April 13, 2025 • 59 mins
Sunny's journey from the brink of suicide to becoming a missionary in America will leave you breathless. Born into a broken Hindu family in India, he witnessed his mother's crippling depression, his father's alcoholism and financial ruin, and his sister's suicide attempts – all before he turned 18.
When his mother finally left as she had long threatened, Sunny found himself on a rooftop ready to end his life. In that desperate moment, he made one last plea: "Jesus, if you are alive, save me and my family." What happened next defies explanation – his childhood friend, with whom he'd had no contact for six years, suddenly appeared, explaining he felt inexplicably compelled to find Sunny at that exact moment.
This divine appointment led to a 40-minute encounter with Jesus that completely transformed Sunny without changing any of his external circumstances. The depression, hatred, and hopelessness that had defined his existence vanished, replaced by supernatural joy. Even more remarkably, his entire family eventually came to Christ – his mother emerged from depression, his parents reconciled, and his sister and brother-in-law (from a high-caste Brahmin family) embraced faith.
By 23, Sunny had planted his first church, beginning a ministry that would grow to include multiple congregations across India and South Africa. Now, following a vivid dream where he saw America bleeding and Jesus calling for healing, Sunny has brought his ministry to Denver, Colorado – arriving with nothing but faith and a conviction that "the comfortable church is more at risk than the persecuted church."
Don't miss our 100th episode next week on Easter Sunday featuring a special conversation with my husband Chris, my brother, and my brother-in-law. Then in two weeks, Sunny returns to share more about his mission to bring spiritual revival to America.
Watch the entire episode👇
https://youtu.be/-ZlsJ1nKoZw
Connect with Sunny @ https://vaibhavkapoor.com/
https://generationstogenerations.com/podcast
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nancy Bruscher (00:00):
This is episode 99 for Ordinary People,
Extraordinary Things.
I'm so glad that you found us.
I'm your host, Nancy Brucher,and I'm so glad that you've come
on this journey with us.
I can't wait for you to listento this episode.
It's going to be a two-partepisode with Sunny.
This one drops today, then onEaster Sunday, we will have our
(00:23):
100th episode.
Stay tuned all the way throughthis episode and I will share
who our special guests are forour 100th episode.
Then, the week after that,we're going to have Sonny's
second part, so you won't wantto miss that.
If you listened to his firstpart, you can't wait to listen
to the second part.
(00:44):
So we are going to go back toback for a couple of weeks to
celebrate our 100th episode,going over 100 episodes.
I'm so glad you are on thisjourney with us.
Welcome to Ordinary People,Extraordinary Things.
I'm here with Sonny.
Sonny, thanks for being on thepodcast.
Sunny Kapoor (01:01):
Well, thank you for having me.
It's my honor to be here.
Nancy Bruscher (01:05):
I'm so excited to chat with you.
If someone doesn't know who youare, can you give three words
or phrases to describe yourself?
Sunny Kapoor (01:12):
I'm Sunny, born in India, got saved at 18, and I'm
a bondservant of Christ.
I'm a church planter and rightnow based out of Denver,
colorado.
Nancy Bruscher (01:28):
Awesome.
You say you're a bondservant ofJesus.
Sunny Kapoor (01:32):
Christ.
Nancy Bruscher (01:33):
Christ, yeah Can you explain those words.
Sunny Kapoor (01:37):
Sure.
Well, this comes from thewritings of Apostle Paul, and
this always fascinated me, thatwhy would he call himself a
bondservant when he's the onewho brought the revelation to
the church and he wrote it inthe letter of Galatians that we
are no more servants but we arethe sons of God?
(02:00):
And yet he's calling himselfbondservant.
Because in the Eastern culturethere were two kinds of servants
.
One would just come and do thework on that day and take the
wage and go away.
But there were some who werebought by the master and their
whole life belonged to themaster.
They didn't have itinerary oftheir own or schedules of their
(02:24):
own, they couldn't leave themaster in the evening, so they
totally belonged to him, withoutchoice.
So I believe that the call ofGod over my life leaves me with
no other option.
And you know, we are chained bythe gospel and I believe that
I'm purchased by the Lord andI'm just called to do his work
(02:47):
and I'm totally his.
So that's the revelation behindbeing a bondservant of Christ.
Nancy Bruscher (02:54):
Yeah, yeah, thanks for mentioning that.
So, at 18, you became a Christfollower.
What was?
Your life like before that andwhat?
What made you turn to Jesus?
Sunny Kapoor (03:06):
yeah, well, I was seven years old and one night I
figured out that my parents werefighting.
I was sleeping at night and Iheard a loud noise and I came
out to you know, to see what'sgoing on in my house and and my
heart broke to see that myparents were fighting and it was
a very chaotic situation andthat broke my heart that night
(03:32):
and I realized from that daythat they're not going well with
each other and they'restressing the house and they
realized that they want toprobably separate and so that
broke my heart in my young age.
And from that day I figured outand realized that it was a
(03:55):
constant battle and that led mymother into major depression.
And my dad was pretty rich backthen.
He was the general manager forPepsi and he started losing
everything in life and a lot ofbondages, if that's the correct
word, came into our house and mymother was really battling
(04:22):
inside and she had multipleaccidents in which she broke her
hand four times on fourdifferent occasions the same
hand and she got operated everytime.
So, yeah, it was a mess.
And then I was around, I thinkeight or nine years old, when
she was in real major depression, that she used to sleep
(04:46):
sometimes a whole day, sometimestwo days at a stretch.
She would just get up and bekind of normal for a few hours
and then she would be attackedagain with all those emotions
and all those anxiety and panicattacks and she would again have
a sleeping pill and sleep backagain and she would sometimes
sleep like four or five days ina week.
(05:08):
And I saw her like that foralmost nine or ten years of my
life.
Oh my goodness, for almost adecade she was like that.
So no great happy days, nojoyful moments.
Then my dad lost everything hisjob, his 1989, I mean he had
(05:31):
two cars in India.
That was big.
No one hardly had a motorbikeor a scooter, you know, in those
times in our neighborhood.
So he lost everything and so itwas like a big situation for us
.
And so we kind of grew up in alot of depressive environment
(05:51):
where we didn't get parents,love as we desired or needed.
And I have one sister she'sfour years elder to me and it
really affected both of us as,as Long story cut short, when I
got to my teenage I developeddepression inside of me and a
lot of anxiety because I had somany fears I didn't get the
(06:13):
proper love that I needed in mylife.
Even my sister, she was alwaysdepressed.
She also had suicidal spirit inher and all those feelings of
finishing life.
If I'm not wrong she was 16 andI was 12 when she attempted her
first suicide.
(06:34):
So that was a big thing in ourhouse.
Mom was on the bed depression.
Dad is in alcohol.
A lot of debts came over him.
Dad is in alcohol.
A lot of debts came over himand from being a very successful
guy in the city he losteverything and with that he lost
his dignity, his honor.
It hit him hard so he was inanxiety.
(06:59):
It was a very broken family,very broken environment, no
proper care.
And the following year mysister attended the suicide the
second time and that was veryhard again and she almost lost
her life but somehow survived.
She had poison and it kind ofaffected her, kind of destroyed
(07:21):
her intestines, and so now she'son the bed and I'm like 13 and
mom is, you know, on bed andthere's no one to take care of
us, no proper timing for mealsand no one doing the laundry and
dad doesn't have enough.
Now all of a sudden, from beinga rich guy in the communities,
he's broke, he's lost everything.
(07:43):
You're living in one small roomwith shared bathroom and toilet
.
So it was a total flip over ofour lives and that kind of
gripped my heart in teenage andI was totally lost.
I had no hope and, being in aHindu family, I tried everything
(08:03):
possible because I was sodesperate.
And, being in a Hindu family, Itried everything possible
because, you know, I was sodesperate and I always have this
question in my teenage who canfix this or who can help us?
Or is there anything that canbe done to you know, heal my
family or bring them to a placeof breakthrough?
So in my teenage I became veryreligious because of the
(08:26):
desperation that I had.
That led me to do everythingthat my religion taught me.
I did sacrifices, I climbed upthe mountains barefoot, I went
to the rivers to take dips and Ieven tried Islam.
In those times I went to acouple of very popular mosques
(08:48):
in India, a thousand miles away,700 miles away.
So in my teenage I did a lot ofreligious things because I was
desperate for someone to show upand fix us and help us.
But things got worse.
Nothing helped.
So around 15, 15, 16, all thoseanxiety and in my heart led me
(09:11):
to a very destructive way of nowgetting anger attacks, you know
panic attacks, and I startedcutting my body.
I used to cut my hands withblades and I would just stop.
Those things became my stressbusters and living a very
depressed life.
I I was attacked by, you know,these emotions of hatred for my
(09:35):
parents and, yeah, my heart wasspoiled and I was really in pain
during that time.
And so my mother used to say inthose times that you know, when
you turn 18, I'll leave.
Your sister is above 18.
(09:55):
You guys, you know she's anadult and I stayed in this house
just for you guys.
I wanted to just leave and go,but what she didn't realize was
that her staying back in thehouse was also not a help.
It was so horrible because allour lives, you know, we saw her
crying and depressed and fights.
And so it really affected us askids of the house.
(10:17):
And so my last phase of myteenage was I was an angry boy.
I was full of hatred, I hatedthe whole world.
I hated my parents.
I blamed them for, you know,giving us this kind of life.
And so she used to say thatwhen you turn 18, I'll leave.
(10:38):
So that kind of became a hugefear in me that when I'll turn
18, she leaves, leaves.
So I started blaming myselfthat it's because of me she's
gonna leave.
So this question, who can fixthis?
And this fear that, oh, she'sgonna leave because I'll turn 18
that collided and became such adeadly combination in me that I
(11:03):
just couldn't have grip overlife.
I lived in constant fear,constant pain, constant anxiety
and constant voices in my headthat our family is made for
destruction, this is how it'sgoing to end one day.
We're all going to die, we'reall going to have poison one day
(11:25):
, and all these voices ofhopelessness from 15, 16, and 17
.
So it was a very horrible life,painful.
I lived in isolation.
I want to jump to the Jesuspart of the story because I
think that's more important.
I turned 18 and she decided toleave.
(11:45):
Her parents were not alive, buther brother lived in the same
neighborhood so she moved there,she left there and that night
it was a very heartbreakingnight for me.
The whole day was just I feltit's the end of my life.
So my dad was in alcohol anddeath and totally a guy who lost
in life.
(12:05):
My sister is in depression andshe's you know kind of she has
no clue what she's gonna do.
And now mom left.
So I felt that moment is likeit's over.
I can't take it anymore.
So we used to live on the thirdfloor of an apartment and in
India we have flat roofs so youcan go up there for a walk or
(12:26):
whatever.
So I went up there and I lookeddown from the roof and I just
felt that this is it.
I need to jump and, just, youknow, end my life.
I can't take it anymore.
So this whole sense ofcommitting suicide came upon me
and I was so much in pain fromthe age of eight or seven till
(12:48):
18 that I was so depressed andsuppressed from all sides I
thought I can't take it anymore.
But then, as I'm crying, I'mbroken, I'm shattered to pieces
like I'm depressed on the roofand I'm like cursing myself, my
life, my family and some God inthe air.
(13:08):
You know, like there's no God,like no one could help us, and
I'm disappointed, I am full ofhatred, I want to end my life.
And as I'm contemplating allthat, I looked at a house in the
neighborhood, so we used to.
It was a neighborhood that waskind of a square, like houses on
(13:29):
all four sides.
There was a little park in themiddle of all the houses and we
lived in block D and I looked ata house in block E which is on
the right side and that house isthe only Christian house, was
the only Christian house, wasonly Christian house in the
neighborhood and their son wasmy best friend from kindergarten
(13:53):
till grade seven and then hechanged his school.
I'm in college, for a fear.
