Brother George is from a Catholic family lives in Nagapattinam district of Tamilnadu. He never believed in God nor went to Church. He became addicted to alcohol and used to beat up people all the time. Sometime he will cut his own hand, but will give complain in the police station falsely accusing anyone, whom he did not like. So people used to be scared of him and hatred him. His parents too disliked him; many wanted to see him dead. No one loved him.
He also borrowed money from many people, and they all came together and forced him to pay. Since he earns very little money by stitching the torn sack bags, that was not enough to drink, he could not pay back his debt. For many days he was in the police station, because people approached the Police for help, with one after another complaint.
George did not know what to do? He went to ask his family members and relatives to rescue him. No one came forward to help. So for many days he used to hide, and used to sleep in beaches, near riverside, and dark areas. He could not bear the depression, so he decided to commit suicide. He told his mother about his plan. Both of them wept for long hours, but she could not help him. George also shared this with his friend, who suggested him to run away to some other state.
So he went to Mangalore of Karnataka State and he started doing some labor work for 22 (around 40 cents) rupees per day. To eat food he needs 25 rupees, so many days he went to bed without food. Since there was no place to sleep, he slept in the foot path or wait until the shops gets closed to sleep outside the roadside shop. When the bus and other vehicles pass by the smoke would run on his face. He felt very bad for his life.
So he started going to different temples taking bath in holy rivers and ponds, shaving his head, rolling on the floor with bare body, going on pilgrimages by walk for many days, looking for peace. He never got the peace he was looking for. One day while he was sleeping on the roadside, a woman came and spoke to her. She lovingly asked about him and George said he is an orphan. She said no one is orphan in this world as God has created all the people, and God loves him and wanted to give him a family and a house. She also prayed for him there. Immediately George felt something happening in his heart. She invited him to come to her Church.
George started going to the Church. He came to know about Jesus and repented for all his sins and became a new man. He also took baptism there. Then he felt that God is leading him to go back to his village and pay back all his debts and share this Jesus to all his village people. When he came to his village and started sharing about Jesus, no one believed in Him. After many weeks they realized that there is some change in him. He started doing business, collecting the sack bag from the shop and selling it to the wholesalers. His business started doing well and he paid back all the debts.
He also started going to a close by Church. The Church asked him to share the testimony and lead others to Christ. When he started doing this, God gave him the burden to plant a new Church. The Pastor discouraged him as he has studied only 8th standard. Some of the other pastors also discouraged his as he was continuing his “old sack bag business”. He did not know what to do.
That was the time I went to the town where he was doing his business and ministry. I saw his passion and asked him, whether he is interested in getting the Training to plant new Church. He was speechless and never believed that it was possible because he is only 8th grader. When we sent him the invitation, he was thrilled and took part in the training. Before he could complete the training he baptized 25 people and started a Church in 2006. Then he also completed the PDT training on Church growth, now he has 200 people in his Church. On December 25th, I had the privilege of baptizing 20 people. He uses 50 percent of the Church income for poor people and their development. The remaining 50 percent he uses for the ministry development. He supports himself with the business he is doing. His vision is to start 24 Churches in his taluk. Two of his Church members are currently undergoing the Church planter training and they are on the process of starting 2 new Churches in 2013. Praise God!
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