(Mrs. Saramma Varghese was the first daughter of Mr. Thomman Chummar and Sara. Her parents were from an aristocratic family named Pappalil. They lived at a village called Marady, near to Moovattupuzha town.
She was brought up with strict discipline of the Syrian Christian tradition. Her mother Mrs. Sara is the first person who came to know the Lord in their family. Along with her conversion some wonderful things happened in their home. Her mother Sara's father Mr. Ulahannan Kakkatuputhenpurayil was staying at Palakkuzha village. At that time there was no gospel preached or heard in that village. One day two evangelists visited the village and decided to do some open air preaching, they started singing some songs and was about to start preaching, all of a sudden a group of angry mob reached to the spot and caught them and started beating. Their plan was to kill them and throw their bodies into the near by river. One of the evangelists was Br. P H Peter lovingly called as "Peter Upadesi" (Now with the Lord), father of Evangelist George Peter of Chitoor. Hearing the news Mr. Ulahannan (My mother's grand father) ran to the place, he being the village leader, no one was brave enough to protest against him. By the time it was dark, fearing that the angry mob might attack them again he gave shelter to them at his home. That night the servants of God shared their testimony and spoke to the family about Christ and the salvation they could gain by believing in Christ. That was a turning point in their family and my mother's mother accepted Christ as her personal savior. Her faith was so strong and she started witnessing the truth to other members of her family. Her husband Thomman expressed his displeasure and was dead against to her new faith. But among the five children Saramma and her younger sister Mariamma accepted Christ as their personal saviour. Later they decided to take baptism according to the Word of God. And the news spread through out the village and it was a shocking news to the relatives and the nominal orthodox Christian society. The Orthodox Syrian Church, ex-communicated them and were considered as out casts and even not allowed to participate in the funeral services of their relatives. They faced severe persecution from inside the family as well as from outside.
Though they were firm in the faith there were no believers in the nearby villages. So they had to walk about 60 kilometers every Sunday to participate in a worship meeting and other week days gatherings. My mother and her sister told they never missed Sunday worship meetings unless they were sick. They continued this way for almost five years and the Lord raised some of His children to extend their evangelistic work in those areas.
Some of the prominent evangelists at that time in the brethren movement M/s. K V Simon, Lonappen Upadesi, Peter Upadesi, K G Kurian, E P Varghese, C T Mathai, A P Paily and few other's inspirational messages and classes strengthened them to be firm in their faith. Though they faced many problems from their family members, wherever these brethren conduct gospel meetings and Bible classes in the nearby places, they make it a point to attend those gatherings. Few more Christians joined the faith and started a small gathering at Pothanicade near Parambencherry. Continued....