Childhood
It has been an amazing journey for me. Being born in India, in a traditional Christian family, I was raised like any other christian. Going to the church every sunday, attending sunday school and being very active in the church. I was in the Church Choir, always there for the church camps, fetes and all the activities. Inspite of all this, there was a big VOID in my life.
Career
Life's travels took me to the Middle East where I immersed myself in my career. Being away from home had its own shortcomings. Loneliness came with the territory but I kept myself busy at work, striving to become someone in life. Initially had a lot of struggle at work as my aspirations to be successful in my career did not come easy. But ultimately hardwork and sincerity paid off. I started rising up in the ranks. Slowly I began to have less time for my normal christian duties, like going to church etc. Soon I got married in Dubai with my lovely wife Joyce. I was promoted to the management just after my wedding and life seemed to get easy and comfortable. In 2000, we were blessed with our wonderful son Shawn.
Intolerable Pain
In 2002, I began getting an awful headache and pain in my left eye. I noticed that the small growth which I had for the last 4 to 5 years under the left orbit of my eye, was growing in size, pushing my eye downwards. Earlier when I had shown it to various doctors, they said it was nothing that I had to be worried about. But when the pain became unbearable, I decided to go and see an opthalmologist. On my visit and further exams, the doctor diagnosed that I had a tumor in my tear gland (larimal gland). He said that it looked benign but advised me to have it operated at the earliest opportunity.
Bad News
On my parents recommendation, I set myself to visit India for the operation. My doctor visit was scheduled and on reaching India, I immediately met the doctor. She advised me to take some CT exams and on seeing them, she diagnosed that it is benign tumor, which can be operated when I was ready. As I had to get back to Dubai sooner, I asked her to schedule one as soon as possible. The operation went fine and the tumor was removed in its entirety as per the doctor. A sample of the tumor was sent for histology.
I told her that I was keeping the eye and will take chances on any re-occurrance. I had 33 sittings of radiation therapy. The after-effects of radiation therapy did not show up till much later. I lost the hair in the area where the radiation had exited and began to feel very weak and had hardly the energy to last the whole day. During this time in India, my parents and my brother Binoy were there with me. They were a great source of strength and support for me.
After the treatment, I flew back to Dubai to be back with my family and resume my job. I had an exceptional boss who gave me time off during my treatment which lasted 3 and 1/2 months. Further, he also approved the reimbursment for the time I was off work as well as all my medical expenses. It took a long time about 10 - 12 months for me to slowly recover and regain complete strength.
By the time I recovered, the application we had put for immigration to the US came through. Soon we were preparing for our move to the US. I was advised by my boss and many of my dear friends, of the ills of the insurance system in the US, but at that time I was only thinking about my son's future and decided that this move would be a good one for him specially in the area of his education.
My Spiritual Journey
On arrival in the US, my wife, who is a RN, started work as I spent time with my son at our apartment. This was the first time that I got quality time with my son. Compared to my life in Dubai, which was hectic, here I was able to get time for myself and my family. We also got time to go for a worship meeting every week. This prayer meeting was unlike the ones I was used to. They were believers and most of them were born again. They believed in the pentecostal experience. Their style of worship reminded me of the time when I had chanced to attend one of the pentecostal meetings in Dubai. At that time, seeing their exuberant worship, I began to think that they may be possessed by the devil. Also they were too noisy for me, so I kept away from them.
Since there were no other traditional worship meeting in the vicinity that we knew of, we continued to attend this fellowship. Gradually, I began to slowly understand the kind of relationship God wants from me. God created us humans to praise and worship Him. He wants our full attention. He is a jealous God. He wants us to have a close relationship with Him. But He has also given us the freedom to do what we want. He does not force anything on us. He wants us to willingly come to Him. I wanted this close relationship with My God as He filled the VOID I had. I had lots of questions and slowly they were being answered as I read the Word of God (Bible) and heard the sermons. I began to feel that God was clearly speaking to me. Unlike in Dubai, now I had time for the Lord as I was unemployed. God so purposefully created this period in my life where I would be STILL and hear His Word and understand the purpose He had for my life. In late Oct of 2005 my wife Joyce and I accepted Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour and were baptized in water.
Psalms 96:9 Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.
Mark 16:15-18 Jesus said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
After the baptism, I began to be anxious. Worried that the evil forces were now going to wage a war against me. I feared the worst and was concerned about my health. Subsequently, my yearly medical checkup was due. In early 2006, my worst fears came true when I was told by my doctor that my cancer had metastized to my lungs. My doctor said there was some hope if I undergo chemotherapy to control the metastasis. I did not see any hope in chemotherapy. I could only visualize myself lying on a hospital bed, bedridden, with no strength and slowly wasting away. The only Hope I saw was from My Lord. I do not know how I could be so blunt. But God gave me the strength to tell her that I wanted a complete cure which her treatment did not offer. So I was going to give this disease to My Lord Jesus Christ, who can give me a 100% cure. My doctor looked shocked and then gathered her composure and asked me if I was pentecostal. I replied that I believe in the pentecostal experience and also believe that My Lord can completely heal me.
Around that time, a powerful servant of the Lord from Kerala (Pastor Sunny) was in the city. He came to our fellowship and was the speaker at one of our fasting prayers in our house. I believe it was all God's plan. The message that he gave that day was specially meant for me. It was about the reason why Our Lord came down to earth. The preacher told the congregation that if we wanted healing, we have to just believe with our heart, our mind and our soul that Our Lord came down to earth and shed his blood to heal us. The words of the preacher began to resonate in me. I began to hold on to the promises that God has given in His Word and believed with my whole being that My Lord can heal me. At the meeting, I cried and prayed "Lord, I believe with my heart, mind and soul that You came down to take away all our sins, disease and strongholds. I am giving this sickness to You as You have asked in your Word. Only You can take away my cancer and heal me completely. I claim healing by Your Precious Blood."
Mathew 11 : 28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
During the prayer meeting, my wife and I were infilled by the Holy Spirit and we began to speak in tongues. My Lord heard our cries and He reached out to us. It was an out of the world experience which I cannot relate with mere words. I suddenly felt the Joy of the Lord fill my heart. I had the peace that I had never had before. I felt the warm touch of My Lord Jesus Christ flow from the top of my head down to my feet and I kept on verbally claiming healing by His Precious Blood. My body was shaking and that night I could feel His Holy Presence even through my sleep. I was joyful, singing and praising My Lord and that warm feeling lasted for days.
Through this experience I knew God had answered my prayers and extended His Healing Hand. After this I had no worries at all. Everyone in my family thought that, by refusing chemotherapy, I was not doing the right thing. My parents and close relatives were concerned and out of love questioned my reasoning. I asked them one simple question, if they believed that Our Lord Jesus Christ can heal me. And everyone agreed with me. Praise the Lord.
Corinthians 12:7-11 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
Good News
On my yearly checkup in early 2008 I received the good news that my lungs were clear. These days, I am travelling with a close pastor friend (Pr. Sam) to different churches in our state, testifying the wonderous work of God. Even his wife has received healing from cancer. The Lord has a plan for me and my pastor to minister and testify the healing which our families have received.
Our Lord healed yesterday, He heals today and can heal anyone who believes in Him.
I want to take this message to everyone I come in contact with because this message is so alive and true. I am a living testament. We only need to have complete trust in Him and everything else will fall in place.
Isaiah 49:1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
