[stextbox id=”grey”]This is an interview with my dear friend Tiny, the beloved wife of my friend and mentor Rev.Shyju Mathew. She is one of the simplest Christians I have ever met, yet one of the godliest and Jesus-like charactered woman I have personally known in my life. The questionnaire was collected from a list of friends, I pray this post blesses you. You may also read her Blog or follow her on Facebook or Twitter![/stextbox]
Ajin: What is the Vision for your life?
Tiny: To love God with all my heart, mind & strength, to know God’s heart, to walk with God, to love others, to walk blameless & faithful before God & to do all that God wants me to do.
Rashmi: Who do you think are you for most part of your day? Tiny Mathew, (Minister SMM) or Tiny Mathew, wife of Shyju Mathew?
Tiny: At home I am just Tiny. For some I am Tiny Mathew, maybe for most of them I am Shyju’s wife. I am blessed, but what really matters is that I am the daughter of the most high God.
Amit: How does it feel to marry a man who is more crazy about God, than you?
Tiny: Feels great. In fact I desire that my husband love Jesus more than me & it’s the same for me & that’s how it should be for everyone.
Priji: Could you give some suggestions for young woman waiting for their prince charming to show up?
Tiny: Never pursue a man. Pursue God & He will send you the right man at the right time. As a single person, enjoy your time fully with God & be patient 🙂
Aleena: How do you manage to keep up to the level that people expect? How does it feel to be a minister’s wife and how much do you think an important role can be played in his life and his ministry? Has fame affected you? How has life changed after being a public figure now?
Tiny: You will never be able to manage to keep up the level of people’s expectations. Different people have different expectations. So it is best to keep God as our focus.
It’s a privilege and an honor to be a minister’s wife. I think my main role as a minister’s wife is to pray for Him and support his vision & of course to respect & love him.
Jesus is the one who gets all the fame, so we should not be affected.
Sharolyn: How to overcome temptations as a girl? And how to put God first in everything? Even before husband? How does your marriage affect your spiritual life? How to balance between Husband and God?
Tiny: One way of overcoming temptation is by constantly living in the Spirit.The more you walk in the Spirit the more you can take over your carnal nature. You may read the post on my blog titled, Overcoming Temptations
The first commandment of the Bible tells us to love God. It’s a command & as a child of God that should be our first & foremost priority.
Marriage has only been a blessing to my spiritual life.
About Balance between husband & God – since I am blessed with a husband who loves Jesus, I have no issues. We both encourage each other to pray and the more we get close to Jesus, the more we get close to each other.
Priji: Have you had career ambitions/aspirations? If yes, how did you deal/ handle them?
Tiny: I did have career ambitions before my marriage but slowly & gently the Lord just took away all my desires as I submitted everything into His hands.
Jemeema: What are the challenges you face as a minister’s wife, esp when your hubby is a heartthrob of many youths?
Tiny: Everyone faces challenges in life, but it all depends on how we respond to the challenges. Girls do desire to be with a man like my husband because he is anointed, but for me since God gave him to me, I trust God with him. So it is not my problem, it is God’s.
Rashmi: How did God show you the person you would spend the rest of your life with? In other words how did you find your Mr.Right?
Tiny: I never went seeking after him, God brought him into my life at His time. I met him through a common friend. After a period of praying & fasting I was convinced this was the one whom God wanted me to marry.
Frankly speaking I never wanted to marry a minister cause I wasn’t sure if I could keep up with the pace, pay the price, if I would be useful or be a blessing & I never wanted to be in the lime light. I was totally new to ministry too. But I tell you, if God has called you, He will prepare you for it. His grace is enough.
Concluding Note:
I encourage everyone out there to never stop pursuing the one who loves you the most. To give your best to Him. We have just one life & when we are completely yielded to the Holy Spirit, He can do anything with you. The day you stop feeling hungry for Him is the day when you will stop growing spiritually. As the Bible says, “Blessed are those who are spiritually needy. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.”