He's in college first year, butfrom grade seven.
So college first year like sixyears of gap, there's no
conversation.
Years of gap, there's noconversation, there's no
connection, there's nofriendship.
And as I looked at that house, Igot reminded of something that
(14:14):
happened in that house when Iwas in grade two and what
happened was we were supposed tomake craft for our school, like
some painting or something.
We all students were supposedto make something and take it to
the school.
And his name is Mickey.
And he said why don't you comeover to my house and you know, a
(14:35):
few more kids are joining infrom the neighborhood and we'll
all sit on the floor and makethe craft together.
And I still remember I chose tomake Hello Kitty.
I don't know why I did that, soI was making Hello Kitty as a
boy and grade two.
We are all there, kids and amissionary from south of India
(14:58):
comes to that house that day inthe evening, knocks the door and
says hey, I'm here just to prayfor you.
And my friend's mother invitedhim in and said sure, you can
pray for us.
And this is what she said andI'm reminded of all of this as
I'm about to come to suicidethat she looked at all of us,
(15:22):
all of us, the kids, and shesaid as you're praying for us,
why don't you pray for thesekids of our neighborhood as well
?
And he started praying for allof us and as he was praying, I
started crying I don't know whyin that young age and he located
(15:44):
me.
He came to me, he laid his handupon me, he brought a little
bottle of oil from his pocketand he kind of put the oil on my
head and he started praying forme.
I didn't understand anything,what he's praying, but all I
could feel in that young age wasthat I felt peace.
And I was crying and by the endof it this is the line that I
(16:07):
remembered that night he pointedtowards me and told my friend's
mother keep an eye on thischild.
He's special and as.
I'm about to jump.
This whole thing is coming tome about this guy and his face
and this statement of his thatthis boy is special and I'm like
(16:32):
it doesn't look like I'mspecial and my life is.
So it's a mess and I'm likebattling between these two
voices now and all of a sudden Irealized you know what?
I've tried my 33 million godsand goddesses.
I've tried some more religion.
I didn't try Jesus.
(16:54):
Maybe I need to try him andmaybe see that if he's the
answer.
And I'm like thinking about allthis and I literally looked up
to the sky and with tearsrolling down my cheek and I said
I'm still amazed how I madethis very Christian prayer,
which was so astonishing for methat how come I said this?
(17:17):
But this is what I said on therooftop I said Jesus, if you are
alive, save me and my family.
And I didn't even say an amenin the end, because I didn't
know that you have to say anamen in the end.
You know it was just a brokenprayer of a broken Hindu boy.
And I said Jesus, if you'realive, save me and my family.
(17:39):
And I'm just saying itconstantly and I'm like sobbing
and I'm shattered and I'mdesperate.
And in the middle of it I hearda noise at the back of my roof,
like I heard footsteps, and Ithought my father came up to see
that if I'm okay or not.
So I turned to see who iscoming up on the roof and it was
(18:01):
my same friend from the samehouse no yes, no contact for six
years.
Um, you know, we didn't havephones or whatsapp or I messages
, no, nothing, no friendship.
And I was shell-shocked and Iwas like how come you are here?
And this is what he told me.
(18:22):
He said this morning and I knowthat he's not a very spiritual
guy, I don't know even.
I think even now, like I know,he's not a guy who's like very
prophetic or so, he was just a,you know, rugged young boy, just
born in a Christian family.
You know, and this is what hesaid, man, that this morning I
(18:43):
heard this voice go find yourfriend's son.
You got to meet him, you got tofind him and he said that I
kept battling the whole daybecause he was a shy guy, he
didn't want to just abruptlyappear.
But he said but I just couldn'tresist.
And it was 8 pm, it was aboutyou know time to sleep.
And he couldn't resist.
(19:05):
And, and it was 8 pm, it wasabout you know time to sleep.
And he said I, I just felt thatif I don't do this, my heart
will come out of my chest, likethere's this.
I just felt so uncomfortable ifI don't do this.
So I right away knew thatsomething is happening.
And um, yeah, he heard my storythat night and he couldn't help
me much.
He's not the best counselor inthe city, I know, but that's all
(19:25):
he said.
He said you know what, getready, tomorrow I'll take you to
the church and maybe the pastorcan help you.
And I was like no man.
I've tried so many things.
And I still remember mystatement to him.
I said you know, I've tried so,shoes and it, it looks like
every shoe cuts me and nothingis comfortable.
Oh well, you are saying to trythis, jesus, the british god, or
(19:49):
whatever, and I also felt thesame.
Well, let's give it a try.
And very half-heartedly I saidyes.
And he said I'll pick you at 1130 tomorrow.
And I was like half-hearted,but next day, 7 am, I'm ready,
I'm done with my shower, I'veput on my shoes already, like
I'm pumped up, like I want to go.
And he picked me up and I wentthere.
(20:13):
21st October, year 2000, tuesday.
It's not a church service.
Noontime we get to the pastor'shouse, knocks the door, no
appointment taken.
You know the Eastern culture.
Sometimes you don't need tohave an appointment, you just
get into people's zone, which issurprising at times.
So we just kind of knocked thedoor and the pastor's wife
(20:35):
opened the door and said he'snot at home, you can just wait
for him.
I waited for four hours.
Nancy Bruscher (20:42):
Wow.
Sunny Kapoor (20:43):
Came at 4 pm and why I'm sharing these details?
Because you are part of thisjourney For four hours.
These voices, this battlebetween these voices that, oh,
there is no God, oh, you'rewasting your time, get up and go
.
And then this voice that Inever heard before in 18 years,
(21:04):
that kept telling me boy, you'renot moving an inch, you're not
leaving.
Today you are sitting here.
And I'm glad that voice won andI kept sitting there for four
hours.
And he came in and he was busywith the kids and he had hands
full of bags.
He went for shopping and he'snot interested in me.
And he had hands full of bags.
He went for shopping and he'snot interested in me.
(21:24):
And I'm offended alreadybecause I've lived an offensive
life, I'm full of hatred alreadyand I'm like not liking that
he's not focused on me.
And then a few minutes later hecame, sat in front of me and
all my friend said was he's myfriend, sonny, Can you please
pray for him?
That's it.
And he said alright, let's pray.
(21:44):
I'm like what?
You're not even asking me.
I want to share my pain.
So I said, fine, I came in theposture of prayer, I closed my
eyes and joined my hands,because that's what we are
taught in India and all thereligion that you have to bow
down, you have to get your headdown.
So I did that.
But then he asked me a question.
(22:06):
He said look at me, I want toask you one thing.
That question changed thetrajectory of my life and that
was a turning point and I callit my first miracle.
And his question was before Ipray for you, I want to ask you
do you believe in Jesus?
Before I pray for you, I wantto ask you do you believe in
Jesus?
Now, living a life like that andyou know such hopeless life, so
(22:28):
much of pain, I just wanted tobe very rude and honest and tell
him that I don't.
And I was such a bad person.
I've beaten my teachers in myteenage, like 17, 16.
I've taken up fights in thecity.
So I'm I'm very rude, verybrutal, very, uh, rude in my, in
(22:50):
my talk.
I'm not a soft guy anymore.
So I just wanted to be rude andtell him sir, I don't believe
in Jesus, I don't even believein you.
Show me if your Jesus is real,I'll do something, something
Like be the magician here.
I was that kind of a rowdy guy,you know, rough guy.
But my first miracle happenedwhen I opened my mouth and I
(23:11):
wanted to be rude and say Idon't believe in Jesus.
I opened my mouth and I saidyes, I do.
I was like what?
No, I didn't want to say that,you know.
And the moment I said yes, I do, as if something in me was
waiting to respond to this call.
The moment I said yes, I do,something happened.
(23:34):
Like I was just unleashed, likeI bursted in tears and as if,
like, the damn door was open,the gate was open and I started
crying and I cried and I criedand I'm thinking deep down, like
why am I crying?
But then, few minutes later, Irealized that this is not the
(23:56):
crying that I've been doing forlast 10 years.
This is a different crying.
This is beautiful, this is sojoyful.
This is amazing, because everytear rolling down my cheek, I
felt light, I felt joy and Iforgot what's happening, why
he's praying his words.
I couldn't hear him.
That just moment became betweenme and this some kind of power
(24:21):
which I'm still trying to figureout, as if, you know, this
whole wind is just blowing on meand I'm, like you know, feeling
light and my bondages aremelting.
And I cried for like 40 minutesand in that moment I call it my
vision moment.
(24:48):
I call it my vision that I sawa beautiful room and there's a
beautiful chair in that room andthis man with white robe, with
long hair, is sitting on thischair and I'm sitting on the
floor next to him and my head isin his lap and he's patting my
hair.
And this is what he's saying,and he said it in Hindi, but
(25:09):
this is what it meant in English.
He said now, since you havecome to me, it's going to be
alright.
And I got out of that encounterand after 40 minutes, I felt
that I'm the most joyful personon the face of this earth.
There's nothing wrong in mylife, there's nothing broken in
(25:33):
my life, there's nothing missingin my life.
What problem I'm talking about?
What am I talking about?
There's nothing wrong.
There's nothing that is missing.
I felt complete.
I felt just that joy that camein me, which cannot come if it
(25:53):
is not supernatural right,because life was still broken,
family was still broken, parentswere still separated, my sister
was still in depression,everything was just the same on
the outside, but I was changedin 40 minutes from the inside,
the Lord appeared and healed mecompletely in one moment.
His one encounter fixed it Likehe made it clear to me that I'm
(26:18):
real, I'm able and I can do allthings.
I couldn't tell this to thepastor, I couldn't share
anything.
I was so much lost and consumedin that encounter that I just
said bye and I left the house.
But I told myself that I'mleaving this house as a
Christian.
I am saved.
(26:38):
Jesus is my Lord, he's my King.
I belong to Him because if hecan change my heart without,
without changing externalfactors, and give me joy, which
people try to get after, theyget the results.
Man, this God, is real.
So that was he convinced me andI left as a Christian.
(26:58):
I was joyful.
Depression left me, my, myheart changed.
I had compassion on my parents.
I forgive them.
That day everything in mechanged and I got new lens to
look at the world like it wasjust washed and everything
became new.
So that's how I got saved atthe age.
Nancy Bruscher (27:21):
Yeah, I have a couple questions.
Sunny Kapoor (27:24):
Sure.
Nancy Bruscher (27:25):
Was your family a practicing Hindu family, or
was it just yes, we're Hindu,but we're not practicing?
Sunny Kapoor (27:34):
Strong, Like they were deeply into that.
We had idols at home.
We had a whole shelf that wasdedicated for the gods.
We had a temple inside of thehouse.
It was strong.
Nancy Bruscher (27:50):
Could you explain?
I think everyone who listenshas heard of Hinduism.
Could you briefly explain whatit is?
Sunny Kapoor (27:58):
Well, it's definitely a mythology.
It is based on myths andimaginary stories.
Not every story mentioned thereis part of the history.
And Hinduism is a mythology andit's more of a lifestyle which
is based on a fear.
So Tuesday you can't eatnon-veg.
(28:21):
On Thursday you can't go for ahaircut.
On Saturday you can't buyanything that is made of iron.
So because you do that, the Godof Tuesday will get upset, or
God of Thursday will get upset.
So it's all fear based controland don't do this.
A lot of laws and legalism.
(28:42):
If you do this, god will beupset.
So you'll have to do this.
A lot of laws and legalism.
And if you do this, god will beupset.
So you'll have to do this kindof sacrifice.
So it's more lifestyle and fearrather than relationship.
Well, there can't be arelationship because
relationship requires two peopleliving.
So that's Hinduism.
(29:02):
It's all based off oh, you'regoing through this, so you've
got to do this kind of sacrifice.
Or you are going throughfinancial stress, so you've got
to please this god.
Or you want strength in yourlife, so you've got to do this
on Monday for this goddess.
