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Luxury calling
Thursday May 18 2006 17:40 IST
G Babu Jayakumar
The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests;
but the Son of man hath nowhere to lay head
— Matthew 8:20
Heeding the message in the above verse could have helped the
pastor’s family in Chennai avert the trauma it underwent about a
month back. When Pastor David Mohan of the New Life Assemblies of
God Church was out of the country, his son, also a pastor, was
abducted by a gang. The gang called him out of his home on the
pretext of a prayer and caught hold of him, demanding a few lakhs
as ransom. He managed to wriggle out of their clutches after paying
some money drawn from an ATM.
So far you had heard of extortionists abducting scions of affluent
families and celebrities — people who lead a luxurious life and are
seen to have the potential to pay up. Now they seem to have found a
new target in those who are supposed to be humble spiritual leaders.
It is a pointer to the increasingly opulent lifestyles of some Christian
preachers, who splurge in a manner that can make even the manor-
born industrialist look like a spartan.
When David Mohan’s son was called for prayers, he drove down in a
Honda City. His father, a charismatic spiritual leader, drives around in
a Benz. The porch in their sprawling church premises on the arterial
Anna Salai Road has seen many of the swish models of cars in India,
heralding their roll-out. And the senior pastor’s wardrobe can give
aristocratic dandies an inferiority complex.
Hinn’s close friend Oral Granville Roberts has also lived an ultra
luxurious life as an evangelist, creating several controversies like the
one in 1987 when he threatened his followers that God will call him
home if he failed to raise $8 million to start the City of Faith Medical
Center. The money, needless to say, was mobilised even though the
Center was closed down after eight years. As far as his lifestyle went,
he and his son, who took over from him, were members of the elite
Country Club, Southern Hills, in Tulsa, where the membership fee
itself was $18,000, and the posh Thunderbird Country Club in
Rancho Mirage, California.
For decades, his expensive suits (that are said to include Armanis),
imported posh cars, ritzy mansions and overall aristocratic lifestyle
have raised many eyebrows in the Christian fraternity. Not one to be
bogged down by criticism, he continues to live like a king. When in
London, the Dinakarans prefer to shop at Harrods. When he is out of
town, he insists on commuting only in limousines. And the former
bank officer hailing from a small village called Surandai, in Tamil
Nadu’s Tirunelveli district, never misses an opportunity to rub
shoulders with powerful politicians.
Not too far from Nalumavadi and Surandai is Pannavillai, the native
village of Ezra Sargunam of the Ecumenical Church of India.
Sargunam, a regular fixture at DMK meetings, was canvassing for
the party by traversing the state in his own custom-made van.
Nalumavadi, Pannavillai and Surandai come under the Christian belt
in southern Tamil Nadu where the early missionaries like Robert
Caldwell set up churches in the 19th century. History, however, is
replete with anecdotes about the frugality of those missionaries.
Caldwell is said to have taken 33 years to construct the Holy Trinity
Church in Idayankudi and lived in a hovel whose walls he could touch
by stretching his hands. The early missions and student hostels
subsisted on income earned through pounding of rice and selling of
eggs.
Today's evangelists, having come a long way, may take a cue from
Benny Hinn and engage personal armed bodyguards and bouncers.
Perhaps that will keep the extortionists at bay.