|  I was born and raised in India until the age of 13. I was brought up in a very devout Hindu family. In 1973, my family migrated to the States and settled in Washington, D.C. where I completed my high school studies. In 1977, I joined the US Air Force. Through a series of circumstances, I met my future wife, Becki. We married in 1979 and after a couple of years, I received orders to Goldsboro, NC. Our first son was born at Seymour Johnson AFB. My wife had some Christian background, but my beliefs were different. In the days following, two men began to witness to me on base. They gave me some tracts and verbally confronted me about Christ. On Easter Sunday, my wife and I were invited to Faith FWB Church. It was on that day, that I, being confronted with the issues of Heaven and Hell for the first time, gave my heart and life to the Lord Jesus. My wife rededicated her life to the Lord. By the time we had our second son, I felt the call to full-time Christian service. In 1985, I separated from the Air Force and enrolled at Southeastern FWB College. After some time, God called me to preach and began to burden my heart about missions. By this time, we were parents of 4 boys, Jason, Daniel, Stephen & Nathanael. They attended Faith FWB Church and were all saved and baptized at a young age. As a family, we surrendered to go to wherever God would lead us. In October of 1994, we left the shores of America in obedience of the Lord's great Commission, for the country of India. God in His perfect wisdom, had in many ways been preparing our hearts for the work in India. With the population of over 1 billion, these souls needed Jesus. God led us to a city in North India, called Agra, to establish a New Testament church - one that would honor and uplift the precious name of Jesus. We conducted our first Sunday service in our Agra-based home with only 8 in attendance (6 of our family and one native couple, who has been serving with us from the beginning). Our church, called Faith Church, now has an average of 225 on Sundays and 75 on Wednesdays. Many souls have been saved over these years. The church has not only grown in number, but our folks are rapidly growing in the Lord. They have such a thirst for the things of God; not a Sunday goes by without several visitors attending church for the first time as a result of their evangelistic efforts. Many people attend as a result of our street-preaching ministry. Some 50-100 folks will gather as they sing, testify, preach, and distribute tracts in various sections of Agra, including some surrounding villages. Our first ordained deacon is an example of the effectiveness of this particular outreach. He is now approximately 65, and at that time had been on a 40 day fast in search of the true living God. On the last day of his fast, someone led me to his hut. He is our first village convert and today, there stands a beautiful church, called Bethel Church, on the land this man sacrificially gave to the Lord's work. It is the first known church built in any village in Agra. Our church family of about 60 at the time, through tithes and special offerings, raised the money to build this village church and we believe the Lord is pleased and honored through this "little lighthouse in utter darkness". At present, there are approximately 60 believers who attend Bethel church regularly from that village and a couple surrounding ones. In 1998, our city church had outgrown our rented building and God impressed on our hearts to begin building a church large enough to accommodate our growing congregation. Through many prayers and much fasting, God led us to purchase some land near our home. We began building the church in 1999 and the new sanctuary was gloriously dedicated to the Lord in October of 2000. There is such a sweet spirit among our folks. Although they represent various castes, social statuses, and lifestyles; Jesus has knit our hearts together as we share in the burden for lost souls. We are grateful to the Lord for providing the means for the construction of the church in the city, which incidentally was the first church building constructed in the city of Agra since the British days over 55 years ago. We have also had the privilege to minister to several students from Kenya, East Africa, who come to Agra to study in the colleges. Many have accepted Christ as their Saviour, and later return to Kenya with new hearts and a new mission in life. We plan to extend the arms of our present ministries into other various areas. The Lord has impressed upon our hearts to start a home for girls, as many are unwanted and are annihilated shortly after birth by their parents. Another area of need is a Bible college to train young men and women for the ministry, since it is almost impossible to get them to the states for proper Bible training. | | |
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