So it's all need-based andfear-based.
Nancy Bruscher (29:20):
Does Hinduism have reincarnation?
Sunny Kapoor (29:24):
Yes, they believe in reincarnation and that's why
they believe in karma, that ifyou do the right thing, you're
paid accordingly in your nextlife, and that kind of also was
one of my puzzle in me that ifreincarnation is the truth, then
what good it is for me to beget saved in this life.
Nancy Bruscher (29:47):
If I have to get saved in every life, okay so
you said that on the roof you,you said the name jesus, you
said that you someone prayed foryou, which I think is a
beautiful.
We've heard two things ofprayer already, one that took
years to be answered and then aprayer over you with, uh, the
(30:10):
pastor.
That was immediate, which isjust so neat to see those two
dynamics way.
But did you hear of jesusbeforehand?
You called it a like a britishgod.
It was that you heard.
Can you kind of Jesusbeforehand?
You called it like a Britishgod, was it that you heard?
Can you kind of explain that?
you had that name to say.
Sunny Kapoor (30:28):
Well, it's not a coincidence that I studied in a
Catholic school.
Okay, and the name of the schoolwas St Paul's.
Oh, okay, but as, growing up asa Hindu boy, I would go in the
school and in the lobby of theschool there's a statue of Paul
with a sword downwards and Bibleupwards, and I always was
(30:49):
curious, not knowing that oneday God would call me and make
me a church planter.
You know, it's like.
It just amazes me.
So we heard about Jesus, weheard about Mary.
We heard about you know, father, because we had Christian
prayers every morning in theassembly.
About Jesus, we heard aboutMary.
We heard about you know, father, because we were, we had
Christian prayers every morningin the assembly.
So I knew about this.
But then, growing up in thatculture, we were made, our
(31:12):
hearts were made hard forChristians so that we don't fall
into that trap, or they, youknow, do the mind-washing, the
brainwas.
So we were injected with hatred.
Oh, this is a God from Britain.
Oh, england brought it.
This is the God of Britishers.
He's not our God, he's the Godof foreigners.
(31:33):
So a lot of communities inIndia even now think that Jesus
is the God of white skin, butthey don't even know that he's
the god who's born in the eastand he's from israel.
They don't know it.
So, yeah, it was that kind of aprejudice that I had in my, in
my mind okay, yeah, thank you,yeah.
Nancy Bruscher (31:54):
So then you said that you became a church
planter.
How so?
You had this amazing conversion, and then what happened?
Sunny Kapoor (32:03):
Yeah, so initially I faced a lot of persecution at
home.
My parents didn't like it.
Well, let me complete thetestimony.
Okay, I started praying in myhouse.
The only prayer that I knew wasJesus, you are the king of my
life.
Jesus, you are the king of thishouse.
So I would spend 8 to 10 hoursat church, not anybody being
(32:31):
there.
I would just go walk five miles, take the keys from my pastor.
Small church, a hundred peoplenext door, so I would just go
there, sit there for eight hours, 10 hours, and try to
understand the word.
Couldn't understand anything,but the first scripture that
ministered to me was romans,chapter 8, verse number 1 now
therefore, there is nocondemnation on those who are
(32:51):
christ jesus, and that was thefirst scripture god spoke to me
from in my walk with him and Itook hold of faith.
I came back with joy and Istood in my small house and I
started praying in all the rooms.
Like we had a small house, liketwo rooms, kitchen, toilet, the
same rooftop, every corner.
I would just go and speak thesewords there's no condemnation
(33:16):
over this house because I'm inChrist Jesus.
Jesus is the Lord, jesus is theKing.
These are the declarations Istarted doing and I saw the
result of it.
I'm not saying this doctrine isspeak and believe or claim it.
I'm not saying all that.
I'm saying I've declared theword of God as it is written, in
(33:37):
the atmosphere of my house andbecause I just felt this walls,
these lights, has to hear thatthis place now belongs to genes
and not knowing that I was allalso speaking to the demonic
world and the bondage is.
These words were like a warthat I was doing without knowing
that this is a war and that'show you win a spiritual battle.
(33:59):
My mom came back very few days.
I started praying for them,gave them the gospel and their
marriage got united.
They're still living together,happily married, and God blessed
them.
My mother came out ofdepression.
She came to the church afterinitial some time of persecution
(34:22):
.
They couldn't understandbecause they were socially.
They were like, oh, what thecommunity will say?
Or you got converted, oh, howare we gonna face this that?
I think they were in socialbondage.
But when the lord touched them,my mother gave her heart to the
lord.
She got baptized and she's aborn again believer now.
My dad loves the lord.
My sister gave her heart tojesus, got baptized, came out of
(34:44):
depression, and her husband,who is from a Brahman family, he
gave his heart to the Lord.
He got baptized and they allare serving the Lord.
And you know, the Lord justinvaded our house and salvation
came.
Debts were paid, jobs came back, businesses came back.
The Lord honored came back.
The Lord honored us in thecommunity among our relatives
(35:07):
who kind of left us in myteenage because we didn't have
money and good gifts to givethem.
They all started lining up forprayers and our house just
became a lighthouse from being adark house and Jesus just
showed the community that I amalive.
And we were blessed financially.
We were blessed emotionallyhealth relationships.
(35:30):
Every area of our life wasrestored, like resurrected, by
Jesus.
So three years in that I wassitting in the same church and I
was just crying in gratitude,in worship.
I was like Lord you, gratitudeand worship.
I was like Lord, you've done somuch for me.
Like I had this question all mylife.
Who can do this?
And you told me you're the onewho can do this.
And I was 21 that day when Iwas crying Sunday morning
(35:53):
service and I'm just grateful,I'm crying at his feet.
I'm like that woman with thealabaster jar and I'm just
thanking him and I'm like Lord,you've done so much for for me.
How can I pay this?
Like, what can I do for you?
Cause I can.
Like, even if I live thousandlives, I can't repay what you
have done for us.
(36:13):
Like you came to us.
We didn't go to church, wedidn't have a Bible.
You came to me like you heard aprayer of a Hindu boy, like how
can I pay this?
And and I said, lord, I'll diefor you.
And in that beautiful moment Ihad another encounter with Jesus
(36:34):
where he said I don't want youto die for me, I want you to
live for me.
Can you go to the whole worldand tell them I'm alive and what
I've done for you, I can do itfor them and I can heal them in
one encounter.
I can fix things if they opentheir hearts and believe that
all things are possible withtheir father in heaven.
(36:57):
And I said yes to the call at 21.
And I came to my passion, saidI'll serve, and I was doing a
pretty decent job.
My last job was IBM.
I was a software sales manager.
I was earning big amount.
I said I'm gonna leaveeverything and just serve my God
.
It took me two years for thattransition to prepare.
(37:18):
About 23 I planted the firstchurch as a very young guy.
I was not married, I was veryyoung and didn't have all the
resources that I needed.
But yeah, I said yes to thecall of God at just 23 and
planted the first church in acity called Noida, near New
(37:39):
Delhi in India.
Nancy Bruscher (37:43):
You said there was a Brahmin family.
Sunny Kapoor (37:47):
Yes, my brother-in-law, my sister's
husband, comes from a Brahminfamily.
So Hinduism is divided intofour.
It's a caste system, soBrahmins are the top notch, like
they are the supreme ones.
Nancy Bruscher (38:00):
Okay, all right.
I knew that that word must havemeant something, so I wanted to
clarify that.
So you planted your firstchurch In 2007.
I can't even imagine that.
Sunny Kapoor (38:15):
At the age of 23,.
No one opened the door becausejust a young boy wants to start
a church.
Nobody gave us a place, so wegot a school which was kind of
abandoned and they had a verandawith no roof.
And yeah, we took that placeand started the church with no
roof.
(38:35):
Okay, yeah.
Nancy Bruscher (38:39):
And people came.
Sunny Kapoor (38:41):
People came and I was scared, I was not willing to
take it and I prayed, I cried,I said Lord to take it.
And I prayed, I cried, I saidLord.
So church already started inOctober 2007, but it started in
a hotel basement.
But that guy belonged to aHindu activist party and his
brother pressurized him that howcome you can hold, you can't
(39:01):
host a church in your property.
We are against these people.
So they kicked us out afterthree months and we were like 12
or 15 people already in threemonths and so we were.
We were kicked out and on fridayhe told me no.
On sunday he told me that youknow, you can't come back next
sunday and till friday I gotnothing and I was like lord,
(39:23):
where do I take these 12 people?
And on Friday I got this place,but I was not happy about it
because we had no roof and wehad extreme weather conditions.
In New Delhi it goes to 120degrees in summers and it's bad
and it's monsoon city.
It rains for two months.
But I prayed on Friday nightand the Lord said I'll come, and
(39:46):
when.
I heard that, I knew that he'sgoing to do something great.
So we stayed there for fiveyears.
We tried covering it up withdifferent things, with fiber
sheets and this and that, butnothing worked.
It kept leaking.
It kept making it hot.
So we were there for five years, but the Lord taught us how to
worship in those five years.
He taught us that it's notabout the comfort, it's not
(40:10):
about how many resources youhave, it's about your heart's
condition.
Nancy Bruscher (40:16):
And.
Sunny Kapoor (40:16):
I think that has made the Indian church very
strong, because some nationsdidn't have proper resources or
comfort.
All they had was Jesus.
Some nations didn't have propersources or comfort.
All they had was Jesus.
And I tell you, because of thatthey are mightier soldiers,
they are strong believers,because they have gone through
persecution.
(40:36):
And persecution is notsomething that we have to fear
of, because it produces great,great, great faith and produces
a lot of fruit in us.
Anytime the persecution came tothe church in the Bible, the
church grew and became morepowerful.
So, yeah, that was a beautifulstart in the journey of five
(40:58):
years in that church.
Nancy Bruscher (41:01):
So you had five years at this church, and then,
where did God move you?
Sunny Kapoor (41:07):
Yeah.
So church was growing prettyfast.
It became the fastest growingchurch in the city.
90 plus percentage of ourcongregants were Hindu people
that came to the Lord and Hissaving grace and the church
exploded very fast and we hadcountless baptisms happening
very fast.
And we had countless baptismshappening and by 2011, in four
(41:33):
years of this church, the Lordstarted ministering to me
personally and he said don'tmake it a mega church, because
India particularly doesn't needa mega church.
They need more churches becausenot everybody has transport and
there are unreached places.
And so God kind of startedgiving me this wisdom of
planting more churches andbranching out, because india
(41:54):
needed more pastors, indianeeded more worship leaders,
more prayer warriors, morepeople who could come and
volunteer in serving the lord.
So so if we'll have morechurches, we'll have multiple
worship leaders, multiple eldersand treasurers and you know, so
many people will be engagedrather than having a lot of
people in one place.
So I'm not saying that's thewrong thing to do.
(42:16):
It was tailor-made for India inthat season.
That's what I'm trying to say.
So the Lord gave me those eyesof a father to locate people in
our church who can be releasedand prepared.
You know, because God startedsee is showing me that they have
destinies in them given to themby the Lord.
(42:37):
So, 2011, we knew that we haveto get into church planting and
he started preparing a coupleand the first church we planted
from that church was 30 milesaway, with 17 people that we
released with their you know,their giving, their generosity,
and we released them and weplanted a second church and that
(42:58):
was a beautiful moment.
And then it became a movement.
The Lord would keep showing memore people and I would keep
mentoring them, preparing them,and we would just release them.
And until 2018, we planted sixchurches in northern India like
that, and that became abeautiful group of churches.
They're still thriving there.
(43:20):
Then, 2018, when we completed 10years of our ministry, I was
already a guest speaker in manynations.
In those 10 years.
I was going to South Africa,mauritius, england, germany.
I even came to US in 2014 and15 to minister in a few churches
in Texas and California andArizona.
