Chapter 7

Chapter 7 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. 1 Timothy 1: 12 Anointment; First administrative position in Orissa; Evangelism under the care of Judge Storey; First helper to Rev S. S. Day. Purushotham Receiving Anointment- Plan of Action After his wife's baptism Purushotham prepared to leave for Vishakhapatnam, but the missionaries at Cuttack did not want to part with him. Consequently, the couple stayed back at Cuttack. In recognition and appreciation of Purushotham's zeal for Christ, the missionaries decided to appoint him as an evangelist. So, on Sunday 24th April 1836, after the Church service, three missionaries laid hands on him and consecrated him as an evangelist. At the same time Babu Doyithari Naik, who would later become Purushotham's relative was also dedicated. Regarding this, the Orissa Baptist Mission Report said the following: "All concerned were extremely pleased to witness the anointing of the competent indigenous missionaries for the second time. The consecration service of Doyitari Naik and Purushotham separated them for the Lord's service. This took place on the day of our Lord (April 24th) 1836, immediately after the Cuttack Conference. Sutton read out the scripture, prayed dedicating the two men, and entrusted them with the lord's work from 1 Timothy chapter 4. W. Brown spoke a few words of introduction in Oriya and said the closing prayer. Ramachandra said the opening prayer and helped the 3 missionaries- Brown, Sutton and Noel at the dedication ceremony. The native worship session was held in Oriya. The conference was excellently organized and wonderfully timed. May the Indian brothers witness many such dedication ceremonies. Now the Society has four anointed preachers."

Purushotham Goes to Berhampur as the First Auxiliary Missionary The English Baptist missionaries wanted to start their work at Berhampur in Ganjam district. So, they appointed Rev W. Brown as missionary and Purushotham as an auxiliary missionary. Purushotham therefore moved with his family to Berhampur. As a result of his teaching, an Oriya Brahmin called Balaji Sahu and his wife turned to Christ. His family, still remains in the Church. As Rev Brown had to move to Calcutta, Purushotham took Rev Brown's place and started evangelization around Berhampur and Balaji Sahu1worked as his assistant. At that time, the district Collector of Ganjam named Stevens Esq. was a devout Christian. On hearing about Purushotham and Balaji, he sent a note asking Mrs Brown to send the two gentlemen to him. It was a welcome invitation and they both travelled about 10 miles and reached Seetharampalli, also known as Chatrapuram. They met the Collector camping there. The Collector asked after their welfare and revealed his intention to them saying in chaste Telugu, "Both of you, with your families come and stay with me. Fourteen Kodu (name of a tribal group) young boys kept to be sacrificed to their Gods, were rescued by the government and they are now under my care. Mr Balaji Sahu, I will entrust them to your care. Mr Purushotham, you can preach to the Telugu and Oriya speaking people living in the villages around. I will meet all the needs of your families. I will construct good houses for you. I will also construct a Prayer Hall for your worship. I will send for tracts, books and all the things that you need from Madras. If any of your relatives convert to Christianity, I will arrange for their housing and provide them with employment as per their qualifications. Therefore, please consider my request and come to me." Purushotham and Sahu knew beforehand that this white man was God-fearing. For the time being, they did not give any word to the Collector but took leave of him, saying that they would think over and get back to him within four days. They stayed for the night and set out for their homes in the morning. That very night, something dreadful happened. The Collector

died of acute diarrhoea that very night at 12. They heard this shocking news from Mrs Brown as soon as they reached and were bewildered by the uncertainty of human life. Invitation from Justice Storey Justice E. Story was the civil sessions Judge in Srikakulam at that time. He happened to hear about Purushotham through the army officials and wrote to Purushotham to be with him in Srikakulam and do the Lord's work. Purushotham wrote about this to the missionaries in Cuttack and took their approval. He went to Srikakulam with his family and Balaji and his family, along with the Kodu Children from Chhatarpur. All of them stayed with Justice Storey for some time, preaching around Srikakulam. One-day Judge Storey offered Purushotham an important job in East India Company, that of officer in-charge for the accounts in the court with a hefty salary. Purushotham politely turned it down like Moses considering preaching Christ more important than all the wealth of Egypt. I heard this from James Chinnaiah, relative of Purushotham's daughter Martha Burder, when I went to Cuttack in 1902. Care of Meria Children We have already read about the children belonging to Kodu tribe. The Kodu people lived in the forest region of Ganjam district. It was their practice to offer their children as sacrifice to two demonic goddesses called Burapennu and Tarapennu. The government would rescue the children from their captors and hand them over to the missionaries for safe custody. Some of these rescued boys believed in Jesus and were thus attained liberty of the soul too. The Kodu tribe also kidnapped children of other tribes for sacrifice. These children are called 'Meria Children.' Such children too came to know the Lord Jesus through Purushotham. Some of the progeny of these children are still among us. There was another providential aspect that brought Purushotham to Srikakulam at that time. The American Telugu Baptist Mission wanted to start their ministry in Andhra region with Rev Samuel S. Day as their first

missionary. He arrived in Vishakhapatnam on 7th March 1836. He was with Rev J. W. Gordon assisting him in holding English worship service. Because there were over a hundred Indian girls, Mrs Gordon and Mrs Porter started a boarding facility for the girls. That very year, the first Andhra Christian Church building came up and a printing press was established in Vishakhapatnam. There were about 150 children attending Sunday School classes. The booklet "Testing the Validity of Caste Rituals," must have been printed at this time1. Rev Day did not want to stay in such a developed place, and wanted to stay in a place where there were no missionaries. Thus, he moved 70 miles away to the banks of river Nagavali, with his family and started learning Telugu language. Rev Kanakaiah had this to say: Evangelism with Rev Day "At that time, Purushotham was very helpful to both Rev Day and Rev Gordon, establishing schools and evangelising around Srikakulam. This was stated by Purushotham himself. As there were no road ways, they were carried in chair boxes by men and their belongings by bullocks."3 This way Purushotham was used by the Lord to be the first helper to the Telugu Baptist Mission. Rev F. W. Armstrong said, "The first preacher who was raised up in the American Baptist Telugu Mission to assist their pioneer Missionary Rev Day2. Around that time a young boy by name Venkata Prasada Pathanaik attended the Sunday school started by Mrs Day. Influenced by her and later by Purushotham, the boy got strengthened in his faith, threw away his sacred thread and got baptized during the time of Rev Dawson. And this young boy was none other than Josiah Burder. This name was adopted by this boy because Josiah Burder was his foster parent. The American Baptists did not enjoy the fruits of Mrs Day's ministry. Patnaik who took the name of Josiah Burder worked as a preacher in London Mission for a long time and was called in 1874 to be the pastor of Kakinada Church. After his conversion to Christ, Josiah married Purushotham's second daughter Mary Sundari. American Baptist Mission

may not have known that this had happened during Rev Days' time. "You sow, but who knows who will reap?" Rev. Day, somehow did not consider Srikakulam as his permanent mission field. He therefore left it on 7th March and arrived in Madras and started his missionary service there. On the banks of Nagavali near Srikakulam, there was a mansion. We can never imagine how many times in that mansion Rev Day, Justice Storey, their families and Purushotham must have prayed for the salvation of the people of that region! We can see the fruits of their prayers today. 1. The History of Telugu Mission (Lone star) P. 28. 2. Canadian Mission Report for 1877. 3. The first quinquennial Report of A. B. M. and C. B. Missions.P.6