from a culture which is highly communal, and at times we find it very lonely here.
Ministry has been good. Learning has been good. I have seen growth in my knowledge and spiritual life after coming here.
Nothing makes me really angry. I would say that what upsets me is when churches in the UK miss opportunities to do mission. God has brought the world to the UK. Mission is right at your doorstep. Dive into it.
What makes me joyful is when I see people witnessing to the people around them.
I love the sound of a motorbike. I’ve been a rider all my life, and I’m waiting for my UK drivers’ licence and then to own a motorbike here.
Jesus is our blessed hope. His return — that’s what keeps me going.
I pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and our daughters, and our prayer partners and supporters. The safest place for us to be is the centre of God’s will.
I want to be locked in a church with the apostles. I would ask Peter how it felt when Jesus said: “Get thee behind me, Satan.” I would ask Thomas why he had doubts about Jesus. I would ask Matthew how he felt when Jesus lovingly offered him to follow him. I would ask John how he felt when he was loved by God-in-flesh, Jesus. I would ask Mark why he left the missionary journey halfway through. I would ask Barnabas how he felt when Paul didn’t agree with him. I would ask Paul about the thorn in the flesh. And I would ask for some tips about missions among the lost.
Manmohan Singh was talking to Terence Handley MacMath.
lcm.org.uk