The martyr’s song that went around the world

The hymn, ‘I have decided to follow Jesus’ has touched the hearts of believers all over the world, wherever it is sung. But few know the powerful story of martyrdom behind the hymn, the lyrics of which began in a small village in the north east of India, and are based on the last words of a man from the Garo tribe.

About 150 years ago there was a great revival in the West, the effects of which were felt all over the world, including in world missions. As a result, many missionaries came to north-east India to spread the Gospel. The region known as Assam comprised hundreds of tribes, many of whom were very warlike and were known to take the heads of their enemies and hang them on their walls.

Into these hostile and aggressive communities came a group of American Baptist missionaries, spreading the message of love, peace and hope in Jesus Christ. Perhaps unsurprisingly they were not welcomed with open arms by many of the tribesmen. However, one missionary succeeded in witnessing to the family of a man named Nokseng, with the result that Nokseng, together with his wife and two sons found Jesus.

This man’s faith proved contagious and many villagers began to accept Christianity, something that made the village chief very angry. He summoned all the villagers and called Nokseng and his family to publicly renounce their faith or face execution.

But the man replied, “I have decided to follow Jesus.”

Enraged at the man’s refusal, the chief ordered his archers to shoot his two children. As the boys lay twitching on the floor, the chief asked, ”Will you deny your faith? You have lost both your children. You will lose your wife as well.” But the man replied, “Though no one joins me, still I will follow Jesus.” This enraged the chief further and he ordered Nokseng’s wife to be shot and she soon joined her two children in death.

The chief now asked for the last time, “I will give you one more opportunity to deny your faith and live.”

But looking death straight in the face, Nokseng said: “The cross before me, the world behind me, no turning back,” and was immediately shot dead like the rest of his family.

That might have been the end of the story, but for the power of God. For upon the death of the martyrs, a miracle took place.

The chief who had ordered the killings was so moved by the fate of the man he had just seen sacrifice his family and his own life for his faith, that he wondered, “Why should this man, his wife, and two children die for a man who lived in a far-off land on another continent some 2,000 years ago? There must be some remarkable power behind the family’s faith, and I too want to taste that faith.”

In a spontaneous confession of faith, he declared, “I too belong to Jesus Christ.”

When the crowd heard this from the mouth of their chief, it is said that the whole village accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

The song, based on the last words of Nokseng, is today the song of the Christian Garo people. Some attribute the formation of his words into a hymn to the Indian missionary Sadhu Sundar Singh. The melody is also Indian, called ‘Assam’ after the region where the text originated.

An American hymn editor William Jensen Reynolds composed an arrangement that was included in the 1959 Assembly Songbook. However, an alternative tradition attributes the hymn to Simon Marak from Jorhat in Assam.

Whatever the true source of the arrangement, the lyrics come from the last words of Nokseng while he and his family were martyred for their faith. What began as one man’s brave stand for his faith in a small village in north-east India has now reached people across the world – an act of courage and sacrifice that continues to speak to hearts everywhere

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.