International Church Planter

International Church Planter

Greetings from Malaysia in the precious name of our Lord Jesus. My name is Dinesh Sri Kumaran (my friends call me Daniel) and I feel God’s call to be an international church planter. I was born in April of 1978 in Malaysia into a Hindu family of five. I’m the middle child and the only son in the family, with two sisters.

In my childhood years, observing how my father lived a hypocritical life of alcoholism and unfaithfulness led me to question the Hindu faith and the meaning of life. I was exposed to Christianity at the age of 17 and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour at a Youth Camp. Today, I am happily married for 15 years to a wife who loves the Lord dearly and we have three wonderful children of our own.

When I was 19, I attended a one month Residental Bible School organized by the Brethren church where I was saved. It was there I first heard a call into ministry, but wasn’t really sure what it meant. Not having anyone to mentor me, I completed my college education in computers and have since built my career in the IT industry for 17 years now.

Having been a Christian for over 20 years, there has certainly been many tests that God has used to strengthen me as His child. My early years as a Christian were years where I fell under the bondage of legalism and this led me to struggle with the bondage of certain sins in my life. There was constant condemnation and the feeling of being a hypocrite led me to backslide. This affected my personal and family life.

In 2009, I was led to a church, BethanyLife, which I still attend today. It was here that the journey to recovery and healing began. A period of studying God’s Word and growing in my understanding of the fullness of His grace and love for me helped me grow in my personal desire in pursuing a deeper walk with God.

It was here in BethanyLife that I was convinced of the need for the baptism of the Holy Spirit for me to live a purposeful life. Since receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit, my passion for the things of God has continued to increase, while the issues of sin I used to struggle with have diminished. Over these years in BethanyLife, I have been serving the Lord in various ministries and capacities, and today I am an ordained (bi-vocational) pastor in BethanyLife.

In the past two years, I’ve been sensing a very strong call towards full-time ministry. I have a specific vision of raising young leaders, mobilizing missions in nations and being an international church planter. My calling which I received from the Lord in my personal devotion time has also been confirmed through a number of prophetic words received from a few different ministers over this period.

The call of God on me was something I initially struggled with. Embracing His call would require a big change in the lifestyle of our family. For me, it had to be something which required the full support of my spouse and kids, and this was something I asked the Lord to do. In the past two years, as I’ve prayed through this, I’ve seen how God has worked in my wife’s heart. From someone who was full of fear and skepticism, today I can sense the excitement in her when we talk about the wonderful possibilities of the years ahead in ministry and serving God together.

In the past year, I’ve heard God tell me to start using the gifts I’ve already been blessed with and He will start to open more doors for ministry. I’ve seen doors open both locally in Malaysia and in other countries in my international church planter ministry. I’ve just returned from a week of missions in Odisha, India where we ran a series of revival meetings in the villages and saw a great move of God with many being saved, healed and delivered. I’ll be going back to India again in December to one of our church planter training centers to conduct a series of training with some other pastors for a new batch of church planters.

While I’m being faithful in using my gifts where He opens the doors, I’ve also sensed a strong call for me to equip myself with a solid biblical grounding for the season ahead. With my extremely hectic schedule, with my day job, my family and ministry responsibilities as an international church planter, the only option that works for me would be via an online channel of learning.

I have gone through the getting started course offered by Christian Leaders Institute. I sense the passions and values which are shared by Rev Henry Reyenga and team resonate within my spirit. I believe that being given the opportunity to pursue a bachelors degree with CLI would help me equip myself with the necessary knowledge and tools I would need to be more effective in fulfilling God’s call on my life. May His Kingdom come and His will be done in my life as it is in Heaven!

Learn about minister ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.