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I was born on 25 January 1948 in Curepipe, Mauritius - a small island in the Indian Ocean. I am the third child of a family of six —four boys and two girls. Being born in a Roman Catholic family, I was accordingly baptized and confirmed in that religion.
I did my primary schooling at the Curepipe Boys' Government School then went to High School for six years. After having obtained my School Certificate from Cambridge University in England, I was offered a teaching job at the same High School that I attended. In my early years as a teacher, I was made to teach a number of subjects at various times —French language and literature, English language and literature, British History, Bible Knowledge and even Pure Mathematics. But, as the years drew by, I settled into my main subjects, namely French language and literature though I minor on English language. I now hold a Teacher’s Certificate and a Teacher’s Diploma from the Mauritius Institute of Education.
In my youth, I was a great fan of pop and rock music. That was in the sixties and seventies —the golden age of musical production. Among my numerous favorites were Roy Orbison, Don Gibson, Jim Reeves, Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, the Shadows, the Everly Brothers, Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel and so many others. I even wrote a few songs, two of which were recorded as demos in the USA. Two of my favorite sounds were and have always been Surf music and Country music. As far as Country music goes, I paricularly like Emmylou Harris, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, Billie Jo Spears, Crystal Gayle, Alan Jackson and singers of that caliber. I especially like the combined sound of the fiddle, banjo and slide guitar. To my mind, the lap steel guitar is by far the most melodious musical instrument ever invented!
I was so determined to make myself a name in the world of writing that I wrote almost everything. I wrote two radio plays in French, that participated in an international competition organized by the French National Radio and came out, on both occasions, among the twelve finalists out of more than six hundred participants. Both plays were recorded and broadcast over the radio in France and in sixteen French speaking countries. I also wrote two novels in French, one of which was accepted for publication by a publisher in Paris. However, because of the financial investment involved, I could not go ahead with the project. After I wrote a number of protest poems, one of which was published in a book titled Anthology of Mauritian Literature In The African Context, published by the Mauritian Ministry of Education to commemorate the Independence of our country.
In 1967, a French missionary came to Mauritius and, for the very first time, the full Gospel was preached in the country. Revival broke and many people came to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. Many were healed and set free from demonic possesssion. As I was already teaching Bible Knowledge, I enjoyed going to listen to the powerful and anointed preaching of that missionary. When I met my wife-to-be, she was already attending the Chistian Center, although she had not yet fully given her life to Jesus. The Lord had, in fact, started to mould my future.
In February 1981, we got married in a Roman Catholic Church and, in December 1982, we both gave our lives to Jesus and were baptized in the Assembly of God. Two years later, I was called into the ministry and have since been serving the Lord in the capacity of an Evangelist-Teacher. I have retained my secular teaching job, though, and I am still teaching at the very same school where I started thirty-seven years ago!
The Lord has blessed us with two beautiful and nice children —Sharon who is now 23 and Sheldon who has just turned twenty.
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MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
- In 1972, I participated in a radio playwrighting contest organized by the ORTF, the then French National Radio. My play was titled Entendu A Une Porte (translated Heard At A Door). It was about a summit conference held in heaven between God and Satan, during which things of the utmost importance regarding mankind were discussed. Those were the days when I was still an unregenerate sinner. Now that I am a born-again believer, I would not write such nonsense. However, the play reached the finals, was recorded and was broadcast over the radio in France and in the sixteen participating French-speaking countries. I was interviewed by the National radio and the local newspapers reported the success.
- In 1973, I again participated in the same competition with a play titled Le Syndicat Des Gens Non-Nés (literally translated The Syndicate of Unborn Children). That play staged children who were yet unborn awaiting the time when they would be called upon to take birth in the world of the living. Determined to force human beings to seriously address the many ills plaguing society and improve conditions prevailing in the world — war, hypocrisy, violence, social injustice, racial discrimination, poverty and, above all, abortion—before they would accept to be born, they organize themselves into a syndicate to express their grievances, they eventually go on strike and refuse to take birth. To crush the rebellion, the human beings use force and eventually eliminate all the union leaders. Finally, cornered and realizing how hard it is to swim upstream, the undaunted leader shoots himself dead.
