Miracle Ministries: The Story Of Pastor Ankur Narula

It was a regular Sunday morning at Jalandhar, Punjab, but quite an unusual day at Khambra. After sporadic spells of mild rains, on this morning, the sun rose on this quiet village to bustling and vivid scenes. Barely a 23-minute drive from the city, the setting is perfect. An upcoming church바카라�said to be Asia바카라�s biggest and fastest-growing Christian ministry바카라�was immersed in the conspicuous fervour of the devout unlike the ancient churches scattered across Punjab. A large congregation had gathered on the church바카라�s sprawling courtyards. Prayers echoed in the air like a sacred symphony, punctuated by the fervent chants of 바카라�Hallelujah, Hallelujah바카라� that rent the air, amplified by giant loudspeakers. The chants kept growing louder in the day. The music blared, its beats syncing with the palpable energy of the crowd of worshippers.

The village located on Nakodar road has a Sikh gurdwara and a temple in the vicinity. But on that day, it looked as if all roads were leading to the Khambra Church that is fast emerging as a beacon of spirited devotion.

Every month, hundreds of people, mostly from the socially and economically weaker sections (Dalits as well as turbaned Sikhs), opt to be baptised at the Church. The ministry also runs an online facility. The ministry바카라�s marriage bureau fixes up matches for Christian couples, even facilitating visas for youths, who are unable to go abroad through private immigration agents.

Spread over an area of 100 acres, this Church of 바카라�Signs and Wonders바카라�, gained visibility only a few years back with Pastor Ankur Narula, a non-Christian born in a Punjabi Khatri family becoming a central figure. Pastor Narula provides spiritual healing to people through prayers and physical touch. Son of a Jalandhar-based businessman, Jeevan Narula, a.k.a. Ankur (Yoseph) Narula, 40, is a computer engineer, who took to Christianity in 2004. His decision was influenced by a pastor, who helped him to break free from drugs and depression.

Perched on a large stage, a church band reciting songs in praise of Jesus kept asking the devotees to raise their hands in unison, and to take part in prayers with eyes closed. Above the crowd, large video screens and projectors intermittently played testimonies of miraculous healings. The courtyard was packed to capacity바카라�and many were dancing in response to soul-stirring hymns. The atmosphere was electric.

The music stopped when Ankur Narula바카라�s wife바카라�Sonia Yoseph Narula바카라� took the stage and started the sermons. She read out verses from the Bible and exhorted the gathering to follow the Church바카라�s teachings. She stressed that there is no alternative than fully surrendering yourselves to Jesus. 바카라�Only He( Jesus) has the power to free you from evil spirits, lingering ailments, drugs, stress and financial problems,바카라� she said.

When she was done, she took a back seat. Minutes later Pastor Narula made a dramatic entry as the band played a string of musical compositions. The crowd burst into cheers and people raised their hands to greet 바카라�Pappa-ji바카라� (father) as he is fondly called.

The Church has followers of all ages and creeds. Several of them are bound to wheelchairs and ailing. Mothers had brought along toddlers and infants with them to seek blessings. All of them had reached the venue early in the day. They sat under the shade of large make-shift tents pitched overnight to protect them from the heat and the humidity. Hundreds of electric coolers had been installed for their comfort.

Nearly 5,000 volunteers바카라�men and women in white uniforms bearing the ministry바카라�s emblem바카라�bustled about, ensuring every visitor found their place. The white plastic chairs laid out in neat rows next to the stage were reserved for pastors and special attendees. Narula바카라�s father Jeevan Narula, 70, and mother Pushpa, were seated next to the stage.

There were barricaded compartments guarded by stern-faced security personnel conducting checks under the gaze of CCTV cameras. Media was strictly banned. Photography, videography and the use of mobile-phone cameras was not even a remote possibility due to the vigilance of the Church바카라�s multi-layered security ring. The ministry바카라�s 바카라�CID teams바카라�바카라�mostly volunteers, the metal detectors at the gates, and the thorough screening of every single visitor, especially suspicious elements, showed how Pastor Narula has been successful in building his aura and maintaining control.

As the service commenced, a hush fell over the crowd, broken only by the occasional 바카라�Amen바카라�바카라�.

Dressed in white and holding a portable mike, Pastor Narula바카라�s presence and voice stirred the hearts of the ministry바카라�s followers. They stood with clasped hands and eyes closed. Women cried and screamed as a testament to their emotional burdens; pain and 바카라�evil spirits바카라� released through their tears and cries as they swayed to the rhythm of music.

Among the crowd was Sandeep Kumar, 40. He belongs to the Dalit community traditionally engaged in leather works. An alcoholic, Kumar says he converted to Christianity some years back. He read a few posters of Pastor Narula and came to know about him performing miracles to cure chronic patients, who turn up at his ministry.

바카라�I gave up alcoholism on day one after arriving at the ministry,바카라� says Kumar. 바카라�For almost a decade, I have been travelling by bicycle every Sunday to attend prayers at Khambra. Arya Nagar (Kartarpur) is almost 40 km from Jalandhar. My brothers and their families did not convert to Christianity, neither have they visited the Church. They are educated people, and don바카라�t believe in the Church바카라�s power. It바카라�s their loss, not mine바카라�

There are two other churches바카라�one headed by 바카라�Prophet바카라� Bajinder Singh, a Haryanavi Jat, who converted to Christianity. Singh has styled himself as a 바카라�miracle healer바카라�. He speaks Punjabi and performs sermons and healings on camera in the presence of larger gatherings during his prayer sessions. He promotes the 바카라�Church of Wisdom and Glory바카라�바카라�a Pentecostal church that he set up in 2016.

