Different Kind of Life Transformation

When OM’s ships leave any port at least one thing always remains: the books that were purchased on board. Often the impact of these books, who read them or how they shaped a person’s life, is never heard. Yet during the recent visit of Logos Hope to Sri Lanka, the crew on board had the encouragement of hearing first-hand how a book bought on the original Logos impacted a life. Ivor Poobalan recounts, in his own words, the significance of this single book that was purchased during a visit to the original Logos as a young boy.

Logos came here to Colombo in 1974. I was about nine at that time. I came to the ship with my mother. The day we came to Logos it was raining cats and dogs. We were struggling to make it up the gangway with all the rain pouring. My mother bought the book The Man God Uses by Oswald J. Smith. This book then sat on our bookshelf for years. It was the only serious Christian title we had. It was totally neglected. We had no interest in it.Then I came to Christ when I was about 15. About a year later I was starved of Christian literature. I read the book through. It was the first Christian book I read after the Bible. That was the book that changed me. By the time I finished it, I wanted to be a man that God uses. I decided that whatever I did would be for God. At the time, I wanted to study medicine so I decided that when I finished that I would be a medical missionary. That showed my desire to go out and be available to God’s call. My mother didn’t read the book but it changed my life. I can’t understand what made her buy it. Now I am the Principal of Colombo Theological Seminary. I have been at the seminary 16 and a half years, 14 and a half as principal.