N. Samuel of Deva Ekkalam

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The apostle I know

I would like to testify to a dear servant of God in Nilgris, India who was not popular in the Christian world. He was Bro.N.Samuel, Editor, Deva Ekkalam, Kotagiri, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India. God called him home in August 2019.

My early days of Christian life were influenced by the life of this dear servant of God. Every year he used to visit the Himalayan countries at the risk of his life for preaching the glorious gospel, carrying and smuggling heavy bundles of Gospel literature into these countries where propagation of the gospel is prohibited.

Many years ago, this dear servant of God after finishing his evangelical work in the Himalayan countries was on his way to the South India via Delhi. His train stopped at Delhi. At that time, the Holy Spirit led me to call on him in the Railway Station. Immediately, I went to the Railway Station and ministered to him by giving him some money. (He is not in the habit of demanding money or appealing for funds). When I offered him money, he told me that since he had no money left with him, he had decided to travel in the train without taking any food, and to tell God "If it is Thy will that I should go hungry, I will do so".

For a number of years, he had been publishing a Tamil Monthly, which contains messages giving an account of his experiences in the evangelical field, similar to the Acts of Apostles. He had never bothered to build or establish his own magazine ministry, because he treated his magazine ministry only as a means to the Kingdom of God.

Whenever this servant of God visited the houses of the people to whom he ministers, he would take some gifts to their houses, and would not expect gifts from them. He did not hanker after church pulpits or evangelistic dais. In this regard, what does Christ teach us?

Who is a minister under the New Testament? Jesus said, whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant; even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many (Matt.20: 26-28).

What is prevalent today in our churches? We find ministers occupying positions of authority and power over the people to whom they are supposed to minister. They expect their congregations to serve them with their tithes. Though the Levitical priesthood was done away with by Christ Jesus, His ministers still perform the Levitical duties, and seek services from their congregations.

This trend is also visible in evangelistic circles and conferences of ministers. The evangelists or the ministers who are called to minister covet prominent places on the dais. They love the best places and the best seats (Matt.23: 6). At times, we find a large number of seats placed on the dais just to please them. They do not want to sit in the audience. They want themselves to be introduced to the audience.

Some time ago, while interacting with some Christian brethren in the USA who argued that the apostolic age was over and that there were no more apostles today, I told them that if they left their computers and came to India, I would show them the true apostles in our nation.

May God give us the power of discernment through the Holy Spirit to recognize the true apostles of Christ in our midst!

(Job Anbalagan)