Pastor Samuel's Testimony
Pastor Samuel Karunanithi, or Pastor Sam as he is known to the church, has come a long way from his homeland of India, a distance comparable to the one separating him from his life as a young Hindu magician. At age eleven, His father left his mother with four children among whom he was the eldest. During his teen, he learned mesmerism and hypnotism techniques in a quest for fame and fortune. Samuel grew up in Madurai, South India with pleasure aplenty. In school he did everything: stealing, shoplifting and even tried counterfeiting coins. He even started a savings program in the school and made a percentage on commissions. At a young age he tried smoking and drinking, however he was not happy with himself, and often considered suicide. All his efforts to find a shortcut to wealth and fame had failed.
After graduating from American College High School, he ran away from his home because his Christian mother was disappointed with the direction his life had taken. After staying as long as possible with a friend in Madras, he went to a church for help in finding work and room. After two days he was given a small room where the furniture was stored.
There he met a young Christian who counseled him to accept Christ and invited him to a youth prayer meeting. Initially, the teenager was not interested in being converted. Samuel became puzzled when, during the meeting, his new friend "shed tears and cried to the Lord and asked Him to save me and settle my life." The young man wondered why the Christian would cry for him. He went to bed that night but could not sleep.
The spirit of God had begun to work. When he questioned saying "what made the stranger to cry for my salvation?" he heard an audible voice of Jesus telling him that it was THE LOVE OF GOD that had made this stranger to shed tears for his salvation. He decided that if that was the love of God, then that was what he wanted inside.
When he confessed his past sins and turned to Jesus, the youth "felt a great burden lifted from his body and soul and felt real light like a bird wanting to fly in the air." He then began to study the Bible as never before and listened to the teaching of God's word regularly in the church.
Shortly after this, he was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. After that, he went around distributing tracts, visiting and praying for the sick and sharing his testimony on the street corners and market places.
Four years later, at the age of 21, he was an accountant in his native city. It was at that time that he felt the call to commit his life to full-time ministry. He received his training from great men of God who pioneered hundreds of churches in India and abroad. Then he started to preach Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior. Then the Lord opened doors for him to preach and baptize many in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. In Malaysia and singapore God used him to bring great delieverance to many that were possessed, healing to the sick and even a death person was raised to live. He first came to USA in 1979 after he attended the Charismatic World Conference in Canada. In 1980 he was ordained in New York City.
In 1982, he pioneered the Living Word Church in Bridge City, Texas. At the same time, with the help of the Lord, an orphanage was built in India for 20 children in Chennai, India. Later we moved to Madurai and have two orphanages with 48 children. With the help of the sponsors, we also started to support native missionaries who works in rural areas of India. In 1983, he recorded the whole New Testament in Tamil. Now it is available in MP3 CD. Since then, he traveled to India and 47 other countries. Every year he holds leadership conferences and evangelistic crusades. Many hundreds were added to the church during his ministry.
Then the Lord opened doors to many countries in the Middle East, Europe and North & South America . Since then he travels every year to many countries to minister to the people. Samuel now resides in Bridge City, Texas with his wife and four children and his grandchildren.
After graduating from American College High School, he ran away from his home because his Christian mother was disappointed with the direction his life had taken. After staying as long as possible with a friend in Madras, he went to a church for help in finding work and room. After two days he was given a small room where the furniture was stored.
There he met a young Christian who counseled him to accept Christ and invited him to a youth prayer meeting. Initially, the teenager was not interested in being converted. Samuel became puzzled when, during the meeting, his new friend "shed tears and cried to the Lord and asked Him to save me and settle my life." The young man wondered why the Christian would cry for him. He went to bed that night but could not sleep.
The spirit of God had begun to work. When he questioned saying "what made the stranger to cry for my salvation?" he heard an audible voice of Jesus telling him that it was THE LOVE OF GOD that had made this stranger to shed tears for his salvation. He decided that if that was the love of God, then that was what he wanted inside.
When he confessed his past sins and turned to Jesus, the youth "felt a great burden lifted from his body and soul and felt real light like a bird wanting to fly in the air." He then began to study the Bible as never before and listened to the teaching of God's word regularly in the church.
Shortly after this, he was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. After that, he went around distributing tracts, visiting and praying for the sick and sharing his testimony on the street corners and market places.
Four years later, at the age of 21, he was an accountant in his native city. It was at that time that he felt the call to commit his life to full-time ministry. He received his training from great men of God who pioneered hundreds of churches in India and abroad. Then he started to preach Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior. Then the Lord opened doors for him to preach and baptize many in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. In Malaysia and singapore God used him to bring great delieverance to many that were possessed, healing to the sick and even a death person was raised to live. He first came to USA in 1979 after he attended the Charismatic World Conference in Canada. In 1980 he was ordained in New York City.
In 1982, he pioneered the Living Word Church in Bridge City, Texas. At the same time, with the help of the Lord, an orphanage was built in India for 20 children in Chennai, India. Later we moved to Madurai and have two orphanages with 48 children. With the help of the sponsors, we also started to support native missionaries who works in rural areas of India. In 1983, he recorded the whole New Testament in Tamil. Now it is available in MP3 CD. Since then, he traveled to India and 47 other countries. Every year he holds leadership conferences and evangelistic crusades. Many hundreds were added to the church during his ministry.
Then the Lord opened doors to many countries in the Middle East, Europe and North & South America . Since then he travels every year to many countries to minister to the people. Samuel now resides in Bridge City, Texas with his wife and four children and his grandchildren.