Be Our Guest — Kamal Sampara: From India to Nova Scotia to Faith
Grant: Welcome everyone to Torah Today Ministries and the first episode in our series, Be Our Guest. And I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have sitting next to me today than my good friend Kamal Sampara, who is from Nova Scotia up in Canada by way of India. And so Kamal, I think we said it was about 13 years ago that you first contacted me and began to share your faith journey with me. And we’ve been up to visit you a couple of times in Nova Scotia. And finally, you got to come to Ohio to our home. And it’s just great to have you here. So I’ve been excited to get you to sit down with me and to share some of your life. You have an amazing story — and he is going to write a book. I’m going to twist his arm till he writes that book someday, because it’s an amazing life. So I’m just going to turn it over to you. You’re born and raised in India — but then what was the journey to get from there?
Kamal: Yeah. So I’ll just limit to my journey in Christianity, so to speak. See, my mom was a Lutheran and my dad was a Baptist. And they still are — officially Baptist, because the wife follows the husband back in India.
Grant: And do they get along?
Kamal: They do get along, but they still take pride in where they were before. But I got saved in a Pentecostal meeting where it was a time when I never understood much about God. And the preacher was talking about Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) on the cross and his death and everything. But it was different. It was different. I didn’t know what it was. And then I experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit. I wept like a baby on a stage, and I didn’t know what was going on because I was 15 years old and people were watching me on the stage. And there were girls, too. So it was kind of embarrassing. But I still would not trade that experience because that was the first time I encountered God. So after that happened, I walked out of that event and I asked a guy, “What happened to me?” He said, “Oh, you are born again.” I said, “What does that even mean?” So I had no idea what that meant. And so that began my journey of confusion, actually. I didn’t know why the Baptist was so different from a Pentecostal. All these questions began to emerge and then you try to figure out what is the true Christianity. But because I didn’t understand the word of God — the first Bible I had was King James, and it was easy to read Psalms — that was the only thing I read. And most of my early Christian life in India was built on emotionalism, sensationalism, and also what others told me to do, because I didn’t know the word of God. So it was like being kicked like a soccer ball from both ends. Many times it was tough, but yet I loved the Lord. And he somehow kept that passion and the desire to seek him, to walk with him. But I had numerous failures. I thought as soon as you are so-called born again, you’ll be floating in the sky and your life will be super smooth — no temptations, no nothing. You’ll be living a holy life. But the only difference I began to notice is whenever I did something wrong, I had a conviction which I didn’t have before. And that’s where I realized, wow, this God really lives in me. And he kind of prompts these things. So it was a good beginning.
Then I came — I finished my studies in India and I came to the US to do further studies. And one of the most remarkable encounters was when I was working with a Russian scientist in a cell and molecular biology department. And we were looking at some organism or a specimen, and he said, “Look at the way Mother Nature has done that — Mother Nature.” I said, “No, it’s not Mother Nature. It’s Father God, Igor.” He said, “No, no, no — there is no God.” That was the first time in my life I had ever heard that statement — that there is no God — because I come from a land of 330 million gods and goddesses and counting. So I didn’t know how to answer. I thought, okay, better learn my Bible now. So I went to a Bible college. And when they started off, I was sitting in the classroom and they said, “What do you think about the amillennial predisposition?” I had to stop the class. “Sir, I have no idea what you guys are talking about. Could you please explain?” So I had to interrupt the class because it was that difficult to understand even Christianity. I thought I knew it. I was passionate for God and doing all these things. I learned certain things, but most of them were pre-made stuff and I was still not satisfied. And the problem that happened with me is I learned a lot — that the Bible was written in Greek, in Hebrew, certain outlines and overviews and things like that. But somehow in my learning, I lost the romance with God. I knew too much, but I lost that intimacy, that childlike faith.
Grant: Now listen to your experience. I think of my own, where I grew up knowing the Bible but not knowing God.
Kamal: Right.
Grant: But you spent years knowing God, but the Bible was foreign to you.
Kamal: Exactly.
Grant: So it’s fascinating to hear you share.