(Please feel free to respond and discuss the post in the comment section below, also share this post with your friends too, you are welcome to ask Tiny more questions as well. Click here to subscribe to upcoming posts on this blog)
Appreciate your inputs, Tiny. I’m sure you are and will be a blessing to many in our generation. Blessings, Earnest.
perfect answers, one above the other
i like this statement the most
“Jesus is the one who gets all the fame, so we should not be affected.”god bless you sister, its such a joy in reading this
Liked it 🙂
Thank you for the response Binu!
That was the statement that blew me off as well!!!! Praise God!
Yes she is a blessing to many in this generation!
loved it!!! realy encouraging & practical……………………..
loved it!!! realy encouraging & practical……………………..
Yes it is!!
nice post..I think every young girl should read this..it was inspiring & also lead to many new thoughts..God continue to bless u, Tiny sister..
Loved it , really encouraging and inspiring for many young girls….God bless you more n more sis.Tiny….
hey this is real cool.i didnt see this !!! been away from my laptop for a looooooong time !!
yes it is cool!!! Everybody loved it!!!
hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Thank you for sharing Jyothi. Bless you too.
Thank you Shebin, please feel free to share it with your friends!
Had great peace after reading this. Blessing 🙂
Wow! Glad to hear that!
Gr8 post, it answers many questions which had been in my mind 4 so long
Good. You all done? Now let me ask you 3 questions as a Buddhist:
a) Most of you Kerala Christians from south do not discuss about Hindu persecution of Christians or stand up for Hindu radicals killing low castes, Christian converts, Buddhists, and other ethnic groups in India to the international realm, yet, I see a lot of you in Dubai and other places sitting and dissing at Muslims persecuting Christians. why is this special preference given to Hindus, is Hindu atrocity any less than Muslim atrocity ?
b) It is a well known fact, that it is not Hindus that welcomed the early Syrian Christians or Jews to Kerala, it is the Buddhists. The Buddhist Kings because of the compassionate and loving teachings of the Buddha, who taught equality, love, brotherhood of all men, simplicity, humility, abolishing of the caste system, no worship of pagan gods (Buddha clearly said he is not a god, and he clearly told people not to worship any of the Brahminic gods. These good qualities that spread to southern India by Emperor Ashoka, reached Kerala long before organized Hinduism came. The Buddhists and Jains welcomed the early Syrian Christians to settle as traders. They tolerated churches. The Buddhists also due to Buddhism were open to interacting with outsiders, which Hindu caste system forbid dealing with foreigners from across the sea. Yet, when Hinduism came in the 8th century and destroyed Buddhism, brought in the false worship of Hinduism and false gods, these Buddhists and Jains were subjugated to become “low caste Hindus”, under the Caste system, and many were brutalized. How come the Syrian Christians and other kerala Christians keep praising the “Hindus” and Hinduism for being “tolerant” to them, while NOT MENTIONING the REAL FACT that Buddhists welcomed Christians and lived with them in peace? Does your God teach you to lie or show ingratitude to the Buddhist community and Buddhists in general ?
c) Why did the Syrian Christians for the past 1,500 years DID NOT preach the gospel to the oppressed low castes, (especially after the decline of Buddhism), and why did they remain silent when low caste women were forced to walk topless, their breasts were sliced by upper caste Hindus for disobeying, low caste men were sliced to pieces in Kerala for standing near upper castes, and YOU DIDN’T EVANGELIZE THEM OR UPLIFT THEM OR BRING THEM INTO YOUR CHURCHES AS YOUR GOD COMMANDED, and ONLY AFTER the Europeans came, some improvement came. WHY ? And why did Syrian Christians practice untouchability to other christians from other castes ?
Awaiting your sincere answers.
A buddhist
Dear Friend,
I am not a Syrian Christian, so I cannot answer on their behalf. We condemn the caste system but love the people who are victims and perpetrators of it equally. We love Buddhists also! Buddha didn’t claim to be God, but Jesus did! We love and follow Jesus, and stay away from religion! Regards,
Priji
You are right. Buddha never claimed to be God. Buddha always said the answer sincerely, “He does not know”. But he told each person to take up responsibility for their lives and actions, just as your bible teaches in the new testament, by Paul, “work out your own salvation with trembling” and as Jesus says in your new testament, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the pharisees”, “those who do the will of the Father”. When your God created the world, He said, “it is good”. His creation was originally good then as per your religion before it corrupted. therefore, the creator has placed the ability of right and wrong in each human being, in their conscience.
