1. Introduction
The history of Philadelphia A.G. Church comes from two sources: one is the testimony written as a Preface to the church’s song book by Rev. Jacob P. John and the second source is the booklet released to mark the 40th church anniversary, titled, “Ebenezer: Thus far God has helped us”
2. Personal Salvation of the Founders
Jacob John was born on 10th May, 1945 to Mr. Thomas John and Mrs. Annamma John at Valanjavattom, Tiruvalla, Kerala. His parents were blessed with four other sons. The family hails from the Jacobite faith, attending an Orthodox Church in Niranam. The Church at Niranam was one of the seven Churches established by our Lord’s disciple – Thomas. The family was a well to do family while they were part of this traditional Orthodox Church. Jacob John’s parents were farmers by occupation, having large tracts of land under cultivation and with many herds of cows. But these riches and a family with five sons attracted unwanted attention from Jacob John’s paternal members. The family soon came under the influence of Black Magic affecting the family as a whole. And it was such a time as this that the family happened to meet a devout believer in Jesus who believed the power of Resurrection and received the Pentecostal experience. A group of such believers visited the family and there were prayers held every week. And in accordance to Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”, the family accepted Jesus as their personal Savior. The bondages of the family were forever released. The first converts of the family were Mrs. Annamma John and Jacob John. Mrs. Annamma John is one of the participants of the Pentecostal Revival that took place in Kerala. The Revival that took place there was in the lines of the Azuza Revival that took place in 1905. The young Jacob John realized that God has called him for the full time ministry and he dedicated his life for the work of the Kingdom. The members of the I.P.C Church at Valanjavattom sent him to the Bible College at Kumbanad, the headquarters of Indian Pentecostal Church which is now called by the name Hebron Bible College. And it was during his theological study at Kumbanad that he married Leelamma, solemnized by Rev. K.E. Abraham, founder of the Indian Pentecostal Church.
Mrs. & Rev. Jacob P. John with Rev. K.E.Abraham
Leelamma was the second child to Mr. Palackathrayil Samuel and Mrs. Rachelamma Samuel. The family belonged to the traditional Marthomma Church, an Orthodox Church. The family consisted of seven children. P. P. Samuel was hungry for more of God and was discontent with the materialistic and idolatrous worship in that Church. He was encouraged in his spirit to join his friends in seeking truth and was an influential person in establishing the Bethel A.G. Church in Thonniamala, Pathanamthitta District, Kerala. Bethel A.G. Church in Thonniamala is one of the oldest Pentecostal churches in Kerala.
3. 1970s: The Ministry Begins
And soon after the marriage, Jacob John left for Secuderabad to work under the guidance of Rev. T.S. Abraham. After working here for some time, the couple was blessed with a baby boy, Charles Jacob on 8th July, 1972. Rev. Jacob P. John returned to Kerala and worked in an I. P.C Church at Chingavanam, Kottayam District, Kerala. And after working there for around six months he was recommended by Mrs. Leelamma Jacob’s brother Rev. P. S. Philip, to study at Southern Asia Bible College. And he studied there from 1972 to 1974. During this time, the couple was blessed with another baby boy, Sam Jacob on March 4th, 1974.
SABC Faculty
Jacob P. John at SABC, Bangalore
The family consisting of Jacob John, Leelamma Jacob and their two year old Charles Jacob and six month old Sam Jacob was then directed by the A.G. management to work at Nelliyadi. They worked at Nelliyadi for a year, after which, they were asked to leave the place and shift to Chiluvur in Andhra Pradesh. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Rev. John Thannikal and Rev. T. C. George instructed the family to work at Chiluvur. The Church at Chiluvur is one of the earliest A.G. churches in Andhra Pradesh. It was established by Rev. Dr. Pallil and his wife Shalini. Rev. Pallil wanted to go to the U.S. for further studies and the District Committee appointed Rev. Jacob John to fill the position of Dr. Pallil as the Church Pastor in Chiluvur. Although it was a difficult task to accept, the couple took the offer and the family willingly obeyed, understanding the move of the Holy Spirit to go to Chiluvuru, Guntur. And the family reached Chiluvur in the year of 1976 in the month of September.
