WALKING ON WATER | KAIROS GLOBAL | APRIL 2021

Author: Bejesh Pereira

Intro: A Rex Band concert became a pivotal moment, while a one-month mission exposure changed Bejesh Pereira’s life.

The JY movement has played a vital role in helping me discover my identity as a missionary disciple of Christ. I vividly remember my introduction to the movement in 1999 as a teenager – through a Rex Band concert organised by the Torchbearers, a JY fellowship based in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.  

I was captivated by the mesmerising display of musical talent, the engaging heart-warming testimonies and soulful worship led by relatable young people like me. I left the venue convinced this was where I belonged and took a decision to attend the weekly prayer meeting on Sunday afternoons conducted by the Torchbearers. That was the first of many pivotal moments in my life as I got introduced to a loving community of young people, with whom I would journey for the next four years of my campus life. The prayer meetings, Bible study sessions, informal gatherings over cups of tea, house visits, candid personal mentoring, retreats, trainings, conferences, outreaches – all contributed significantly to my faith formation.

The contagious passion of this group of young people to share their love for Jesus was a stark contrast to the rest of my church friends. Intense prayers and selfless sacrifices for the conversion of family, classmates, friends, neighbours and even strangers were routine. A silent, constant prayer to the Holy Spirit seeking wisdom to witness the love of Christ in word and deed was something that I imbibed from them. I recall travelling in a public transport bus on the way to college, striking up a conversation with a fellow junior and inviting him to a retreat. That led to a great friendship and it was touching when I got a message from him, ten years later, thanking me for that invitation saying that it was a major turning point in his life. It taught me that even seemingly insignificant actions can have a great impact when we yield our lives to the Holy Spirit. I was able to relate to St Teresa of Calcutta’s advice to ‘do small things with great love!’

After my graduation, I had the opportunity to join a group of young professionals to go on a one-month mission exposure trip to North India. This was the first batch of JYs from the Professionals Ministry in Kerala to embark on such an initiative, titled ‘Professionals to Mission’.  We were based at the Santvana Community house in Agra and travelled to villages close to that area and made trips to ashrams at Uttarakhand and Varanasi. We supported the mission outreach of the priests and catechists based there, meeting people from different walks of life and engaging in conversations with the aim to share the Kerygma or the basic Gospel message. 

Some of the beautiful takeaways from that memorable trip were:

• I had decided that I would not carry any money with me but would contribute all I had brought with me to the group fund. This meant that I had to depend on the group leader to provide for all my needs. It gave me a deeper appreciation for the value of money and the power of simplicity. 

• Journeying with a small group of youth by train, bus, jeep and even on foot from village to village was a beautiful experience that helped us to better appreciate the beauty of praying and working together in the vineyard of the Lord. 

• We were able to meet with anointed Spirit-led missionaries with great love in their hearts for the Lord and the people they ministered to. It was truly heart-warming to listen to their mission stories testifying to the Lord’s providence and protection. 

• We also had the opportunity to visit Nainital, a spectacular hill station along the southern slopes of the Himalayan range, and the Taj Mahal. It felt great to sing a song of praise to the God of wonders from one of the Seven Wonders of the World! 

• We were able to tangibly witness the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us during the songs we sang, skits we enacted, Scripture we preached, stories we shared and worship we led. We were not well-versed in Hindi, but the Lord beautifully led us, compensating for that lack with His Grace. 

On a lighter note, I recall telling my mother after returning home from this mission trip that the house was so clean. I had a newfound appreciation for how my mother kept the house neat and tidy! 

I then returned to Dubai, the land of my birth, where God blessed me with a job at one of the leading companies in the region in 2005. Providentially, the movement was looking to initiate prayer groups in English, and I was able to be part of a vibrant community of young people in initiating such gatherings. The missionary enthusiasm imparted to me helped fuel a series of travel across the different regions in the UAE to help with the various English prayer groups initiated there during those times. Later in 2010, as the National Youth Coordinator for UAE, I was instrumental in setting up a centralised formation plan for the English-speaking youth titled LEAD. This resulted in many young people taking a deeper commitment to the Lord in various leadership roles across the country through this initiative.

My journey with the movement continued after getting married in 2011 with more responsibilities to serve at various levels. One of them was coordinating ACYC in 2012 which was a gathering of more than two thousand Catholic youth from different parishes, communities, movements in the GCC countries at Abu Dhabi, the capital city of UAE. Later in 2014, God blessed me with another job that gave me the opportunity to travel across the GCC countries. I could see God’s hand working here as later in 2016, I was entrusted with the responsibility to coordinate the GCC team for the movement. Additionally, I was able to also serve in the Uganda mission as this was mainly supported by the movement in the GCC. During this time, God also opened doors with the Church in Jordan where we were able to collaborate with them on a few initiatives and visit them to initiate the missionary journey in a new country. This period was a time of intense travel where I experienced God’s abundant grace leading us in meeting various leaders and building opportunities to collaborate the missionary work till the end of my term in 2019. 

Looking back, I marvel at the mighty work of God as my wife and I were raising a young family of three kids, while we both worked in full-time corporate roles. It is a miracle how God multiplied my time to be able to devote to this mission. When we give God first place in our lives, He enables us to walk on water – do what seems impossible, go beyond our comfort zones. Being a missionary is not about doing ‘big things’, but being open to let God work - in you and through you. 

Bejesh Pereira joined the Jesus Youth movement in India as a teenager in 1999 and worked within the various campus and parish ministries in Kerala to spread the message of the Gospel. He continued his missionary work with Jesus Youth in the Middle East, when he returned to the land of his birth, Dubai, UAE in 2005. He has served in various leadership roles and was instrumental in strengthening the movement’s network across the GCC countries and initiating outreach to Jordan. He is currently serving as the Asst Coordinator in the International Council and the International Mission Director.

Bejesh is also a certified and technically astute professional with extensive experience in driving customer-centric, cloud-first digital transformation initiatives and running IT operations across different industry domains including Automotive, Construction, FMCG, Retail, Rental and Consulting services. He currently heads the IT department for a leading F&B company in Dubai, where he lives with his wife Limiya and their children- Catherine, Lucas and Noah.