Testimony of Pastor RajaShekaran

Founder-president

Gospel Mission Movement, DELHI

64-H, pocket-4, Mayurvihar phase –1, New Delhi, 110091, Email: pastorsekhar@yahoo.com

Praise the Lord. By the grace of God, I was born and brought up in a orthodox hindu family in south India on 1973. I am the fifth of five children. When I came to the age of knowing things I could see two family temples in property. My father used to do all the ceremonies according to Hindu customs. Therefore the people of that locality began to respect him and call him as “swami”.

Once a Pentecostal pastor came to our village and prayed for a demon possessed women and she got healed. As a result of that deliverance the pastor started a prayer service in this family. My father opposed this prayer meeting because our home was near to this prayer house. And also we kept enmity with this family. Some years later my eldest brother was affected by a mental illness and he became a fully mad man in the society. When we approached the Hindu prophets, they suggested that it was because of the anger of the gods that this had happened. We had done everything possible for his healing, according to the Hindu philosophy. But day after day his condition worsened. Later we brought him to the hospital and medical science also could do nothing for him.

This time, my father started drinking. He vomited blood. We admitted him to a hospital since the doctor said his life was in danger. At the same time, my eldest sister also was admitted to the hospital because of a severe sickness. Our house was totally in a desperate situation. My mother tried her level best to overcome this situation with her Hindu faith. However, the effort was futile. Then my mother decided to commit suicide to escape from this situation. As she was carrying this decision in her heart, an old missionary woman visited my mother and shared about Jesus and the gospel. Then my mother felt that there was hope for deliverance and her family and the old woman invited my mother to attend a prayer service. My mother attended that meeting and she could feel the awesome presence of the living God in her life. Then she realized that the God who works in this place is greater than the gods and goddesses of her religion. Then my mother committed her life to Jesus and accepted Him as her personal savior and Lord. My mother and the church began to pray for my brother and family. Miraculously, God made many changes in my brother’s life and then my mother confirmed her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and took water baptism. Then she began to pray for my sister and the pastor began to visit my sister and she was also healed. She also came to Jesus and became stronger than my mother in faith. Then they began to pray for my father to be healed. My father was also healed and returned home. But my father opposed the faith of my mother and sister and he began to persecute them. But my mother and sister stood firmly for their faith. All the children, including me, were encouraging my father to stand against my mother and sister. In the absence of my father, I was the one who was conducting all the Hindu rituals in our family temple. So I also had a desire to become a Hindu priest just like my father had been.

All these things were happening while I was studying in the 10^th grade. The people in that locality and the members of my family were expecting great results in my Xth exam. But my problem was not being able to concentrate on my studies. The exam dates came closer and closer and my heart was filled with the fear of failure. Then I thought that it would be better to commit suicide or flee from the house before the result came.

At this time, my sister used to share the love of Christ with me. One day, she said, “If you have any needs, ask Jesus. Surely He will provide them to you.” So secretly, I thought in my heart, that if I passed the exam, then I will surely believe that this was given by Jesus and then I would accept Christ as Lord. Jesus did the same for me and I put my faith in Jesus. Then I began to listen to the prayers of my sister and began to read the Bible without any hesitation. Gradually I got more interested in spiritual things. I had a desire to pray to Jesus but because of the fear of people and not knowing the right words to use, I could not pray. But one day in my house, I went to a small room to pray and knelt down to pray because I had the desire to pray. I did not know anything about prayer. But as I heard from others, I began to pray and use the name Jesus and at that moment, my awareness of the surroundings departed from my mind. Then I could see a vision – that one person was hanging on the cross before my spiritual eyes and that he was suffering. By looking at this scene, I began to cry. Without any control, the tears began to flow from my eyes. Suddenly, I could feel somebody touching me. I thought that it was my father calling me. But when I opened my eyes, there was nobody in the room. Then I came out of the room and I could feel a great change in my life.

I kept this incident secretly in my heart but the Spirit of the Lord encouraged me to share this with my sister. Then my sister said to me that the vision that I had seen was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. “Each drop of blood that He shed on the cross was to cleanse our lives from sin and that He died in the place of wicked men and for their sins. Jesus loves you. Now you ask Jesus to pardon you for all your sins. Ask Jesus to cleanse you and make you as His son,” she said. Suddenly, as a small child I began to cry and asked for forgiveness for my sins and committed my life to Jesus. I have made a decision to follow Jesus at any cost. Then I began to read the Bible and accompanied my sister to the church. Then I came to know that I had been doing many wrong things against Jesus. I completely accepted Jesus’ words and took water baptism by immersion.

Later, God led me to the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. As I was studying in the XIIth standard, God spoke to me in different ways to be committed for his gospel work and his ministry. I went on to Bible College and joined a Bible college to study the Bible. After the completion of this course, the Lord gave me a clear vision to go to north India for His service in November 1994. Later on, God counseled me to register a ministry and work independently for Him. In 2002, we registered a ministry known as the “Gospel mission movement”. Its church planting was known as the Pentecostal church.

God gave me a wonderful wife, Chandralekha, who also came to the Lord from an ancient, well-known Hindu family in South India, after facing much persecution. God has blessed us now with a beautiful daughter. We are serving the Lord in north India and are settled in New Delhi.