St. M. Deva Das is the founder of ‘The Bible Mission’, a fast growing denomination in South India. He remained as a bachelor throughout his life of 120 years. He is a mystic with many spiritual experiences which are very peculiar to common Christianity. St. M. Deva Das was born in 1840 to Jonah and Satyavatamma, in Jegurupadu, a small village in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. He grew up in the best spiritual atmosphere which his parents provided. He was always contemplative while his young mates engulfed themselves in playing and making merry.
St. M. Deva Das grew up in the humble and rustic surroundings of the Godavari delta region of Andhra Pradesh. His parents are evangelists. They are not very rich in worldly matters. But they are far wealthier in many spiritual aspects who used to spend their time in prayer and intercession every day till late night. As they did not beget children after many years of their marriage, in their old age God gave them the glorious gift i.e. a boy child, whom they named as ‘Devadas’ which means ‘Servant of God’ He used to follow his parents, in their evangelistic tours and strictly observe their meditative line up by being straight on his kneels. He received God’s special calling during these times.
When he was 6 years old, his parents took him to a pastors get-together. When a missionary asked him to pray there he prayed: “Lord Jesus, , Let me be like Thee when you are in my age.” From then onwards the missionaries had a special impression on child Devadas. Missionary Patronage: After completing his primary education, his parents took him to the Lutheran Missionaries at (N.M.E.L..C) Nigam Memorial Evangelical Lutheran Church, at Dhavaleswaram on the banks of river Godavari, and left him under their patronage for further education and spiritual growth. There he finished his 8th standard and qualified to be a Higher grade teacher. Having closely watched his innate zeal and strong sense of determination to serve the Lord, the Lutheran missionaries immediately absorbed him in the teaching faculty of their mission schools.
He is always loyal to his authorities and is of excellent disposition towards his superiors. His ideal life is a serene acme for the growing children to be punctual, sincere and humble. He marvelled his authorities in all the challenging responsibilities that are entrusted to him.
This section deals with the personality of Father Devadas. It tries to understand him, his works and teachings from a typical point of view that describes his maturity of mind and perfection of body.
Stream of Consciousness : This represents his vast and universal thought that intended salvation even for the originator of sin in this world i.e. ‘Satan’. His prayer is that no man should go to hell. Every morning he used to embrace the whole universe and pray for its total salvation. He wept, knelt, fasted, and finally kept his body upside down for the fulfillment of his spiritual goals. For this he evolved a detailed fasting prayer order which can be adopted for various time frames and periodical sessions, i.e. for forty days; for one week; and for a day. His saving technique was extended even to the living creatures such as animals & birds. He prayed for the natures (redemption mentioned in Rom. 8th ch.) salvation which in turn would make if teach the humans openly. Thus, his views were revolutionary and certainly leave their own typical and indelible impressions on the present day Christendom. We welcome you to know further, about this stream.
Philosophy of Suffering : Father Devadas voluntarily welcomed all types of suffering and ailments. For him, sufferings are like the litter (Royal Cab) that carry the believer to the close fellowship of God. He preferred the internal suffering in hands of the evil powers than the bodily afflictions only to prove their inability in driving his attention from his Creator and the special prayers that he is offering Him. For him, it was said that the whole day was life and the whole night was death. For a believer to grow to the maturity of Christ and to the measure of God’s attributes sufferings are the best means which shelter, guard, grow and perfect his/her faith. He opined that suffering should be at our disposal and it should come when invited and should leave when ejected. When we undergo the pain of suffering, he said that we should talk to pain saying “O suffering! anyway, you have come into my body! So don’t leave me until you give me the gift that you specially brought for me.”
Meticulous Meditation : The main focus of Fr. Devadas’ miraculous life lied in his powerful meditations concerning man, God and Creation. His concept of meditation had the Indian mode of observing it which was followed by the Ancient Indian Rages of Himalayas. In every aspect of creation we can see the divine form and qualities manifested either explicitly or implicity. He captured this Clement of creation and thus praised God. For example: In the life of a small plant He displayed all the divine qualities that are innately working in it.
In His meditations the holy saints, holy angels, earthly saints and the holy sages from Himalayas whose head is Kailasa Rishi, the Muslim monk from Alexandria, Greece; (who was made known to western world by Sadhu Sunder Singh.) used to come, appear talk and commune with him.
Ecstatic Experiences : As God enabled him to watch and wander in heaven, earth and Hades, alive, he had several ecstatic experiences of working in those wonder lands. He visited the dead souls by ‘the gift of flying in spirit and body’ and preached them the way of their salvation as per divine orders. He visited various remote corners of the earth with the help of that gift and came in touch with Sadhu Sunder Singh & Kailash Rishi and some of the mysterious wonders of the Himalayas.
In his heavenly journey he met many of the Old Testament saints and New Testament saints and the Chief Arch Angels. He closely observed the heavens’ schedule and the nature of praise, people are offering there to the Lord. For all these experiences “Sannidhi” which means waiting in the Lord’s presence for about an hour or more with undivided attention to upon His Countenance only to listen to His voice and see His form, is the sole reason and base.
Hades : A New Discovery : ‘Hades is a Greek term referring to the nether world whose particular and detailed nature and functioning was revealed by the Lord to Fr. Devadas.
In his ministry he paid much of his attention to the unsaved dead souls. In one of his “ Sannidhi” meetings at Berhampur with Dr. Nina ottmann, God revealed him about the sorry state of these dead souls who could not have access to listen to the Gospel and accept Christ, over the past centuries when they lived on this earth. So, The Lord has - kept all - these unbelieving souls bound in Hades to be preached to by some of His close and powerful servants.
Universal Perspectives : ‘Fr. Devadas’ views concerning Church and God are universal. He said “Do not hate or despise any man or any religion, when you do not understand things, just ask God.” He opined that man, in any cultural set up, from any corner of the globe must talk to his Creator and continue to develop relations with Him, so as to fulfill His will on this soil. He also believed that ‘the Rapture Church’, is being prepared from among all the churches, across the world which are in close union with the Bridegroom, Jesus. He saw good in all religions but the ultimate and perfect good is seen in Christianity in terms of the crucifixation of Christ.
The hall marks : Father Devadas life and words were a living mystery to those around him when he lived on this soil. When he taught about the ‘Holy Spirit Baptism’ and the direct revelation of Jesus Christ in form of the Son of Man many people were sceptical about it. As the Lutheran Mission aries asked him to show a sign in order to prove his teachings, he called Rev. Neidorfer Junior and asked him to write down the details of his brother Rev. Neidorfer Senior who was in America. Them, Father Devadas narrated about the work that he engaged in, the type of car that he drove, the colour of suit that he wore; at that particular hour and day and asked Junior Neidorfer to confirm them with his brother. When Senior Neidorfer wondered and confirmed all the details, then the Lutheran missionaries believed Fr. Devadas and asked for his Pardon, and acknowledged that Father Devadas is righteous and true in his teachings ways and revelations. The Bible Mission with all its fulfledged state and outlook, now stands at the cross roads of the Universe and invites the subjects to come to the redemptive cross of Christ. We particularly extend our warm welcomes to the present day Christendom to get united at His feet and listen to His voice only to do according to what He says in evangelizing the whole world and preparing the universal church as the spotless Bride.
This was was the small prayer offered by Fr. Deva Das to realize this mission : O Lord! appear unto meappear unto all.O Lord! Speak unto meSpeak unto all. Having Christ as its chief Teacher and Modulator the Bible Mission with His revealed universal expositions, principles and practices, invites the rest of the Christian world to be prepared as His raptured “Bride Church” who put on the form and nature of the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.
