Vellore Convention
7th to 9th November , 2014
On the
command of the Lord to retire from my nursing profession in the
beginning of the year 1981 to carry the apostolic faith
overseas, my first
missionary trip took me in that year to India in
the month of April. The late Pastor M. R. Samuel, a retired military
man, was one of the
first to call me to his home village of Pattu-Gudiyattam,
Vellore - Tamil Nadu, South India. Bro. Samuel was a respected man.
He was gallant in the faith and stood strongly against fanaticism
and extremism in the Endtime Message. It was the beginning of
establishing the churches in India.
Throughout
my years of travelling to different countries, many good and bad
events I have experienced are vividly etched in my memory. In
that first missionary trip to Gudiyattam, a brother here accompanied
me to India. In the City of Madras (now known as Chennai) we
chartered a taxi from the hotel to take us to Gudiyattam and back.
We arrived at the lodging house in the afternoon after the 3.5 hour long taxi ride. The
room had two single beds on opposite sides of the room. I stood and
looked at the beds. The pillows and sheets were white and
clean but the walls on
the side of those beds had many dark reddish brown
streaks, 1 to 3 inches (or 2.5mm to 7.5mm) long. I stared at them
trying to recall where I have seen such streaks before and where. Tired from the long journey in the taxi, we just laid down on
the beds to rest. I was not comfortable and
stared at the streaks on the wall beside me.
Not
5 minutes had passed, the truth hit me. I jumped out of bed and
screamed at the brother, "Get up! Quickly!" He was shocked and
asked, "Why? What?" I answered, "Bed bugs!" and turned to look at
the corner of the bed where my head had just laid on the pillow. I
could see a few crawling out from under the sheet. I slowly lifted
up the sheet...lo and
behold, hundreds of bugs started crawling around...the sight of them made me
cringe.
We stripped
off our clothes and shook them vigorously to get rid off any bug that might have got on. Then we checked out...
We had the
taxi driver take us to Bro. Samuel's home
as there was no other accomodation available in that village.
Bro. Samuel apologised for the situation we were in. Since we were
there for only for one service, we told him that we would return to
Madras immediately after the service was over.
Bro.
Samuel had a small house and a tiny church-building constructed out of
bamboo and coconut leaves for his little assembly.
While having
dinner in his home, Bro. Samuel told me that a crippled man was
sleeping in the little church. He was brought there by a friend on a
bullock cart. He requested that I pray for him before the service
started and I did so.
We had a
wonderful service that night, ministering the Word and praying for
the sick and needy. Immediately after the service was over, we
returned to Madras, and checked into the same hotel there some time after 3am.
Several
years later, I revisited Gudiyattam.
![](MRSamuel_letter.jpg)
* * * * * * *
The Report
by Bro Shadrach Arjun
Bro. Richard L.S.
Gan was invited to preach from the 7th to the 9th of November, 2014
at Pallikonda, Tamil Nadu. It was a pleasure to meet and fellowship
with him once again, after many a year.
The convention was
arranged by Bro. Somu Solomon of Bangalore, India. His co-workers in
the faith, Bro. Dayalan, Bro. Ravi Matthew, Bro. Ravi Shankar
Samuel, Bro. Sivakumar, and Bro. Shadrach Jairaman assisted him in
organizing the event.
![](gudy%20(4).jpg)
The convention was
held in the great hall of Holy Angels Matriculation Higher Secondary
School at Pallikonda, around 20 kms. from Vellore town in Tamil
Nadu, India.
There were around
250 people in attendance, including ministers from Bangalore,
Chennai, Coimbatore, Gudiyattam, Hosur, Mumbai, Pattu, Tirupur and
Udumalpet.
I was given the
opportunity to interpret the message into Tamil.
![](gudy%20(6).jpg)
The convention saw
a gathering of many of those who had been groomed in and
strengthened by the ministry of Bro. M. R. Samuel of Pattu. Bro. M.
R. Samuel was one of the first to invite Bro. Gan to South India in
the 1981. After Bro. Samuel's passing, the church in Pattu expanded
through the surrounding villages
and towns until there grew to be
around 8 churches in the vicinity. The pastors of these churches,
along with some of their flock all agreed to get together to feast
on the Word of the Lord for the 3 day convention.
I traveled to Vellore with my family, Bro.
John, and Bro. Selvam from our church in Coimbatore for the
meetings. We reached Katpady railway station and drove the 7 kms to
our accommodation at Vellore on the 6th.
Bro. Gan
was put up at the AVM Grand in Vellore. We had found lodgings close
by so that we could visit with him. That evening we met at his hotel
room and spent some time reminiscing, catching up on all the news
from Singapore, and sharing some good fellowship.
