Mangaluru: In the past the “Rome of the East”- Mangaluru has witnessed talks on Christian faith by various evangelists/renowned speakers, which have resulted in bringing changes in the lives of many citizens who graced those seminars/talks. This weekend yet another Evangelist from New Delhi, Dr Rajkumar Ramachandran will bring his spiritual message and share his Christian Faith at the “Festival of Great Joy and Peace”-a Christmas Spiritual event organized by Karnataka Missions Network-Coastal Zone, Mangaluru (the network of Churches in Mangaluru) at Balmatta Maidan,(Near Kaces) Mangaluru from 18th to 20th of December 2015 from 5.30 to 8.30 p.m. The main focus of this initiative is to bring the message of “JOY and PEACE” of Lord Jesus Christ to the people of Mangaluru and the surrounding areas.
Introducing Dr. R. Rajkumar, he was a deeply religious person who was told that Jesus is the only way to God. He was so offended that he set out to prove Christianity wrong. But after a year of studying the Bible in secret, he couldn’t resist the love of Jesus. Since then, he has traveled all over the world, sharing his faith with anyone who will listen.
Dr. R. Rajkumar was a devout religious Brahmin and a popular college athlete who became a successful engineer and married his college sweetheart. For all practical purposes, there was no real need for a Savior. But when a close friend told him that Jesus was the only way to God, Raj was so offended that he decided to prove him wrong. Since he believed all religions were the same, he assumed all religious books would be the same too. So he got himself a Bible and went on a quest to prove Christianity wrong from the Bible itself.
It wasn’t long before Raj was deeply affected by the life of Jesus Christ. He was overtaken by the way Jesus related to people, particularly the way He related to a woman caught in adultery that a mob wanted to kill. He was stunned by the things Jesus said about Himself. When He read for Himself that Jesus claimed to the be the only way to God, he found it difficult to digest and stopped reading the Bible. But He struggled to believe that Jesus was the kind of person who would lie about Himself. He had felt a strange sense of peace when he was reading the Bible and couldn’t resist the urge to resume his quest to know the truth.
After a year of reading the Bible and putting sincere questions to God in his prayers, Raj decided to give his life to Jesus. At the time, he was married to his wife, Ragini. Initially, she was apprehensive of trusting in Jesus. But a year later, she decided to follow Jesus as well. From the day he trusted in Jesus, Raj began to live a double life. He was a professional engineer and an earnest evangelist. He was so compelled by the love of Christ that he began to share the good news with anyone who would listen.
Though Raj wanted to leave his job in Siemens immediately, he felt that God wanted him to remain in the corporate world until the right time. In the early 90’s, Raj was offered a job by his elder brother and decided to take it. His new work took him to Siberia and Russia, where he shared his faith with eager people in a nation where the law had ruled God out of existence. The underground church in Russia gave him the nickname, The Walking Bible, because of his uncanny ability to quote scores of scriptures without referring to the Bible.
In the late 90’s, Raj felt that it was time to leave the corporate world and give his life to telling people about Jesus. Logos Ministries is the fruit of that decision. Since then, he has preached more than ten thousand sermons, in just over twelve years, across forty countries, leading thousands of people to discover the love of Jesus. His work has taken him to share his faith with political leaders in foreign governments and the rural poor in villages without electricity. His passion is to preach the Gospel and encourage Pastors to enjoy serving God in ministry. In 2011, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Hindustan Bible Institute in Chennai. Dr. R. Rajkumar lives in New Delhi with his wife, Ragini. His son and daughter-in-law, Akshay and Shruti, also live in Delhi.
Speaking to mangalorean.com Chairman of the Karnataka Missions Network-Walter J Maben said, “Our society is plagued with issues like violence among youth, abortion, peace-less and broken families, social and caste based issues, religious intolerance etc. In view of this environment around, we believe the Message of Joy and Peace will bring a favourable effect on the community. The Speaker for the Convention is Dr.Rajkumar Ramachandran from New Delhi who is a renowned and much sought after Speaker both in national and international circles”.
“This Festival is open to all to attend. We have made the required security arrangements and will keep all the relevant government departments informed of the event. We are hoping and praying that this event will bring a dramatic positive influence on our local community and among people of different faiths. Dignitaries from the Catholic Church/Protestant Church along with prominent MLA/MLC/Mangalore City Mayor would also grace the occasion during these days. We request your prayer, and if possible your participation. In view of the joint effort prayerfully planned, we believe, this will also be a strong message for unity among Christians to face the rising fundamentalism that we have seen in the past locally and experiencing currently nationwide” added Maben.