Rev. Jacob John and family with church members at Nellyadi, Karnataka (Rev. John Higgins at extreme right)
4. Chiluvur Ministry
Rev. D. Bhushanam and Mr. Prakash, both from the Chiluvur Church accompanied the family from Nelliyadi to Chiluvur. A young woman by the name Mrs. Satyavathi assisted the Pastor in translating the sermons from English to Telugu during Sunday Services. It was during this period that he and his wife started learning Telugu from Rev. D. Bhushanam’s son, Mr. Benjamin. God cared for them in a special way guarding them and guiding them even during the Cyclone that affected the Coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh in 1977.The destruction that was brought about by the cyclone created a burden in Jacob John for the perishing souls and looked forward to enlarge the ministry.
With the Chiluvuru church members after baptismal service.
5. Birth of PAG Church
The family was looking for an opportunity to enlarge their ministry while they kept carrying the Gospel to both Tenali and Vijayawada. As they kept praying Mr. Behadur Paul, a Gurkha and a middle aged couple, Mr. Garimella Jesudas and his wife Rahelamma from Vijayawada invited them to conduct a prayer meeting on a Friday. They kept going every Friday to their house in the city. Meanwhile a church member in Chiluvur by the name, Lakshmikantham invited the family to her son-in- law’s house in Vijayawada. The family over there in Vijayawada seemed like Cornelius inviting them to conduct a Sunday Service in their house. But they changed their mind in another few days thinking they have to look after the Pastor’s family and give some offering every Sunday. Although Jacob John refused any kind of offering, they were reluctant to allow their premises to be used as a place for Worship. But Jacob John was determined to establish a Church in Vijayawada. And on January 8, 1979, Jacob John, Leelamma Jacob, Charles Jacob and Sam Jacob left Chiluvur and reached Vijayawada. On January 14th, 1979, the first Sunday Service was held near the By-Pass Road Junction in Vidyadharapuram, Vijayawada.
A family of four: Charles (left) and Sam (right).
The Cyclone that struck Andhra Pradesh in 1977 has destroyed many houses and one such house was the very place where the first Sunday Service was held. Only a wall remained after the Cyclone. And the service was held under the shade of this wall. Pastor’s bedsheets were used as a roof. The very first service was held there with five adults and two children – Jacob John, Leelamma Jacob, Behadur Paul, Garimella Jesudas, Rahelamma, Charles Jacob and Sam Jacob – on 14th January, 1979, under the banner, Philadelphia A.G. Church.
6. Journey in the wilderness:
The Church was inspired to be on 21 day fast. And soon after the fasting prayers, five members accepted Jesus as their personal Savior and were baptized in water in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. They formed the very first people of the church to be baptized. They were Mr. Meera, Mr. Nathanael, Mrs. Jayamma, Mrs. Gangamma and Mrs. Satyavathi. Several days later the church was in fasting for another 21 days and another five people took baptism and the Church began to grow day by day. While this is not to tell that the church grew because of fasting, this is to tell that the church was very hungry for God and souls, setting everything aside to be at the feet of the Lord and spread the Gospel reaching out to every street and hill in and around the City of Vijayawada.
Meanwhile,when the monsoon arrived, they temporarily took a house for rent near the Gandhi Centre in Vidyadharapuram and when there was objection to hold a service, they were running from pillar to post to conduct services. The Church services were finally held in a thatched house right on the present By-Pass Junction where the roads to Hyderabad and Kabela meet. The church began to grow to around 200 members and wanted to have a permanent place of worship. Funds were raised within the church to purchase a land. But the amount raised was not sufficient to get a land and were forced to get a place of around 150 square yards on the Indrakeeladri Hills. The church can still be seen even from three kilometers distance. It needs 66 steps to climb in order to reach the church on the hill top. The land was bought in 1983 and the church construction began to take place.
God blessed the family with another son, Philip Jacob (Blesson) on January 12, 1984. While the Pastor was happy to have three children, God asked Leelamma whether they were willing to give him one of their three sons. Leelamma gladly accepted by confessing to give a son back to God. But she was not expecting the heartache that accompanied her decision. Amos 3:7 says “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” God was in fact conveying the message to the couple about the pain that was awaiting them. The Pastor was a proud dad to these three sons. It was a joyful family. Things changed completely when Sam, who was studying fourth grade, began to feel some giddiness and began to have painful vomiting. The Pastor took Sam to the hospital. Sam was then diagnosed with Brain Malaria and within a day, Sam drew his last breath and went to be with the Lord on 14th June, 1984. The death of Sam Jacob was a big blow to the family. The family was so much discouraged that they thought of going back to Kerala. And God spoke to the family from the verse Romans 8:38-39. The love of Christ compelled the family to stay in Andhra Pradesh and stand up to win the perishing souls.
