How it began?
I was raised in a Christian family, but my father and mother had come out of a Hindu background. My father, Pastor Sundara Rao Meesala, heard the Gospel for the first time when he was almost dying in a hospital at age 17. In that hospital he had a profound experience with Christ that transformed his life, causing him to reject his old faith. He wanted to commit his life to preach the same Gospel that had changed his life. After being discipled in a local church and one year of Bible training he became a Pastor of a local church.
My parents were childless for the first few years of their marriage, but after years of praying, I was born. Growing up I lived a double life. I lived one way with my friends and a different way with my family and church. It wasn’t until I was 17 that the Gospel of Jesus Christ finally took hold and I accepted Christ as my personal savior. At first I had no enthusiasm to follow in my father’s footsteps as a preacher because I saw all the difficulties my parents faced in their ministry. I wanted to get a good job and help my family financially. But like Hannah in the Bible, my parents had dedicated me to ministry before I was even born. So in 1997, reluctantly, I entered seminary. I did well in my studies but the entire time, questions gnawed at my conscience: “Am I here for the right reason?” “Am I here just to please my parents?” For two and a half years, I prayed to hear a special call for my ministry.
The 10/40 Window
The call came to me in the form of a startling vision. In April 1999, just before my graduation, I saw a hand from above quickly draw a world map in the sky and a small box within the map. Then I heard a voice saying, “Jesus is going to come soon; be prepared and make people prepared.” Afterward I was a bit confused. I prayed to understand what the box on the map meant.
A few weeks later someone was sharing a prayer request in the chapel. With the help of a projector, he showed a map of the world and pointing at a rectangle inside it he said, “This is called The 10/40 Window. The most unreached people on earth.” That was the first time I heard of the 10/40 Window but not the first time I’d seen that box! It was the one in my vision. And it included India. I shared the epiphany with my father and within two years, when i was 21 years old, Reach All Nations began.
