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The Church in My Life

Moses .K graduated from the Polytechnic school in India and hoped to get a job in Dubai to make money when God called him into the ministry. He is now a pastor, evangelist and Christian counselor who has founded Gospel to All Nations with the aim of proclaiming the Gospel to unreached villages in India and establishing house churches. A training program is run for students who have a desire to evangelize remote villages. Tens of thousands of villages are still unreached, so the need is urgent.

Pastor Moses also founded the New Hope Community Church and New Hope Children's Homes. The orphanages support vulnerable children through quality education. They discourage all forms of child abandonment through creating awareness in the areas of child labor, teen pregnancy, the Children's Act and laws regarding children, family planning, reproductive health, etc. They provide emotional and psychological support for families or caregivers in the form of counseling and education on challenges associated with poverty, loss of parents and single parenting.

As I was growing up, neighbors often came to our home complaining about my behavior. I was involved in all kinds of misconduct. Fights were routine occurrences for me. I would confess my wrongdoing, but never change. Eventually, I ran away from home, wandering from place to place with other boys my age. But on Sundays—wherever I was—I would always go to church.

I was born into a Christian family. My father was Lutheran and my mother was from a Baptist background. Both of my parents were religious people. Prayer was a central part in my mother's faith. Unfortunately, she died when I was thirteen; so, as a teenager, I didn’t have the influence of her physical presence to guide me. But her prayers did influence me. Years later an uncle told me that my mother’s strong desire and prayers for me were that I should serve the Lord.

In India there are many mainline churches and Christian organizations, but still only 3% of the population in India is Christian. Due to social discrimination, the caste system and poverty, people are not open to Christianity, and many people who go to church do not follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This was the story of my life.

Up From the Pit

One day I was with a friend who was in the same degenerate condition as I, and he took me to visit a worldly girl. I committed sin with her. Later, we were picked up by the police and placed in custody. During the four days we were held in prison, especially at night, I remembered stories of Jesus that I’d heard at church, and I could hear the prayers my mother prayed for me. My heart broke, and I was sorry for all that I had done. But calmness came to my spirit, and I knew I needed to make some changes in my life.

When my friend and I were released, I went home and asked forgiveness of my father and my grandparents. I severed relations with my friends, even though they tried to pull me back into their ways. Our church pastor encouraged and prayed for me. And on Sunday, as usual, I was in church.

One day I happened to meet one of my classmates who was a born-again Christian. He shared his testimony with me. He introduced me to the pastor of his fellowship, and some brothers and sisters there shared their testimonies with me. Every Sunday I was hearing testimonies. But I had no testimony of my own. I wondered if my life had truly changed. I was not sure my sins were forgiven.

Still, church was very much a part of my life. At a cottage prayer meeting, I heard a message from Romans 5:8—But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. I listened very intently, and for the next three days those words kept going over and over in my head. My pastor told me that the Holy Spirit was speaking through the Word of God to me. These words convicted me that God loved me. Confessing that I was a sinner, I accepted Christ, who had willingly died for my sin. I was baptized as a true follower of Christ.

The “Call”

At this point in my life, I had already graduated from the Polytechnic school and was working toward getting a job in Dubai in order to make some big money. But God had other plans. Through the church and fellowshipping with other believers, I felt the Lord calling me into ministry.

Serving the Lord and preaching His Word were things I had never thought about. But there were my mother's prayers, which my uncle shared with me, that confirmed my decision. I obeyed the Lord's call and entered His service full-time in 2000.

In the early days of my ministry, I faced many troubles. I had to look to the Lord for strength, wisdom, and provision. Sometimes non-Christian communities abused me, calling me all kinds of filthy words. As I distributed gospel tracts from door to door, many days I ate only one meal. Sometimes I received love offerings from other believers which provided travel expenses to go to more distant villages and towns.

At times I was tempted to give up the ministry and go into secular work. Then the Holy Spirit would speak to me through verses such as Hebrews 12:7-8, Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.

Luke 9:62 reminded me that: No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. I would confess, “I am sorry, Lord” and ask for His wisdom and guidance.

Blessings of Belonging

Being a bachelor in the ministry presents some unique difficulties. It is not easy to visit in homes and do counseling as a single man. I had been praying to God for a life partner, and the elders saw my struggle. They arranged a marriage for me, and by God's grace, I was wed to Evangeline Sophie on July 13, 2001. My wife already had a one-year diploma in child evangelism and had a burden to reach children for Christ. She later became a teacher for deaf and hearing students. So our lives were filled with joy, because we were united in our ministry for the Lord. He also blessed our home with the wonderful gift of two sons.

Today, God has laid a burden on our hearts to reach communities that have yet to hear the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. By the grace of God, five brothers are working alongside us, following in the path Jesus set for us: Jesus went about all the cities and villages…… preaching the gospel of the kingdom…… (Matthew 9:35). We are proclaiming the gospel and establishing house churches, conducting worship and teaching, and setting up local prayer cell groups. Many are being led to faith in Christ—from darkness to light—and then cared for within the local church.

I praise God for the church—the family of faith, the Bride of Christ for which He died. From my childhood, the church was a presence in my life. It pulled me back from the brink of spiritual death and helped me truly belong in the fellowship of the redeemed.

(Pastor Moses .K lives in Secunderabad, Telangana State, South India with his wife and two children. He is the founder of Gospel to All Nations, pastor of New Hope Community Church and is also a Christian counselor. Pastor Moses and his team of co-pastors conduct evangelism, church planting and missionary training and also operate two orphanages. Pastor Moses can be reached by email: pastor7ku@gmail.com.)

Article Link: http://ccmusa.org/read/read.aspx?id=chg20160102
To reuse online, please credit Challenger, Jan-Mar 2016. CCMUSA.