Nearby, Pastor Harpreet Deol, born into a Jat Sikh family, also runs a huge ministry at village Khojewala. He is involved in 바카라�miraculous healing바카라�, and has a large following, primarily from the Dalit community and the poorer sections of Punjabi society.

But unlike Pastor Narula and Singh, Deol has inherited the 바카라�Open-door Church바카라� from his father, who was also a preacher associated with an Australian pastor. All of them have controversies surrounding their past. Yet, their followers stay loyal and the trend of converting Dalits and Sikhs in rural Punjab is a hard reality now. This makes the majority communities anxious.

There is a lot of buzz about Pastor Narula, whose rise to fame within India and overseas is at an all-time high, and is said to be growing. His large hoardings and banners in towns and on highways overshadow those of politicians and corporate brands. His ministry has a 24X7 TV channel, and uses YouTube and other social media platforms for its outreach. The Church also runs an IAS, IPS coaching college at Khambra.

바카라�We have 125 branches within and outside India. Every Sunday prayer is attended by 1.6 to 1.7 lakh Church followers,바카라� says Jatinder Masih 바카라�Gaurav바카라�, his close aide. Masih is quick to deny charges of 바카라�forced conversions바카라� in the garb of faith healing. 바카라�Everything happens as per the law and with full transparency, 바카라� he says.

According to Tarseem Peter, a Dalit-Christian, who heads the Khet-Mazdoor organisation, there are almost 25 to 26 church ministries working in Jalandhar, Doaba and the Malwa belt of Punjab. They are very different from mainline churches run by missionaries. Most of these have followers among the Dalits, who are attracted to them primarily to seek solace from their problems and ailments. Less religious services, more heroism. 바카라�The publicity budget of one ministry in Jalandhar could be larger than that of the Punjab government. Where is this coming from!바카라� he asks.

Just as large sections of Sikhs and (Hindu) Dalits or Dalit-Sikhs have deras in Punjab, the Christian converts, all hailing from upper-caste families, have promoted ministries. At the deras, too, crowds pour in every week to seek relief because of caste discrimination, unemployment, fragmentation of land-holdings, landlessness, medical issues and familial tensions.

Peter says, 바카라�Due to social media outreach, money-power, better infrastructure to hold mega prayer sessions and enhanced communication skills, they have become the centres of cult business. The entire crowd from the mainline churches and gurdwaras is going there for quick-fix solutions. It바카라�s also strange that only high-caste converts head the church ministries, not Dalit-Christians.바카라�

Last year the Income Tax Department conducted raids on the premises linked to Pastor Narula and 25 other church ministries in Jalandhar, Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts to probe complaints about foreign funding and donations.

The ministries, linked to Pentecostal churches, also tried to float a political outfit바카라�the United Punjab Party, but later extended support to Aam Admi Party (AAP) candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku. He later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but lost the 2024 Lok Sabha election to Charanjit Singh Channi, former Punjab CM and a Dalit face of the Congress.

Senior officials in the Punjab administration, on the condition of anonymity, maintain that they don바카라�t mess up or interfere in the functioning of the ministries. A few years ago, when one such church was involved in a controversy over the death of a cancer patient to whom they had promised a cure, the police conducted an investigation following a specific complaint. 바카라�Everyone is free to profess their religion harmoniously,바카라� says an official.

Bishop Agnelo Rufino Gracias says, 바카라�We don바카라�t have any links with such church ministries. We have a glorious history of working in Punjab and never got involved in miracle cures, faith healing and publicity blitz about prayers, etc. It바카라�s up to the authorities to take a call on them. We have dissociated ourselves from them, and conveyed it to the government.바카라�

Sunita Devi from Jharkhand, a regular visitor to the church at Khojewala (Kapurthala), says that she moved to Jalandhar with her husband and son to get her son cured. 바카라�My son can바카라�t speak,바카라� says Devi. 바카라�We spent a lot of money to get him treated. But finally, we came to the Church. My son and I attend prayers every Sunday. I hope my prayers and the blessings of Jesus will work to make him changa (heal).바카라�

Pastor Surinder Masih of village Balanda, near Nakodar, who converted to Christianity at a young age, says most marginalised groups바카라�both within the Hindu and Sikh communities바카라�suffer from rigid caste structures. In order to live a respectable life, they are giving up their religions voluntarily. It바카라�s also a fact that many Hindu-Dalits convert to Christianity but don바카라�t change their names on paper to continue to enjoy the benefits of Scheduled Caste reservations, he adds. 바카라�But I defied this in my case and wrote down my religion as Christian instead of Hindu. My children also followed it.바카라�

The president of the Punjab Christian Movement, Hamid Masih, says that the dominant Hindu and Sikh communities are trying to portray Christians as villains. 바카라�It바카라�s because we don바카라�t have a political voice,바카라� he says. Masih denies allegations that missionaries are offering money and using miracle healing to convert people to Christianity. Noted author Suresh Sethi says, 바카라�Punjab has seen a prolonged and bad phase of terrorism. But the way things are unfolding there: drugs, migration, conversions and commercialisation of a harmonious society, is a worrying trend바카라�.

It is hard to predict what the future holds for the State, but for now, fervent evangelical activities are turning Jalandhar into the capital of a new 바카라�religious바카라� movement.

Ashwani Sharma in Khambra

(This appeared in the print as 'Miracle Ministries')