The meetings were divided into two sessions,
with breaks for tea and lunch provided at the venue. The morning
service began at 10:30 am and lasted until 1:30 pm. The second
service began at 2:30 pm and wound up by 5:00 pm. There was a
Ministers' Conference with a question and answer session on the
evening of the 7th and 8th of November from 6:00 to 8:30 pm. Guest
lodgings were provided by Bro. Somu at SVS lodge Pallikonda.
On the 7th, Friday, Bro. Gan preached on the
Mighty Angel of Revelation 10, the Sealed Scroll opened up by the
Lamb in the Book of Revelation being the redemption of the claim to the earth;
Saving Faith, Healing Faith, and Rapturing Faith; the 7 Thunders; and the
restoration story of Abraham and Sarah.
![](gudy%20(10).jpg)
Saturday, the 8th,
saw Bro. Gan expounding on the three books of testimony being the
stars, the stones, and the written Word: the Bible; and the
significance of the ministry of Moses and Joshua. He also spoke on
having a personal relationship with the saviour, and took the
congregation through studies on prophecy in the book of Job.
![](gudy%20(12).jpg)
![](gudy%20(1).jpg)
Most of the believers left Pallikonda on the
8th to attend Sunday service in their respective churches. However,
the believers of 3 churches in Gudiyattam came together for
the Sunday service on the 9th, when Bro. Gan elaborated on Enoch's
Pyramid and how its blueprint reflected the story of creation and
redemption. He also preached on the Holy City New Jerusalem not
being a literal city but the spiritual body of the living saints of
God. Bro. Gan further expounded on the creation of Adam and Eve, the
mark of Cain, and the glorified state of man.
![](gudy%20(14).jpg)
The
ministers' gathering held during the evenings of the first two days of
the convention was an effort to dispel the doubts regarding Bro. Gan
not being against the Elijah ministry, but rather being of the view
to encourage believers in the body of Christ to grasp the manna that
God has provided for the current times.
It was an
effort to help ministers understand that the foundational truths
which had been revealed and established through the Elijah ministry
had to be built upon and used, to go on from glory to glory; that
the work of the prophet-messenger was to point the Bride back to the
Word of God, and that once back to the Word, the Bride would have to
climb upwards seeking new heights of revelation and growing to
complete maturity of the Word until the final consummation with her Lord.
Other subjects discussed include the work of the Five-Fold Ministry,
the surety of a minister's calling, and an explanation of the
sequence of the final events before the coming of Christ. Bro. Gan
also shared the testimonies of Bro. John Mark Louse and Bro. Akpan Blessing
Nice, men of God labouring in Africa, as an encouragement to
ministers struggling against hindrances in their own ministry.
![](gudy%20(15).jpg)
Ministers in attendance include Pastors
Abraham, Alex, Bhoji Chandran, C.K. Eliezer, Enoch, Hubert D'Souza,
Israel, Johnson, Joseph, Shadrach Jairaman, Jairaman, Kripakaran,
Leo, Logunathan, Philip Bhaskar, Ravi Matthew, Ravi Shankar Samuel,
Daniel Saarathi, Samuel, Satishkumar, Sivakumar, Shekarkumar,
Timothy, Vijaykumar, and Wilson. Other brothers who attended
include Bro. Lawrence from Coimbatore, Bro. Russell from Mumbai, and
Bro. Sukumar from Gudiyattam.
Pastor Shadrach Jairaman was hospitalized on the second day of the
Convention due to a sudden illness. We are in prayer for his speedy
recovery.
The 3 day convention was an achievement of
sorts, for the fruit of Bro. M. R. Samuel's ministry was blessed in
the hearing of some of the sound truths that had touched his heart
all those years ago.
![](gudy%20(16).jpg)
The 10th was a day of much needed rest after
the meetings, with Bro. Gan having
to prepare for his flight to
Singapore from Chennai on the 11th of November. Bro. Somu and Bro.
Sivakumar both bid goodbye to Bro. Gan on the 10th for their
respective engagements in Bangalore. Bro. Ravi, Bro. Dayalan, and
Bro. Saarathi visited with him on the eve of his departure.
The brothers had arranged a vehicle for the
commute from Vellore to Chennai, and I and Sis. Benita accompanied
Bro. Gan to the airport and saw him off.
We hope to see him in India again next year.
My Appreciation to Bro Shadrach and Sis Benita.
I thank the Lord Almighty for the timely presence of this precious
couple. They had been such a help in the last 2 days of my stay in
Vellore. Their concern for my physical welfare was touching. They
went out of their way to stay with me, to see to my need and that I
was well taken care of, to accompany me all the way to Chennai
Airport (we left the hotel about 2.30pm and arrived in Chennai after
5pm), and to see that I enter the airport safely before they left to
take their long journey home to the City of Coimbatore on a night
bus.
May the Lord bless them richly and grant their hearts desire is my
sincere prayer.