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We were expelled from East Africa,
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so we arrived as refugees in London.
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My name is Ram, and this is
my story of food and faith.
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When I was growing up, I
grew up in a Hindu family,
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but we were also worshippers
at the Sikh temple.
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And the school they sent
me to was a Muslim school.
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So I had these three faith traditions
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very much part of my childhood upbringing.
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But the one faith that was really,
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not quite formally taboo,
but never looked upon kindly,
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was the Christian faith.
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I started reading this book,
'Good News for Modern Man',
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and as I read it, I must
confess that I got to
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the Book of Revelation,
chapter three, verse 20,
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"Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
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"If anyone opens the door, I will come in
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"and eat with him and he with me."
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Now that really meant a lot to me.
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Food is something I was brought up with
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in the different cultures
I was brought up with.
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Food was the point of engagement.
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I haven't come across that kind
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of expression of a god who eats with me.
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And I said the very simple prayer,
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got on my knees, and
accepted Jesus as my saviour.
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My first non-vegetarian
meal during the week,
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I decided to try roast
beef and Yorkshire pudding
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So I went and got it, and sat down,
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and a Sri Lankan friend
sat across from me,
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and he looked at it, and he said,
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-"Your name is Ram, isn't it?"
-I said, "Yes."
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He said, "You are from a Hindu
family, Hindu background.
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"What are you doing eating roast
beef and Yorkshire pudding?
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I said, "Oh, I must tell
you, I've accepted Jesus,
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"and I've read the
Bible, and the Bible says
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"if you pray over your
food and give thanks,
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"you can eat anything."
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When I then told my mum that I'd become
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a follower of Jesus, she looked shocked,
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she looked amazed, she couldn't comprehend
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that this kind of switching was possible.
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But I suppose what I found was so precious
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And if I fast-forward to today,
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over 50 members of my family have become
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followers of Jesus.
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To take that bold step
of inviting somebody in,
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say, "Come and see me, let's
have this meal together,"
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and using food as a
means of communicating,
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once they start, once
they engage over a meal,
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a meal is a very special and precious time
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to engage, interact,
and build relationships
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with integrity, and let it take its time.