Pray, Praise, Preach, Practice – Pst. Blessen Varghese

This podcast is a repost originally published on May 13, 2017

Here’s Pastor Priji having a conversation with Pastor Blessen Varghese on evangelism and missions. Hope you’ll be blessed by this.

Transcript:

Pastor Priji: What are your roles and responsibilities as a leader in ‘Rebuilders’ and ‘Mahaneh-Dan’ ? Both, Organisations and Ministry ?

Pastor Blessen: Rebuilders was founded 15-16 years ago. Started as a small bunch of young people who came together, who love the Lord and wanted to do something for the city of Bombay. We used to organise camps, seminars and conferences. 10-15 of us friends were ministering together as a leaders capacity and individual capacity and finally came together for leadership camp to have & do it all the time. That’s how rebuilders was formed.

Pastor Priji: How is your role in Mahaneh Dan? What do you do there?

Pastor Blessen: Mahaneh Dan is an organisation that my dad along with few other mighty men of God pioneered 28 years ago. I look into the missions part of it and communications part. Major part that Mahaneh-Dan does is reach out into unreached parts of India with love of Christ. Most of our mission centres are in tribal and integral parts of India.

Pastor Priji: From your experience, how difficult is it to do ministry especially in areas where people don’t really have complete freedom to worship however and whoever they want ?

Pastor Blessen: Its not a secret anymore that times are not conducive, something I’d like to mention that my dad also mentioned previous Sunday, those who try and harm us, that harm the church and ministry are actually in the minority. In the sense that there will be about 100 people in an area but only 5-6 who would want to
come and hurt us and they are actually people who are receptive. There is a lot of fear mongering that goes on and to some extent that’s true because a lot of men and women of God, believers, children have been persecuted.

Yet we as children of God must not be fearful. If there’s a persecution that has happened, be rest assured that God has seen and is with you even in that.

Yes there are challenges, yes these things happen. Even in our ministry we get reports of pastor and his church members who were beaten up by rods and taken into prison for 2 days.
These things happen and are very real. As though there is an agenda to persecute the church, But, what I said, the agenda is by 5-6 of them out of 100.
But one thing to keep in record is that God is in control.

Pastor Priji: How do you define Missions? What do you understand by the word ‘ Missions’?

Pastor Blessen: Its just to do what the Lord has commanded us to do, as for as it became his final commandment (Matthew 28). It is Infact something that we all are supposed to do and there is no. Believer who can say that God has not given you a mission. The moment you step into life with Christ, it’s your very first mission.
The story of the Samaritan woman, she testified about the Lord, who would believe such a woman? But the entire town came to hear from the Lord.
Very simply put, missions is what the Lord has asked us to do.

Pastor Priji: How important is missions to you personally and why is it so important? And how do you translate it into your ministry, leadership roles and responsibilities with Rebuilders?

Pastor Blessen: Extremely important, not just for me but at the top of the list for every born again believer. Both ministries, Rebuilders & Mahneh Dan, missions is the core of what we do, it’s walking the talk. About walking the worship, walking the prayer. I believe in 4 P’s – Pray, Preach, Praise, Practise. Practising is what mission is all about and it forms and should form the core of every church. Then at the end of the day when your time on earth is done and you’re there in heaven, there would be no grater joy than seeing Jesus face to face but there will be one more great joy, that seeing somebody who you gained through your missions. We know heaven rejoices everytime a sinner is saved but how about this, you becoming a part of that rejoicing, becoming the reason of that rejoicing. That gives me a lot of Joy.
As far as Rebuiiders is concerned, Mahaneh Dan, everytime we’re there we go out and do mission trips.
Every mission trip we’ve gone to we’ve seen God’s hand at work, people are delivered there, bondages of drugs and alcohol addiction, of family problems and the missions being a catalyst for salvation in their families, a catalyst for church being formed or churches being further strenghened by addition of more souls.

Sometimes we say ‘Hey I don’t have certain gifts’, of preaching, teaching, music etc. But that’s not true with case of missions, might just discover ‘ hey I have this gift ‘, when you’re out there.

Hope this conversation has encouraged you.

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