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| Itinerary for Bishop Gideon Devanesan | |
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Bishop Devanesan's hosts for the visit will
be John & Esther Prabhakar. They may be contacted with questions about
his visit at 815-562-8996.
Tuesday, March 6 - Arrival Wednesday, March 7 - ELCA Churchwide office tour and meeting with Division of Global Mission partners and Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson Thursday, March 8 - Meet with NI Synod staff and conference deans. Evening at Zion, Rockford for Men's dinner at 6:30. Contact Zion at 815-964-4609 for more information. Friday, March 9 - Tour Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Center, Oregon. Potluck and presentation at Faith, Rochelle at 6pm. All are invited. Bring a dish to pass for a potluck. There will be special music, spicy Indian food, and fun & games. Bishop Devanesan will give a presentation about the ministries of the Lutheran Church in India. There will be time for questions. Come enjoy an informational and inspirational evening. Please RSVP to Pr. Steve Dow at 815-562-7575. Saturday, March 10 - Congregational Resourcing Event at Kishwaukee College, Malta. Worship and potluck at Bethlehem, DeKalb at 5:30 pm. RSVP to 815-758-3203. Sunday, March 11 - Bishop preaches at Our Savior's, Rockford at the 8:30 am and 11:00 am worship services. Adult forum presentation at 9:45 am. Monday, March 12 - Travel to the Quad Cities. Visit to Trinity Health Systems Tuesday, March 13 - Visits to Augustana College and Jenny Lind Chapel Wednesday, March 14 - departure |
Brief bio for Bishop Devanesan More information about Bishop Devanesan Photos from Bishop Devanesan's visit
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The Right Rev. Dr. Gideon Devanesan, Bishop of Arcot Lutheran Church Bishop Gideon is from the State of Tamilnadu in Southern India. He attended the Seminary in Madurai and the India Concordia Lutheran Seminary in Nagerkoil, near Cape Comorin or Kanyakumari, the southern most point of India. He met his wife Eunice there and were married in 1976. He completed his Mission Training in Germany. He was given a Doctorate in 2006 at the 300th Anniversary celebration of Ziegenbalg’s arrival in India. He is the Bishop of Arcot Lutheran Church which is comprised of 40,000 members in about 250 worshipping communities. They have only around 40 pastors but many lay evangelists. They have over 90 schools with 50,000 children attending. India is only 3% Christian. He is also the President of the Union of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India (UELCI) an affiliation of eleven Lutheran bodies in India with a membership of about two million. He was the Chair of the South Asian Regional Fellowship of Global Fellowship of Christian Youth. The Tsunami of December 26, 2005 affected most of the areas of the Arcot Lutheran Church. Bishop Devanesan led the Relief and Reconstruction effort in partnership with LWF, DanMission, DanChurchAid and other agencies. Bishop Devanesan has traveled extensively around the world. This is his third visit to the United States. He visited Thailand recently. Bishop Gideon is very musical. He has a good singing voice and also plays the violin. He loves hunting and rides a motorcycle, especially when visiting some of his congregations in remote areas. The Bishop and his wife, Eunice have two children. Their son, Prasanna David, is a missionary teaching Computer Science in Nepal while also doing Ministry. Their daughter Hannah Piriyadharshani, is doing her PhD in Cape Town, South Africa. She was first in the University when she got her Master’s Degree in Microbiology. She would be working in the same field in South Africa with special emphasis on HIV/AIDS. |
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More Information
about Bishop Devanesan and the Companion Relationship with the Northern Illinois Synod
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Northern Illinois Synod, 103
West State Street, Rockford, IL 61101 Questions or comments about this website may be directed to Karin Graddy, Northern Illinois Synod Communication Director |
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- article
on p. 1 of March/April 2007 
- article
on p. 2 of January/February 2007 
- article on p. 2 of July/August 2006
- article on p. 2 of
March/April 2006