Chapter-3

Chapter-3: Miracles and Revelations

Lived with deadly snakes/Sat at the feet of Jesus for 6 months/Gospel Ministry/Revelation about the premature death of 3 daughters/Death of Joyce Ruby/Death of Daisy Kohilam/Brief Testimony of Daisy Kohilam/Death of Emi Alice/Marriage of children

LIVED WITH DEADLY SNAKES! One night, a cobra and a viper entered the house, and hid themselves in the heaps of dried stumps and leaves kept in the corner of the house, which were being used as firewood. She was upset. Whom she would call at night to help drive away the two big deadly snakes? She cried unto the Lord. The Lord told her, "My eyes will be on these snakes. Do not fear!" She mustered courage and called the children. She told them that nothing would happen without the knowledge of God. Then they prayed, took supper and went to bed. She was awake, and told the Lord, Lord, it is only at night the snakes go in search of their prey. The Lord again told her, "My eyes are on these snakes. Like this two days passed by. On the third day, when she was attending to the household work, the Lord asked her, "How do you live in this house fearlessly?" Raising her hands, she answered and said, "Lord! It is because of You". Then a strange thing happened. She saw herself as tall as a palm tree. When she asked the Lord to reveal the secret, the Lord told her that though she stood physically on the ground, she was spiritually seated with Christ in the heavenly place. The Lord again posed a question to her, "My daughter, you have 6 daughters and one son. Your husband is no more. You do not have any possession in this world. There is a woman who has one daughter. She had prayed to Me many times for the marriage of her only daughter. But, you have never told Me how you would get your daughters married. What is your hope in this world?" She replied, "Lord, You are the Head of my family". Then the Lord asked her to testify to this everywhere. Thereafter, the snakes left the house on their own.

SAT AT THE FEET OF JESUS FOR 6 MONTHS

Ammal was led by the Holy Spirit to sit at the feet of Jesus for 6 months. During this period, she agonized and wept with Jesus when Jesus unraveled the condition of the churches and the Christian leaders. She sat at His feet day and night and learnt the Scriptures as Christ expounded all the Scriptures from the book of Genesis to the Revelation. It was exhilarating to her when the Lord explained to her how He made the man and the woman in His own image and how in the garden of Eden, they lived without sin and amidst the animals like lion, tiger, etc. which did not harm them. After finishing all the household work and the duties towards the small children in the morning itself, she would kneel down in prayer and would get up only for the family prayer at night. For six months, she did not have proper sleep. However, she did not feel weak due to fatigue. Nobody in her church knew how Lord was leading her those days. They looked at her through their physical eyes. Her children thought that their mother became mad following the home-call of their father. Jesus taught her a simple prayer as follows:

"Oh Lord, Help me to perform my duties properly and with godly fear, holiness and wisdom".

Because of her flaming love for Christ and because of her fellowship of suffering with Christ, she was able to feast on Christ's love and sitting at His feet and learning from Him gave her indescribable joy.

Jesus wept over the tragic end of the worldly nations and over the pathetic condition of the churches. She also wept with Him. Jesus was also grieved at the backsliding state of the churches, which had begun in the Spirit. He also revealed the importance of the institution of the holy marriage and its present state. "Will you bear My burden and tell about My agony in every church, notwithstanding any objection to it? Until My second advent, will you preach My gospel along with your testimony?" Jesus pleaded her.

During this period, Jesus also explained to her the importance of the truths concerning baptism, confirmation in the Spirit, etc. He also explained to her the need of the pastors to be filled with the Spirit and fire and with the passion for the lost souls as and when they laid their hands on the youths who received confirmation.

Pointing to the backsliding state of the pastors in the churches and the present condition of the churches, Jesus shed tears along with her. Jesus asked her to tell all the churches about the burden on His heart. He also revealed to her the backsliding state of the Pentecostal churches. He also convicted her of her disobedience to His voice on some occasions when she refused to pray in some prayer meetings when inspired by the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Spirit convicted her of many lapses for which she sought His forgiveness. On some occasions, when the Lord asked her to inform her husband of his shortcomings in his spiritual life, she refused to obey Him on the plea, Lord, You should speak to him. Now that the Lord brought the soul of her husband from the heaven before her, she asked him for his forgiveness. As soon as she expressed her regret, the Lord took him back into the Heaven.

