M. M. Zachariah – A Voice that Cried in the Wilderness

(1927- 2015)
M.M. Zachariah, affectionately known as 'Kariachen,' was a powerful evangelist and orator who transitioned from a prominent political career to a life fully dedicated to serving God.

Godly Parents:

Parents of Zachariah were strong Jacobite’s and they brought up their children in godly way. He had two brothers and a sister all of whom became strong believers later. Evangelist Sajeev Varghese of Puthupally is his nephew. It was in his tender years that one of the elderly grandfathers in his family passed away and this created an earnest desire in his heart to know about life after death. He was told that all people will die one day and those who lived a good life will go to heaven and those who lived a bad life will go to hell. Another incident which touched his heart was that his maternal grandfather had a horoscope written about his mother in which it has been told that she will die at the age of 29. This greatly distressed him. However, this did not happen, and she lived as a god-fearing mother till the age of 81. This incident helped him to keep away from such false beliefs.

Salvation Experience:

During this time a spiritual revolution was taking place in Central Travancore and God raised many gospel Preachers to preach the true gospel and teach the right doctrines of the Scripture. One of the prominent preachers among them was Mahakavi K.V. Simon. M.M. Zachariah was in his teen years then. There was a gospel meeting arranged in the premises of his house, initiated by two prominent people there'. K.V. Simon was the speaker. Many people including the father of M.M. Zachariah were saved during those meetings. Thus, an assembly began in Kanam. The initial gatherings were held in the homes.

After few years, the family moved back to Puthupally. The Puthupally assembly was very active during those days. The Puthupally assembly was doing a lot of gospel work in the surrounding areas of Manarcadu, Pampady, Areepparampu, Amayannoor Vazhoor. Payappady Kunjappan was considered as the first man who brought the gospel to Areepparampu. I still remember his visits to my home when I was a small boy. Bro Zachariah was participating in these programs although he was not assured of Salvation. K.K. Chacko Evangelist Areepparampu along with other believers including my father, were participating in these gospel programs and developed a good relationship with M.M. Zachariah. During one of those programs, Bro Zachariah accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour and committed his life to the Lord. It was in the year 1944.

Upheld Scriptural Truths:

The next Sunday he gave his testimony in a Public meeting in Puthupally Outreach Preaching Ministry and later on gave a speech about the Second Coming of Christ. It was a very powerful message. The message was based on a speech he heard from K.V. Simon. Zachariah was already a known orator in the political field. He used to speak at Congress party platforms. He was a party leader for the area. After a while he was involved in a debate about the Second Coming of Christ with a prominent person of that area who challenged him on the subject. This person doubted the Triune God and so, Lordship of Jesus Christ. His arguments were challenged and clarified based on clear teachings of the Scripture. In Later years, Zachariah had a lot of debates with Christians, following wrong practices. He was endowed by God with such a gift that his opponents were not able to stand in his way of debating based on clear Scriptural truths.

Wholeheartedness in the things of God:

While living in Puthupally he had the opportunity of visiting the house of K.G. Thomas along with other believers to attend his Bible classes. This helped him to learn the Scriptural truths in depth and later on he became the most ardent disciple of K.G. Thomas. In the early years, he was actively involved in Politics along with his spiritual activities in addition to assisting his father in his business. As the business suffered a setback, he left it and continued with his active involvement in Congress party. He was the Divisional Secretary for Assembly Constituencies in Kottayam District. Along with it, he used all opportunities to preach the gospel as well. He had the opportunity to lead and speak in a large public meeting in Puthupally when Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India came to address the gathering in Puthupally. As the meeting was on Sunday, he had to leave the Assembly soon after the Worship meeting and could not attend the Church meeting in entirety. This incident made him upset, and he finally decided to quit political activities. As he was a well-known and famous orator, the party compelled him to stay on and continued offering him great prospects. But he strongly declined all offers and decided to serve the Lord using all his time and energy. He later committed his life fully for the service of the Lord in response to a call for the Lord's service given in a message given by P.V. George Tiruvalla. This was a missionary challenge meeting. Thus, Zachariah decided to serve the Lord leaving all other interest of life on a full-time basis. He was taught and guided by learned men of God like K.G. Thomas, E.P. Varughese, and P.V. George. K.G. Kurian also made a great influence in his spiritual growth and ministries.

