Brother Bakht Singh

Brother Bakht Singh was born to Hindu parents in Joiya village, Sargodha District, Pakistan. His mother's name was Laxmi Bai, and his father's name was Jawahar Mall Chabra, who was a businessman. Brother Bakht Singh was the eldest son in the family, having five brothers and one younger sister.

He was raised in Sikh beliefs, religious rites and rituals, attended Sikh gurdwara and felt proud being a follower of Sikh religion. He studied in Sargodha Christian Mission High School, where he had strong reservations about Christian teachings. He was once presented with a Bible, which he tore apart and threw the pages away, but kept the beautiful leather Bible cover.

On June 6th, 1915, Brother Bakht Singh got married to Rama Bai, and later he was blessed with a son named Onkar Singh Chabra. He studied BA from Lahore University, Pakistan.

In September 1926, he travelled to London, UK to study agricultural engineering. His mother requested him not to embrace Christian religion. Upon arriving in London, UK, Brother Bakht Singh lived like an atheist and spent his money in a worldly, lavish lifestyle.

In England, UK and Canada, on August 10th, 1928, while travelling in the SS Monteam ship, he attended a Christian service for the first time. His spiritual transformation and rebirth experience began here.

On December 14th, 1929, he borrowed a New Testament Bible from Hanson Owell. Hanson said, "You are a Hindu, why do you need the Bible?" but he gave him the Bible in Vancouver, Canada. By February 22nd, 1930, Brother Bakht Singh finished reading the Bible. John 3:3 pricked his heart.

On February 4th, 1932, he took baptism and started sharing his faith in Lord Jesus Christ in Winnipeg, Canada. He totally surrendered his life to prayer and spiritual life, meeting Fred Flack and Raymond Glosworthy.

Then and there, Brother Bakht Singh tore away his BA and BE Agriculture degree certificates and never ever mentioned his educational qualifications to anyone again.

In October 1932, he wrote a letter to his father in Pakistan informing him about his spiritual transformation and new life in Lord Jesus Christ. On April 6th, 1933, Brother Bakht Singh arrived in Bombay, India.

His parents asked him to keep his spiritual change to himself. Brother Bakht Singh said to his parents and relatives: "Can I live without breathing air oxygen?" On the spot, his parents, wife and son left him at Bombay railway platform and went back to Pakistan.

Later, Brother Bakht Singh gave up his share in the property in Pakistan. He surrendered his life totally to Lord Jesus Christ in prayers and spiritual life. Now his life was like Jacob in Bible - penniless and homeless (Genesis 28:10). Now Lord Jesus Christ started providing his personal and ministry needs.

He began sharing his testimony in public parks in the city of Bombay by tract distribution. He survived on a cup of tea and biscuits for the whole day and slept on the bench in the parks. He went wherever Lord Jesus Christ led him to preach the good news.

Later he went to Karachi, Pakistan and started street preaching in sweepers colony by distributing Bible tracts in Urdu language. His first followers were Shabaz Masih and Immu Din Masih. He spoke at Sialkot convention. While preaching the Word of God, fire fell down from heaven and many who attended the meeting surrendered their lives to Lord Jesus Christ.

In many churches, Brother Bakht Singh shared his testimony and spoke the Word of God from the Bible. Later he travelled to various parts of Pakistan and India sharing the good news of Lord Jesus Christ, eventually reaching South India where he met Sister Daisy Ogale and later went to Mukti Mission, Kedgaon, New Pune, Maharashtra.

His coworkers included D. Samuel, Sanyasi Poonamma, Moses Dawn, RR Rajamani, RP Dorairaj, Raj Rathnam, Brother Deva Shayam and other responsible brothers including Brother A. Williams, K. Philip, S. Martin, C. Dassan, Sister Nissi Singh, etc.

