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Remembering Bro. Vally

Bro. Bhalerao

Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India.

There are so many fond and treasured memories of this precious brother.

I don't exactly remember when and where I first met Brother Vally. I think it was at the Methodist Center (Mumbai) in 1994. I met him once more in 1996, at Little Flower Nursery School in Borivli, Mumbai, during a convention with Bro. Gan as the speaker. And later again at a convention in Khandala, Maharashtra.

Ever since I met him, both of us felt strangely attached to each other, as if we'd known each personally for ages! We began loving and respecting each other in the Lord...something like...'the deep calleth unto the deep!'

As I look back and reflect I am ever grateful to the Lord for letting me come in contact with him. I appreciate his life and ministry. I was especially impressed and blessed by his lively testimony and his dedication to the Lord and His Word.

Brother Vally was a lover of good Christian books and magazines. He was a voracious reader and encouraged me to read more as well. He shared with me such rare books as 'The Two Babylons', several missionary biographies, magazines, books on health, and interesting internet printouts on church union, etc.

As I was writing this, I found one of the books he had arranged to be sent to me. The title is 'Why is this happening to me? - How God brings blessing from our pain' by Wayne Monebleau. Actually, when he sent me the book he was going through a lot of indescribable physical pain and mental stress - a real sufferer himself, and yet concerned about my pain and problems which were comparatively next to nothing!

One particular chapter of this book is titled: 'What is a Wounded Healer?' Over the phone he often told me, "Bro. Bhalerao, always think of Jesus Christ and what he suffered on the cross."

On a human level, I humbly say that Bro. Vally was my wounded healer. What a believer! What a brother!! What a real Christian!!!

He was a good and seasoned adviser and a concerned counselor - a man of convictions, a practical christian having a burden for souls, and praying for them. He loved me and my family very dearly. He always remembered our birthdays and sent birthday greetings either by phone or mail.

Brother Vally and his family have been a great source of blessing to me and mine.

His loving, broad, and inviting smile is indelibly green on my mind. He was a man of few words....a man in whom was no guile!

My dear brother Vally is gone to be with His Lord...He is waiting to be resurrected and reunited with his loved ones and with the Bride saints in the rapture. By God's grace, I am one of those 'waited for' ones.

The time for the blessed reunion is drawing nearer, faster than ever before. I am certainly eager to meet my dear departed precious brother Vally, never to depart again. It is definitely going to be a blessed resurrection morn for all the Bride saints of the ages!

As I close, the lines of a hymn are fresh in my mind and heart:

Blessed be the tie that binds

Our hearts in christian love;

The fellowship of kindred minds

Is like to that above.

....And hope to meet again...

Amen

In the never failing love of the Lord,

Bro. P.G. Bhalerao

Sis. Shiny Thilakar,

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Uncle Vally was very dear to me.

I remember him as a wonderful person, a caring adviser, active, generous, fun-loving, and frank. He never liked giving anyone even a little trouble, even when he was ill.

He was the best uncle I ever had in my life, even though we weren't related by blood. And no one could ever replace him. He used to call me his dearest niece, and always over-complimented me on buying a new outfit.

He loved to read, and passed on some of that interest to me. I recall him buying good spiritual books and book marks for my birthday and then chiding me to 'read, Shiny, read' :-) He also loved sweets, especially after meals, and I bought a lot of them for him.

My fondest memories spent with him are about the crazy jokes I used to crack which set him on a laughing spree. There we would be - the two of us - laughing our socks off over something silly until the tears rolled down our cheeks.

When I was going through a rough time in my life, I used to share my troubles with him. He was good listener and confidante, and would counsel me on many things. His prayers upheld me in the darker times of my life, when I was finding it hard to make ends meet for want of a proper job, and was undergoing a lot of spiritual problems. His messages on prayer and faith, and his words of edification in the church can never be forgotten. Anyone who knew him well would say, he lived what he preached.

The house always seemed full with him in it.

Even after I left Coimbatore and began working in Mumbai, he kept in touch with me. We had regular long phone conversations when we talked about anything and everything. 

I was with him for 2 weeks before he died, and it broke my heart watching him during those last days. I left only a day before he passed away, as my superiors refused to grant me anymore leave, and I still regret not being there in the end.

When he died, it was like a great light had gone out.

I love him dearly, miss him unbearably, but believe with my whole heart that we shall see him again in the coming of the Lord.

Sis. Shiny Thilakar

Pastor Shadrach K. Joseph
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

I first met Bro. Vally in the year 1994 while I was in Mumbai to attend the Nasrapur Convention which he had arranged, Bro. Gan being the main speaker. He welcomed me with a warm smile, made me fell right at home. I stayed with him for 5 days. 

