About Bishop James Santhosam

Born into a devout Hindu family, and as a boy forced to give himself to rituals of religion because of the prediction of fortunetellers and astrologers, that his birth did not augur well for the family and his survival would mean nothing but trouble and grief to the family, Veeraraghavan suffered rejection and hostility from his own family members from his childhood.

Dejected and disillusioned, in his search for reality and the purpose of his existence, Veeraraghavan encountered the Lord Jesus Christ face to face on Pallavaram Mountain situated in the outskirts of Chennai city, South India on the 22nd of August 1971 around 10 a.m.

He heard the Lord say, “I am the Savior of the World.” On hearing this he felt the power of God fall on him and was flung a few feet away. Soon he was on his knees and with tears smearing his face. He cried with a loud voice asking the Lord to forgive him for the wretched life he had been leading without knowing Him! Jesus then spoke to him saying, “son, I have not only forgiven your sins but also written your name in the Book of life.” Veera stood awestuck as the Lord explained to him the new life he could have in Him.

The Lord filled him with His Holy Spirit right away and birthed within him a holy ambition to take the gospel to those who have not heard the name of Jesus, starting from his own village to the uttermost parts of the earth. The Lord even revealed to him about the apostolic ministry that He had for him and that He would use him to plant churches and even have him preach His love in the nations of the world. On the same night when Veeraraghavan was sleeping he had a dream in which he saw Jesus standing on one side of a lake and a man of God giving Him baptism. In response to the vision he commited himself to be baptised and was christened ‘James Santhosam’.

Thirty years later, Rev. James Santhosam is still experiencing this new life and now knows the Lord Jesus even better than ever before, resulting in the establishment of more than 300 churches and the salvation of thousands of lost souls in Indian villages, cities and all over the world.