Our father, Rev. Dr. Chelliah Russelliah was born on May 2nd, 1948 to A. Chelliah and Kammalam in a village called Balispuram (near Thakkalai) Kanya Kumari District. He was the third child among four brothers. He lost his mother when he was 12 years old. His father passed away when he was a young adult. The four brothers took care of themselves and brought each other up. He and his brothers joined their family in building up the congregation and the actual building construction of the CSI Church at Balispuram.
Our father was called for the ministry when he was 16 years old. He began his ministry in Hindu villages and was involved in church planting at Pacode. His involvement with the VBS ministries also started at a very young age. He conducted VBS programs all over South India at various churches. He joined South India Biblical Seminary (SIBS), in 1969. He obtained his G.Th degree from SIBS, which he later upgraded to B.Th at Andhra Christian Theological College (ACTC) where he continued on to complete his B.D. He also received his deacon ordination from Medak Diocese, AP after completing G.Th. After completing G.Th, our father was offered a position as Associate Pastor at St. Thomas S.P.G Tamil Church. On May 9th 1974, he married our mother, K. Christobel, daughter of S. Manas and A. Kannagabai (Mathoor, K.K Dist.) He was 26 and she was 21.
While pastoring at St. Thomas, our parents studied at ACTC together and completed their B.D and B.Th degrees respectively. A year after his deacon ordination, he received his presbyter ordination and became a full-fledged minister of God. On the weekends, and in their free time, our parents would ride their scooter to remote villages to preach the gospel. Our mother would gather the women and children, while our father waited at the village school, where he would preach.
Thus Gilgal Gospel Mission was born. God honored their efforts, and three churches were planted through this personal evangelism strategy. GGM was birthed to preach Christ and plant churches among the unreached of India. The focus was to go out into areas where the gospel had never before been heard to bring souls for Christ. In 1979 GGM became a registered organization and our parents returned to Chennai. They spent a year at Hindustan Bible Institute (HBI), where our father served on the Faculty. Our father then continued onto M.Th at FFRRC majoring in Old Testament.
In 1981, five months after joining M.Th, and eight years after of marriage, our parents were blessed with their first born – Thephil Christobel Russelliah. They named her “prayer” in Hebrew as God had answered their prayers for a child.
After completing M.Th, the three Russelliah's returned to Chennai, and our father continued teaching at HBI, for another year.
In 1985, our father took his first trip abroad to the United States of America. He spent two months there, visiting Churches and promoting GGM as well as looking into opportunities to continue his studies abroad. He moved to the USA in 1986, and his family joined him in 1987. He completed his Th.M at Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago and continued onto Ph.D in Old Testament at Trinity Divinity International University, Deerfield (near Chicago).
In 1989, our parents were blessed with their second child – Thehil Christobel Russelliah, born another eight years after their first born. They named her “praise” in Hebrew as they praised God for giving them another child.
Our father returned to India, after completing his Ph.D in 1995, but left us in the USA with our mother for another two years, as we were in the middle of school.
In 1998, when we were in 11th and 3rd standard respectively, we were brought back to India.
In December of 1998, our father's body was ravaged by a stroke, a brain hemorrhage, that paralyzed the left side of his body. However, this setback did not hinder his activities or his ministry. GGM has flourished over the past ten and a half years, has crossed milestones and has accomplished so many things for the glory of God.
In May of 2007, the same month of their marriage, our parents welcomed their first son-in-law, Christopher Lee Roby, into the family. Our father had the honor and privilege of giving me (Thephil), his first born, in marriage.
In September of 2008, our parents became grandparents with the birth of their first grand-daughter Ava Christobel Roby. Our father spent one and a half unforgettable months (Dec-Jan 2008&09) with his grand-daughter, eldest daughter and son-in-law. This was the last time that he would see them.
On May 11th 2009, I (Thehil) left to visit my sister in the USA and to take part in GGMA's promotional activities. It was the last time that I (Thehil) saw him.
On the night of May 29th we received a phone call from our mother telling us to return to India as soon as possible.
On Sunday, May 31st at 10 am, our father died with our mother at his bedside. We were in Frankfurt, Germany half-way through our journey back to say goodbye to our father.
Thephil Russelliah Roby & Thehil Christobel Russelliah
June 6, 2009