Avenues of Labour for the Lord:

M.M. Zachariah later on became more closely associated with K.G. Thomas and his ministries. In almost all of his speaking ministries, Thomas used to take him to repeat his messages from the Podium which was a practice prevalent in those days as microphones were not common in most of the places. This gave a double emphasis to the messages of K.G, Thomas as Zachariah had the ability to speak in an emphatically loud and roaring voice, the practice he got from political speeches. This association with K.G. Thomas made a great impact in the ministries of Zachariah in his later years as he could learn the Word of God more and more from him and get necessary guidance in his ministry. K.G. Thomas also started to deputing Zachariah to speak at the places where he was personally not able to go. This opened new avenues for his ministry. There were times when Thomas compelled Zachariah to do some specific activities in his presence to enable Zachariah practice to do so. I remember an incident when a marriage was to take place in Areepparampu and Thomas persuaded Zachariah to conduct it but Zachariah declined. I was a small boy at that time, l still remember the words of Thomas “Skariachen do this in my presence so that I can correct you if there is any mistake”. This speaks about the vision of those great men of God who always wanted to prepare the next generation for ministries. To a great extent this is lacking in many of our assemblies. M.M. Zachariah continued this legacy, and he encouraged many young people for ministries later!

Marriage & Family

At the age of 30, in 1957, Zachariah married Thankamma of Vengacheril family in Aymanam Kottayam and started his family life. Thankamma was the sister of Evangelist V.T. John and was herself a strong gospel worker. Even in her young age she was involved in house visiting and tract distribution ministries with other elderly ammachis of that time including the mother-in-law of evangelist V.T. Mathai. The Lord blessed them with 5 children: 3 sons and 2 daughters. His youngest son Sajan Zacahriah is serving the Lord in Angamally quitting his secular job. I had the privilege of teaching school lessons to his 3 older children when I was a student in Kottayam Bethesda Bible School and Skariachayan was living in the same premises. Skariachayan once told me like this “Achankunj, you taught my children school lessons and I taught you Bible lessons” The strong personal relationship which he and my father had, even continued between us till the end of his life. He was to me my spiritual father and mentor. As a family, we had many opportunities to minister with him during his North Indian visits as well as visits to USA after our coming to USA. I always considered that as a great privilege to have been in association with great servants of God from whom many lessons could be learnt.

After living in Puthupally for a few years after his marriage, he moved to Kottayam as he was closely associated with the ministries of Bro K.G. Thomas. He lived in different localities of Kottayam in rental houses. While the Bethesda Bible School was there, he lived in its premises and took charge of the school. After living in rental houses, he finally purchased a house in Kanjikuzhy selling his portion of the property in Puthupally. His final residence was in Manganam where he lived out the rest of his days.

Challenges in the Christian Pathway:

When the Brethren assemblies faced the great crisis of I.G. Mission issue, he firmly stood with Bro K.G. Thomas and supported him till the problems were finally solved while many others deserted Bro Thomas during this period. This speaks about his integrity and true friendship. This association caused him to face a lot of isolation from within brethren community. Later on, when the Bible Institute in Chathannoor started, Bro Zachariah became a visiting teacher there. This also created a great uproar among brethren believers who were very much reserved to have any participation with the ministries of other groups.

During one of our personal talks, I requested Skariachayan to discontinue the teaching ministry there, he showed a statement written in his Bible that “I have a strong conviction to participate in the ministries of those who believe the fundamental doctrines of the Bible”. Since he was my Teacher and Spiritual father, I refrained from compelling him anymore. However, once he came to Bhopal and lived with me, he informed his decision to quit the teaching there, honouring the desire of many who loved him. He did it soon after and this opened up wide ministry opportunities in the brethren assemblies.

