September 29, 2021
Karthar Singh was born in Punjab to wealthy Sikh parents. His father was a big zamindar in their place. He was the only son and his family’s greatest hope.He was brought up in great wealth. He was trained in all kinds of skills by his father. Though he did not get any kind of religious training he always had an eagerness to know about these things in his heart. When he came to know about Christianity, he was attracted by the Christian doctrines . And he publicly declared himself as a Christian. And as a result he was chased away from his own home.
He became a manual laborer for his own basic needs like food and clothes. Very soon he started sharing the good news in the villages and towns in Punjab. After doing so in many places around Punjab he crossed the huge mountains with great difficulty and took the good news to Tibet, the dark country. The Buddhist monks were filled with rage when they heard the name of Jesus Christ. There was no one to welcome or help Karthaar in that cruel land. But he still made a decision to not leave the place without sharing the good news. Though the people of Tibet tried to chase him away and made many vicious plans against him he still went around the streets sharing the word of God. Finally he was charged with entering Tibet without permission from the government and for spreading a foreign religion and was taken before their leader. He was granted death punishment but he went with them for the fulfillment of the death penalty without any hesitation. He kept preaching the gospel to the people who had gathered around as they took him to be killed. One of the men in the crowd was touched by his words and was saved.
When they reached the execution place, they stripped away his clothes, made him naked and stitched him to a wet buffalo and left him in the sun. A huge crowd was there and were making fun looking at the way he was struggling. He was in great pain and was struggling inside the dried, shrinking buffalo skin. The people did not care about Karthar and were totally oblivious to the sound of his breaking bones and were laughing aloud. On the third day he requested them to untie his arms to take the new Testament that was near him. With great difficulty he wrote the following lines in the Bible:
Is this a death bed of a Christian? No.
This is the place where death dies. Will the love I have for Christ, reduce? I’m only giving back the life he gave me. Though I truthfully did my best still I could not do everything. These were the words he wrote. More importantly he praised God when he was about to die. Finally, as he breathed his last he said ,” Lord Jesus! I submit my spirit in your hands.”
One of the officers in the crowd that was Karthaar’s final moments took the old testament to his house and accepted Christ after reading it.