The play was also an allegory aimed at depicting the political situation in the country. No wonder it was banned under the regime of the day (represented, in the play, by the human authorities) to be released when the opposition ( the Unborn) came to power. - In 1974, I wrote a psychological novel titled En Coulisse (translated Backstage). I sent the manuscript to a publisher in Paris, France, who sent me back a very positive reply. He was really interested in having the novel featured in his catalog. However, as it was going to be my first publication, I would have to publish at my own cost. A second edition would be at the publisher’s cost. The financial investment involved being too much for me, I dropped the idea of going into print, although the publisher kept writing and making various arrangements.
- Affiliated with the First Church of the Gospel Ministry, based in Ohio, I am now an ordained minister and have obtained a Bachelor’s, a Master’s and a Doctorate in Missionary Ministries from King’s Cross Victory Bible College.
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MY FAVORITE LINKS:
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MY RESIDENCE INFO:
City: 93, NHDC Complex,Upper Dagotiere
State/Country: Mauritius.
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BOOKS PUBLISHED:
 Chapter 1
The Stage Is Set
One day, a young brother in Christ — newly born again — candidly remarked to me that the Old Testament made no mention of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Careful not to offend the young man, I told him that he was perfectly right insofar as the Old Testament makes no mention of Jesus Christ explicitly. Then I explained to him how to look for implicit allusions to Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, and introduced to him the concept of Biblical Types. For example, I mentioned Isaac and showed the young brother the parallel that exists between the former and Jesus Christ. Just as Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac, his beloved son, in total obedience to God, so was God, the Father, willing to sacrifice His beloved Son, Jesus, to save a deprived mankind (see Genesis 22:1-12). Next, I spoke about the ram whose horns got caught in a thicket and that was eventually sacrificed in Isaac’s stead (Genesis 22:13-14). The death of that innocent ram portrayed the substitutionary death of our Lord, Jesus Christ. A third example I referred to was the rock at Horeb which Moses was instructed to strike so as to provide water for the thirsty and ungrateful Israelites during their wandering in the desert, after they had been set free from Egyptian bondage by the mighty hand of God. (Exodus 17:1-7). Hundreds of years later, Jesus, the Rock of our salvation, was to be struck to give forth Living Water to quench the spiritual thirst of a starving humanity. Did the psalmist not write:
“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2).
The young believer was amazed to learn how the very first books of the Old Testament — Genesis and Exodus — allude to Jesus Christ thousands of years before His Incarnation. Should the reader think I am digressing from the subject of the Blood of Jesus, I would like to make it clear that I am not. I am just trying to point out how amazing the Book of Genesis ! Let us briefly recapitulate the tragic events that took place about 6,000 years ago in the Garden of Eden. After God had created Adam and Eve — the first couple ever — He lovingly informed them that they could eat of every tree that grew in the Garden, except for one: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil! (Genesis 2:15-17). But the devil — I deliberately write this word with a small letter — managed to creep into the Garden, and seduced the pair by having them eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That was open rebellion against the Sovereignty of God Almighty! Yet, He had warned them against disobeying His command:
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”(Genesis 2:16-17).
