You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit–fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.  John 15:16

Chawnga Pudaite, the son of a headhunter, met a Welshman by the name of Watkin Roberts. The year was 1910, and the five days that Roberts spent in the hills of the Hmar territory in India changed Chawnga’s future. The quiet, soft-spoken Welshman told Pudaite of a living God who sent His Son into our world to bring life, and that week Chawnga Pudaite made a decision which cost him dearly.  When he decided to follow Jesus, he was driven from his home and family.  But when his son was born, he prayed that he might be able to read, write and take the Bible back to the hills of Hmar from which he had come.

Chawnga’s son, Rochunga, was anything but a model boy, yet when he was 10 years old, Rochunga followed in the footsteps of his father and likewise became a Christian.  After he completed high school by sweeping floors and chopping wood for board and tuition, Rochunga appealed to Prime Minister Nehru for a scholarship.  His faith was rewarded.  The first scholarship ever given by the Indian government to a tribal student went to Rochunga.

During those years, he began thinking of his father’s dream–a Bible in their native Hmar dialect.  When Rochunga was elected president of the newly formed political party by the Hmar leaders, he was on the verge of forgetting his dream for a political career.  During those days of decision, a cable arrived from Watkin Roberts–the man who had first introduced his father to Christ. Instead of throwing his hat into the political arena, Rochunga came to America for graduate study. As he studied, Rochunga (Ro for short) also translated the New Testament into his native tongue, and it was published by the British & Foreign Bible Society.

The years that followed read like a storybook.  The now “Dr. Ro,” returned to his native country and married a dark-haired girl. Eventually, a junior college, five high schools and twenty-five village schools were among the many established as the result of his efforts.  But that was not enough.  The New Delhi telephone directory caught his eye.  Dr. Ro thought if a person could read a number in that directory, he could read the Bible, and the telephone book gives names and addresses. That motivated Ro Pudaite to launch Bibles for The World, with a goal of putting a Bible in the home of every telephone subscriber in the world.

Now, more than 20 million New Testaments and many, many million more Gospels of John have been placed in homes around the world.  After India, Dr. Ro and his associates targeted Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand and Pakistan.  Pudaite’s organization is now led by his son, John Pudaite.  John says it was a single copy of the Gospel of John that was first sent to his grandfather’s village by the Welsh missionary, who was then invited to come and explain the meaning of the book.  “That started a chain of events,” John explains, “and the writing of God’s story on our people, my grandfather’s life and my father’s life.”

Rochunga Pudaite credited his achievements not to his education, but to a personal experience with Jesus Christ, the central figure of the book Ro came to love.

As the result of the vision of this man, millions have had the opportunity to hear of God’s great love in Christ Jesus.  It is possible that a Bible has been in your home for years–unread and unused.  The greatest weapon in the world is at your fingertips.  It is the Bible. It simply remains for you to read it and apply it to your life. You will discover that it can do for you what it did for Rochunga Pudaite.

 

Resource reading:  John 21:1-14