It was a process for me to understand the message of grace, but now I am totally convinced.

Here I am, Pastor William Cary. I was born in a Christian family, went to Church regularly irregular, and was a very stubborn and disobedient child to my uneducated parents. Born in remote areas of Kalisapudi of West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, I studied up to 12th Standard. I became an atheist telling my friends that there was no God, because if there was a God why is there injustice, why is there poverty and inequality, and why should I suffer with this kind of suffering. So I joined those extreme groups living away from God the Creator.

Instantly healed
My mother was a good believer, and she used to pray for me regularly and advise me to come to Church and pray to Jesus. “He will save you from every problem, poverty and sickness and He is the only way.” But I never listened to her words.

One day when I went to my bed as usual I suddenly got a great pain in my chest - unbearable. I didn’t know what to do but suddenly remembered my mother’s words:  “Whenever you are in trouble pray to Jesus. He is the very present help in trouble.” So I prayed to Jesus: “If you are a real God then save me from this terrible pain and I will serve you throughout my life.” Instantly God heard my prayer and the pain was completely gone. Praise to Jesus!

The Church was born
From that time onward inner change started and the desire to serve the Lord was increasing in my heart. I made a decision to go to Bible College, so I packed all my things and landed up in Hyderabad with only a little money. By the grace of God I successfully completed the Bible training course, and I was looking for placement in the ministry. God spoke to me in a vision that I should start a Church in Tarnaka, Hyderabad. In obedience to God’s call the Church was started and it increased day by day. 

In the year 1996 I married Hepshibha Bahanumathi who comes from a Hindu Brahmin background. She became a great help in the ministry. We were blessed with three boys: Paul, Stewart, and Peter.
The first years of the ministry
In the beginning days of the ministry I was so pious for the Lord; fasting and praying for 40 days and 21 days, teaching and preaching. Legalism and condemnation messages were plentiful with all the hard work and good works to be done. However, the Church was not growing to expectations, so I was disappointed and discouraged and didn’t know what to do.

Praise be to God, the Spirit of God convinced me about the grace of God, and I started preaching and practicing grace messages. Then I could see the change in my own life, in our marriage, in the life of the Church and in the ministry.

The new beginning
When we started to understand and preach the gospel about God’s grace we started to see new people come to the Church every week. So many have received a new life! Many of us had never heard this message before. We had been under condemnation and sin consciousness and had always struggled with guilt. We had not been able to experience the freedom and joy that is in the faith in Jesus. But now we have so much freedom and we know that God has a special love for us. Before we always preached about how we had to love God but seldom about how much God loves us.

We also have many testimonies about how the Lord has healed relationships and families after they heard the message about the grace of God. The Church has grown in number, spiritually and also financially. We are so grateful to those who have come and helped us to understand more about God’s love and grace.

Pastor William Cary,
Senior Pastor of Aenon Church,
12-13-829/87 Tarnaka, Secunderabad,
Andhra Pradesh, India

Today Aenon Church has several Churches in Hyderabad and more than one hundred Churches in villages in Andhra Pradesh.
- Editor’s note