Kamal: It’s the reverse. It’s like — I would still die for the Messiah, no doubt. But I don’t know why, it was a weird paradox. But that’s when that childlike faith — where I didn’t even know how to pray, I didn’t know anything about anything — it was still that beautiful awareness that he was there. That’s what kept me going. And it was fantastic. It was beautiful. If I messed up, I wouldn’t look up because I felt like he was breathing down my neck or watching me. I felt bad that I hurt him. That’s the kind of relationship I had. But I had to grow into maturity — and I didn’t know how.
Grant: So you were at an evangelical Bible school — but you were there for, I think you said, a year and a half. So why did you leave?
Kamal: I was done. I wanted to actually finish Bible school and go back and do my research in whatever I was studying. But that’s where I found my missing side — which was Sarah, my wife, who is a Canadian. And we moved back to Canada. In Nova Scotia. Yeah. So we moved back and I was still restless because I knew there is more to God than what I’m seeing. And I also saw a lot of pretending Christians — and that’s the one thing I really don’t like. Even I was using that jargon. It was really tough to fake it. But inside I was being crushed because I needed to know this God. And then accidentally, I came across a preacher online and he began to explain the Bible in a scientific as well as in the Hebraic perspective. I said, “Wait a minute, that’s beginning to make sense.”
Grant: This is Chuck Missler.
Kamal: Chuck Missler, yes. He began to talk about the Hebrew and the Jewishness of the Messiah and bringing it together in a way that it began to make sense. Then I began to understand that if I need to understand the word of God, I need to put it in context — take it where it belongs, geographically, historically, linguistically. If I put it there, then it will open up. Yes, of course, the Holy Spirit will give you all the understanding, but at least the basic premise I need to get right. And God can take that and it can blossom in a beautiful way. So that is where I continued that journey, still seeking where I can find the answers. And there is a certain man named Grant Luton who came alongside — thank you, Google. So I’m grateful for what you’ve done for all these years. And I understand I’m not a perfect guy, but my God is beginning to make sense even in this few years of journey. And for that, I’m grateful. I’m not here to promote you, Grant. But all I’m saying is you just opened up the scripture and you put it in front of me. And I could not deny that. I could not deny the truth of what the word of God is. And it was, in fact, beautiful. It is, in fact, beautiful to study.
Grant: Let me do the crying for both of us. You keep talking — I’ll sit over here. You know, you’ve mentioned that to me before, and I don’t even know what to say to such a thing. Because I just feel like I’m just called to labour in the word, and I’m just doing what I’m called to do and loving it. And I would teach and put things out there not knowing where they go. But every once in a while, God sends along someone just to share how their life has been changed — not by me, but by the word of God. And it’s like, “Thank you, Father, for that.” To have that little glimpse of the power of your word to work in people’s lives — that’s amazing.
Kamal: Right. Even in trying to pursue and understand the Jewishness of the Messiah, I found there was a lot of garbage out there — I would use the word garbage because it was even more confusing. So God was gracious enough to help me, because I didn’t even know how to search. It’s one of those things. And to come across somebody who doesn’t have an agenda and just puts the Bible in front of you and says, “Think for yourself — I’m not forcing anything on you.” That’s all you did. And it’s up to me to wrestle with it or put it aside.
Grant: Now, what were you doing in Nova Scotia at the time?
Kamal: Yeah. So I was waiting for my immigration first, and after that I worked as a research associate in medical research. But after that, I felt like I need to be a pastor. God was calling me and my wife. So there were a few people who approached me because I wanted to teach the Bible — there’s not much teaching of the Bible, even the basic premise, in Nova Scotia then, or even now, sometimes. So I started teaching the Bible — a little Bible study. I was very serious about it. And a few people approached me and said, “Why don’t you be a pastor?” I said, “No, I’ve never been a pastor before. I’ve never been to seminary either.” Just before that, a couple of people I knew — intercessors — came to my house and said, “We feel like God wants us to ordain you.” And they ordained me and I got an ordination number. I didn’t know why that was happening to me, but I said okay. I went with it. And a few months later, this church happens — it’s a Baptist church. And I was a pastor there for close to ten years.
