Obituary- John J. Y. Arul

Apostle, Dr. John J. Y. Arul (J. J. Y. Arul) was born to Mary Veelabhai and John Martin Samuel in Salem, India. He is one of seven children in his family and is the 5th born son. He was close to his father and his father loved him dearly since his birth. Unfortunately, his father passed away when Arul was just 12 years old. After the death of his father, he felt a massive void in his life and even tried taking his own life a few times by taking poison but the Lord kept him alive because he had a special purpose for him.

When Arul was a teenage boy, he was searching for the love of God and he tried his hand at several religions but still didn’t find the love he was looking for to fill the void in his life. He even joined the Anglican Church choir but did not have a relationship with God. When he was 16 years old and living in Chennai, some of his relatives (girls) living across the street from him invited him to come to a gospel crusade led by a woman evangelist, Sis. Sarah Navaroji. He had a football (soccer) game that day so he invited his friends to go check out this meeting. After the game, he decided to go and see what the preacher had to say and to make fun of her with his friends, but unfortunately, none of them came. When he got to the meeting ground (SIA Ground) there were over 10,000 people. He did not want anyone to see him so he found the only tree in the back of the ground, which was in the dark and sat there on a stone.

Sis. Sarah Navaroji came on the stage and sang a few gospel songs beautifully and before she started to preach, she had a prophetic word. She called out and started speaking things about his life saying, “Young man under the tree, you have been searching for God and you have tried out many religions; you came to the conclusion that God doesn’t exist and even tried to commit suicide but you did not die. Tonight, I want to tell you that Jesus loves you and He has a great purpose for your life.” Arul looked around to see if there was anyone else under the tree and realized he was the only one sitting under the only tree on SIA Ground. After the meeting concluded, he was curious to find out more about how she knew so much about his life so he went to meet her as she was coming down from the stage. He asked how she knew so much information about his life. She told him, the Holy Spirit revealed your life to me. He asked her, where is the Holy Spirit? She said He lives inside of me and if you confess your sins to Jesus Christ, ask for forgiveness, invite Him to live in your heart, and then you can receive the Holy Spirit too. Later that night, Arul accepted Jesus Christ into his life by confessing his sins to him and asking for forgiveness. Later that year he also received water baptism and the Holy Spirit baptism.

When he was 19, he became an entrepreneur and partnered with the owner of a chocolate business company called Johnson and Johnson Dippy’s Queens Chocolate. He eventually bought out the two partners and was very successful in his business ventures. He continued to serve at his local church and was mentored by his Pastor Sadhu Benny. He used to pray at a local mountain in Chennai every Friday and one day during his prayer time on the mountain, he asked God about the purpose of his life and why He chose him. He heard an audible voice respond to him saying read Isaiah 42:6-10. He looked around to see who was talking to him, but he didn’t find anyone. That is when he realized it was the voice of God giving him the purpose and calling for his life. He started preaching in the streets of India, traveling to North India to evangelize and came into ministry full time to serve the Lord in his 20’s. He pioneered his first church in Nilgiris and planted several churches in that district through the next few years. He was invited by late Rev. Dr. Y. Jeyaraj to join the Assembly of God organization. The Lord used him mightily through prophetic ministry and healing ministry. He was transferred to Aruppukkottai where he served as the senior pastor for several years before he took over New Hope Power Assemblies of God church in Madurai with 35 people in the congregation. The church now has more than 2500 members. He has planted over 100 churches in India. He has traveled to 43 countries to preach the Gospel and to minister to people.

Dr. Arul founded the South Indian Assembly of God organization and served as the superintendent of the organization leading over 400 pastors and churches. He was one of the founders of The Synod of Pentecostal Churches (SPC), which was established in 2008 with over 40,000 Pentecostal churches in India and he most recently served as the treasurer of the organization. He had a passion for preaching the gospel to the nations and he worked tirelessly hosting big and small crusades all over India. He led thousands of people to the Lord. He hosted international evangelist like Reinhard Bonnke, T.L. Osborne, Daniel Kolenda, and Mike Silva. His Television ministry and Media ministry reached people from many nations with the gospel.

He is the founder of Love and Care Homes established in 1995 through which he became the father of over 4000 children who are either homeless, orphans or destitute. Love and Care home provides all basic amenities with medical care, free education, and shelter. Pastor Arul even helped with the wedding expenses of so many of the young adults who graduated from the Love and Care Homes. The children from such adverse scenarios, without a shelter witness rude demonstrations of hunger (for days together), abuse, and illiteracy. Every child who is brought to Love and Care home has a heart-wrenching story to tell. After the 2004 Tsunami, he started an additional orphanage to take care of the children who lost their parents and also built homes for widows and distributed boats to the most needy fishermen to help their families.

In the early days of his ministries, he also discovered a group of indigenous people in the Nilgiri Mountains of India and later brought civilization to them and planted a church leading many tribal people to Christ. He was persecuted many times for preaching gospel in India and was beaten along with his wife and ministry associates on one of the trips to the tribal area and was unconsciousness after losing a lot of blood. Thankfully some of the missionaries visiting from Australia who went ahead of Arul found him and his team, gave first aid, and saved their lives. He had to get several stitches on his head and it took the entire team several weeks to recover from the blood loss and broken bones. He passionately preached the gospel to the prisoners in the local prison and led so many of them to Christ. He served food to the poor through Feed the Hungry program. Most recently, he donated groceries weekly to help over 300 families impacted by Covid-19 and had no income. You can see a list of all his ministries on our website.

Arul was a lifelong learner and he holds the following degrees BCom, BTh, MA, MTh and MBA. He was honored by Jerusalem University with Lifetime Achievement Award and Doctorate of Philosophy on July 2016. Apostle. Dr. John J. Y. Arul was a visionary leader, with a passion for sharing the gospel around the globe, compassionate toward people, with a generous heart and humble spirit. He lived his life through and through for Christ and he loved his family well. He loved to cook and often hosted and cooked for small and large groups of people. He enjoyed singing and wrote over fifty songs.

John J. Y. Arul who died because of complications from Covid-19 on July 7, 2020, at age 63 is survived by Malliga, his wife of 37 years; his five children: Priya Murphy, Sophia Lilyquist, Samuel Arul, Mercia Arul, and Moses Arul and four grandchildren.

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