Preterism in India
God has blessed me with three treasures in my life; the Lord’s work, my family, and opportunities to serve in mission efforts in India.
I consider, it's a privilege and an honor to share with you about the Lord’s work in India. I am very grateful for this ministry and feel privileged to be used by God in this way as a minister of fulfilled Bible prophecy.
Christianity in India is not new! It arrived here shortly after Jesus Christ gave his disciples the universal commission to preach the gospel. Even though it has a long history, it's still struggling to spread, because of Hindu domination and caste discrimination's in the country. After the Vatican in Rome, Tirupati (which is in our state) is the world's most visited pilgrim place, and hosts the richest Hindu temple in the world. To please the dominant Hindu groups and to preserve vote banks, our politicians are adding up new amendments to impede gospel preaching in pilgrim places in our State, Andhra Pradesh.
During the time people were discriminated by their Castes (lower caste), thankfully, Christianity gave them life by educating them by teaching the truth of the Lord Jesus and His love. This started in late 19th century when some protestant missionaries started breaking the caste system down by their evangelization. Now millions of people in India are open to Jesus Christ as never before. Praise the Lord!
My Ministry - background
Preterism in India is at a crossroads. Preterism has gained much attention among evangelicals and Reformed Circles, and is spreading like a wild fire! We, a group of people started officially preaching preterism almost 7 years ago! We are the FIRST GROUP or FIRST CHURCH who started teaching Preterism in India. As it is completely new to India, we are struggling a lot to spread the truth. During these years, our ministry has faced many challenges; but we have been greatly encouraged by its’ gradual advance! Preteristic concepts were first preached in India in 1976 (?) by a batch student of Bear Valley Bible School, Victor D Thuraka M.A, B. Ed., D.D (USA) and Argol F Drollinger (Australia). In his frequent visits, brother Drollinger introduced fulfilled concepts to the members of the Lord’s church. But this didn't' bring success, because, visiting once in a year lacked the constant nourishing of souls to flourish.
Following these great students of the Bible, I have decided and dedicated myself to educate my fellow brethren by proclaiming the message of FULFILLED Bible prophecy along with the gospel message. I therefore started a small monthly magazine titled "THE WORDS OF TRUTH-THE GOSPEL" with the help of few individuals supporting my effort. It was great a breakthrough in (South) India for someone to introduce preterism to the public through statements of faith and published and translated journals. Preaching preterism resulted in great anger that broke-out among conservatives and caused much opposition to our work. Our magazines were burnt in some areas and some refused to read them, even when we are sending it free of charge. But, also, it has some positives consequences in bringing out like minded people under one roof! It’s noteworthy that, although an academic (systematic) approach to the preterism may be new to Indians, some kind of partial-Preteristic thoughts were already prevalent, but were never expressed for fear of expulsion from Church fellowship.
I thank God, for His gracious hand was upon us that he enabled us to proclaim His Truth in India. Our ministry includes Bible classes, open meetings, group discussions, house visiting and literature printing. Lord is willing, soon we would like to open a public Christian library to make available of Christian books, along with preterits stuff!
Our Present Challenges
First, I thank God for the gospel work in a nation of idol worshipers. Our church family consists of people from all lifestyles and from various religious backgrounds. For many generations, they had practiced idol worship. But, now they are free from this bondage of fear and confusion. Now, though our ministry, I have greatly enjoyed and have been blessed beyond measure by my relationships with other Christians.
Pray for our Work
The work in India is quite challenging! So far, we were succeeded in our mission with the great blessings of God and prayers of our friends and brothers. Even though we are in some struggles, we are moving ahead with the help of prayers. My goal in life is to know God and make Him known through the careful study and exposition of His Word. In 2006, we have introduced a new way of getting introduce the challenging concepts of preterism by conducting annual preterist meets, dealing with challenging Questions posed by live audience. It's always a great pleasure to see a new face where we went to introduce fulfilled Bible prophecy. Some of our previous participants have asked for more of these kind seminars. I have been greatly encouraged by the results of our meetings, but, yet, I strongly believe that we have a long way to go!
But for now, we are wholly dependent upon the generosity of others who can help with our needs. I am requesting you all to join our ministry and help us to spread the truth. We would greatly appreciate any support (Books, CDs' DVD's and financial Contributions) that God might lead you to give. Please remember our ministry in your regular prayers. May God bless you with His presence and equip you to love and serve others. Thank you!
I consider, it's a privilege and an honor to share with you about the Lord’s work in India. I am very grateful for this ministry and feel privileged to be used by God in this way as a minister of fulfilled Bible prophecy.
Christianity in India is not new! It arrived here shortly after Jesus Christ gave his disciples the universal commission to preach the gospel. Even though it has a long history, it's still struggling to spread, because of Hindu domination and caste discrimination's in the country. After the Vatican in Rome, Tirupati (which is in our state) is the world's most visited pilgrim place, and hosts the richest Hindu temple in the world. To please the dominant Hindu groups and to preserve vote banks, our politicians are adding up new amendments to impede gospel preaching in pilgrim places in our State, Andhra Pradesh.
