Our Testimonies - Dhruv

At the age of 18 I was disowned by my Hindu family when I accepted Christ through reading a New Testament. I turned to the Lord after my mother died when I was 16. My Hindu priest could not satisfy all the questions that I was so desperately wanting answered. I had a longing in my heart to know what happens after death. All by myself in my room, I invited Jesus to come into my life. The Holy Spirit filled my heart and I was forever changed. I left my home with the shirt on my back, never to look back. The Lord revealed to me a scripture which was;

Psalm 27:10 When my father and my mother forsake me then the Lord will take me up. I was determined to be a dedicated witness for the Lord; I graduated from the Southern Asia Bible Institute in Bangalore, even though my father stopped supporting me after one year when I came to know Jesus. When I was pastoring a Hindi congregation in Calcutta with the Assemblies of God, I shared my burden with a PAOC representative to return to the place of my birth and proclaim the gospel to the lost.

In 1978 I met Rita, soon to be the amazing help mate that the Lord provided to bring such joy into my life. She is truly a gift. I thank God for her. On Sept. 1 1985, we sold all our belongings and moved our two young sons to the growing Steel City of Bokaro in Bihar State. It was a very trying time for my young family. We felt very lonely in a strange land. We literally had nothing, we started from the beginning. We had no electricity for 1 week; we slept on the hard floor, and just enough money to barely manage. But we never looked back. We knew this was the Lord’s calling on our lives. People told us that we were mad, that we were crazy and that surely we would return to Calcutta. This gave us more determination to persevere. The Overseas Missions Dept. had promised to support us for three years, to rent a hall, to advertise and conduct services. Eventually we would assume our own support. I had a vision to see many of my Bihar brothers born again and become disciples. My vision is to train evangelists to spread out to other centers with the life changing Gospel and plant new churches. The Lord has put on my heart a burning desire to pioneer a Bible College. We will be facilitating this on Campus at the Pentecostal Assembly School until the Lord provides us with a plot of land to build a Church and Bible College that will facilitate dorms for the professors and speakers. By the grace of God and the support of our beloved friends in Christ we will see this come to fruition.

Rita's Story

I was born of Christian parents in Lucknow, the Capital of Uttar Pradesh in India.

When I was three I suffered a severe attack of nephritis and was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. My mother went immediately to a TL Osborne meeting and heard that many people were being healed. She arrived there only to find a huge crowd and she knew there would not be enough time to see him. She met an old woman who was returning after having been prayed for. She testified that the Lord healed her and she had thrown away the crutches she once used. This testimony increased and strengthened my mother’s faith. She told the old woman about my serious condition. She prayed. The doctors offered no hope and gave up. At midnight the powerful hand of God touched my body and healed me completely! From that day my mother committed me to the Lord as her first fruit.

In March 1973 I completed my higher secondary course and went to College the following September. I completed three years graduate and two years post graduate by September 1978. Satan tried to defeat me trying to bring fear and anxiety into my life. All my notes and texts were stolen just prior to exam time, I cried out to the Lord with what little strength I had left. He met me in that room, and by the Grace of God I topped the graduation exam and was offered the National Scholarship Award from the Ministry of Education in New Delhi. This scholarship allowed me to complete successfully my post graduate course as well.

Against all odds and with absolutely no support and blessing from friends and loved ones, I met my husband in December 1978, and we moved to Bokaro as a response to the calling of God on our lives. Dhruv is from the North and I am from the South, our cultures are extreme, however the Lord joined us together to give glory and honor to His name! Psalm 121:1, 2.

We have two sons, Samuel, 21 and Daniel, 25. They are both studying in Canada and serving the Lord. They have both been a great support and blessing in the ministry and have been a great example to other children in the school and church.

Our Ministry

We serve together as a team in Bokaro Steel City. Dhruv is Director and I am Principal of The Pentecostal Assembly School, where we minister and teach 1800 students from pre kindergarten to grade 12. We have such a passion to reach out to this community in many different ways, through:

1) Home visitation

2) Home Bible studies

3) bi- monthly women’s ministry

4) Men’s fellowship every Saturday

5) Annual three day Christian growth camp outreach

6) A staff Christmas celebration with a special lunch and singing

7) Guest speaking at different functions