God Had Other Plans
Interview with an Indian Pastorby Mary Jane Shadowen
Samuel Varghese waited thirty years for his dream of attending Urbana to become a reality. He spent Christmas Day 2006 in transit from his native India to St. Louis, a thirty-hour trip. He arrived in St. Louis on December 26th ready to start the next chapter of his journey as a Christian.
Pastor Varghese met the Lord on October 10, 1976. He had chosen Mar Thoma College in Kerala, India for his studies, planning on becoming a physicist. A self-described nominal Christian, Samuel responded to the invitation of a few “sincere” friends when they invited him to attend a Leadership Training Camp (LTC) sponsored by their chapter of the Union of Evangelical Students of India (UESI), an affiliate of IFES.
His friends had something he didn’t have; they seemed different in a way he wanted to know more about. After hearing the testimonies of other students at the camp, he borrowed a Bible and asked “Jesus, who are you?” As he read the Bible, he started finding answers. When he read 2 Corinthians 3:18, he felt he had to respond to the challenge posed by the verse. “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
“I must remove the mask and stop acting like a Christian,” he said, “and become as sincere as my friends in my faith.”
After praying the sinner’s prayer, he began his journey of discovering what God wanted him to do with his life. He started each day with thirty minutes of Bible study. Five years later, he got an answer. On December 1, 1981, a second verse provided God’s answer to the next step he should take. After reading 2 Timothy 2:15, a spiritual light went off and with it, his career as a physicist. Instead of going to Nigeria to teach physics the next spring, he found himself enrolled at the Theological Studies Union in Pune, India, pursuing a Bachelor of Divinity degree.
His parents were heartbroken. Their only son was abandoning a promising career in science, choosing instead to follow the path God had selected for him as a minister, charged with bringing life to the spiritually dead. He would not disprove Einstein nor would he uncover the secrets of tachyon particles as he had hoped and planned. As a result of his decision to pursue a different career, his parents asked him to leave the family home.
He worked under a number of bishops over the next five years and attended seminary in South Korea at the urging of a bishop who served as his mentor. In 1990, he was ordained as a pastor and served as a missionary pastor in nearby Palakkad. Fifteen years after learning of his decision to follow God’s call instead of pursuing a career in physics, his parents were finally at peace with his vocation. Soon afterwards, his elder sister Susan followed him into the ministry as well as his younger sister, Suja.
Samuel Varghese was accompanied by his wife Rachael, a physical therapist. Together they reached out to their community by opening a hospital to serve the poor. That ministry has expanded to also include a day home for the poor aged in Trivandrum, the first of its kind in India, where they feed and clothe 90 people.
A clear career path into physics has been transformed by God into a life of serving others through ministry and healthcare. The path has not been clear, straight or easy. Each day started with prayer asking for God’s help. His vision for the future includes starting the Union Christian Center, a center where missionaries can come and be encouraged, and spiritually renewed for continued service to fellow Indians.
Pastor Varghese loves to read and he encourages the reading of biographies and autobiographies of missionaries. By reading about their lives, he says, you can understand their lives and their calling better. While he doesn’t teach physics as he had planned, he’s glad God gave him a good education and says he uses his science background to apply scientific validity along with God’s grace to his preaching.
He encourages anyone considering serving overseas to grab a map of a country, and put it before you and pray for that nation everyday. He recommends using the book Operation World: When We Pray God Works by Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk as a resource for learning more about every country from a Christian perspective.
His eyes grow bright as he recalls a favorite quote of C.T. Studd, a missionary who worked in China, India and Africa over a hundred years ago.
“Only one life
‘Twill soon be past;
Only what’s done for Christ
Will last.”
“Keep life so open before the Lord like a sheet of paper,” Pastor Varghese says. “Put your signature on the bottom of the paper and give it to God to fill in what you should do,” he encourages. “Be humble before God and have no agenda but His.”
He came to Urbana 06 on faith. A friend paid for his registration fees. A travel agent friend in India extended him credit for his $2000 plane ticket. His wife, sons and daughter gave up their Christmas holiday with him so he could travel to St. Louis for the convention.
After waiting 30 years to come to Urbana, Pastor Varghese is excited to see what God will do with the next 30 years of his life. God had transformed him once again—this time from a 47-year-old pastor to an Urbana delegate seeking God’s continued direction in his life.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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