About a month and a half back I posted a story about how when I was going shop to shop in Lilongwe, Malawi, a pastor who worked as a manager in a car showroom bought four books from me and expressed interest in buying a Bhagavad-gita later.

Well, I went back to see him periodically to find out how he was doing as he read through the books. He went through them very methodically -- highlighting, underlining, and marking many sections. He would ask me many questions about what he had read.

About a month back I sold him the Bhagavad-gita, and he felt bliss to get it. I was surprised, because not only was the Gita new to him but he was from a culture that was not at all based on the Bhagavad-gita -- Malawian-African. And yet he still was so keen to read the Gita, and gradually he picked up on the philosophy and would ask me many questions.

I found out that he had been born in a Catholic family and that in his teens he had begun to ask questions about God. When he couldn't get the answers, he became a Jehovah's Witness and then a Pentecostal. He told me how about fourteen years ago he had gotten a "call" from inside, which took the form of an intense desire to go deeper into religion. His friends advised him to become a preacher (pastor). He confided in me that although he went so deep into Christianity he felt something was missing. He also lamented how new ideas concerning "gayism," feminism, and abortion are entering the church. Finally he said, "I think what is missing is . . ." and he pointed to the Bhagavad-gita.

I was surprised that this Christian preacher was drawn so much to the Bhagavad-gita and to Srila Prabhupada's books in general. Gradually he gave up drinking tea and, for the last three weeks, meat. He said, "After reading about the evils of meat-eating in 'The Laws of Nature,' I can't stand the sight it anymore."

Once, after he had read all the small books, I asked him if he wanted some more books, and he told me that he was reading the small books all over again and was getting deeper meaning from them. I thought he might be lying and that he just didn't want any more books, but when I went to visit him in his office I saw him reading "The Laws of Nature" right there at his desk.

Now he keeps telling me, "I don't know how to tell my congregation all these things, or whether I should." I just told him to take it slowly and first become strong himself. He has eight children and gave the youngest one (an eighteen-year-old son) one of the books to read. He liked it so much that he loaned it to his friends.

Once I met him on a Monday and he told me that as he delivered his sermon in the church the day before his mind was on the Bhagavad-gita. The pastor is chanting one round every day and adjusting his diet. He's seriously considering becoming a Hare Krishna. In truth I haven't met him much. This all happened due to his reading nd accepting with faith Srila Prabhupada's instructions. I pray to Caitanya Mahaprabhu that the pastor be guided to the path of sanatana-dharma.

Your servant,

Murari Das