Now, after Adam and Eve had tasted of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, something totally unexpected happened to them: they realized, for the very first time ever, that they were naked! (Genesis 3:7). Not that they had suddenly become naked, for they had been naked all the while (Genesis 2:25), without, however, having felt the least embarrassment about it! But, now the after-effect of their disobedience was beginning to be felt. Innocence had given way to conscience! Their awareness of what was evil had suddenly been aroused. Out of shame and embarrassment, they run into the bushes to hide themselves. But no sooner have they taken refuge amidst the foliage than they hear God’s footsteps coming towards them in the cool of day! (Genesis 3:8). You see, that is God’s usual way of behaving: out of love and compassion, He always reaches out to sinful man! God is a missionary God. The concept of outreach issued from His merciful mind. Man, on the other hand, has always been trying to hide away from God. But man must know that he cannot hide away from the All-knowing God. Anyway, it's not in his interest to withdraw from God. If we can learn a lesson from nature, let us be like the sunflower that wisely keeps turning towards the life-giving sun. Turning away from it causes the flower to wither and brings certain death! Now, God is the Light of the world. Let us turn to Him and find life — abundant life, eternal life! But, let us go back to Adam and Eve. As God calls them out of their retreat, they have no alternative but to scramble out of it and stand before His Holiness. But what a pitiful sight! There stands the sinful twosome, lamentably dressed in fig leaves which they have quickly sewed in a poor attempt to clothe their newly discovered nakedness. The very image of depravation! Then the Lord pronounces judgment over the three culprits. Adam will henceforth have to toil the ground and eat his food by the sweat of his brow (Genesis 3:19). Eve will have to labor to give birth (Genesis 3:16). You see, every maternity department in every hospital has, to this day, its own grim reminder of the woman’s fall in the form of a labor ward! But, let us see what the Lord has to say to the third culprit — the mastermind behind it all, the very Architect of Evil! To the serpent, therefore, God says:
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15, emphasis added).
Amazing Genesis! Whom do you think God was referring to when He mentioned “the offspring of the woman”? Why, Jesus Christ! God’s Son — Co-Creator of the universe — who would later be born of a woman to crush the serpent’s head. Well, that was meticulously and punctually seen to at Calvary! Praise God! And what a clean job it was! But more of this later. For the time being, let us remember the Lord’s warning to the serpent: “thou shalt bruise his heel” Here we have a direct reference to the sufferings of Christ at Calvary. What happens when somebody dares crush a serpent’s head? Obviously, the creature retaliates and tries hard to strike the heel that is hurting it. Well, that is precisely what God was telling the serpent: Jesus would crush its head, and it would strike back. Jesus would eventually vanquish it, but would be hurt in the process. Here we have the first mention of Jesus’ Blood that was going to be shed at Calvary. And that mention is made about 4,000 years before the actual event! That proves that God has always had the Calvary scenario in His mind — well before it materialized, when Jesus was actually nailed to that rugged Roman Cross! Why? Simply because everything is cleansed with blood. Because without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. Nor could it be just any blood! “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). It had, therefore, to be pure blood. Unadulterated blood. Sinless blood. Immaculate blood. Potent blood! Sin-removing blood! Divine Blood. The disclosure of the unique Plan of Salvation is not the only revelation concerning blood that Genesis has for us. Buried within its pages lies the very embryo of Divine Grace as it is exercised towards sinful man. We have seen how, after they had sinned, Adam and Eve tried to cover up their mess by sewing garments of fig leaves to clothe their nakedness. How naïve of them! Did they sincerely hope to fool the Omniscient God? How long did they expect the fig leaves to stand? You may be shocked, but, had they not sinned, their garment of fig leaves — which they would NOT have needed anyway!—would surely have resisted the test of time because whatever the Eternal God created, He created it for an eternal purpose. It was sin that brought about decay — whether physical, moral or spiritual. But, when the Father looked at the miserable pair, He must have shaken His head and laughed at their naiveness! He knew that their sin had triggered an inexorable process — ageing, degradation, decrepitude — and that pretty soon their miserable outfit would wither away and fall apart, exposing even better the very nakedness they were trying to cover! Are we not much in the same situation when, conscious of our sinful state, we try to cover it up with “good” works such as prayers, fasting, almsgiving, pilgrimages and the like? Now, do not misunderstand me. I am not inferring that it is wrong to pray or to fast or to give alms. Such things, in fact, are commanded of God. But, what I mean is that doing these with the mere intention of buying off the Almighty is sheer blasphemy! And it is vain, too. Praying, fasting, almsgiving and other similar “good” works are nothing if they do not spring from a regenerate, born-again heart! See what the Scriptures have to say concerning this matter:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. “(Ephesians 2:8-10).