In 1938, Brother Bakht Singh spoke in Tamil Methodist Church at Vepery, Madras. People purchased Bibles and Bibles ran out of stock. Next he preached in Park Town Memorial Hall, followed by CMS Tucker Church at St. Andrews and other churches.

Later, some responsible brothers went to Pallavaram hills near Madras city for all-night prayers. During that time, the church vision was revealed from the book of Acts 2:42 - New Testament pattern church as per the Bible.

On July 12th, 1941, Jehovah Shammah compound was rented for Sunday worship service. It started with many believers singing Songs for Zion which were composed by many believers. Afterwards, worship message was delivered followed by individual worship turn by one brother and one sister.

Then table message was given about the importance of who should take part in Lord's table - born again and baptized believers only. Everyone took part and later final message exhortation from the Bible, then tithes and offering time.

In September 1950, Brother Bakht Singh and 20 team members arrived in Secunderabad railway station from Madras. They were received with a grand welcome with a large crowd procession singing songs to Secunderabad Baptist Church clock tower.

For one month, special gospel meetings were conducted in the church compound. Many people accepted Lord Jesus Christ as their personal savior and testified in waters of baptism at Hussain Sagar Lake, Hyderabad. Now the missionaries who were living in the same compound got upset and told Brother Bakht Singh and his 20 team to vacate the compound and quarters.

Then Brother Lawrence, who was working as loco foreman at Lalaguda Railway Workshop, Secunderabad, took Brother Bakht Singh and 20 team members to his house providing food and shelter. From there, Brother Bakht Singh held daily meetings at Oxford Compound opposite to Minerva Complex, Secunderabad Parade Grounds.

During those meetings, one Roman Catholic officer Col. Ross attended and took Brother Bakht Singh to Fateh Maidan Stadium, Hyderabad to hold large gathering meetings. Many people attended and buses were arranged from various parts of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

Now during those meetings, one person named Yeshwath Rao requested Brother Bakht Singh that he will show a large compound. It was Salar Jung Stadium wrestling matches with lots of rooms and huge land. It was named Elim Compound. Brother Bakht Singh and his team moved on rent Rupees 500 per month.

The first Holy Convocation was held in December 1950. Sunday worship service and other meetings were held regularly in the compound. In 1957, Brother Appaji who was living behind Elim Compound attended and helped in music ministry by playing violin. He sold the present Hebron compound to Brother Bakht Singh to use it for ministry and God's glory.

In July 1985, at Fort Wayne Convocation, State of Indiana, USA, Brother Bakht Singh became sick with Parkinson's disease and was admitted to the local hospital. After a few days, Brother Bakht Singh requested brothers in charge to take him to Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore, South India.

Later, Brother Bakht Singh was moved to Amar Hospital, Basheerbagh, Hyderabad, and later he was shifted to Hebron Compound, Hyderabad. Now Dr. Chitra and Dr. Ruth and four brothers took care of Brother Bakht Singh's medical needs 24/7 round the clock.

From outside, other medical teams used to visit for Brother Bakht Singh's medical care. Brother Paul Abishekam, son of late Brother Jacob Kurmati, helped Brother Bakht Singh in physical therapy exercises on daily basis.

On September 17th, 2000, in the early hours, Brother Bakht Singh was promoted to glory. Around six lakh believers came to visit the mortal body of Brother Bakht Singh from all over India and abroad.

Many ministers came to know that a great man of God was residing in Hebron, Hyderabad. Many leaders from political parties gave their testimonies, expressing how powerfully God has used him across the nation and world.

Some leaders also expressed regret, when he was alive why didn't they meet him, as expressed by then Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.

On September 22nd, 2000, the funeral procession started from Hebron Compound to Narayanguda Cemetery, Hyderabad. Believers were singing and distributing Bible tracts and preaching the Word of God to the general public. The traffic was jam-packed from Secunderabad Railway Station to Koti and from Vidyanagar to Tank Bund - traffic was at a standstill.

Learn more about the life and ministry of Brother Bakht Singh through this documentary