seriously?
Seriously.
Pastor Jesu Padam was unassuming in appearance with his white collared shirt, white pants and sandals.
It began with prayer as Jesu Padam entered with a bible and a drum. He kneeled on the floor that was covered with woven mats and began to pray. More people entered.
The interior of this simple brick home was now a church. Women wrapped in vibrant shrouds and veiled heads gathered in with their small children. Some men sat beyond the doorway and others against the wall. Everyone was crowded in.
As the people praised and clapped, God showed up through the power of His Spirit and the preaching of the Word.
I was impressed with the simplicity of church.
I love it.
And I had to know…
how do you get named "the feet of Jesus"…
?
The Prayer Answered
At 21 days old, crippled and stricken with polio his father carried him into the prayer room. Crying out to God, the man begged for his son’s life. This man was a pastor who knew the power of God to heal. With his paralyzed son before him, he consecrated the boy child to God by naming him Jesu Padam then and there. If God would spare his son and heal him, this boy was to be dedicated to being the feet of Jesus here on earth and to go spread the Gospel. That’s exactly what “Jesu Padam” means – the feet of Jesus. Polio did not take his life or cripple him. God had heard the pastor’s prayer.
The baby boy was completely healed in the name of Jesus and today he is the man his father prayed he would be.
Disillusioned with a factory job, the young Jesu Padam joined seminary and it was there that he finally surrendered his life to Christ.
In his own words, he states that it was immediately after salvation that he felt called to pastoral ministry. In a vision he saw a tree with small fruit growing on it. He tried to catch the seeds falling from the tree, thinking that he could take those seeds and plant more trees. That was his desire. However, he couldn’t catch any seeds. Instead, a man appeared in the vision and told him to take the fruit of the tree because in that fruit he’d have the seeds to go and plant.
Through prayer, pastoral guidance and encouragement Jesu Padam burned with a passion to fulfill the calling of a seed sower and church planter.
After receiving a word of confirmation, he stepped up to the calling.
He began teaching Sunday school at an orphanage in 2001, and then became a youth pastor – shortly after, he partnered with India Christian Ministries.
Today, Jesu Padam has planted 3 churches and he pastors them all. He and his wife also run a children's home together!
His story is unique — but his calling is the same as that of thousands of Indian believers who rise up to do the work of the Gospel throughout this nation.
