English-speaking church in Eindhoven
Harrison Chinnakumar photo

Harrison Chinnakumar

I was born in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India, into a traditional Christian family with strong Christian beliefs. Both my parents were devoted churchgoers, holding offices in the local church.

In 1981, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour and Lord during a Vacation Bible School training programme. Subsequently in 1985 I received God’s call to ministry after a meeting a visiting missionary from North India and submitted to missionary work. I joined the Indian Missionary Society (the first indigenous mission in India) as a missionary and worked in the tribal belt of North India. With God’s help we planted new churches and ran hostels and schools for the new converts.

Realising the need for equipping myself theologically and missiologically, I went for residential theological training for four years at Union Biblical Seminary, Pune. The training took me to Bangladesh for my internship and there I was part of the Bangladesh Expo 1995 team. I moved to Pastoral ministry in 1998, initially at All Saints Cathedral, Nagpur, Church of North India and later moved to the Church of South India, Bangalore. Along with the pastoral work, I tutored and ran theological classes for lay leaders. The desire to be part of world pastoral missions led me to serve at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Kuwait and then at Holy Trinity Church, Dubai. While in Kuwait I was part of the Christian Muslim Dialogue at the American University of Kuwait, focusing on the subject of ‘Mercy and Forgiveness in Christianity’. In Dubai, in 2019, ‘The Year of Tolerance’ we initiated a programme and extended the invitation to Islamic and Hindu scholars in Dubai to speak at the event in celebration of ‘The Year of Tolerance’. On the 7th of March 2020, I was collated as a canon of St. Christopher’s Cathedral, Bahrain by Archbishop Michael Lewis.

I was married to Selvarani for twenty three years and together we have two children: daughter Gracia, who is studying towards a medical degree; and son Samuel is studying Psychology. Sadly, I lost Selvarani in 2019 after a short illness. I am currently reading towards a PhD at Columbia International University, USA, in the field of ‘Intercultural Studies’. In August last year, I married Susan, who was a widow of five years.

I believe that my pastoral work has two sides: ministry (what we do inside the church) and missions (what we do to reach out to people outside the church). Susan and I are blessed to be given this opportunity to serve Trinity Church Eindhoven. What makes us feel particularly encouraged is seeing the enthusiastic volunteers and leaders in Trinity Church — and we prayerfully look forward to our new ministry. Pray for us as we settle ourselves in Eindhoven. Please also be assured of our prayers as you seek ways and means to glorify God.

God bless!