Grant: It started off small.
Kamal: Started off with like 27 people and grew close to 200 people. And all I used to do is teach, teach, teach. Because you told me many times: feed the flock, protect the flock — that’s the job description. I said, okay, I think I can do that. So I really, really enjoyed studying the word. I was surprised that they actually paid me for studying the Bible. So I enjoyed being a pastor. But you know, even in a pastor’s journey, God continues to remove things and show you more things, where he puts you in a place where you have to make choices. And basically I didn’t fit in to North American Christianity. That’s the problem. Because I wanted what the Bible says. And that kind of displaces you.
Grant: I remember the morning you called me and said, “Grant, I stepped down — I resigned my position as a pastor.” Because I think the way you put it — you can’t believe one thing and have to be teaching something else.
Kamal: I don’t want to be hypocritical. If I believe that and I’m responsible for the people who are hearing — how can I not tell them the truth? And that conviction ate me up because it was not easy. To stand against the flow of religion wasn’t easy. And if you don’t fit in, it’s not easy. But yet I had to count the cost. I had four little kids and my wife. But we knew we had to make the call. And it was liberating.
Grant: Yes. Yeah.
Kamal: Yeah.
Grant: So now you have a ministry called ACTS. Tell us some about that ministry. What does ACTS stand for?
Kamal: So — accountability — okay, that’s how this happened. In 2020, somebody in India called me to say, “Hey, we have some money to give to help pastors during the time of Covid. Do you know of anybody?” I said, absolutely. When people want to give money to help somebody, you don’t say no. So I called my buddy who does a lot of outreach — his name is Prabhu — he does a lot of outreach in villages, in the tribal areas in India. I said, “Do you know anybody?” He said, “Kamal, thank you for the call, because the pastors and missionaries are actually starving. Can you help?” And he began to tell me their stories and I was like, wow. And they’re still living by faith, which is astonishing. So I sent them the money. But I thought, maybe I’ll begin to encourage some North American believers with their testimonies, with their life of faith, how they’re handling things. So I began to send a few emails to my friends. And then people here were astonished by the stories, and all of a sudden they started sending me money to send more. And in the past couple of years — it will be two years in November — we sent close to $60,000.
Grant: And that goes a long way.
Kamal: Big time. And there are no middlemen, nothing. And then we called it ACTS because the biggest things — I usually start off by what not to be, to get to what to be. So Accountability was my priority. Every penny has to be accountable. Number two is Connectivity — I wanted to connect the believers in North America with the believers in the tribal areas. Even though they are so far removed, we are still the same body. And this “us and them” mentality I wanted to get rid of. So I began to connect their stories so they become real. That’s the C. And the T is Transparency — I wanted every step that we do to be as transparent as possible. If anybody wants to point fingers, there’s no room. And the S was Servanthood. One of the biggest drawbacks I saw with missions from North America to a third-world nation is “I’m going to serve you” — but it never looked anything like service. I’m not making a carte blanche statement. But a true servant is the one who is actually a servant like our Messiah. We’re not throwing money to these missionaries or these pastors. We are their servants. That’s what God positioned us for. Whatever we do is to enable them to do whatever they require. We’ll provide and help them with what God provides.
And my premise is: I’m not going to ask for money. I’m not going to ask anybody. George Mueller and all these people did it before. I said, why not? Let’s see if that model works. So that’s the principle I went by. And today, till today, I didn’t ask anybody for anything. And yet God gave. My principle is: if God gives, those are his children. He has a greater burden for them than I do. So it’s his prerogative, his kingdom work. And if he wants me to stand and do it, I will do it. That’s how it started.
Grant: I get your newsletters you send out every week or two. And the stories, the photographs and the videos of these pastors who don’t even have shoes — and you’re buying shoes for them. They’re thrilled to get a pair of cheap shoes so they can walk into the mountains. They walk for days to go to a village that is so primitive, to carry the gospel there and introduce people to Yeshua.
