Reuben Sathiyaraj was born into a poor village Christian family in Tamil Nadu, South India.
Being the youngest among the 6 (4 brothers and 2 sisters), Reuben was able to get the basic education from The Church of South India school because of his parent’s commitment towards giving all their children a better tomorrow even though they were uneducated.
His father, Madhuram died when Reuben was 2 years old leaving the family in a big financial snag and fear of headship as to who will lead the family with 6 growing children and a poor uneducated wife.
This incident created a dreadful effect on the direction his life ahead would take into the eventual and ultimate making of The man, Pastor. Dr. Reuben Sathiyaraj.
He has Vision, Courage, Commitment, Perseverance and compassion all of which solidify into his run in making Church Leaders effective that God can use.
After his father’s death, his mother Jeevamani, a God fearing woman took up her strong hold in the ways of the Lord to lead the family and raise all the 6 children defying the threats and cheats of the villagers and relatives to a fatherless family. She dedicated her little boy Reuben at the age of 2 to do the ministry for the Heavenly Kingdom. (This act could probably have been the deciding factor for which God honored her faith and dedication in blessing Reuben into what he is today like he did to Hannah’s Samuel in the Bible)
Growing up, in his teen, he started to rebel against his mother’s dedication and started to live 2 distinct lives. To his mother, he was an obedient and dutiful God fearing son but on the inside he was fighting against this dedication and grew up a huge rancor of rebellion with a chip on his shoulder.
2 of his brothers (Daniel and Devaraj) entered the ministry and his mother was certain that Reuben would enter too as he was her pick and also the one dedicated to God, not his 2 brothers.
However when he completed his education, he launched his rocket off the pad and confronted his mother with his rejection of faith and there was an awful row, in which he picked up a boulder threw it at her and ran away leaving home to Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu.
Life in Chennai was fascinating at first but later he mixed up with the roughnecks and the vagrants. s
He had no faith, no direction and no family. He started up a business with 2 of his friends who eventually cheated and dumped him off. He roamed the streets of Chennai with nothing, not even a penny for his food, as a destitute and was on the breadline for 3 days. He watched a banana seller hoping that someone would take pity on him and give him something to eat. He even mulled over eating the banana skin which brought him memories of his mother telling him the story of the prodigal son: Luke 15:16 “The boy became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything” (NLT)
Despair, anguish and depression besieged him driving him onto the verge of suicidal decisions and he decided to end his life by walking into the sea. At that moment, there was a gospel meeting happening on the beach and he was familiarized with the evangelist quoting Ecclesiastes 11:9 “Young man, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do” (NLT).
His heart started beating hastily and he began to sweat with remorse as he remembered the day when he read the same verse while he was back in his village and in a rage had thrown the bible onto the ground, stamped on it and kicked it around like a football. He was also angry that the preacher’s gospel had brought him vivid memories and that it made him think again on his suicidal plans as he was keen on it to succeed. Having tasted failure in his new world, he was rock solid in executing his plan of ending his life that night but instead he was touched by the Love of Christ and convicted and he accepted the Lord and committed his life for God’s majestic glory.
While all this was happening, yearnings of reconciliation and reunion with his mother and family kept tiptoeing in his mind and the harder he tried to push them off his mind, the stronger addictive they became. He finally wrote to his mother and just like the prodigal son in the parable, Reuben was welcomed into the house by his mother with an open wide arms and tears of joy in her eyes. His faith and belief on Jesus Christ became stronger this time as he was building up his spiritual life with moral support from his mother through her prayers.
He started working in a Laboratory as a quality controller but never stuck there for long as he was compelled in his spirit and drawn towards spreading the same gospel of Christ all around that he had tasted in his life that blessed him.
His inspiration was 1st Corinthians 9:16 “Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News!” (NLT)
Swallowing his pride, he decided to ask his brother (Daniel) who was a Pastor, for spiritual guidance and help. His brother laughed at him and derided him that it was enough that 2 of them are already in the ministry and persuaded him to work and earn but Reuben was not taken aback. However looking at his firm stand, his brother decided to test his resilience and fortitude by saying that if he went into a locked room, fasted for 3 days and prayed regarding his decision, and still felt the same when he came out, he would help him. After three days of fasting, the commitment to enter the ministry was stronger than ever. He put across his decision which made his brother go crazy wild and he threw a purse at him and asked him to take the money and get out of the house. Reuben opened the purse, took only the bus fare of Rs. 10 and walked out of the house in the middle of the night trusting on God’s directions, he was only 17 years old.
Determined to study and preach God's Word, he approached a Bible Seminary in the State of Tamil Nadu, and they agreed to accept him for a 2 year course. He was a big bankrupt without a penny, but this time he had direction and commitment and worked as a gardener in the Seminary grounds with a fire to somehow study the word of God. In return he was given tuition, boarding and accommodation. After finishing Bible Seminary he was sent to the Andaman & Nicobar Islands for 5 years as a pioneer missionary working among the primitive tribal’s. He was one of the first missionaries to enter this spiritual wilderness, and the tribal people resisted giving up their pagan rituals and accepting the Word of Christ.
Reuben showed great leadership skills and discernment as a young boy leading 6 other young boys with him in the jungles of Andaman’s and with great struggle adapted to the tribal’s’ way of living and socialized with them, like them and preaching to them with a fire and help from God and slowly the tribals started to understand his biblical teachings and for the first time in history, their culture and way of life transformed because of the Love of Christ. Reuben started the very first Church there and planted lot of others and till today, they are growing and expanding remarkably. Lot of Reuben’s tribal students are Pastors in those Churches today and their lives have been civilized.
When he returned to Tamil Nadu after a long phase of ministry in Andaman’s, he taught inBible School and completed a 2 year correspondence course on Missionary outreach. Throughout this time he had a burning desire and vision to preach the Gospel to the spiritually barren land of India. For a number of years he was a roving charismatic preacher, searching out isolated communities and teaching Gods Word. In 1985 he married Flora, and they settled in Bangalore in 1987. Their two children, Jim Elliot and Sabina Livingbel, were born there. Flora fully supports her husband and assists him in many Pastoral activities. In 1990 he sowed the seeds for the now growing and spiritually alive Agape Bible Church. From a small beginning of 3 families, there are now over 2000 believers and 250 children being ministered to and hearing the Gospel. In addition to this large ministry he teaches missionaries and lay leaders who reach the villages, and is responsible for the running of two rehabilitation homes for the rag pickers and street children and the Eunuch ministry plus 5 growing daughter Churches with more than 10 co-workers to evangelize and plant the local Churches.
Reuben Sathiyaraj has sympathy, kindness and empathy with people, especially with the street children and the rag pickers. He sees the ability and latency people posses specifically when they are rejected or stigmatized by the society.
He has huge talents and posses a wealth of knowledge and kindness and respects his God given talents and motivates his fellow workers with them. He is a perfect example of a virtual leader as he encourages his workers to run faster in the race for the eternal Kingdom.
The spiritual reformation and growth of the slum areas close by to his Church is solely due to the commitment and God given gifts of this dynamic man, Pastor. Dr. Reuben Sathiyaraj, the man of the masses!
Please pray for him and his ministries.
"To God be all glory and Honor!" |
