I was born and brought up in a Christian family where my father was a local village leader. Our family was respected as my grandfather was compassionate toward the poor and needy. In those days (prior to India’s independence) my grandparents worshipped Hindu Gods. My parents came to know about Christianity,however, they were never interested as it was viewed as a western religion. My grandparents were even involved in beating and threatening Christians.
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Rev Satyanandam
My parents started trusting in the Lord when a Christian missionary (a German) began preaching house to house and praying for them regularly. I was born Christian but I never had a personal relationship with Christ. I am the eldest son in my family and there was a heavy responsibility on my shoulders to look after the family after my father’s death. I got a job in the Government sector in another city and I was very happy with my life earning money as a well respected member of society. One day as I returned from my job in the city to home, something miraculous occurred.
I was travelling in the forest at night when suddenly I fell down on the ground and felt someone had touched me from behind. I fell on the road off my bicycle. I saw no one was there. I heard a voice “You are my son, Go and preach the Gospel to the unreached”. Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation”. I was scared and filled with fear at that time and returned home and shared this to my parents and family. They took me to a witch craft doctor where I was seared with a heated iron rod. They thought some satanic forces had attacked me. I became sick and a foreign missionary heard about my sickness and came and prayed for me. I told him the whole story.
He said it was Jesus who spoke to me and is calling you to minister about Him to these people. Later I was healed because of his prayers. I was not interested in doing the Lord’s work at first, but afterward my soul started feeling something was lacking in my life and I had a burden in my heart about God. We didn’t have churches at that time so Christianity was almost unknown. I just read the small Bible which was given to me by the missionary. I was encouraged and led by the Holy Spirit alone. I started trusting in the Lord and had faith in Him that he would lead my life.
I told many of my friends to believe in Christ but they refused and disobeyed the voice of the Lord. One by one they all destroyed their lives. Some of them committed suicide because of drugs and mental disorders in their families. After looking at these incidents I realized the need for a relationship with Christ.
I decided to work for God and resigned from my job as a teacher. I was saved and born-again. All my family opposed this because it meant we lost my earnings. However my mind was made up and I contacted the missionary. He sent me to the capital city where I learnt about God and I completed a Bachelor of Divinity (BD). At that time I already had a Master of Arts degree (MA). I studied well and was ordained as a Lutheran Pastor in India by several senior pastors and missionaries and later was recognized as a Reverend. During the ordination service I was filled with the Holy Spirit. However only a few people shared this experience even though many were ordained.
I was posted to several churches in many remote villages and cities and saw extreme persecution with my own eyes. People were ill treated because they were not Hindus. Pastors and their families were killed, churches were being burnt. I got married to a nurse. She stopped working in the Hospital and helped me in the ministry of preaching. She often led the women within the churches and brought many to faith.
We were threatened by people because of preaching the Gospel. People would knock at the door late at night when we were sleeping. We never opened the door and knelt down together (myself, wife and children) around the bed and shed tears in prayer. If we had opened that door we would have all been killed. One day when I was preaching in a different village some people attacked my wife and struck her head with an iron rod. When I returned at night from the prayer group I saw her lying on the floor covered in blood. It was nighttime and some believers came with me and helped take her to hospital. It took several months for her to recover.
As a result of the attack she suffered psychiatric problems. However, I thank and praise God for keeping her alive. Many people and my family members advised me to stop preaching and come back home and live a peaceful life because of the attack. But I never stopped my journey (I call it Conquering) of preaching the Good News to the unreached.
Till now during these 35 years of following the Lord, I have worked sincerely for the Him and brought hundreds if not thousands of souls to baptism. Our believers used to bring the people who were attacked by satanic forces and when I prayed the devil in their body would speak to me and warn me to stop praying. I would pray and command them to be released in JESUS name. The devils used to run from the people when hearing the name of the Lord.
I have seen many people/families dying before my eyes because of poverty. Deuteronomy 15:11 states “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.” I tried my best to help them through prayer. We fasted many times and prayed to God for the orphans and widows. God led me to start an organization called “Deeper Life Ministries” and through this we started caring for orphan children and village pastors who are doing a wonderful service for the glory of God in different remote villages in India.
James 1: 10 (NIV) states “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world”. I have a strong burden in my heart for the lost souls in India. I have started using my skills and experiences to teach the pastors and lay leaders in the villages so that they will also become strong in their faith. I always tell my children only one thing “IF YOU DON’T GO AND PREACH THE GOSPEL, THEN WHO WILL?”
God speaks to us through His word (Holy Bible) and as a believer we speak to God through prayer. Our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified for the sake of every human being and each drop of blood that He shed on the cross was to cleanse our lives from sin and He died in the place of wicked men.
Rev. Satyanandam
President
Deeper Life Ministries