You know, when we were over breakfast this morning, you were sharing about how in India, it’s not at all like it is here in the West. In India, the spiritual world is right out in the open — it’s so obvious to everybody. But usually it’s the very dark side of spiritual darkness. Share briefly the story about how you would have to walk to school, and you had to go by a Hindu temple.
Kamal: A Hindu temple. Yeah. As students, most of us growing up, we traveled by the city bus. And from my house to the bus stop, it was about three kilometers that I had to walk, up and down, which I never liked in the heat. But that’s the way to do it. Along the road there was a Hindu temple, and every year they used to do a season of blood sacrifice — a week or so of an event where there was blood on the streets and these people were all painted up, dancing and piercing themselves with lances and such. This is the book of 1 Kings — it’s what Elijah witnessed. The same thing used to happen, with drums and loud noise and everything. And every time I used to walk through them before I was saved, it was a terrifying experience because it was not easy to watch this. But I had to go amidst them to the bus stop, otherwise I couldn’t reach the college. But after I became born again, something really remarkable happened. Once I started walking, I said, “Lord, fill me, protect me. I cover myself with your blood.” And I was walking through them — they all began to stand still, literally froze, and they were staring at me. And I knew it was not them, but the demonic spirits within them. And all of a sudden I felt a great honor that God — the Creator of the universe, above every principality and power — is dwelling within me, and I can walk right through. I held my head up and I walked through that. And that was the greatest feeling ever.
Grant: Yeah. You were light. And they were in darkness. And that light just shut down the darkness for that period of time as you walked in the midst of it. That example stands out to me about how the spiritual realm is right in your face. And not just the powers of darkness — but also miraculous things that happen among believers. Sometimes I wonder if that’s not coming to our nation. As our country and the West in general slip into what’s called a post-Christian era — where more people are like Igor, saying there is no God — and the spiritual darkness begins to flood — I think we’re going to see things come out in the open more. Both the bad and the good.
Kamal: Right. And that’s good, though. At least we know where we stand.
Grant: Right. The spiritual realm is real. So if people want to get your newsletter or contact you about ACTS, how do they go about doing that?
Kamal: I don’t have a website yet — just a newsletter. If you send me an email, I’ll add you to the list and you can begin to receive the updates about what God is doing among these tribal pastors and missionaries in India.
Grant: Well, Kamal, thank you so much. And be sure to thank Sarah and your four beautiful kids for loaning you to us for a few days and coming down to visit. And I know that what you shared here is going to be a blessing to everyone who listens. And we pray for ACTS — that God would use this ministry mightily to reach the poor people of India with the good news.
Kamal: Amen.
Grant: Thank you, Kamal.
Kamal: Thank you, Grant. Thanks for the opportunity.
Kamal Sampara is a pastor, researcher, and founder of ACTS Ministries, based in Nova Scotia, Canada. Born and raised in India, he came to faith at age 15 in a Pentecostal meeting and spent years navigating the gap between knowing God personally and understanding the scriptures intellectually. His study of the Hebraic and Jewish roots of the faith transformed his understanding of the word of God. He served as a Baptist pastor in Nova Scotia for nearly ten years before resigning to pursue a more scripturally grounded path. He and his wife Sarah have four children.
ACTS Ministries connects North American believers with pastors and missionaries in the tribal areas of India who are living by faith and serving in extreme poverty. Founded during Covid-19 and operating without solicitation — on the model of George Mueller — ACTS has channeled tens of thousands of dollars directly to frontline workers. There are no middlemen. Every gift is tracked and reported.
To receive Kamal’s newsletter with stories, photographs, and updates from India — contact him directly by email to be added to his mailing list.
I am pleased to introduce my dear friend (and Torah Today Ministries’ newest board member), Kamal Sampara. Kamal’s is a fantastic story of growing up in India, coming to the U.S. to study molecular biology, and discovering a vibrant walk with God through Torah. You will be blessed by this talented and remarkable man’s testimony.
[I must apologize for the poor focus on some of the camera shots. This is the first video that we have done that involves two people and we still need to tweak the focus issue. So thank you for your understanding.]
