“Do you like your caste?” asked my young teenage friend, Aamira.

A little confused, I turned to look at her as we walked the dusty, uneven road toward home in the late afternoon. “What do you mean?” I asked.

“Your caste—Christian. I like mine.” Aamira comes from a Muslim family.

“Oh, I see what you mean. Well, caste is something you’re born into, right?” She nodded. I went on, “Christianity isn’t something you’re born into like caste. It’s a choice.”

She turned to look at me, visibly surprised. “A choice?”

“Yes, a choice.” We were just steps away from where we would go our separate ways. “We will talk about it again when we have more time,” I told her. “But to answer your question, yes, I very much like being a Christian.”

How many others have a similar misunderstanding? How does this affect their openness to Christianity? I wonder. I’m praying Aamira and I can continue that conversation soon. —

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