I was preaching in South Africain 2018, and that's where the
(43:44):
Lord spoke to me and said I'mgoing, gonna use you not just
for your nation, but the nationsof the world, and now I want
you to be like Apostle Paul andhand over the ministry like hand
over, as in like not an exit,but just give the church to one
of your spiritual son, stilloversee all those churches and
(44:04):
go to South Africa and plant achurch there.
So, by faith, we moved in 2019.
We walked out of the house andwe just gave that pastor the
entire house and handed over theministry to him.
And while I was still takingcare of all these churches and
covering them and feeding them,you know, and taking care of the
pastors, we went to SouthAfrica, stayed there, lived
(44:27):
there for two years and planteda couple of churches there and
moved back to India in 2021.
So that's till 2021.
If you want me to carry on tillthe whole, journey.
Nancy Bruscher (44:42):
Yeah, you got to tell us how you got to Denver.
Sunny Kapoor (44:44):
Yes, yeah you got to tell us how you got to Denver
.
Yes, that's a very specialstory and very close to our
hearts.
So when we came back to Indiain 2021, I was very happy.
I was like, wow, this is good.
So by 2021, we had eightchurches and outreaches in India
and two in South Africa.
So we had 10 churches.
(45:05):
And I said you know, this isamazing fruit, and probably the
Lord will tell me to now plantanother church in India, because
I'm a pastor by DNA from 23 ofmy age.
I'm just being for the peopleof God and I love this.
But in that season he told meno, I don't want you to start a
(45:25):
church, because I wanted tostart a church near the
Parliament House in New Delhi.
That's our White House.
I really wanted to have a sortof church like in the vicinity
of the Capitol and you know,just be the voice there.
But he told me not to do that.
And he said I'm taking you intoan apostolic role of taking
care of these churches that youhave planted and feed them and
(45:49):
be there for them.
And you know, like if?
Nancy Bruscher (45:51):
you have your own congregation.
Sunny Kapoor (45:52):
You'll be busy, but I want you to take some time
or a few years and just feedthem and help them.
So every Sunday, I startedgoing to different churches and
helping them and doingconferences for them.
So that was my role from 2021January to 2023 January.
For two years I did that andlived a life of faith and just
(46:13):
an apostle, just an overseer ofchurches.
2023, I heard the story startsfor US.
We were praying and fasting andI said Lord, what's next for me
?
Will you just tell me to dothis all my life, or will you
tell me another assignment?
Give me an assignment?
And so in those days, as wewere praying and fasting, I saw
(46:37):
this dream one night, and in mydream I saw that I'm standing in
a room and I'm looking at awall and that wall has like a
painting.
I saw the entire map of the USand I'm looking at it, the
entire map of the United States.
(46:58):
And then in my dream, I saw thatthat whole map is scarred, as
if someone took a knife or ablade and scarred the whole map.
All the states are scarred.
And then I saw blood oozing outof the map.
I started seeing the blood iscoming out, but the whole map is
(47:18):
bleeding and I could feel theemotions in that dream.
I could feel the agony, thepain, the emotions in that dream
.
I actually feel the agony, thepain, and you know how the dream
world or the dream realm works.
There are random scenes thatchange doesn't make sense,
doesn't connect and all of asudden I'm having an eagle view
(47:40):
over this map.
Now, first I'm looking at it onthe wall and now I'm looking at
it as an eagle view and it'sbleeding, it's it's, it's red,
it's painful, and I'm justfeeling that.
In my dream I'm feeling thatemotion.
And as I'm looking at it fromthe eagle view, I I saw the Lord
(48:02):
standing in the middle of themap.
And as I saw Jesus standing inthe middle of the map, and as I
saw Jesus standing in the middleof the map, the whole
trajectory of the dream changed.
Now I'm feeling joy, I'mfeeling peace, I'm feeling
celebration, I'm feelingexcitement, I'm feeling freedom.
The whole environment of thedream changed.
And when I saw him standing inthe middle of the map, next
(48:25):
thing he whistled, which is sounusual, which is not heard of.
But then, when I landed there,I realized that Isaiah 5.26 says
I'll whistle and bring themfrom all the sites like east,
west, north and south.
I didn't know that when I'mseeing this dream, he whistled.
(48:46):
And when he whistled, in mydream I saw people from all four
sides.
They came into the UnitedStates, they came from all four
sides and they were carryingmedical kits and first aid kits
in their hands and they gatheredaround Jesus.
And this is what he said andthe dream ended.
He just looked at all thesepeople as if the commander
(49:10):
whistled and a team gathered andnow he's giving a command.
This is what he said and thedream was over.
He said go, heal the land.
And my dream got over.
I woke up.
I I was sweating.
I knew like this is intense,this is not me, this is from God
, and that inspired everythingfor us.
(49:33):
We started praying about it.
We got confirmations from ourmentors people that love us and
you know we are accountable toand started searching in the
world and praying, and I knewthat God wants me to do this.
And in 15 days I booked myflights, came to California to
one of my friends that's theonly guy I knew and came just on
(49:57):
my cost to pray for America andgo back because I didn't know
what to do.
And in those 15 days I met thisguy, this organization.
They have missionaries on boardand he heard my story and
journey and, miraculously, theyjust agreed in one meeting to
get me the visas.
No money involved, no dollarinvolved.
I had to spend my own money,but they became the sponsors.
(50:20):
Why I'm telling you this?
Because there is a hugetestimony attached to it.
The visas take nine to sixmonths because this is a huge
testimony attached to it.
The visas take nine to sixmonths because this is a
religious work, because I cancome and do anything for the
kingdom that I want to.
Legally, it takes like six tonine months.
Visas came in 16 hours what theattorney was shocked.
(50:41):
She called me from los angelesand she said I've not seen this
in 27 years of my practice.
Your visas are in my inbox in16 hours.
So I knew that God is bringingus to the world of healing and
that's our mission, that's ourvision to bring healing to the
land.
And there's so much moreattached to it.
But I think we're running outof time.
(51:02):
So, yeah, that's where we are2023, september.
I landed here, didn't knowwhere to go.
The Lord led us to Colorado.
I didn't even know what Coloradois.
When I looked at the map, whenI saw CO, I thought it's like
carbon monoxide or I don't knowwhat this is.
I was blank where to go.
The Lord told us to go to cometo Colorado, come to Denver.
(51:25):
I came alone with my bags, cameout of the Denver International
Airport and I didn't know whereto go.
I had no connection, so I justbooked a hotel and started
staying there.
That's how, by faith, westarted our lives in Denver.
I didn't know one human beinghere.
I just came because I heard theLord say go and take the word
(51:50):
of healing to the land.
Nancy Bruscher (51:54):
Well, we will for sure unpack this another
time, but I do want to kind ofsay a few things before we.
Just now we're done.
I love that, and my husband andI have been feeling for a
really long time that the unitedstates obviously you see the
numbers decreasing inchristianity right and afraid
(52:16):
that it's going to become likeeurope, where they used to have
a vibrant christian communityand now the beautiful cathedral
sit empty on on sunday and, uh,the funny thing is is that I got
to go to india on a missiontrip.
I should have been here when mydaughter she's so, she's eight,
(52:39):
and I went when she was one, soseven years ago, and it was
amazing and that might beanother topic for another time,
but in the past always kind ofhad westerners go to all these
countries to be missionaries andI have felt like for a long
time that we need a missionaryto come to us and that, um, that
(53:03):
we really need help, if that'sas blunt as.
I can be.
Sunny Kapoor (53:09):
Yeah, I mean, that was a shock for me as well.
When the Lord said I'll takeyou as a missionary to Atlanta.
I was like Lord, they have saidmissionaries Like who will
accept me?
And for many months I keptthinking what's bleeding Like?
Is it the government that isbleeding?
Well, every government isbleeding.
Is it the community that isbleeding?
Well, every government isbleeding.
Is it the community that isbleeding?
Well, every community isbleeding.
Is it the economy?
(53:30):
Like what is it?
But now, 18 months in the land,my heart aches and I'm not
being judgmental at all.
I think I'm just beingdiscernmentful, if that's the
right word.
My conclusion, my discernment,says what I saw in the dream it
is the church that is bleeding.
(53:51):
And, yeah, what went?
Nancy Bruscher (53:55):
wrong where went wrong.
Sunny Kapoor (53:57):
I don't know.
We still have to figure it out,but for sure one of the enemies
of American church has beencomfort yes so it's the
comfortable church which is moreat risk than the persecuted
church.
Nancy Bruscher (54:12):
I have shivers, oh my goodness so true right.
So, true, okay, so I'm going toleave that as a.
Hey, that's one from Sunny.
Okay, I mean that's, but Ithat's one from Sonny Okay.
I mean that's, but I thinkthat's so true and we need to
dive into that, and I'd love todive a little bit more into your
(54:35):
missionary work here, but I dowant to wrap up for today.
Sure, what is your favorite?
Sunny Kapoor (54:45):
Bible verse or story my favorite Bible verse or
story.
There are two of my favoriteones.
One is Luke, chapter 10, whereJesus talks about when 70
disciples returned with joy andsaid Woohoo, we cast the demons
out in your name and all thatkind of stuff.
And Jesus says I saw Satanfalling from heaven like
(55:07):
lightning and I've given youauthority over scorpions and
serpents and nothing will hurtyou, nothing will harm you.
But then he laid such abeautiful foundation that is my
number one favorite.
And he said but I say to you,do not rejoice that spirits are
subjected to you, but rejoicethat your names are written in
(55:28):
the book of life in heaven.
And I think that is thefoundation of my life.
No matter what happens, I'msuccessful.
If I'm not, whatever season Igo through, my joy doesn't
fluctuate because it's notdependent on the fruit or the
success or whatever the worldwant to call it.
It's based on just one thingthat I belong to Jesus and my
(55:49):
name is written in heaven.
So I keep that as my wholefocus of being joyful in life.
That's my favorite part.
Second one is Isaiah 43, wherehe talks about you are mine and
I'm yours.
I love that intimacy that ismentioned in Isaiah 43 and then
he talks about you are mine andI'm yours.
I love that intimacy that ismentioned in Isaiah 43.
(56:10):
And then it talks about you gothrough the rivers and you'll
not be drowned, and you gothrough the fires and fires will
not be able to burn you, and Iam with you and I'm giving
ransom for you.
So the Lord is just talkingabout his intimacy with his son
and in his son for us.
So these two are my favoritepassages.
(56:31):
That's good, yeah, yeah.
Nancy Bruscher (56:33):
What kindness have you seen, or what kindness
have you shown in the last week?
Sunny Kapoor (56:37):
The kindness that I've seen man, a lot of kindness
.
People just show kindness to usevery day.
Yeah, I've got good friends inDenver.
Now I can say I'm not alone andthey keep checking on us.
The care that people show, thefriends that the Lord has given
us, that's very kind of them,because last 18 months we've
(56:58):
been living here by faith.
No one called us here.
There's no, you know, like wejust live here by the word of
the Lord.
So, yeah, a lot of kindnessthat people show.
The care, the love Are thekindness that.
I've shown.
I don't know man.
Oh, I think I'm kind.
Every person I talk to,strangers try to live a life of
(57:22):
kindness.
Just take care of people.
Okay, this is the kindness thatI show One of my friends.
He got stuck in his office Idon't know if you'll call it
kindness and his dog wasstruggling alone at home and he
couldn't leave office to takecare of him for his walk or for
his pee and all that dog stuff.
And he called me in desperationand I think it's also kindness.
(57:45):
I drove 20 miles and just wentto his house, took his dog for a
ride, for a walk, and just tookcare of his dog for an hour.
So I think it was kindness,yeah.
Yeah that is yeah.
Nancy Bruscher (57:57):
Yeah.
Well thank you for being on,sonny, thank you for sharing
your story, thank you forsharing about how you're a
missionary here in the UnitedStates, and I'm excited to see
what God does through this andexcited to chat with you again
yes, thank you, nancy,appreciate it.
