T M Sebastian: Pioneer Brethren Missionary to Odisha

(1937-2009)
Call unto me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and might things, which thou knowest not (Jer 33:3)

Conversion and Call for the Lord's Work

He accepted the Lord as his personal Saviour at the age of 19 at a crusade led by Dr. Billy Graham in Kottayam in the year 1956. He was closely associated with outreach work that was organized by the local CSI church of his place. He visited many places in Kerala and during these visits he came to know the need of studying God's Word. There after he went to attend theological studies at Hindustan Bible Institute (HBI) Madras for 3 years and then for 1 year in Yavatmal (Maharasthra) at the Union Biblical Seminary to obtain his G.Th. During his theological studies he understood the true doctrine and came in contact with the Brethern assemblies. One of his greatest desires was to labour for the Lord in a place where there was no Assembly Testimony established. And so, during the period of his studies he made his first visit to Orissa in the year 1961. He travelled to Puri and later on visited Sambalpur and Cuttack. In July 1962 the Lord called him out into His vineyard for Full Time ministry in Bhubaneswar in the State of Orissa. The first Assembly testimony was established in Bhubaneswar in the year 1962, October 17th with just 5 believers.

His Family

T. M. Sebastian got married to Marykutty in the year 1966 and was blessed with two children (Nissi and Nancy). His wife was a great support for him in the ministry and together they labored for the Lord in Bhubaneswar. They managed their life on slim finances but the Lord took care of all their needs. Children were able to complete their education and they are blessed with four grandchildren (3 boys and a daughter). T. M. Sebastian had the privilege to spend few days with his only granddaughter in 2008 before his home call in 2009.

Divine Provisions in the life of T. M. Sebastian

T.M Sebastian left for Orissa after completing his GTH from Union Biblical Seminary Yavatmal., He only had Rs.5 and some books with him. He wept in the train as he had no clue where he was going and where he would be. But his faith and trust in the Lord just kept him going. He was comforted by the verse John 14:18 –“I will not leave you orphans I will come to you”. He landed in Puri, put his stuff in the cloakroom at the railway station and walked the streets of Puri, praying that he sees a Malayali. He saw a guy wearing lungi and approached him with his broken Hindi. In speaking with him he realised that he was Malayali and was allowed to stay with him for 2 days till he rented a space. He had lunch for one day and paid from the Rs 5/- he had. Next day he had no money for food. The owner of the hotel realised that and told him to make monthly payment which came as a big relief for him. He sold books/tracts to earn bread and pay rent.

He endured several hardships but in everything God's providence and care was upon him. There was a time when he was in Sambalpur he fell sick and suffered from high fever, he desired greatly to have lime juice as the summer was at its highest peak and made him very tired. But he had no money for it. An auto rickshaw driver who had seen him doing outreach several times came and gave him Rs. 2/- which helped him buy a drink. Many local people supported him and even offered him place to live without charging rent.

Divine Provisions for Family

As mentioned earlier he married Marykutty who also hailed from a nominal Christian background and she was actively involved in mission work among the youth. Together they laboured for the Lord. At times T.M. Sebastian had to sell old school books of his children to make some money to buy rice. There was a time when he was not able to pay the school fees for his son and his son was sent back home from school. That same day a brother from the Baptist church came home mid- afternoon in the heat and handed him Rs.60/- from the gratuity fund he had received. This was exactly the school fee for the two months. In spite of all his struggles he never borrowed money from others and he always quoted the verse from 1 Thessalonians 5:24 – “He who calls you is faithful who also will do it”. He had to sell tracts and books to buy milk powder to feed his kids. Very few were aware about the work being done in Orissa. In the midst of all struggle he was able to educate his children in a godly manner. His concern and love for his family was exceptional. He will always be a role model for them. “As a child says Nancy, I remember Dad would never come home empty handed if he was given something to eat during his house visits. He would ensure to feed his kids the things he was given. Such was his love for the family”. There was never a moment the family did not wait for his arrival to have dinner together and pray together.

Ministry

Any account of the dispersion of the Gospel in the land of Orissa would be incomplete without mentioning the contribution of T.M. Sebastian. He was the FIRST Missionary from the Brethern Assembly in the State of Orissa. The first worship service was started in Bhubaneshwar in the month of October 1962 and was attended by five believers and one of them was Bro K. G Kurian from Kerala. Afterwards he was commended by Kottayam Assembly. The Lord has been gracious and merciful as He led him through 34 years of full time ministry in the state of Orissa. In his ministry several times he faced opposition from the Non-Christians. During an Open air programme he and fellow believers were chased by a few unbelievers in the auto rickshaw. They had to run and take cover. At one instance his fellow believers were beaten up by the opposition.

The work extended to nearby areas too. As the ministry grew, the need to buy a place was felt because it was becoming very difficult to accommodate believers in the rented space. A space was identified and the Assembly hall construction began with just Rs.3000/-. There were times when he and his family would do manual work – bring sand, bricks etc to save money. It was started by faith and completed by faith.

A total of 3 Assembly gatherings were established in the city of Bhubaneswar. One was in the City itself and the other two were in the suburbs approximately 25 kms away. These two assembly gatherings were held in the local language Oriya. T.M.Sebastian learnt the language very well and he read and preached in the language. He identified himself with the families in those areas and thereby gained easy access to their homes and preached the gospel. His mode of transport was a cycle and used to cycle long distances, engaging in tract distribution, open air preaching, visiting houses and winning souls for Christ. Over a period of time he could get a Bajaj Chetak scooter and used that for the Ministry.

He travelled extensively throughout the entire state of Orissa. An assembly got established at each area, where he preached and conducted an outreach. Today Orissa has a large number of Full time Evangelists from the State itself….Praise God!

T.M. Sebastian was a man of integrity and prayer. He always sought the will of God in anything he had to do. He was meek and desired to follow the example of the Lord; to repay evil with kindness and to win over his enemies by love. Even when faced with problems from his family, he never opened his mouth, but suffered it all, recognizing the fact the Lord is in control.

Home Call

T.M Sebastian was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in the year 2004. He battled the disease for 5 years. He had to undergo a surgery, Chemotherapy, and radiation. He was never discouraged in anything though there were times he experienced severe pain in his body. He was strengthened by the song “My God is so great, so strong and so mighty, there is nothing my God cannot do”. Towards his last days he spent 1 1/2months in the hospital. While in hospital he would share the gospel with all the Doctors and nurses who treated him. The nurses would tell him to pray for them before they started their work. When the Doctor would visit him and ask him where he was, he would answer saying that he is in Chandreshekarpur the place where he started another ministry. He was so concerned about the work in Orissa, that every thought of his was focussed there. He knew his death was near and one day he counted the days on his fingers and said Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then stopped there. He was asked about the rest of the days but his reply was there are no more days. And that turned to be true. He bid goodbye to all and was called home on July 16th morning 2009 to a land where there is no more pain and sorrow.

Well done, thou good and faithful servant … enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Matt 25:21

This article originally appeared in the Harvest Times magazine's August 2015 issue.