If there is one thing the Bible is clear about, it is that we are saved by faith (Habakkuk 2:4; Galatians 3:11). Or, as the above verses put it, we are saved by grace and through faith I like this formula because it expresses this sublime reality so well. Indeed, two things are involved in our salvation: faith and grace Faith in the final, accomplished, perfect, definite, substitutionary works of Christ when He laid down His life for sinful man. Grace, insofar as salvation is concerned, is an undeserved gift given to sinful man by a merciful God! Salvation comes to us, irrespective of what we do, have done or shall do by way of works. However, the Scriptures quoted above from Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians clearly teach that good works are never the cause of salvation, but the results or consequences thereof! In other words, we do not get saved because we do good, but we do good because we got saved! But let us go back to Adam and Eve and see what the Lord God did when He saw them standing there in their garment of shame. Genesis 3:21 tells us that God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. How merciful of Him! Here were two individuals who had consciously and knowingly sinned against the Holy Living God. They deserved His legitimate wrath. They knew it because they tried to hide away from Him! But, He, in His compassion and mercy, made garments of skin to clothe them! Clothes that would be more resistant and more compatible with the hard life which the couple would have to lead henceforth away from the Garden of His Love, from which they had voluntarily expatriated themselves by their silly disobedience. But did we ever ask ourselves where God obtained the skins from? The implied answer is that it was animals’ skins! Which animals? The Word of God does not give any indication about this matter. Consequently, we are going to respect its discretion. But does it really matter which animals it was? If it mattered, our Lord would have revealed it because He is Wisdom, Itself! However, what is more relevant to our study is the fact that the Lord had to kill the animals concerned to obtain their skins. This is tantamount to saying that blood was shed to provide an adequate garment to cover Adam’s and Eve’s nakedness! Herein lies the first mention of the doctrine of grace, implying the shedding of blood to cover man’s guilt! The law of first mention demands that we take full stock of what this incident wants to convey. Here, six points are worth noting: Firstly, an innocent being or two innocent beings had to be killed. The important word here is “innocent”. Death was undeserved. Secondly, the measure entailed the shedding of blood. Thirdly, that innocent death benefited guilty man. Fourthly, the garments were a gift from God, Himself. Fifthly, the God-given garments substituted man’s lamentable alternative. Sixthly, the guilty party had absolutely no participation in the whole enterprise! It was exclusively God’s initiative! This first incident sets the basis for the doctrine of grace. Grace is an undeserved gift from God. It is entirely God’s initiative:
“For God so LOVED the world, that he GAVE his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16, emphasis mine).
Here we see God doing two things: LOVING and GIVING. God plays a very active role here. Besides, grace implies the shedding of innocent blood to wash away our guilt. When God gave His only-begotten Son, it implied voluntarily sending His Son to the Cross to shed His blood for man. Make no mistake about it: the Father knew all the while what lay in store for His Son. Yet, He sent Him! No wonder John the Baptist referred to Jesus as “the Lamb of God that washes away the sins of the world”! Also, grace benefits man. Indeed, he has his guilt changed to righteousness, his spiritual liability waived, his eternal damnation converted into eternal bliss! No wonder, the songwriter called it “Amazing Grace”! This incident that took place in the Garden of Eden thousands of years ago typifies the sacrifice that Jesus was going to offer much later to God, His Father, to purchase our forgiveness. He was an innocent victim, His life was taken, His Blood was shed, His righteousness was used to clothe us as well as any other repenting sinner and, most importantly, we had absolutely no involvement in this magnanimous enterprise. It was exclusively God’s initiative in favor of sinful man! In a later chapter, we are going to study more carefully the agony and death of our Lord — the Event that blew the sun’s fuse and plunged the whole world in pitch darkness for three full hours! We shall then see more clearly the relationship between Eden and Calvary. Eden was the tragedy that had its denouement at Calvary. Indeed, what had been initiated in Eden culminated in Calvary!
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