Sunny Kapoor (58:18):
Thank you for honoring me and just inviting me
on your channel.
Really appreciate it, thank youthank you so much.
Nancy Bruscher (58:25):
Yeah, alrighty, on Ordinary People,
extraordinary Things.
Your story is his glory.
Thank you for listening.
I am sure you are going to wantto hear part two, where Sonny
shares more about his life andhis ministry and his mission
here in the United States.
That will be in two weeks, butnext week, easter Sunday, we are
(58:50):
dropping our 100th episode.
Oh, my goodness, I am sothankful, I'm so grateful for
all of you who have listened.
It is going to be a veryspecial episode as my husband,
chris, will be the host and heis talking to my brother and my
brother-in-law, so the three ofthem will be on and I can't wait
for you to hear.
(59:11):
We will see you next week.
This is episode 99 for Ordinary People,
Extraordinary Things.
I'm so glad that you found us.
I'm your host, Nancy Brucher,and I'm so glad that you've come
on this journey with us.
I can't wait for you to listento this episode.
It's going to be a two-partepisode with Sunny.
This one drops today, then onEaster Sunday, we will have our
(00:23):
100th episode.
Stay tuned all the way throughthis episode and I will share
who our special guests are forour 100th episode.
Then, the week after that,we're going to have Sonny's
second part, so you won't wantto miss that.
If you listened to his firstpart, you can't wait to listen
to the second part.
(00:44):
So we are going to go back toback for a couple of weeks to
celebrate our 100th episode,going over 100 episodes.
I'm so glad you are on thisjourney with us.
Welcome to Ordinary People,Extraordinary Things.
I'm here with Sonny.
Sonny, thanks for being on thepodcast.
Sunny Kapoor (01:01):
Well, thank you for having me.
It's my honor to be here.
Nancy Bruscher (01:05):
I'm so excited to chat with you.
If someone doesn't know who youare, can you give three words
or phrases to describe yourself?
Sunny Kapoor (01:12):
I'm Sunny, born in India, got saved at 18, and I'm
a bondservant of Christ.
I'm a church planter and rightnow based out of Denver,
colorado.
Nancy Bruscher (01:28):
Awesome.
You say you're a bondservant ofJesus.
Sunny Kapoor (01:32):
Christ.
Nancy Bruscher (01:33):
Christ, yeah Can you explain those words.
Sunny Kapoor (01:37):
Sure.
Well, this comes from thewritings of Apostle Paul, and
this always fascinated me, thatwhy would he call himself a
bondservant when he's the onewho brought the revelation to
the church and he wrote it inthe letter of Galatians that we
are no more servants but we arethe sons of God?
(02:00):
And yet he's calling himselfbondservant.
Because in the Eastern culturethere were two kinds of servants
.
One would just come and do thework on that day and take the
wage and go away.
But there were some who werebought by the master and their
whole life belonged to themaster.
They didn't have itinerary oftheir own or schedules of their
(02:24):
own, they couldn't leave themaster in the evening, so they
totally belonged to him, withoutchoice.
So I believe that the call ofGod over my life leaves me with
no other option.
And you know, we are chained bythe gospel and I believe that
I'm purchased by the Lord andI'm just called to do his work
(02:47):
and I'm totally his.
So that's the revelation behindbeing a bondservant of Christ.
Nancy Bruscher (02:54):
Yeah, yeah, thanks for mentioning that.
So, at 18, you became a Christfollower.
What was?
Your life like before that andwhat?
What made you turn to Jesus?
Sunny Kapoor (03:06):
yeah, well, I was seven years old and one night I
figured out that my parents werefighting.
I was sleeping at night and Iheard a loud noise and I came
out to you know, to see what'sgoing on in my house and and my
heart broke to see that myparents were fighting and it was
a very chaotic situation andthat broke my heart that night
(03:32):
and I realized from that daythat they're not going well with
each other and they'restressing the house and they
realized that they want toprobably separate and so that
broke my heart in my young age.
And from that day I figured outand realized that it was a
(03:55):
constant battle and that led mymother into major depression.
And my dad was pretty rich backthen.
He was the general manager forPepsi and he started losing
everything in life and a lot ofbondages, if that's the correct
word, came into our house and mymother was really battling
(04:22):
inside and she had multipleaccidents in which she broke her
hand four times on fourdifferent occasions the same
hand and she got operated everytime.
So, yeah, it was a mess.
And then I was around, I thinkeight or nine years old, when
she was in real major depression, that she used to sleep
(04:46):
sometimes a whole day, sometimestwo days at a stretch.
She would just get up and bekind of normal for a few hours
and then she would be attackedagain with all those emotions
and all those anxiety and panicattacks and she would again have
a sleeping pill and sleep backagain and she would sometimes
sleep like four or five days ina week.
(05:08):
And I saw her like that foralmost nine or ten years of my
life.
Oh my goodness, for almost adecade she was like that.
So no great happy days, nojoyful moments.
Then my dad lost everything hisjob, his 1989, I mean he had
(05:31):
two cars in India.
That was big.
No one hardly had a motorbikeor a scooter, you know, in those
times in our neighborhood.
So he lost everything and so itwas like a big situation for us
.
And so we kind of grew up in alot of depressive environment
(05:51):
where we didn't get parents,love as we desired or needed.
And I have one sister she'sfour years elder to me and it
really affected both of us as,as Long story cut short, when I
got to my teenage I developeddepression inside of me and a
lot of anxiety because I had somany fears I didn't get the
(06:13):
proper love that I needed in mylife.
Even my sister, she was alwaysdepressed.
She also had suicidal spirit inher and all those feelings of
finishing life.
If I'm not wrong she was 16 andI was 12 when she attempted her
first suicide.
(06:34):
So that was a big thing in ourhouse.
Mom was on the bed depression.
Dad is in alcohol.
A lot of debts came over him.
Dad is in alcohol.
A lot of debts came over himand from being a very successful
guy in the city he losteverything and with that he lost
his dignity, his honor.
It hit him hard so he was inanxiety.
(06:59):
It was a very broken family,very broken environment, no
proper care.
And the following year mysister attended the suicide the
second time and that was veryhard again and she almost lost
her life but somehow survived.
She had poison and it kind ofaffected her, kind of destroyed
(07:21):
her intestines, and so now she'son the bed and I'm like 13 and
mom is, you know, on bed andthere's no one to take care of
us, no proper timing for mealsand no one doing the laundry and
dad doesn't have enough.
Now all of a sudden, from beinga rich guy in the communities,
he's broke, he's lost everything.
(07:43):
You're living in one small roomwith shared bathroom and toilet
.
So it was a total flip over ofour lives and that kind of
gripped my heart in teenage andI was totally lost.
I had no hope and, being in aHindu family, I tried everything
(08:03):
possible because I was sodesperate.
And, being in a Hindu family, Itried everything possible
because, you know, I was sodesperate and I always have this
question in my teenage who canfix this or who can help us?
Or is there anything that canbe done to you know, heal my
family or bring them to a placeof breakthrough?
So in my teenage I became veryreligious because of the
(08:26):
desperation that I had.
That led me to do everythingthat my religion taught me.
I did sacrifices, I climbed upthe mountains barefoot, I went
to the rivers to take dips and Ieven tried Islam.
In those times I went to acouple of very popular mosques
(08:48):
in India, a thousand miles away,700 miles away.
So in my teenage I did a lot ofreligious things because I was
desperate for someone to show upand fix us and help us.
But things got worse.
Nothing helped.
So around 15, 15, 16, all thoseanxiety and in my heart led me
(09:11):
to a very destructive way of nowgetting anger attacks, you know
panic attacks, and I startedcutting my body.
I used to cut my hands withblades and I would just stop.
Those things became my stressbusters and living a very
depressed life.
I I was attacked by, you know,these emotions of hatred for my
(09:35):
parents and, yeah, my heart wasspoiled and I was really in pain
during that time.
And so my mother used to say inthose times that you know, when
you turn 18, I'll leave.
Your sister is above 18.
(09:55):
You guys, you know she's anadult and I stayed in this house
just for you guys.
I wanted to just leave and go,but what she didn't realize was
that her staying back in thehouse was also not a help.
It was so horrible because allour lives, you know, we saw her
crying and depressed and fights.
And so it really affected us askids of the house.
(10:17):
And so my last phase of myteenage was I was an angry boy.
I was full of hatred, I hatedthe whole world.
I hated my parents.
I blamed them for, you know,giving us this kind of life.
And so she used to say thatwhen you turn 18, I'll leave.
(10:38):
So that kind of became a hugefear in me that when I'll turn
18, she leaves, leaves.
So I started blaming myselfthat it's because of me she's
gonna leave.
So this question, who can fixthis?
And this fear that, oh, she'sgonna leave because I'll turn 18
that collided and became such adeadly combination in me that I
(11:03):
just couldn't have grip overlife.
I lived in constant fear,constant pain, constant anxiety
and constant voices in my headthat our family is made for
destruction, this is how it'sgoing to end one day.
We're all going to die, we'reall going to have poison one day
(11:25):
, and all these voices ofhopelessness from 15, 16, and 17
.
So it was a very horrible life,painful.
I lived in isolation.
I want to jump to the Jesuspart of the story because I
think that's more important.
I turned 18 and she decided toleave.
(11:45):
Her parents were not alive, buther brother lived in the same
neighborhood so she moved there,she left there and that night
it was a very heartbreakingnight for me.
The whole day was just I feltit's the end of my life.
So my dad was in alcohol anddeath and totally a guy who lost
in life.
(12:05):
My sister is in depression andshe's you know kind of she has
no clue what she's gonna do.
And now mom left.
So I felt that moment is likeit's over.
I can't take it anymore.
So we used to live on the thirdfloor of an apartment and in
India we have flat roofs so youcan go up there for a walk or
(12:26):
whatever.
So I went up there and I lookeddown from the roof and I just
felt that this is it.
I need to jump and, just, youknow, end my life.
I can't take it anymore.
So this whole sense ofcommitting suicide came upon me
and I was so much in pain fromthe age of eight or seven till
(12:48):
18 that I was so depressed andsuppressed from all sides I
thought I can't take it anymore.
But then, as I'm crying, I'mbroken, I'm shattered to pieces
like I'm depressed on the roofand I'm like cursing myself, my
life, my family and some God inthe air.
(13:08):
You know, like there's no God,like no one could help us, and
I'm disappointed, I am full ofhatred, I want to end my life.
And as I'm contemplating allthat, I looked at a house in the
neighborhood, so we used to.
It was a neighborhood that waskind of a square, like houses on
(13:29):
all four sides.
There was a little park in themiddle of all the houses and we
lived in block D and I looked ata house in block E which is on
the right side and that house isthe only Christian house, was
the only Christian house, wasonly Christian house in the
neighborhood and their son wasmy best friend from kindergarten
(13:53):
till grade seven and then hechanged his school.
I'm in college, for a fear.
He's in college first year, butfrom grade seven.
So college first year like sixyears of gap, there's no
conversation.
Years of gap, there's noconversation, there's no
connection, there's nofriendship.
And as I looked at that house, Igot reminded of something that
(14:14):
happened in that house when Iwas in grade two and what
happened was we were supposed tomake craft for our school, like
some painting or something.
We all students were supposedto make something and take it to
the school.
And his name is Mickey.
And he said why don't you comeover to my house and you know, a
(14:35):
few more kids are joining infrom the neighborhood and we'll
all sit on the floor and makethe craft together.
And I still remember I chose tomake Hello Kitty.
I don't know why I did that, soI was making Hello Kitty as a
boy and grade two.
We are all there, kids and amissionary from south of India
(14:58):
comes to that house that day inthe evening, knocks the door and
says hey, I'm here just to prayfor you.
And my friend's mother invitedhim in and said sure, you can
pray for us.
