At sixteen years old, Samar climbed a banyan tree with a rope around his neck.
Poverty had convinced him there was no future. Together with his brother and sister, he had decided there was only one way to escape the suffering their family faced every day.
The voice of a stranger at their front door interrupted their hopeless plans that day.
A few months later, God would use a simple radio program to reach Samar with a lifeline of hope.
And today, through Words of Hope, Samar is helping others discover that same hope for themselves.
A Childhood Marked by Fear
Samar was born into a Sikh family in rural India, where hardship shaped nearly every part of life.
His father worked as a farmer, but the family struggled simply to survive. Their home was a small hut made of wood and grass. When a fire swept through it, everything they owned was destroyed.
School was more than six miles away, across a dangerous river. Even when the children managed to attend, there was little reason to believe education would change their future.
“There was no help at all,” Samar says.
As the family searched desperately for answers, neighbors encouraged them to try different gods and rituals. They visited witch doctors hoping someone, somewhere, could offer relief.
But nothing changed. And slowly, despair settled into Samar’s heart.
A Terrible Decision
When Samar was eight years old, the family’s desperation took a horrifying turn.
A witch doctor told his father that the family’s suffering could end—but only if one of his sons was sacrificed.
“I was chosen for the sacrifice,” Samar says.
By God’s grace, Samar’s mother intervened and saved his life.
But the years that followed remained painfully difficult. Poverty continued. Hope disappeared. And eventually, the burden became too heavy for the children to carry.
At sixteen, Samar and his siblings decided together to end their lives.
While their parents worked in the fields, the children gathered ropes and climbed a banyan tree near their home.
They placed nooses around their necks.
Then suddenly, they heard someone knocking at the front door asking for their father. At first the children froze.
Then they climbed down from the tree and hid.
By evening, the moment had passed, and they never saw the man again.
Under cover of darkness, they cut the ropes down from the tree.
A Voice on the Radio
Three months later, Samar’s father brought home a radio to listen to songs.
One day, as Samar turned the dial, he heard something entirely different.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28
The voice was unlike anything he had ever heard before.
“We said, ‘Who is this God?’” Samar remembers. “We knew of lots of gods … but there was no God like this.”
Because their parents would not approve, Samar and his siblings began listening secretly. Sometimes they carried the radio out to the animal barn so no one would hear.
“We didn’t know how to pray,” he says. But they listened carefully. And they obeyed as best they could.
One day, after listening and praying, Samar fell asleep. When he woke up, something had changed.
“I felt very light,” he says. “How much burden was on me … and now I am very light.”
Learning God’s Word
From that point on, Samar returned to the radio every day.
At first, he did not even realize he was listening to the Bible. But he wanted to remember what he heard, so he began writing the messages down line by line in a notebook.
For three years, he listened and wrote.
Eventually, he was able to get a Bible of his own.
“I used to read 15 to 20 chapters every day,” he says.
The change in his life was gradual, but real.
“Today I am not perfect,” Samar says. “But every day I study and grow in faith.”
From Radio Listener to Ministry Leader
In time, the same radio ministry that first reached Samar connected him with a Words of Hope producer.
Samar was baptized. He received theological training. And he began gathering believers together in a small house church.
Today, Samar serves as a community development worker with Words of Hope, helping others access the same gospel truth that transformed his own life.
As he speaks about his ministry, his heart turns toward the people around him.
“We want that they should get what we got,” he says of the Sikhs in his community.
He understands how difficult it can be to imagine another way of life. But he continues sharing the gospel faithfully, trusting that the same hope that reached him can reach others too.
Help Bring the Voice of Hope to Others
Right now, there are people around the world living in deep spiritual darkness and despair.
Some have never heard the gospel clearly. Others are searching desperately for hope.
Through radio broadcasts, discipleship groups, and local ministry partnerships, Words of Hope is helping people encounter Jesus—even in places where sharing the gospel is difficult.
Your support helps bring God’s Word to people who need to hear it most.
Even now, there may be another child somewhere quietly losing hope. Or another family overwhelmed by fear.
But somewhere nearby, a radio is playing. And a voice is speaking:
“Come to me … and I will give you rest.”
Because of faithful supporters like you, the voice of hope is still reaching people in their darkest moments.
And by God’s grace, it can arrive at exactly the right time.
