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Sadhu Sundar Singh - The Apostle with the Bleeding Feet (1889 - 1929) “I am not worthy to follow in the steps of my Lord,“ he said, “but, like Him, I want no home, no possessions. Like Him I will belong to the road, sharing the suffering of my people, eating with those who will give me shelter, and telling all men of the love of God.“ Sadhu Sundar Singh (Punjabi: ਸਾਧੂ ਸੁੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ, Hindi: साधु सुन्दर सिंह) (September 3, 1889, Patiala State, India) was an Indian Christian missionary. He is believed to have died in the foothills of the Himalayas in 1929. The death of Sundar Singh's mother, when he was fourteen, plunged him into violence and despair. He took out his anger on the missionaries, persecuted Christian converts, and ridiculed their faith. In final defiance of their religion, he bought a Bible and burned it page by page in his home while his friends watched. Three nights later, he took a bath before going to the railroad track to commit suicide. While he was bathing, Singh loudly asked who was the true God. If the true God didn't show Himself that night, he would commit suicide. Finally, that night before the break of dawn, Singh saw a vision of Christ with His pierced hands. Sundar announced to his father, Sher Singh, that henceforth he would follow Christ. His father denounced him, and his brother Rajender Singh attempted to poison him. Sundar's life was saved by the help of a nearby Christian community. On his sixteenth birthday, he was publicly baptised as a Christian in the parish church in Simla, in the Himalayan foothills. Prior to this he had been staying at the Christian Leprosy Home at Sabathu, near Simla, serving the leprosy patients there. In October 1906, he set out on his journey as a new Christian, wearing a turban and the yellow robe of a Hindu sadhu, an ascetic devoted to spiritual practice. Singh viewed himself as a sadhu, albeit one within Christianity rather than Hinduism, because he realized Christianity could not penetrate India unless it was in an Indian way. “I am not worthy to follow in the steps of my Lord,“ he said, “but, like Him, I want no home, no possessions. Like Him I will belong to the road, sharing the suffering of my people, eating with those who will give me shelter, and telling all men of the love of God.“