And this is what she said andI'm reminded of all of this as
I'm about to come to suicidethat she looked at all of us,
(15:22):
all of us, the kids, and shesaid as you're praying for us,
why don't you pray for thesekids of our neighborhood as well
?
And he started praying for allof us and as he was praying, I
started crying I don't know whyin that young age and he located
(15:44):
me.
He came to me, he laid his handupon me, he brought a little
bottle of oil from his pocketand he kind of put the oil on my
head and he started praying forme.
I didn't understand anything,what he's praying, but all I
could feel in that young age wasthat I felt peace.
And I was crying and by the endof it this is the line that I
(16:07):
remembered that night he pointedtowards me and told my friend's
mother keep an eye on thischild.
He's special and as.
I'm about to jump.
This whole thing is coming tome about this guy and his face
and this statement of his thatthis boy is special and I'm like
(16:32):
it doesn't look like I'mspecial and my life is.
So it's a mess and I'm likebattling between these two
voices now and all of a sudden Irealized you know what?
I've tried my 33 million godsand goddesses.
I've tried some more religion.
I didn't try Jesus.
(16:54):
Maybe I need to try him andmaybe see that if he's the
answer.
And I'm like thinking about allthis and I literally looked up
to the sky and with tearsrolling down my cheek and I said
I'm still amazed how I madethis very Christian prayer,
which was so astonishing for methat how come I said this?
(17:17):
But this is what I said on therooftop I said Jesus, if you are
alive, save me and my family.
And I didn't even say an amenin the end, because I didn't
know that you have to say anamen in the end.
You know it was just a brokenprayer of a broken Hindu boy.
And I said Jesus, if you'realive, save me and my family.
(17:39):
And I'm just saying itconstantly and I'm like sobbing
and I'm shattered and I'mdesperate.
And in the middle of it I hearda noise at the back of my roof,
like I heard footsteps, and Ithought my father came up to see
that if I'm okay or not.
So I turned to see who iscoming up on the roof and it was
(18:01):
my same friend from the samehouse no yes, no contact for six
years.
Um, you know, we didn't havephones or whatsapp or I messages
, no, nothing, no friendship.
And I was shell-shocked and Iwas like how come you are here?
And this is what he told me.
(18:22):
He said this morning and I knowthat he's not a very spiritual
guy, I don't know even.
I think even now, like I know,he's not a guy who's like very
prophetic or so, he was just a,you know, rugged young boy, just
born in a Christian family.
You know, and this is what hesaid, man, that this morning I
(18:43):
heard this voice go find yourfriend's son.
You got to meet him, you got tofind him and he said that I
kept battling the whole daybecause he was a shy guy, he
didn't want to just abruptlyappear.
But he said but I just couldn'tresist.
And it was 8 pm, it was aboutyou know time to sleep.
And he couldn't resist.
(19:05):
And, and it was 8 pm, it wasabout you know time to sleep.
And he said I, I just felt thatif I don't do this, my heart
will come out of my chest, likethere's this.
I just felt so uncomfortable ifI don't do this.
So I right away knew thatsomething is happening.
And um, yeah, he heard my storythat night and he couldn't help
me much.
He's not the best counselor inthe city, I know, but that's all
(19:25):
he said.
He said you know what, getready, tomorrow I'll take you to
the church and maybe the pastorcan help you.
And I was like no man.
I've tried so many things.
And I still remember mystatement to him.
I said you know, I've tried so,shoes and it, it looks like
every shoe cuts me and nothingis comfortable.
Oh well, you are saying to trythis, jesus, the british god, or
(19:49):
whatever, and I also felt thesame.
Well, let's give it a try.
And very half-heartedly I saidyes.
And he said I'll pick you at 1130 tomorrow.
And I was like half-hearted,but next day, 7 am, I'm ready,
I'm done with my shower, I'veput on my shoes already, like
I'm pumped up, like I want to go.
And he picked me up and I wentthere.
(20:13):
21st October, year 2000, tuesday.
It's not a church service.
Noontime we get to the pastor'shouse, knocks the door, no
appointment taken.
You know the Eastern culture.
Sometimes you don't need tohave an appointment, you just
get into people's zone, which issurprising at times.
So we just kind of knocked thedoor and the pastor's wife
(20:35):
opened the door and said he'snot at home, you can just wait
for him.
I waited for four hours.
Nancy Bruscher (20:42):
Wow.
Sunny Kapoor (20:43):
Came at 4 pm and why I'm sharing these details?
Because you are part of thisjourney For four hours.
These voices, this battlebetween these voices that, oh,
there is no God, oh, you'rewasting your time, get up and go
.
And then this voice that Inever heard before in 18 years,
(21:04):
that kept telling me boy, you'renot moving an inch, you're not
leaving.
Today you are sitting here.
And I'm glad that voice won andI kept sitting there for four
hours.
And he came in and he was busywith the kids and he had hands
full of bags.
He went for shopping and he'snot interested in me.
And he had hands full of bags.
He went for shopping and he'snot interested in me.
(21:24):
And I'm offended alreadybecause I've lived an offensive
life, I'm full of hatred alreadyand I'm like not liking that
he's not focused on me.
And then a few minutes later hecame, sat in front of me and
all my friend said was he's myfriend, sonny, Can you please
pray for him?
That's it.
And he said alright, let's pray.
(21:44):
I'm like what?
You're not even asking me.
I want to share my pain.
So I said, fine, I came in theposture of prayer, I closed my
eyes and joined my hands,because that's what we are
taught in India and all thereligion that you have to bow
down, you have to get your headdown.
So I did that.
But then he asked me a question.
(22:06):
He said look at me, I want toask you one thing.
That question changed thetrajectory of my life and that
was a turning point and I callit my first miracle.
And his question was before Ipray for you, I want to ask you
do you believe in Jesus?
Before I pray for you, I wantto ask you do you believe in
Jesus?
Now, living a life like that andyou know such hopeless life, so
(22:28):
much of pain, I just wanted tobe very rude and honest and tell
him that I don't.
And I was such a bad person.
I've beaten my teachers in myteenage, like 17, 16.
I've taken up fights in thecity.
So I'm I'm very rude, verybrutal, very, uh, rude in my, in
(22:50):
my talk.
I'm not a soft guy anymore.
So I just wanted to be rude andtell him sir, I don't believe
in Jesus, I don't even believein you.
Show me if your Jesus is real,I'll do something, something
Like be the magician here.
I was that kind of a rowdy guy,you know, rough guy.
But my first miracle happenedwhen I opened my mouth and I
(23:11):
wanted to be rude and say Idon't believe in Jesus.
I opened my mouth and I saidyes, I do.
I was like what?
No, I didn't want to say that,you know.
And the moment I said yes, I do, as if something in me was
waiting to respond to this call.
The moment I said yes, I do,something happened.
(23:34):
Like I was just unleashed, likeI bursted in tears and as if,
like, the damn door was open,the gate was open and I started
crying and I cried and I criedand I'm thinking deep down, like
why am I crying?
But then, few minutes later, Irealized that this is not the
(23:56):
crying that I've been doing forlast 10 years.
This is a different crying.
This is beautiful, this is sojoyful.
This is amazing, because everytear rolling down my cheek, I
felt light, I felt joy and Iforgot what's happening, why
he's praying his words.
I couldn't hear him.
That just moment became betweenme and this some kind of power
(24:21):
which I'm still trying to figureout, as if, you know, this
whole wind is just blowing on meand I'm, like you know, feeling
light and my bondages aremelting.
And I cried for like 40 minutesand in that moment I call it my
vision moment.
(24:48):
I call it my vision that I sawa beautiful room and there's a
beautiful chair in that room andthis man with white robe, with
long hair, is sitting on thischair and I'm sitting on the
floor next to him and my head isin his lap and he's patting my
hair.
And this is what he's saying,and he said it in Hindi, but
(25:09):
this is what it meant in English.
He said now, since you havecome to me, it's going to be
alright.
And I got out of that encounterand after 40 minutes, I felt
that I'm the most joyful personon the face of this earth.
There's nothing wrong in mylife, there's nothing broken in
(25:33):
my life, there's nothing missingin my life.
What problem I'm talking about?
What am I talking about?
There's nothing wrong.
There's nothing that is missing.
I felt complete.
I felt just that joy that camein me, which cannot come if it
(25:53):
is not supernatural right,because life was still broken,
family was still broken, parentswere still separated, my sister
was still in depression,everything was just the same on
the outside, but I was changedin 40 minutes from the inside,
the Lord appeared and healed mecompletely in one moment.
His one encounter fixed it Likehe made it clear to me that I'm
(26:18):
real, I'm able and I can do allthings.
I couldn't tell this to thepastor, I couldn't share
anything.
I was so much lost and consumedin that encounter that I just
said bye and I left the house.
But I told myself that I'mleaving this house as a
Christian.
I am saved.
(26:38):
Jesus is my Lord, he's my King.
I belong to Him because if hecan change my heart without,
without changing externalfactors, and give me joy, which
people try to get after, theyget the results.
Man, this God, is real.
So that was he convinced me andI left as a Christian.
(26:58):
I was joyful.
Depression left me, my, myheart changed.
I had compassion on my parents.
I forgive them.
That day everything in mechanged and I got new lens to
look at the world like it wasjust washed and everything
became new.
So that's how I got saved atthe age.
Nancy Bruscher (27:21):
Yeah, I have a couple questions.
Sunny Kapoor (27:24):
Sure.
Nancy Bruscher (27:25):
Was your family a practicing Hindu family, or
was it just yes, we're Hindu,but we're not practicing?
Sunny Kapoor (27:34):
Strong, Like they were deeply into that.
We had idols at home.
We had a whole shelf that wasdedicated for the gods.
We had a temple inside of thehouse.
It was strong.
Nancy Bruscher (27:50):
Could you explain?
I think everyone who listenshas heard of Hinduism.
Could you briefly explain whatit is?
Sunny Kapoor (27:58):
Well, it's definitely a mythology.
It is based on myths andimaginary stories.
Not every story mentioned thereis part of the history.
And Hinduism is a mythology andit's more of a lifestyle which
is based on a fear.
So Tuesday you can't eatnon-veg.
(28:21):
On Thursday you can't go for ahaircut.
On Saturday you can't buyanything that is made of iron.
So because you do that, the Godof Tuesday will get upset, or
God of Thursday will get upset.
So it's all fear based controland don't do this.
A lot of laws and legalism.
(28:42):
If you do this, god will beupset.
So you'll have to do this.
A lot of laws and legalism.
And if you do this, god will beupset.
So you'll have to do this kindof sacrifice.
So it's more lifestyle and fearrather than relationship.
Well, there can't be arelationship because
relationship requires two peopleliving.
So that's Hinduism.
(29:02):
It's all based off oh, you'regoing through this, so you've
got to do this kind of sacrifice.
Or you are going throughfinancial stress, so you've got
to please this god.
Or you want strength in yourlife, so you've got to do this
on Monday for this goddess.
So it's all need-based andfear-based.
Nancy Bruscher (29:20):
Does Hinduism have reincarnation?
Sunny Kapoor (29:24):
Yes, they believe in reincarnation and that's why
they believe in karma, that ifyou do the right thing, you're
paid accordingly in your nextlife, and that kind of also was
one of my puzzle in me that ifreincarnation is the truth, then
what good it is for me to beget saved in this life.
Nancy Bruscher (29:47):
If I have to get saved in every life, okay so
you said that on the roof you,you said the name jesus, you
said that you someone prayed foryou, which I think is a
beautiful.
We've heard two things ofprayer already, one that took
years to be answered and then aprayer over you with, uh, the
(30:10):
pastor.
That was immediate, which isjust so neat to see those two
dynamics way.
But did you hear of jesusbeforehand?
You called it a like a britishgod.
It was that you heard.
Can you kind of Jesusbeforehand?