After the convention, Bro. Vally accompanied me to Coimbatore, along with his then Pastor Hubert D'Souza, for some ministry work in the area, and stayed at my place. He enjoyed the Tamil Nadu style sambar, idli, dosa, chutney, and fell in love with Mysore Pak (a famous Indian ghee sweet).

We had formed an instant bond, and were in constant touch after that in relation to ministry issues.

In 1995, I attended another Convention in Mumbai and had a chance to meet with him once more.Then followed a long gap while I struggled with various financial and spiritual problems until the year 2002, when I landed in Mumbai again.

It was a joyous reunion. Bro. Vally and I caught up on good times, and spent hours discussing the Word. It was he who was the driving force behind my re-entering the ministry. His compassion and encouragement saw me through some tough times.

In 2003, Bro. Vally helped me to organize a Convention in Chennai, The Nilgiris, and Coimbatore. 

In the year 2005, he accompanied me on a ministry trip to Andhra Pradesh. It was a fruitful year.

The same year, I asked Bro. Vally for his daughter's hand in marriage although aprehensively, as I was not financially sound at the time. His reply warmed my heart.

He said: "Shadrach, money doesn't matter very much if God is with you. If it is God's will, He will see this through, He will make a way for it all to happen. I would be happy to know Benita marries a spiritual man, one who lives by the Word of God. And I know I can trust you. The rest is in God's hands."

The family moved to Coimbatore at the close of 2006, and I was married to Bro. Vally's daughter Sis. Benita Serrao on May 26th, 2007.

The next year, we were shocked with the news of his illness.

Bro. Vally had been ordained as an elder in our church and had become a pillar for the congregation. He was a living testimony of the grace and power of God. I could always trust and leave the congregation in his worthy hands while I was out of station on ministry work. His words of admonition and edification always strengthened and held the church in trying times.

All through his illness Bro. Vally never failed to rise early every morning for his devotions, even when he was in pain and found getting up difficult. He spent hours in prayer and reading the Word. He never failed to meditate on the Word of God and was an example to us all. 

Even in the darkest times of his suffering, he never lost his faith in the living God, he never lost heart, never complained against the Lord. I remember encouraging him, praying for him during those dark days, pleading with the Lord to heal him, and urging him to expect a miracle.

He was the one person who could smile and say, "I have cancer."

I remember the good times I shared with him, feasting on the Word of God, spirit-filled times of prayer and discussion that went on into the wee hours of the night, light moments spent in laughter and easy companionship.

What I admired in him the most was his discipline, his silent determination - when he put his mind to something he would plod on through rain and sun to get it done, his patience, and his to-the-point way of talking.

Two months before his passing, when he had grown weak and used to mostly lie in a state of drowsiness, I was in the room with him alone in prayer. I remember laying my hand on his head lovingly, and asking the Lord, "Lord, it is enough, he has suffered so much. Are you going to heal him?" Then I heard the voice of the Lord telling me that he would be calling His servant home soon. At this I felt the tears rolled down my cheeks and hastily left the room so that he would not see me weeping. I hid this from my family though, as they were not in a condition to accept this as yet.

Two days before he went to be with the Lord, as he drifted in and out of consciousness, a brother from our church came to see him, and before he left, Bro. Vally showed him the thumbs up-thumbs down sign and said, "Brother, Jesus has the victory. Satan is defeated. Jesus is up, Satan is down." That was a great testimony to us all of his undying love for and trust in God.

We were all there with him when he died: his wife, his daughter, myself, and my mother. Before he left us, he opened his eyes wide, and raised his hand to heaven, he looked at all of us as if he was leaving, and then he went to his heavenly home. That sight was a glorious one - a saint leaving this earthly home to go be with His heavenly Father.


He was like the father I never had. Although I miss him dearly, I know that today, he stands in the presence of God in joy and peace. And I also know that we will meet each other soon at the coming of Christ our Lord.

Pastor Shadrach K. Joseph




Sis. Hilda Serrao
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

Vally was a wonderful husband, a loving father, and a beautiful human being.

He was the quiet one in the family. But he always won us over with his quietness, fortitude, calm, and strength. He was our anchor. Sometimes, I and my daughter Benita would joke about how he could remain unaffected even in the midst of an earthquake. It turned out to be so true, for even when he was suffering with his illness, he always maintained his faith in God, and managed to hold himself together through the worst of it.

I always admired him for his efficiency - the ability to find out whatever you asked him about, and finish whatever was needed to be done. I remember when I wanted something in the house fixed and we both went from shop to shop searching for the odd part that was needed to fix it, and didn't find it anywhere. Then Vally dug up the old Yellow Pages and poured through dozens of contact numbers until he found a store selling it, and got it for me. He was so resourceful, so helpful, so thoughtful.