The Lord revealed to her the various stages in the growth of spiritual life. He also took her to the first, second and third heavens in a similar manner as the apostle Paul was taken unto the third heaven. The first heaven is the place where the saints on the earth and the saints of the heaven meet for prayer and conversation. The second heaven is the place where we commune with the saints of heaven, which is in accordance with the Apostolic Creed, which states, "we believe in the communion with the saints". The joy she had experienced in this part of the heaven was indescribable. In the third heaven, the Lord showed her the glory of the heaven, and the sea of glass. The heavenly worship was glorious, whereas the worship service on the earth has become short of holiness. If the worship on the earth is holy, the saints of the heaven and the angels would partake of it, she writes. According to her, the foretaste of the heavenly worship was indescribable, and there are no words to express the joy she had while partaking of the heavenly worship.

GOSPEL MINISTRY

As led by the Holy Spirit, she began a gospel ministry christened as Self-Denial Evangelistic Team in 1952. This team used to stay in a local church for 2 days in a month and to evangelize the surrounding villages. Though some Christians opposed her ministry saying that there was no need for such meeting as the people who took the infant baptism stood saved, the Bishop of Thiruneveli Diocese supported her and commanded the church leaders to assemble and pray for their salvation every night.

The Lord revealed to her how the people who lived in the days of Noah did not believe the message of Noah. When the floods swept them, they approached Noah seeking forgiveness of their sins. The Lord did not show mercy towards infants of even three months age.

REVELATION ABOUT THE PREMATURE DEATH OF THREE DAUGHTERS

God blessed her with seven children. The first daughter, Daisy Kohilam, was born in 1930, the second daughter Grace Lydia in 1932, the third daughter Joyce Ruby in 1934 (8-12-1934), the fourth daughter Emi Alice in 1936 (7-9-1936), the fifth daughter Hepsibai Buelah in 1940 (28-3-1940), the sixth son Devasahayam Samuel in 1943 (3-4-1943), and the last daughter Clara in 1945 who passed into glory when she was 2 yeas old. One night she was on her way back to home after conducting a gospel meeting in a nearby village, over a distance of 4 miles. The Holy Spirit talked to her revealing the future events. She did not feel the fatigue in her body during this strenuous long walk because she was in deep conversation with her beloved Lord. While unfolding His plan to her, the Lord revealed to her that He would call her daughters i.e. Daisy Kohilam (married and with a 4 year old daughter), Emi Alice (spinster) and Ruby Joyce (spinster), (who were all undergoing educational courses as teacher), to the Heaven to be with Him. The Lord asked her to glorify Him in the premature death of her daughters. She was completely upset. Her daughters who had scored good marks in their examinations despite their penury were about to earn now. She had mortgaged their small house and raised some money for meeting their educational expenses. She wrestled with the Lord praying to Him not to take away them from this world. She asked the Lord to let her know why He wanted to do so. Was it due to any sin? The Lord spoke to her, "I know you and your children. I want to make them living martyrs. Many of My people deny me and become disheartened when I take away the lives of their small children, saying, The Lord is blind. So you have to witness to many people and to glorify Me in the death of your children".

She reminded the Lord that He called home her 2 year old daughter Clara, she did not murmur but washed and dressed her dead body for burial and sang songs in glorification of His Name, sitting by the side of her dead daughter. She also reminded Him that when He took away her husband, she glorified God. Tears rolled down her cheeks copiously. She did not inform either her children or anybody about the divine plan.

As the days passed by, her daughters finished their education and got jobs as teachers. Within 6 months, two of her daughters fell ill. However, the family devotion continued as usual despite their sickness. When the sick daughters asked her, Why are you silent these days? She simply told them that she was singing in her heart to the Lord. The sick children did not murmur at all and were happy in the Lord.

DEATH OF JOYCE RUBY

Again, the Lord spoke to her about His plan of calling home her third daughter Joyce Ruby, "My beloved daughter, I will take away your beautiful daughter. Will you testify to others by the side of her dead body?" She told Him, "Lord, how is it possible to do so? Even Mary did weep over the death of Lazarus. Even when my children do not eat, the food will never enter my mouth. How can I praise You and testify when she is dead?" Then a Bible verse came to her mind exhorting her to sing with the spirit and also to sing with the understanding (1 Cor.14:15). The Lord spoke to her, "Your daughter would put on a spiritual body without sin; she would go to the heaven to live with Me happily. People should know that I came to this world for this purpose. It grieves Me that though people heard many testimonies about this, they have hardened their hearts and have not believed Me. You have to testify to this to many people". After some days, her daughter Joyce Ruby passed into glory on 17-11-1956.