You called it like a Britishgod, was it that you heard?
Can you kind of explain that?
you had that name to say.
Sunny Kapoor (30:28):
Well, it's not a coincidence that I studied in a
Catholic school.
Okay, and the name of the schoolwas St Paul's.
Oh, okay, but as, growing up asa Hindu boy, I would go in the
school and in the lobby of theschool there's a statue of Paul
with a sword downwards and Bibleupwards, and I always was
(30:49):
curious, not knowing that oneday God would call me and make
me a church planter.
You know, it's like.
It just amazes me.
So we heard about Jesus, weheard about Mary.
We heard about you know, father, because we had Christian
prayers every morning in theassembly.
About Jesus, we heard aboutMary.
We heard about you know, father, because we were, we had
Christian prayers every morningin the assembly.
So I knew about this.
But then, growing up in thatculture, we were made, our
(31:12):
hearts were made hard forChristians so that we don't fall
into that trap, or they, youknow, do the mind-washing, the
brainwas.
So we were injected with hatred.
Oh, this is a God from Britain.
Oh, england brought it.
This is the God of Britishers.
He's not our God, he's the Godof foreigners.
(31:33):
So a lot of communities inIndia even now think that Jesus
is the God of white skin, butthey don't even know that he's
the god who's born in the eastand he's from israel.
They don't know it.
So, yeah, it was that kind of aprejudice that I had in my, in
my mind okay, yeah, thank you,yeah.
Nancy Bruscher (31:54):
So then you said that you became a church
planter.
How so?
You had this amazing conversion, and then what happened?
Sunny Kapoor (32:03):
Yeah, so initially I faced a lot of persecution at
home.
My parents didn't like it.
Well, let me complete thetestimony.
Okay, I started praying in myhouse.
The only prayer that I knew wasJesus, you are the king of my
life.
Jesus, you are the king of thishouse.
So I would spend 8 to 10 hoursat church, not anybody being
(32:31):
there.
I would just go walk five miles, take the keys from my pastor.
Small church, a hundred peoplenext door, so I would just go
there, sit there for eight hours, 10 hours, and try to
understand the word.
Couldn't understand anything,but the first scripture that
ministered to me was romans,chapter 8, verse number 1 now
therefore, there is nocondemnation on those who are
(32:51):
christ jesus, and that was thefirst scripture god spoke to me
from in my walk with him and Itook hold of faith.
I came back with joy and Istood in my small house and I
started praying in all the rooms.
Like we had a small house, liketwo rooms, kitchen, toilet, the
same rooftop, every corner.
I would just go and speak thesewords there's no condemnation
(33:16):
over this house because I'm inChrist Jesus.
Jesus is the Lord, jesus is theKing.
These are the declarations Istarted doing and I saw the
result of it.
I'm not saying this doctrine isspeak and believe or claim it.
I'm not saying all that.
I'm saying I've declared theword of God as it is written, in
(33:37):
the atmosphere of my house andbecause I just felt this walls,
these lights, has to hear thatthis place now belongs to genes
and not knowing that I was allalso speaking to the demonic
world and the bondage is.
These words were like a warthat I was doing without knowing
that this is a war and that'show you win a spiritual battle.
(33:59):
My mom came back very few days.
I started praying for them,gave them the gospel and their
marriage got united.
They're still living together,happily married, and God blessed
them.
My mother came out ofdepression.
She came to the church afterinitial some time of persecution
(34:22):
.
They couldn't understandbecause they were socially.
They were like, oh, what thecommunity will say?
Or you got converted, oh, howare we gonna face this that?
I think they were in socialbondage.
But when the lord touched them,my mother gave her heart to the
lord.
She got baptized and she's aborn again believer now.
My dad loves the lord.
My sister gave her heart tojesus, got baptized, came out of
(34:44):
depression, and her husband,who is from a Brahman family, he
gave his heart to the Lord.
He got baptized and they allare serving the Lord.
And you know, the Lord justinvaded our house and salvation
came.
Debts were paid, jobs came back, businesses came back.
The Lord honored came back.
The Lord honored us in thecommunity among our relatives
(35:07):
who kind of left us in myteenage because we didn't have
money and good gifts to givethem.
They all started lining up forprayers and our house just
became a lighthouse from being adark house and Jesus just
showed the community that I amalive.
And we were blessed financially.
We were blessed emotionallyhealth relationships.
(35:30):
Every area of our life wasrestored, like resurrected, by
Jesus.
So three years in that I wassitting in the same church and I
was just crying in gratitude,in worship.
I was like Lord you, gratitudeand worship.
I was like Lord, you've done somuch for me.
Like I had this question all mylife.
Who can do this?
And you told me you're the onewho can do this.
And I was 21 that day when Iwas crying Sunday morning
(35:53):
service and I'm just grateful,I'm crying at his feet.
I'm like that woman with thealabaster jar and I'm just
thanking him and I'm like Lord,you've done so much for for me.
How can I pay this?
Like, what can I do for you?
Cause I can.
Like, even if I live thousandlives, I can't repay what you
have done for us.
(36:13):
Like you came to us.
We didn't go to church, wedidn't have a Bible.
You came to me like you heard aprayer of a Hindu boy, like how
can I pay this?
And and I said, lord, I'll diefor you.
And in that beautiful moment Ihad another encounter with Jesus
(36:34):
where he said I don't want youto die for me, I want you to
live for me.
Can you go to the whole worldand tell them I'm alive and what
I've done for you, I can do itfor them and I can heal them in
one encounter.
I can fix things if they opentheir hearts and believe that
all things are possible withtheir father in heaven.
(36:57):
And I said yes to the call at 21.
And I came to my passion, saidI'll serve, and I was doing a
pretty decent job.
My last job was IBM.
I was a software sales manager.
I was earning big amount.
I said I'm gonna leaveeverything and just serve my God
.
It took me two years for thattransition to prepare.
(37:18):
About 23 I planted the firstchurch as a very young guy.
I was not married, I was veryyoung and didn't have all the
resources that I needed.
But yeah, I said yes to thecall of God at just 23 and
planted the first church in acity called Noida, near New
(37:39):
Delhi in India.
Nancy Bruscher (37:43):
You said there was a Brahmin family.
Sunny Kapoor (37:47):
Yes, my brother-in-law, my sister's
husband, comes from a Brahminfamily.
So Hinduism is divided intofour.
It's a caste system, soBrahmins are the top notch, like
they are the supreme ones.
Nancy Bruscher (38:00):
Okay, all right.
I knew that that word must havemeant something, so I wanted to
clarify that.
So you planted your firstchurch In 2007.
I can't even imagine that.
Sunny Kapoor (38:15):
At the age of 23,.
No one opened the door becausejust a young boy wants to start
a church.
Nobody gave us a place, so wegot a school which was kind of
abandoned and they had a verandawith no roof.
And yeah, we took that placeand started the church with no
roof.
(38:35):
Okay, yeah.
Nancy Bruscher (38:39):
And people came.
Sunny Kapoor (38:41):
People came and I was scared, I was not willing to
take it and I prayed, I cried,I said Lord to take it.
And I prayed, I cried, I saidLord.
So church already started inOctober 2007, but it started in
a hotel basement.
But that guy belonged to aHindu activist party and his
brother pressurized him that howcome you can hold, you can't
(39:01):
host a church in your property.
We are against these people.
So they kicked us out afterthree months and we were like 12
or 15 people already in threemonths and so we were.
We were kicked out and on fridayhe told me no.
On sunday he told me that youknow, you can't come back next
sunday and till friday I gotnothing and I was like lord,
(39:23):
where do I take these 12 people?
And on Friday I got this place,but I was not happy about it
because we had no roof and wehad extreme weather conditions.
In New Delhi it goes to 120degrees in summers and it's bad
and it's monsoon city.
It rains for two months.
But I prayed on Friday nightand the Lord said I'll come, and
(39:46):
when.
I heard that, I knew that he'sgoing to do something great.
So we stayed there for fiveyears.
We tried covering it up withdifferent things, with fiber
sheets and this and that, butnothing worked.
It kept leaking.
It kept making it hot.
So we were there for five years, but the Lord taught us how to
worship in those five years.
He taught us that it's notabout the comfort, it's not
(40:10):
about how many resources youhave, it's about your heart's
condition.
Nancy Bruscher (40:16):
And.
Sunny Kapoor (40:16):
I think that has made the Indian church very
strong, because some nationsdidn't have proper resources or
comfort.
All they had was Jesus.
Some nations didn't have propersources or comfort.
All they had was Jesus.
And I tell you, because of thatthey are mightier soldiers,
they are strong believers,because they have gone through
persecution.
(40:36):
And persecution is notsomething that we have to fear
of, because it produces great,great, great faith and produces
a lot of fruit in us.
Anytime the persecution came tothe church in the Bible, the
church grew and became morepowerful.
So, yeah, that was a beautifulstart in the journey of five
(40:58):
years in that church.
Nancy Bruscher (41:01):
So you had five years at this church, and then,
where did God move you?
Sunny Kapoor (41:07):
Yeah.
So church was growing prettyfast.
It became the fastest growingchurch in the city.
90 plus percentage of ourcongregants were Hindu people
that came to the Lord and Hissaving grace and the church
exploded very fast and we hadcountless baptisms happening
very fast.
And we had countless baptismshappening and by 2011, in four
(41:33):
years of this church, the Lordstarted ministering to me
personally and he said don'tmake it a mega church, because
India particularly doesn't needa mega church.
They need more churches becausenot everybody has transport and
there are unreached places.
And so God kind of startedgiving me this wisdom of
planting more churches andbranching out, because india
(41:54):
needed more pastors, indianeeded more worship leaders,
more prayer warriors, morepeople who could come and
volunteer in serving the lord.
So so if we'll have morechurches, we'll have multiple
worship leaders, multiple eldersand treasurers and you know, so
many people will be engagedrather than having a lot of
people in one place.
So I'm not saying that's thewrong thing to do.
(42:16):
It was tailor-made for India inthat season.
That's what I'm trying to say.
So the Lord gave me those eyesof a father to locate people in
our church who can be releasedand prepared.
You know, because God startedsee is showing me that they have
destinies in them given to themby the Lord.
(42:37):
So, 2011, we knew that we haveto get into church planting and
he started preparing a coupleand the first church we planted
from that church was 30 milesaway, with 17 people that we
released with their you know,their giving, their generosity,
and we released them and weplanted a second church and that
(42:58):
was a beautiful moment.
And then it became a movement.
The Lord would keep showing memore people and I would keep
mentoring them, preparing them,and we would just release them.
And until 2018, we planted sixchurches in northern India like
that, and that became abeautiful group of churches.
They're still thriving there.
(43:20):
Then, 2018, when we completed 10years of our ministry, I was
already a guest speaker in manynations.
In those 10 years.
I was going to South Africa,mauritius, england, germany.
I even came to US in 2014 and15 to minister in a few churches
in Texas and California andArizona.
I was preaching in South Africain 2018, and that's where the
(43:44):
Lord spoke to me and said I'mgoing, gonna use you not just
for your nation, but the nationsof the world, and now I want
you to be like Apostle Paul andhand over the ministry like hand
over, as in like not an exit,but just give the church to one
of your spiritual son, stilloversee all those churches and
(44:04):
go to South Africa and plant achurch there.
So, by faith, we moved in 2019.
We walked out of the house andwe just gave that pastor the
entire house and handed over theministry to him.
And while I was still takingcare of all these churches and
covering them and feeding them,you know, and taking care of the
pastors, we went to SouthAfrica, stayed there, lived
(44:27):
there for two years and planteda couple of churches there and
moved back to India in 2021.
So that's till 2021.
If you want me to carry on tillthe whole, journey.
Nancy Bruscher (44:42):
Yeah, you got to tell us how you got to Denver.