Buddha was that Aryan prince reformer, who had compassion and love for all living beings, to the best of his knowledge and introspection he clearly taught
(a) friendship with the world and desires of the world causes suffering and one most focus on one’s eternal salvation
(b) The brotherhood and equality of all men
(c) taking up responsibility for each and every person’s individual actions, right action, right speech , disciplined thoughts
(d) Equality of women, love and compassion for all living beings.
All this you Christians should appreciate, even if you found a new way in Christ to follow. Buddha is not god , and he never claimed to be god, and he clearly did not answer questions related to god, as he said, “what use is religion and faith, if it does not produce fruits in your life?”, he wanted people to live a life that is right. He preached against idol worship (even though people falsely made him into an idol to pray to), he preached against the scam gods of Brahminism, he became an instrument of love, tolerance and respect that made India welcome the early Jews, parsees etc.
Some Buddhists may feel that Jesus Christ is the conclusion of what Buddha waited and preached and searched all his life. Buddha prepared the way for people to accept Christ in the end if they know that Christ is the fulfillment of Buddha’s journey. If someone can explain that properly to Buddhists, then.
However, the caste system, hatred, violence towards women is condemned, loving Hindu casteists does not mean one should not stand up against the wicked practices of Hinduism or condemn evil practices. No religion teaches, “be silent at the face of evil”. Even your own Jesus took a whip and beat people out of the temple and called them vipers and sons of devil, even your own paul handed over alexander the blacksmith to the devil.
Many Christians keep condemning only Muslim issues, but remain silent against the wickendess of Hinduism. Buddhism made Kerala a paradise, that made Keralites welcome Christianity , Hinduism destroyed it and made it into a caste ridden, sexual abuse ridden, alcohol ridden, suicide driven state. The fruits speak for itself. Hindu evil spirits worshiped possess people. Buddha also warned against praying such evil spirits YET YOU CHRISTIANS blame Buddha and say bad things about them in sri lanka. Buddha was a real figure, Ganesha the elephant was not. So respect to Buddha is important. You don’t need to worship or pray to him. Respecting him that he was a righteous man and respect him for the good things he preached and prepared the people, many of his teachings are similar to Christ. Buddhism came 500 years before Christ, so Buddha didn’t know about Christ or the God of israel. Buddha did all he can to improve India. Even then some Christians call Buddha as devil and his teachings as devil, that is WRONG. What is good, you shoul appreciate as good. what you disagree, you can disagree. You Christians should learn to acknowledge officially the Buddhist history of Kerala and Buddhists welcoming early Christians and Jews to Kerala, it is an insult to Buddhists for sidelining their beautiful religion in favor of this scam religion of Brahmins called Hinduism, full of devil worship and fake worship. Truth hurts. Truth badly hurts. No amount of love can destroy truth.
Your god who does not change as said in Malachi 3:6 is very clear in the bible, your God will NOT bless idol worshiping nations, such as India, if they reject your god as clearly said in the 1st commandment.
Yes! That is very true, that is why we teach that idol worship is wrong. Let’s pray that India will receive and be revived!
1. My God is also your God! I pray you will accept his Lordship over your life. 2. He has given us free will to chose between good and evil. Just like God represent supreme good, devil, the satan represents evil. 3. I agree with most things you mentioned on what Buddha taught, except the fact that we can attain eternal salvation on our own. I don’t agree with that. We need Jesus! We need his blood to wash away our deep and dark scars of sin. 4. Also, since Buddhism, teaches tolerance, it doesn’t make sense to me how you being a follower of the same ideology is attacking our other religions and faith systems.
