"God has given you an Opportunity"

I do not take religion too seriously. I'm yet to find out why I follow one. At times, I feel its a place to store all your insecurities, the answer to all unanswered questions. Some of the journeys which I have been on to find out the answer have been memorable, but I am yet to find out. The following post does not intend to hurt the feelings or beliefs of any faction, but just describes one of my experiences.

After a long day, with lots of travel on foot all over the streets of Rome, the 4 of us (Ankit, Mohit, Vivek and Myself) are dead tired. With a train to catch at 6 in the morning, we decide that there is no point in finding accommodation at a youth hostel, being as lazy as we are, there is no way we could make it back. Moreover, we are looking to save wherever we can. Post dinner, hoots and snickers, the benches at the subway station are where we have to spend the night. Everyone is fast asleep.

At 1am, we are woken up, and told to go out, as the platform closes down from 1-4. It takes some effort to move. And pretty soon, there we are, outside Rome station, for the night. Its shivering cold. A little dirty too. Too exhausted to stand any further, to sluggish to bother about comfort, we find a corner, and are soon dead to the world.

The night gets colder. At 2am, I can't sleep anymore. 10 metres in front of me, stand a dark man in a green coat, and a pregnant woman, having some kind of argument. I try to be ignorant, but sleep doesn't come. Once an old man, then a tramp come up and hopefully ask me if I have a cigarette, a nod answers their question. Soon the argument ends, and a couple of minutes this man walks up to me. I am shivering. I don't know what to expect, and am right on my guard, well awake. Here is the conversation, with his lines in italics, mine in bold.

This woman, she is pregnant, and not eating anything. I try to tell her. I try to explain. She doesn't understand.
I nod, hoping that he leaves.

Where are you from, Sri Lanka?
NO

Pakistan?
NO

Then where?
India

So are you Christian?
NO

But in India there are a lot of Christians.
I am Hindu.

Oh.

(20 second pause) All of the sudden:

God has given you an opportunity. Why do you stay here? What are you doing here? Come with me to the Church. They will give you food and water. Come with me.
I look on in disbelief. Confused. Suddenly, it strikes. He is at work! Politely, I say NO. He insists.
Finally, I decide this has to stop.

I live in Germany, and I'm going to Venice tomorrow morning. I have a train at 6 am.

He acknowledges the reply, and without saying bye, walks away. Later in the night, I see him having animated discussions with many more people, telling stories, shaking hands.

What do I call him? Who was he? A pastor? A priest? A cleric? Did he want to convert me to Christianity? And what does he get out of it?

I felt a little proud that night, that I actually had a religion and a god. I realized how integral religion is to ones individuality. But why should it matter, what religion I am?