Sometimes it irked me how he even helped those who used to take advantage of him, and whenever I would tell him this he'd say, "Hilda, it shouldn't matter what other people say or do, we should be like Christ."

He was always considerate of my thoughts and needs. I remember how even when my mother was ill, and we used to take turns taking care of her nights, he would spend the night caring for her, and then be up the next morning for work.

We went through a lot of hardship together, weathered numerous storms, and found that by holding on tight to one another in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, there was no obstacle you could call insurmountable.

I could always trust in him, always find hope in knowing he would be with me through all the rough times. He used to sit and discuss the Word of God with me in detail, would explain the things I couldn't understand, would buy spiritual books for me and urge me to read them. I cherished those times we spent together reveling in the beauty of the Word. He was my companion, my guide, my friend, my love.

When Vally landed a job in Muscat, he didn't think like the others. Most people who didn't have family quarters paid for by the company they were employed in or get family accommodation allowance, preferred living alone, their families in another part of the world. But Vally wanted me and Benita close, so he arranged for us to come and live with him, even when his pay was in the junior package, and the rents were higher than the family accommodation allowance the company provided. For him, family came first. H lavished so much care and attention on me and Benita. There was nothing that he wouldn't do for us. He even told me it wasn't necessary for me to continue working after Benita was born, that if I wished, I could stay at home. 

When we left Mumbai for Coimbatore, Vally was all set for a retired life. It was a welcome relief from the heat and bustle  of the Mumbai suburbs. He got more involved in the ministry, spent his days gardening, reading good books, and going for long walks in the country. We got to spend a lot of quality time together, had a chance to renew our relationship, our friendship again. He loved playing with Shadow our dog who used to follow him everywhere, and sitting out on the porch to watch the sun go down.

Even though Vally wasn't good with languages, and never picked up Tamil even when we did, he managed to make him understood in English and sign language, and ended up having a lot Tamil friends, and testifying to many people in Coimbatore. He was so easily adjustable and likable. He made do with whatever was at hand without complaint. He adapted to any situation smoothly and made others feel comfortable as well. That was his art, his talent.

Many used to say Vally was such a straight arrow he wasn't made for this world. This was so true. He didn't have a bad bone in his body. He never thought less of anyone, never put anyone down, was always ready to forgive and forget, and live in harmony with even those who did him harm.

He was very knowledgable about things and could carry on a conversation about anything with anyone.

He was very well respected in church. The people loved him dearly. He became 'Dada' for everyone. The brethren always came by to ask him for advice about spiritual as well as material things. The youth too shared their problems with him and asked them to pray for them. He was a source of encouragement to many and an example of the Christian life of faith and forbearance to all.

I remember one day, when he had grown weak and never left his room much, he told me, 

"Ba, I think my time has come. I feel the Lord is calling me home."

I asked him, 

"Vally, don't you believe that the Lord can heal you?"

He said, 

"It's not that ba. I know the Lord can heal me. But, if my time is up, and my work finished, then He can also call me home."

I then asked him if he was afraid.

"I'm not afraid of death, Hilda, I know I will be with the Lord. But the only thing I feel bad about, is that I will have to leave all of you."

In another one of his lucid moments, Vally spoke to me about the righteousness of God. He asked me if I thought I was righteous before God. I told him I didn't think I was, but that the Lord's righteousness rendered me worthy before Him. He said, 

"Hilda, we can all talk about the Lord imputing His righteousness to us, but until we yield to perfection, we are still nothing, still zero. I'm thinking about myself, my life, what I have learned, what I know about the Word, the good I have done...everything is just a big fat zero, just dung...only Christ is our perfection, only He matters. When we come to the end of it all, we still haven't reached the mark, we have to go a long way before we attain to the righteousness of Christ in perfection."

When it became difficult for him to sit up by himself, I used to help him raise himseld, and then prop him up with fluffed cushions and pillows, and joke, 

"You never hugged me this much in your life, Val, but you're making it up for it now." 

And his booming laughter would echo through the house.

A few days before Vally passed away, as he lay sleepily in bed, he suddenly said, 

"Hilda, I want to go somewhere where there is peace, someplace peaceful. There is no peace here. I want to go to my home."

I thought he was talking about our new home which was under construction at the time, and so I asked him if that was it.

"No ba," he said, "I want to go home."

And then I saw that it was time for him to go.

His passing was peaceful, surrounded by the people he loved, waiting on the Lord, in the hope of seeing His face in glory. When he left us he gave us all one last wide-eyed parting glance, and then it was as if angels carried his soul off to meet His Lord.

Sis. Hilda Serrao