When the body of Joyce Ruby was laid for burial, a servant of God testified that her face radiated glory like an angel. Ammal and her family sat around her body, and sang hymns, clapping their hands. Many people testified that a Christian family in bereavement should be like this family.

Then the Lord spoke to her, asking her to see her daughter Ruby in the company of saints and angels through her spiritual eyes of faith.

DEATH OF DAISY KOHILAM

After some days, her eldest daughter Daisy Kohilam also fell ill unto death. She was married with a four-year-old daughter. She also passed into glory on 1-4-1959. When her body was taken to the graveyard, they sang hymns and recited the Bible verses on their way to the cemetery. One catholic nun testified that the face of Daisy radiated the glory of God to such an extent that she felt like lying beside her in the coffin. The following day, the Holy Spirit led Ammal to do a ministry in the nearby village. The people who visited her house to offer their condolences could not find her in the house.

After some days, her other children talked to one another, "Our elder sisters have gone to be with the Lord. They are now living happily with our father and grandparents in the heaven. But we are suffering in this world. When shall we go to the heaven?" On hearing this, she immediately rushed to them and told them that she had requested the Lord to preserve them. When she asked them if they had the fear of death, they answered in the negative. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The stint of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ " (I Cor.15: 55-57).

BRIEF TESTIMONY OF DAISY KOHILAM

"I am the eldest one of the six daughters born to a godly couple who hailed from Christia Nagaram, Thirunelveli District. I have one brother also. My youngest sister died in her childhood. My parents brought us up in His ways. Since the Lord loved us very much, He had shown all forbearance and longsuffering to us whenever we grieved Him. My parents did not give us any medicines whenever we fell ill and only through their prayers, the Lord healed us. Though the cords of death surrounded us, the Lord did deliver us.

After the death of our beloved father, the responsibilities of our family fell on my shoulders. He died on the Good Friday, 3rd April 1947. The entire family was dependent on me as I was earning as a primary school teacher. Despite the penury, the Lord was leading us wonderfully as He led the people of Israel in the wilderness. He helped us to cross many Red Seas in our life. The Lord loved me very much since my childhood. However, I was postponing my decision to accept Him as my personal Savior though the Lord was speaking to my heart. Many people of God told me that there were two ways before us i.e. a way of death and another way of Life. I was convinced that since there were a hell and a heaven I should not live according to my own ways. I began to think of my soul and to pray both in the morning and at night with tears. All of a sudden, I could not eat my food due to some infection in my throat. I started bleeding from my throat. My mother and other people of God prayed for me. I did not believe in the divine healing though the Lord performed many miracles of healing in our family. I decided to go to the hospital and spent Rs.800/- in two months on medical treatment. Even then, I was not cured. I was very scared. If I died at this stage, where would I go? I sought Him with all my heart through prayers. The Lord came in search of me. On a Christmas day, the Lord gave me a vision and saved me from the sin. He gave me a joy, which the world could not give me.

After I had received His peace and salvation, the Devil began to afflict me. He tried his best to defeat us by bringing all sorts of trials and tribulations to us. One day, as I was praying to God with tears, He asked me to read Isaiah 41:10, 13. Since I had not read this Bible portion earlier, I began to wonder as to what this Bible portion would mean to me. As I opened the Bible and read these verses, I was comforted.

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not: I will help thee" (Is.41: 10 & 13)....".

DEATH OF EMI ALICE

After some days, her fourth daughter Emi Alice also fell ill. She was very beautiful and was working as the Headmistress of an elementary school. She used to teach the other children in her village on the Word of God and good spiritual songs, apart from teaching the school children. Due to ill health, she resigned her job. Emi Alice informed her mother, "If it is God's will, I will live. Otherwise, do not worry about me. All of you should live happily" The entire family and other believers fasted and prayed. She and her children fasted for 40 days and prayed. Ammal continued to fast for 90 days by taking some light refreshments. During the church services, special prayers were offered for the healing of Emi Alice. Grace Lydia, her elder sister, wrote to Oral Roberts of America to pray for the healing of Emi. Oral Roberts sent a reply stating, "You need not worry if you have no worldly possession because you have treasure in the heaven. The Lord will do His will. I have asked the churches in America to pray for your sister" Oral Roberts sent her a handkerchief after prayer and stated that if it was God's will, she would be healed. Despite all these intercessory prayers for the healing of Emi Alice, the Lord revealed to Ammal that He wanted to call Emi Alice into glory.