Debates & Writing skills:

Bro M.M. Zachariah was not only a well-known Preacher but also a great debater in defending the true Doctrines of the Scripture. There were many occasions wherein he had to debate by expounding the Biblical truths and silence the debaters, holding the wrong doctrine and more often than not the debates even ended abruptly. The main subject of his preaching was on the Second Coming of Christ and to relate it with contemporary world events and Biblical Prophecies. Whenever he spoke in Public places, a large number of people gathered around to hear him as he had a powerful voice and attractive way of presenting his messages. He had the special ability to make the points clear and understandable to the attendees. He was a well-known Bible School Teacher amongst brethren assemblies. He was taking regular classes in Bethany Bible School, Kumbanad and also in other Bible Schools as per availability of time, apart from classes organized in the local assemblies. It is also noteworthy that both Bro. Zachariah and Smt. Thankamma took spiritual training from Bethany Bible School Kumbanad. As he was always busy in his preaching and other ministries, Bro Zachariah could not devote much time to writing books which deprived the coming generations from having a share of his vast knowledge in written form. He could write only a few books which were published during his lifetime and widely read amongst believers. These books were on subjects of Trinity, Holy Spirit and Other Tongue and other related topics.

His steadfastness in his labour for the Lord:

Bro M.M. Zachariah had travelled widely to parts of South and North Indian States to preach the gospel and also Gulf countries and the United States of America as per programs scheduled for him. His visits and preaching were considered as a great blessing to the overseas believers. It is pertinent to mention that wherever he went there were many people who were obliged to him one way or the other and he was gladly received everywhere. As he had the experience of personal encouragement and guidance from senior servants of God, he too was always encouraging youngsters with a clear vision to develop the next generation for the ministry of the Lord. There are so many in the ministry now who can testify to this fact. He had no jealousy or ambition to hold positions to himself but was always happy to promote others. He also held some key positions in some Christian Organizations like Bible Society of India and member of Stewards Association of India.

Against all odds and weakness:

His beloved wife passed away in 1993 which made him very sad and caused unbearable sorrow to him. She was a great support in his ministry and efficiently managed all household matters in his absence whenever he was out of home for ministry. With the help of some of the loving brethren in Houston, New York and other places and the blessing of the assemblies there, Bro. Zachariah visited the USA and he had fruitful programs in many places in the USA and Canada, and this provided a change in atmosphere for Bro. Zachariah.

Skariachayan was relatively healthy except that he was troubled with severe piles till 1980, However he had a heart attack in 1987 after he returned from a hectic North Indian program which was during the peak summer season . By God's grace he recovered from this and continued medication in the subsequent years. After many of the senior servants of God passed away, his program schedule became very busy, as he received invitations to several Conventions to speak, teach in Bible Schools, assembly organized classes, conduct and speak in marriages, funeral and burial services. With such a busy schedule, his body was not able to cope up for a long period and his health conditions started deteriorating. Eventually he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent treatment for a few years. This made him curtail many of his programs and remain at home. Still many people frequently visited him not only to see him but also to be counselled and guided on various matters. Once while I visited Skariachayan while he was ill, he came out of his sick bed to the living room and had a memorable conversation for some time. He was so much keen to ask about the welfare of my family by name which tells about the loving personality that he was. I still remember that in the midst of our conversation, he told that “what happened to Israel as a Nation is happening to Brethren assemblies which is grieving my heart”. From that statement, I could sense the burden he was carrying about the believers even in such a condition. His statement relates to many contemporary things happening in our assemblies.

His illness aggravated and he was admitted and treated for the same. Since it was a cancer, no cure was expected, and he was waiting for his final days with the blessed hope in his heart. Finally, he went to be with the Lord whom he served faithfully for more than 70 years on the 5th of June 2015. He was given an honourable funeral in presence of thousands of believers who had gathered from all over the world including people from overseas countries. Many servants of God spoke about him and the contributions he gave to the believers in the funeral service arranged by Puthupally assembly. His mortal body was buried in the Puthupally cemetery with the blessed hope of rising up when the trumpet sounds and receive the due reward of his faithful service from the Lord's hand.

Well remembered by all:

Though beloved Skariachayan is no more physically present amongst the brethren believers, his powerful preaching and authoritative Scriptural expositions, learned teachings are ever echoing in our ears and will dwell permanently in our hearts. His life was a great example in many ways. He not only taught from the pulpit but also from the exemplary life he lived for the service of the Master and laid a great example for others to follow. May the Lord rise up people like Skariachayan from amongst the assemblies. This is an earnest prayer and wish. “Remember them that had the rule over you, men that spake unto you, the word of God; and considering the issue of their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever” Hebrews 13:8-9 – Amen

– V. K. Abraham

This article orginally appeared in the Harvest Times magazine's February & March 2017 issue.