During the time people were discriminated by their Castes (lower caste), thankfully, Christianity gave them life by educating them by teaching the truth of the Lord Jesus and His love. This started in late 19th century when some protestant missionaries started breaking the caste system down by their evangelization. Now millions of people in India are open to Jesus Christ as never before. Praise the Lord!
My Ministry - background
Preterism in India is at a crossroads. Preterism has gained much attention among evangelicals and Reformed Circles, and is spreading like a wild fire! We, a group of people started officially preaching preterism almost 7 years ago! We are the FIRST GROUP or FIRST CHURCH who started teaching Preterism in India. As it is completely new to India, we are struggling a lot to spread the truth. During these years, our ministry has faced many challenges; but we have been greatly encouraged by its’ gradual advance! Preteristic concepts were first preached in India in 1976 (?) by a batch student of Bear Valley Bible School, Victor D Thuraka M.A, B. Ed., D.D (USA) and Argol F Drollinger (Australia). In his frequent visits, brother Drollinger introduced fulfilled concepts to the members of the Lord’s church. But this didn't' bring success, because, visiting once in a year lacked the constant nourishing of souls to flourish.
Following these great students of the Bible, I have decided and dedicated myself to educate my fellow brethren by proclaiming the message of FULFILLED Bible prophecy along with the gospel message. I therefore started a small monthly magazine titled "THE WORDS OF TRUTH-THE GOSPEL" with the help of few individuals supporting my effort. It was great a breakthrough in (South) India for someone to introduce preterism to the public through statements of faith and published and translated journals. Preaching preterism resulted in great anger that broke-out among conservatives and caused much opposition to our work. Our magazines were burnt in some areas and some refused to read them, even when we are sending it free of charge. But, also, it has some positives consequences in bringing out like minded people under one roof! It’s noteworthy that, although an academic (systematic) approach to the preterism may be new to Indians, some kind of partial-Preteristic thoughts were already prevalent, but were never expressed for fear of expulsion from Church fellowship.
I thank God, for His gracious hand was upon us that he enabled us to proclaim His Truth in India. Our ministry includes Bible classes, open meetings, group discussions, house visiting and literature printing. Lord is willing, soon we would like to open a public Christian library to make available of Christian books, along with preterits stuff!
Our Present Challenges
First, I thank God for the gospel work in a nation of idol worshipers. Our church family consists of people from all lifestyles and from various religious backgrounds. For many generations, they had practiced idol worship. But, now they are free from this bondage of fear and confusion. Now, though our ministry, I have greatly enjoyed and have been blessed beyond measure by my relationships with other Christians.
- When it comes to the Churches of Christ in India, Preterism is considered as a heresy and receives less attention and much opposition! I think it is our special ministry to bring the Lord’s truth to the people, so that they, too, can study and learn the ways of truth diligently, as Bereans did in the Acts 17. Otherwise, it would be a failure! In India, half of the Christian preachers are not well educated, so they can't read English books. Also, in India there is a separate language for each state.
- We don't have even a single Preterist book available in our native language’s to learn or advance the cause of Preterism. If we succeed in producing this kind of materials in India, the church in India will advance and can send missionaries to other foreign lands. But right now we are under great need of preterist books, materials, and literature, as well as hymn books in our regional language. (Most of the hymns we sing today are futuristic!) We need to correct and reprint them. This would really help us to fuel the present preterist movement in India.
- On the other hand, an Indian preacher is a symbol for poverty, starvation, shelterlessness and persecution. So, he has to look after his wife and children and get into the gospel work. They really depend on their potluck. Because ours is a country of Hinduism as the main religion, a preacher has no encouragement for his living. Moreover there have been endeavors to root out Christianity from India.
Pray for our Work
The work in India is quite challenging! So far, we were succeeded in our mission with the great blessings of God and prayers of our friends and brothers. Even though we are in some struggles, we are moving ahead with the help of prayers. My goal in life is to know God and make Him known through the careful study and exposition of His Word. In 2006, we have introduced a new way of getting introduce the challenging concepts of preterism by conducting annual preterist meets, dealing with challenging Questions posed by live audience. It's always a great pleasure to see a new face where we went to introduce fulfilled Bible prophecy. Some of our previous participants have asked for more of these kind seminars. I have been greatly encouraged by the results of our meetings, but, yet, I strongly believe that we have a long way to go!
But for now, we are wholly dependent upon the generosity of others who can help with our needs. I am requesting you all to join our ministry and help us to spread the truth. We would greatly appreciate any support (Books, CDs' DVD's and financial Contributions) that God might lead you to give. Please remember our ministry in your regular prayers. May God bless you with His presence and equip you to love and serve others. Thank you!