When the death neared her, Emi Alice called her mother and told her that a bright light surrounded her, and that though the death looked like the night, it shined like the day. In a vision, Emi saw a man in white apparel that told her that her dress was white as snow. Emi told her mother and others that the angels of God would come down and take her to the heaven where she would meet her father, elder sisters, grandparents, uncle, aunt, etc.

The following day, a song sprang in the heart of Ammal. It is given below.

"We seek the heaven and its glory; joy in the heaven is indescribable. How it could be when we see and enjoy it!"

Then Emi Alice called her mother and kissed her. Ammal also kissed her. She called her sisters and brother to come near her. She also requested the presence of the believers who lived in the nearby villages. About 200 people of God gathered there near her deathbed. She exhorted them to sing the following hymn:

"Glorious day! The day of my sin washed away! The Lord redeemed me! Joyful day! Joyful day! The day of deliverance from my sin"

Then Emi Alice gave a message from John 3:3 and bade farewell to those around her. Some people requested her to pray to God for allowing her to stay in the world for some more days. She answered to them, saying, "I am going to live in a holy land without sin. How can you ask me to live for some more days on this earth? You should seek forgiveness from God for asking me like this" Then all of them prayed to God seeking His forgiveness. When her younger brother Samuel and younger sister Hepsibai wept bitterly, she comforted them. Her elder sister Grace Lydia wept and said, "We have all taken passports for visiting Ceylon to see our uncle and aunt there". Emi answered to her, saying, "After reaching the heaven, I will be able to see my uncle and aunt who are in Ceylon. However, all of you cannot see me when I will be in the heaven". Then Emi reminded her mother about a new Saree (an Indian dress for women) purchased for her. Since she fell ill, she could not wear it. She now asked her mother to bestow this Saree upon some poor woman because this Saree, if wrapped around her dead body, would be eaten away by termites. She asked them to sing certain hymns after her death. After some time, she told them, "I now see a group of angels and saints along with a golden chariot. Are you able to see them?" However, those around her could not see what she had seen. Then, with a smiling face, she passed into glory on 15-8-1959. After the demise of Emi Alice, the Lord gave an opportunity to Ammal to see and talk to her daughter in the heaven. Emi told her mother that she was given a good place in the heaven with a golden crown and with a white dress and that she rejoiced there.

MARRIAGE OF CHILDREN

Ammal was blessed with seven children. Three daughters passed into glory and the youngest daughter died in her childhood. She was left with two more daughters and one son. Ammal prayed to God that her remaining children should not get married so that they might avoid the family life, which was full of struggles because she had herself suffered a lot after marriage. However, the Lord revealed to her that they should get married and that their marriages should be conducted in a holy manner and according to His will. In 1962, her elder daughter Grace Lydia was married to a servant of God N.Samuel, an apostle of Christ in India, who hails from Nilgris, Tamil Nadu. Bro.N.Samuel publishes a Tamil Magazine, which contains spiritual food and the message of the Cross. He used to go to the Himalayan countries every year to preach the gospel. Grace Lydia, the wife of Bro.N.Samuel passed into glory on 28-6-1996. Bro.Samuel has two sons, namely, Sundar Singh and Charles Finny.

The other daughter Hepsibai Buelah was married to an evangelist G.Sundarapandian. G.Sundarapandian was a true apostle of Christ. He died on 3rd July, 2003. Click here to read his biography. They have two daughters Sarah Solomon and Elizabeth, who were since married. The only son of Ammal is Rev.T.Devasahayam Samuel, an ordained pastor of Church of South India, Tamil Nadu. He was married to Betsy on 26-5-1972. Both Samuel and his wife were missionaries in the State of Gujarat for many years. Betsy Samuel passed into glory on 29-1-1999. Rev.Samuel has one married daughter, namely Mrs.Benitta Margaret and two sons Alpheus Jegaraj and Jernaus Britto.

Chapter-4: Ammal passes into glory