Sam’s last journey.
It took some time for the family to digest the fact that Sam was no longer with them. Meanwhile the works on the new church was proceeding at a brisk pace with the people doing all the work in the thatched church down on the By-Pass road junction. During the month of May, 1985, one of the members of the Church came running to the house informing them that the Church has been burnt down to ashes. The family ran to the Church and found that the fire from the Church had in-fact burnt down four other neighboring houses.The intense heat during the month of May and the dry Palmyra leaves aided in spreading the fire rapidly even before the firefighters could arrive. The fire destroyed not only the church but all the materials that were stocked in it for the work related to the new church. Just as Psalms 124:1, 4-5 says, the torrent would have surely swept the family if God had not been with them.
The God who promised was faithful not just in the pastures but also in the valley. With no place to worship, the Sunday services were held in various places. God then blessed the couple with another child, a baby girl, Sherly Jacob on 17th October, 1985 bringing joy to the family after a series of hardships.
The work on the New Church was over and the Church was dedicated on 4th February, 1986, marking a new beginning after a decade of their journey in Andhra Pradesh. The Church dedication was a grand celebration with Rev. Earl Stubbs and his wife Arlene Stubbs, Rev. G. Peter and the other District Committee Members participating in the joyous celebration. The Church on the hill is visible to almost everyone in Vidyadharapuram. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” The Church rightly represented what Jesus said in Matthew 5:14. It did not fail to witness Christ to the people of Vijayawada.
Rev. Jacob John at the church site after its destruction by fire
The current church premises that the congregation uses to fellowship together was an outcome of our discomfort. One of the persistent issues that often troubled the church was the landslide during the Monsoon Season. The piece of land opposite the church would glide and collapse very often and the church had to spend a large deal of money to build it back. In 2010, a large portion of the land on the hill was destroyed by the landslide and the place became unsuitable to hold services there. Moreover the cost of repair was beyond the reach of the church. During this time, a large area of the swamp that occupied the Labour Colony area in Vidyadharapuram was furnished like a football ground and the services were held under temporary tents for around 18 months. Meanwhile a land of around 30 cents was bought by the church after raising money from its members and a temporary asbestos shed was constructed and opened for the congregation on 14th January, 2012 in remembrance of 33 years of God’s faithfulness. Mr. Doppalapudi Eswar, Mr. Murthy Sandarapu, Mr. Manda Suresh, Mr. Badarla Simeon, Mr. Garimella Srinivas and Mr. Varla Ramaiah Garu were very much influential in building the current place of worship.
Philadelphia A.G. Church’s congregation in the year 1985 before the fire accident
The church in 2025
7. Valley of Death
The church went through the Valley of Death in the year 2013 when the pioneering Pastor, Rev. Jacob P. John went to be with the Lord. Rev. Jacob John is very much respected in the church and he was a father figure to most of the members. On his journey back home from Kerala, he suffered a heart stroke on March 8th, 2013 and collapsed inside the Train’s washroom. He was hospitalized for 40 days and on April 18th, 2013, Rev. Jacob P. John went to be with the Lord.
8. Thus far God has helped us:
God comforted the family by promising Rev. Charles Jacob, from Isaiah 9:6 that God himself will take the governance of the church on to his shoulders - “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” God has been faithful to his promise and has been an Ebenezer. Thus far God has helped us. God enabled the church through the Holy Spirit to fulfill his Great Commission by empowering many young men and women to reach out to different places and serve as missionaries in different parts of the State and Country. In addition to sending out many pastors, the church has also given birth to Hebron A.G. Church at Chodavaram and Krupanidhi A.G. Church at Vijayawada. The church premises have been enlarged and around 20,000 people attend the church.
9. Faithfulness of God
For nearly two millennia, the Church has left a profound impact on this world, since it knows a Savior, Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who laid the foundations of this earth and that of the Church, promising that no gates of hell will overcome it. Philadelphia A.G. Church is a witness to that great promise.