page_title: Seventh-day Adventist Telugu work in Malaysia
section_title: Pastor V. Samuthram (1922–1962)
hierarchical_section_title: Seventh-day Adventist Telugu work in Malaysia / Pastor V. Samuthram (1922–1962)
caption_attribution_description: English: Pastor Samuthram pointing at Church completion
context_page_description: The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ. The denomination grew out of the Millerite movement in the United States during the middle part of the 19th century and was formally established in 1863. Among its founders was Ellen G. White, whose extensive writings are still held in high regard by the church today.
  Much of the theology of the Seventh-day Adventist Church corresponds to Protestant Christian teachings such as the Trinity and the infallibility of Scripture. Distinctive teachings include the unconscious state of the dead and the doctrine of an investigative judgment. The church is also known for its emphasis on diet and health, its holistic understanding of the person, its promotion of religious liberty, and its conservative principles and lifestyle.
  The world church is governed by a General Conference, with smaller regions administered by divisions, union conferences and local conferences.
context_section_description: Pastor Samuthram parents are immigrants from India. They did not have any children for a long time and prayed for a child. God answered their prayers and his mother conceived him as they crossed the Indian Ocean to come to Malaysia for a better life. So they felt that it was appropriate to name him as ‘Samuthram’, which means Ocean. Pastor Samuthram heard the gospel and the Sabbath at very early age. As a teenager he took the Sabbath seriously. He kept the Sabbath against the wishes of the estate manager and attended church faithfully. At this young age he had a strong passion to do the Lord’s work. Since his parents worked in the plantation area, there were not many educational opportunities. But this did not prevent him to pursue his quest for higher education. He went to the Seventh-day Adventist school (elementary) in Singapore to learn English as a second language. He was much older than all of the students in the class. He had to marked up several subjects in a short period of time. After which, he went to Narsapur, India to pursue his theological training.
caption: Pastor Samuthram pointing upon completion of Bagan Datoh Church building, 1958
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