than the books.” He did some more online research about Schaeffer. That connected him eventually to the Covenant Seminary website. He liked what he saw, “especially the commitment to the Word of God.” He applied, was accepted, and the Seminary’s Admissions staff helped him, his wife, Rebecca, and their two children make the difficult transition to America. “It was hard at first. We were missing our home. But the Seminary staff helped us find a car so we could get around. They helped us figure out the best options for our children’s education. They helped with lots of things we hadn’t thought about before coming here. We fell in love with the comfortable, welcoming community here.” Through it all, one Bible verse kept ringing in Prakash’s mind: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). “That verse took on a special meaning for us. God is faithful. He has provided for us every step of the way.” Prakash’s time at Covenant has grown him in many ways. In particular, it has given him a greater sense of the Bible’s unity: “I had read the New Testament a lot before coming here, but neglected the Old Testament. Being here has helped me make sense of the Old Testament and see the Bible as a connected whole.” He also had been taught by his Pentecostal background that he needed to “wait for the Spirit” to work in him, but he has learned from closer study of the Word that “you don’t need to wait; if you believe, you have the Spirit.” Prakash graduated in May 2017 with a master of arts in exegetical theology (MAET), but he plans to stay at Covenant longer to work on a master of theology (ThM). And after that? “I would like to go back to India and preach and teach the gospel, if the opportunity arises. I don’t want to keep it to myself for the rest of my life. I want to bless others with it. I’m open to whatever God wants me to do.” Faithful Across the Generations: DAVID GNANADHAS
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orn in Nagercoil, at the far southern tip of India, David Gnanadhas grew up mostly in and around Gundlupet, a town in the state of Karnataka, just northwest of the border with Tamil Nadu. The town is home to Vijayanarayana Temple, an historically significant Hindu temple dating back to the tenth century. Several other historic sites and major state and national forest reserves are nearby. The surrounding area is mostly rural and peppered with dozens of small villages. The population of Gundlupet itself is around 28,000 people. With its related Taluka, or sub-district, that number grows to 223,000. Fewer than 500 claimed to be Christians in the most recent census. David’s father, Z. A. Gnanadhas, is a pastor who has dedicated his life to ministering to the Hindus and Muslims of India. He served 12 years with Quiet Corner, a ministry to
the tribal peoples of the country’s southern jungles, then, in the mid-1990s, came to the U.S. to study at Covenant Seminary. David was only an infant at the time. He and his mother joined his father at Covenant when David was a year old. On returning to India, the elder Gnanadhas planted Christ Presbyterian Church and started Sunshine Ministry, through which he continues to bring the gospel message and the love of Christ to people in the region around Gundlupet. Over the years, he has baptized more than 200 people, most from hardcore Hindu backgrounds. Many of the young men he has worked with are now Christian ministers. David says his father has always been an inspiration to him. David went to a Christian boarding school from age 9. Many of the students there were Hindu. They liked having Bible stories explained to them, and David gladly obliged. Some of his Hindu friends became believers through this process. David himself remembers accepting Jesus as his Savior at an annual school camp in the jungle one summer: “Amid the many Bible stories and times of prayer, I felt the great love of God for me as I had never felt it before. I wanted to do anything for him.” As he finished high school and prepared for college, he wondered about a future career path. He was good at computer science and engineering, but he was also passionate about Jesus and loved the way his father preached with students. Every year on his birthday, David would get up early and open the Bible randomly to let God speak to him. One year the passage he opened to was Mark 16:15: “And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.’” To David, the message was clear. He spent two months that summer helping his father with a camp that served students from many villages, including a settlement of refugees from Tibet. Camp leaders went from house to house talking to people about Jesus. They held a VBS that provided books, bicycles, Bibles, and gospel stories and songs for the children. Sometimes, they met resistance or threats of physical harm from Hindus who wanted nothing to do with Christianity for fear of being cut off from their families. Others were astonished at the idea that God could love them and wanted to hear more. “This was a transformational moment for me,” David recalls. “I was shocked at their lack of knowledge and felt compelled to tell them more about Jesus. I knew then that this is what I wanted to do with my life.” David told his father he wanted to go to seminary so he could be better trained to share the gospel. His father recommended Covenant, his alma mater. David finished college, then prepared to travel to St. Louis to pursue a master of divinity (MDiv) degree. When he arrived at Covenant in the fall of 2016, David found himself studying under many of the same professors who had had such a big impact on his father. Prof. Jerram WWW.COVENANTSEMINARY.EDU
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