I am a Syrian Christian. You asked why Syrian Christians like the Hindus. This is because like the Cuban Americans the Syrian Christians were protected and treated well. About the lower caste Hindus : The Christians took as many of the Palayar Pulayar as possible. They gave them places on their properties to live and allowed them to take grain from the land and fruit from the property. They were allowed to take care of the children in the house when the Brahmins would not even let them into the houses. The christian women fought for the rights of the low caste women so they could cover themselves. You have to remember that Syrian Christians were a minority and could not help all the low caste women. They did not openly evangelize to anyone for they knew how St Thomas was killed by fanatics. They did not want to take up a fight with the Hindus or challenge their traditions. But they gave the lower caste hindus christian names and also taught them their prayers. When you give your servant the name of your children and the name of the disciples you will have to treat them with dignity. Many Christians joined the communists to give the lower caste people a better life. Kerala is the first country in the world where communists were elected and came to power. Christians helped bring 100% literacy and there is no caste system in Kerala today. All Keralites are Indians first irrespective of religion or caste and live in brotherhood as there is 100% literacy. There are forces from the North trying to instill hate and division but they haven’t succeeded yet. Please pray for Kerala and her people.
Buddhism teaches tolerance to living beings, yet it does encourage us to question lies and false religions like Hinduism and the deeds of Brahmins and the falsehoods of Hindu gods. Buddhism challenges such lies. So it is not intolerant to speak the truth. Your bible also says “expose the powers of darkness” and “hate what is evil”. Tolerance is to living beings, not to falsehood. Even your Jesus picked a whip and beat money lenders out of the temple. So yes, it is fully justified to be intolerant towards lies and wicked religions like Hinduism/Brahminism that enslaved millions of people and eradicated Buddhism from India using violence. The Sri Lankan Army is Buddhist yet it defeated Hindu tamil tiger Terrorism with an iron hand. The Singaporean army is Buddhist largely, and it is fully military trained. There is nothing wrong in being harsh or destroying false hoods and wickedness. Buddha never forbid the use of army or asked us to be silent towards evil. Even he pointed out the falsehoods of Brahmins and challenged them at their face. So your point number 4 is unwarranted. I did not advcoate violence on HIndus, I point out thier religion and gods is false. So you cannot defend their religion. Sikhism and Jainism also point out Hinduism is a false religion. Do not forget your own ancestors were once Buddhists, who were suppressed and destroyed by Hinduism, until Christianity came. Even your Jesus called the Jews of his time as vipers, sons of satan, whitewashed tombs is that tolerant? Being Buddhist does not mean I cannot criticize false religions or faith systems. I didn’t criticize Christianity. I criticize hinduism and your Kerala syrian Christians caste system and hatred they have shown other castes and their own Christian people. The constitution of India was framed by a Buddhist named Ambedkar. It was Buddhist values that gave India its constitution. Yet Buddhism’s contribution is sidelined and ignored. Therefore you cannot censor or silence me by saying, “You being a Buddhist are showing intolerance”. Yes, I will show intolerance towards falsehood and hypocrisy. Yes, being a Buddhist does not mean I may follow every Buddhist doctrine even if I try to, just as you cannot follow every teaching in your own religion perfectly. I also have the freedom to express my viewpoints on other religions.
You said, people cannot get salvation without Jesus on their own. Then how did Moses and old testament people get salvation? Buddha and Buddhist people never heard gospel or Jainism never heard gospel yet they lived a righteous life and never harmed even a small animal, you are saying they went to hell for no fault of their own? You are saying God didn’t use someone like Buddha to improve society, before Christ came. I cannot accept that your God is that cruel to those who never heard the gospel but lived a good and righteous life like Buddha did before Christ came. Unfairly punishing people who didn’t for no fault of their own know Christ is wrong. Buddhists are the closest to Christians when it comes to teachings.
Things may not make “sense” to you, does not mean you have to take my opinions as “attacks”, but then if false religions/belief systems like Hinduism are “attacked”, then even better.
Before your religion showed up on the block, it was the Buddhists that were preaching the same message you are now, except Shankracharya and his minions wiped the Buddhists out and enslaved them, and you Kerala Christian changed history to call the ‘Buddhist kings and Jain kings’ as ‘Hindu kings’, when you fully know, there were no Brahmins in Kerala when Thomas came. Only Buddhists, Jains and animists. Hinduism came to Kerala only in the 8th century from northern India through Brahmin missionaries. So much for your St thomas converting Brahmin theory or Hindus “welcoming” Kerala Syrian Christain lie. I am surprised a person following Christianity shows ingratitude to Buddhists and Jains. In fact, the Kerala Christian symbol of the Nasrani cross being planted on a Buddhist Lotus, shows the true history of Kerala. Enough said.