This is a folk song that originated in India as a song of new converts to Christianity among the Garo tribe who live in an area which is now the state of Meghalaya, but was until 1970, the state of Assam, in northeastern India. William J. Reynolds discovered the song in 1958 in a small undated collection of gospel songs that had been published in Australia. With two original stanzas, and a third by John Clark, the melody was arranged by Reynolds and first published in Assembly Songbook (Nashville, 1959, No. 17). The tune [ASSAM] was named by the arranger for inclusion in Christian Praise (1964).