Sunny Kapoor (44:44):
Yes, yeah you got to tell us how you got to Denver
.
Yes, that's a very specialstory and very close to our
hearts.
So when we came back to Indiain 2021, I was very happy.
I was like, wow, this is good.
So by 2021, we had eightchurches and outreaches in India
and two in South Africa.
So we had 10 churches.
(45:05):
And I said you know, this isamazing fruit, and probably the
Lord will tell me to now plantanother church in India, because
I'm a pastor by DNA from 23 ofmy age.
I'm just being for the peopleof God and I love this.
But in that season he told meno, I don't want you to start a
(45:25):
church, because I wanted tostart a church near the
Parliament House in New Delhi.
That's our White House.
I really wanted to have a sortof church like in the vicinity
of the Capitol and you know,just be the voice there.
But he told me not to do that.
And he said I'm taking you intoan apostolic role of taking
care of these churches that youhave planted and feed them and
(45:49):
be there for them.
And you know, like if?
Nancy Bruscher (45:51):
you have your own congregation.
Sunny Kapoor (45:52):
You'll be busy, but I want you to take some time
or a few years and just feedthem and help them.
So every Sunday, I startedgoing to different churches and
helping them and doingconferences for them.
So that was my role from 2021January to 2023 January.
For two years I did that andlived a life of faith and just
(46:13):
an apostle, just an overseer ofchurches.
2023, I heard the story startsfor US.
We were praying and fasting andI said Lord, what's next for me
?
Will you just tell me to dothis all my life, or will you
tell me another assignment?
Give me an assignment?
And so in those days, as wewere praying and fasting, I saw
(46:37):
this dream one night, and in mydream I saw that I'm standing in
a room and I'm looking at awall and that wall has like a
painting.
I saw the entire map of the USand I'm looking at it, the
entire map of the United States.
(46:58):
And then in my dream, I saw thatthat whole map is scarred, as
if someone took a knife or ablade and scarred the whole map.
All the states are scarred.
And then I saw blood oozing outof the map.
I started seeing the blood iscoming out, but the whole map is
(47:18):
bleeding and I could feel theemotions in that dream.
I could feel the agony, thepain, the emotions in that dream
.
I actually feel the agony, thepain, and you know how the dream
world or the dream realm works.
There are random scenes thatchange doesn't make sense,
doesn't connect and all of asudden I'm having an eagle view
(47:40):
over this map.
Now, first I'm looking at it onthe wall and now I'm looking at
it as an eagle view and it'sbleeding, it's it's, it's red,
it's painful, and I'm justfeeling that.
In my dream I'm feeling thatemotion.
And as I'm looking at it fromthe eagle view, I I saw the Lord
(48:02):
standing in the middle of themap.
And as I saw Jesus standing inthe middle of the map, and as I
saw Jesus standing in the middleof the map, the whole
trajectory of the dream changed.
Now I'm feeling joy, I'mfeeling peace, I'm feeling
celebration, I'm feelingexcitement, I'm feeling freedom.
The whole environment of thedream changed.
And when I saw him standing inthe middle of the map, next
(48:25):
thing he whistled, which is sounusual, which is not heard of.
But then, when I landed there,I realized that Isaiah 5.26 says
I'll whistle and bring themfrom all the sites like east,
west, north and south.
I didn't know that when I'mseeing this dream, he whistled.
(48:46):
And when he whistled, in mydream I saw people from all four
sides.
They came into the UnitedStates, they came from all four
sides and they were carryingmedical kits and first aid kits
in their hands and they gatheredaround Jesus.
And this is what he said andthe dream ended.
He just looked at all thesepeople as if the commander
(49:10):
whistled and a team gathered andnow he's giving a command.
This is what he said and thedream was over.
He said go, heal the land.
And my dream got over.
I woke up.
I I was sweating.
I knew like this is intense,this is not me, this is from God
, and that inspired everythingfor us.
(49:33):
We started praying about it.
We got confirmations from ourmentors people that love us and
you know we are accountable toand started searching in the
world and praying, and I knewthat God wants me to do this.
And in 15 days I booked myflights, came to California to
one of my friends that's theonly guy I knew and came just on
(49:57):
my cost to pray for America andgo back because I didn't know
what to do.
And in those 15 days I met thisguy, this organization.
They have missionaries on boardand he heard my story and
journey and, miraculously, theyjust agreed in one meeting to
get me the visas.
No money involved, no dollarinvolved.
I had to spend my own money,but they became the sponsors.
(50:20):
Why I'm telling you this?
Because there is a hugetestimony attached to it.
The visas take nine to sixmonths because this is a huge
testimony attached to it.
The visas take nine to sixmonths because this is a
religious work, because I cancome and do anything for the
kingdom that I want to.
Legally, it takes like six tonine months.
Visas came in 16 hours what theattorney was shocked.
(50:41):
She called me from los angelesand she said I've not seen this
in 27 years of my practice.
Your visas are in my inbox in16 hours.
So I knew that God is bringingus to the world of healing and
that's our mission, that's ourvision to bring healing to the
land.
And there's so much moreattached to it.
But I think we're running outof time.
(51:02):
So, yeah, that's where we are2023, september.
I landed here, didn't knowwhere to go.
The Lord led us to Colorado.
I didn't even know what Coloradois.
When I looked at the map, whenI saw CO, I thought it's like
carbon monoxide or I don't knowwhat this is.
I was blank where to go.
The Lord told us to go to cometo Colorado, come to Denver.
(51:25):
I came alone with my bags, cameout of the Denver International
Airport and I didn't know whereto go.
I had no connection, so I justbooked a hotel and started
staying there.
That's how, by faith, westarted our lives in Denver.
I didn't know one human beinghere.
I just came because I heard theLord say go and take the word
(51:50):
of healing to the land.
Nancy Bruscher (51:54):
Well, we will for sure unpack this another
time, but I do want to kind ofsay a few things before we.
Just now we're done.
I love that, and my husband andI have been feeling for a
really long time that the unitedstates obviously you see the
numbers decreasing inchristianity right and afraid
(52:16):
that it's going to become likeeurope, where they used to have
a vibrant christian communityand now the beautiful cathedral
sit empty on on sunday and, uh,the funny thing is is that I got
to go to india on a missiontrip.
I should have been here when mydaughter she's so, she's eight,
(52:39):
and I went when she was one, soseven years ago, and it was
amazing and that might beanother topic for another time,
but in the past always kind ofhad westerners go to all these
countries to be missionaries andI have felt like for a long
time that we need a missionaryto come to us and that, um, that
(53:03):
we really need help, if that'sas blunt as.
I can be.
Sunny Kapoor (53:09):
Yeah, I mean, that was a shock for me as well.
When the Lord said I'll takeyou as a missionary to Atlanta.
I was like Lord, they have saidmissionaries Like who will
accept me?
And for many months I keptthinking what's bleeding Like?
Is it the government that isbleeding?
Well, every government isbleeding.
Is it the community that isbleeding?
Well, every government isbleeding.
Is it the community that isbleeding?
Well, every community isbleeding.
Is it the economy?
(53:30):
Like what is it?
But now, 18 months in the land,my heart aches and I'm not
being judgmental at all.
I think I'm just beingdiscernmentful, if that's the
right word.
My conclusion, my discernment,says what I saw in the dream it
is the church that is bleeding.
(53:51):
And, yeah, what went?
Nancy Bruscher (53:55):
wrong where went wrong.
Sunny Kapoor (53:57):
I don't know.
We still have to figure it out,but for sure one of the enemies
of American church has beencomfort yes so it's the
comfortable church which is moreat risk than the persecuted
church.
Nancy Bruscher (54:12):
I have shivers, oh my goodness so true right.
So, true, okay, so I'm going toleave that as a.
Hey, that's one from Sunny.
Okay, I mean that's, but Ithat's one from Sonny Okay.
I mean that's, but I thinkthat's so true and we need to
dive into that, and I'd love todive a little bit more into your
(54:35):
missionary work here, but I dowant to wrap up for today.
Sure, what is your favorite?
Sunny Kapoor (54:45):
Bible verse or story my favorite Bible verse or
story.
There are two of my favoriteones.
One is Luke, chapter 10, whereJesus talks about when 70
disciples returned with joy andsaid Woohoo, we cast the demons
out in your name and all thatkind of stuff.
And Jesus says I saw Satanfalling from heaven like
(55:07):
lightning and I've given youauthority over scorpions and
serpents and nothing will hurtyou, nothing will harm you.
But then he laid such abeautiful foundation that is my
number one favorite.
And he said but I say to you,do not rejoice that spirits are
subjected to you, but rejoicethat your names are written in
(55:28):
the book of life in heaven.
And I think that is thefoundation of my life.
No matter what happens, I'msuccessful.
If I'm not, whatever season Igo through, my joy doesn't
fluctuate because it's notdependent on the fruit or the
success or whatever the worldwant to call it.
It's based on just one thingthat I belong to Jesus and my
(55:49):
name is written in heaven.
So I keep that as my wholefocus of being joyful in life.
That's my favorite part.
Second one is Isaiah 43, wherehe talks about you are mine and
I'm yours.
I love that intimacy that ismentioned in Isaiah 43 and then
he talks about you are mine andI'm yours.
I love that intimacy that ismentioned in Isaiah 43.
(56:10):
And then it talks about you gothrough the rivers and you'll
not be drowned, and you gothrough the fires and fires will
not be able to burn you, and Iam with you and I'm giving
ransom for you.
So the Lord is just talkingabout his intimacy with his son
and in his son for us.
So these two are my favoritepassages.
(56:31):
That's good, yeah, yeah.
Nancy Bruscher (56:33):
What kindness have you seen, or what kindness
have you shown in the last week?
Sunny Kapoor (56:37):
The kindness that I've seen man, a lot of kindness
.
People just show kindness to usevery day.
Yeah, I've got good friends inDenver.
Now I can say I'm not alone andthey keep checking on us.
The care that people show, thefriends that the Lord has given
us, that's very kind of them,because last 18 months we've
(56:58):
been living here by faith.
No one called us here.
There's no, you know, like wejust live here by the word of
the Lord.
So, yeah, a lot of kindnessthat people show.
The care, the love Are thekindness that.
I've shown.
I don't know man.
Oh, I think I'm kind.
Every person I talk to,strangers try to live a life of
(57:22):
kindness.
Just take care of people.
Okay, this is the kindness thatI show One of my friends.
He got stuck in his office Idon't know if you'll call it
kindness and his dog wasstruggling alone at home and he
couldn't leave office to takecare of him for his walk or for
his pee and all that dog stuff.
And he called me in desperationand I think it's also kindness.
(57:45):
I drove 20 miles and just wentto his house, took his dog for a
ride, for a walk, and just tookcare of his dog for an hour.
So I think it was kindness,yeah.
Yeah that is yeah.
Nancy Bruscher (57:57):
Yeah.
Well thank you for being on,sonny, thank you for sharing
your story, thank you forsharing about how you're a
missionary here in the UnitedStates, and I'm excited to see
what God does through this andexcited to chat with you again
yes, thank you, nancy,appreciate it.
Sunny Kapoor (58:18):
Thank you for honoring me and just inviting me
on your channel.
Really appreciate it, thank youthank you so much.
Nancy Bruscher (58:25):
Yeah, alrighty, on Ordinary People,
extraordinary Things.
Your story is his glory.
Thank you for listening.
I am sure you are going to wantto hear part two, where Sonny
shares more about his life andhis ministry and his mission
here in the United States.
That will be in two weeks, butnext week, easter Sunday, we are
(58:50):
dropping our 100th episode.
Oh, my goodness, I am sothankful, I'm so grateful for
all of you who have listened.
It is going to be a veryspecial episode as my husband,
chris, will be the host and heis talking to my brother and my
brother-in-law, so the three ofthem will be on and I can't wait
for you to hear.
(59:11):
We will see you next week.
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