Chillies are hard to find in the Czech Republic. Strudel? Dumplings? Goulash? No problem - the shelves are packed with the necessary ingredients. But if you're planning to make curry, why that's something different entirely! Fortunately, a recent visit from my folks in the UAE brought us a fresh shipment of chutneys, spices and pappadams... just the things you need if you're going to put on a Curry Night in the Czech Republic.
As we put the finishing touches on beef curry, brinjal salad, coconut sambal and kiri hodhi, one of our new friends, a seminary student from Andra Pradesh in India, asked me if I had ever heard of Don Rubesh. As it turns out, Don is my grandfather. "You're Don Rubesh's grandson??" Johnson exclaimed, "I can't believe I'm eating dinner in the house of Don Rubesh's grandson!"
Click here to read on . . .
If you're from the Indian subcontinent, it's very likely you've heard my grandfather's name. Almost half a century ago, joining forces with Back to the Bible Broadcast (one of America’s most popular Christian broadcasters) Don pulled together a team of South Asian Bible teachers, musicians, and studio technicians, and pioneered the work of Back to the Bible - Sri Lanka. Before long the Broadcast was blanketing South Asia with programming that was both Biblical and indigenous, timeless and yet culturally relative. Don was in many ways, the father of Christian radio on the Indian sub-continent. Today many of the region’s foremost Christian leaders will testify to the formative role Back to the Bible played in their spiritual growth. Johnson is one of them - having committed himself to full time Christian Ministry after listening to a sermon on Back to the Bible. He's now in Prague - studying to be a theologian, and will take that passion and knowledge back to his homeland.
Back to the Bible has been a part of the Rubesh family for three generations - a BBB-sponsored visa is responsible for my growing up in Sri Lanka (and developing a taste for curry). If you're interested in reading more about Back to the Bible and finding out how you could invest in a ministry which has touched so many lives - including that of our new friend here in Prague, please let me know!
1 comment:
The name Don Rubesh will always stick in my mind. My father is Alistair Swanson, he was the minister at Cinnamon Gardens Baptist Church in Colombo from 1975 to 1979. I was 8 and left at 13. The manse used to stand where the BTTB studios are now built. Don, your grandfather, let me play the xylophone in the studio on the day the studios opened. It was there I got my first taste of the recording studios, I eventually started working in sound when we were living in Scotland. I am now 47 and studying Audio Engineering BSc at Perth College in Scotland and would love to go back to the studios in Sri Lanka where your Granfather inspired me and do a recording. Yours in Christ, Don Swanson
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