TRANSCRIPT

NATHAN JONES

This month, we have the privilege to hear from Bickram Singh from Trinidad in the South Caribbean. Among many other roles, Bickram serves as a pastor with a deep heart for discipleship for both his local church as well as many other churches across Trinidad. He also serves Trinidad as Country Coordinator for Global Trust Partners.

I'm your host, Nathan Jones, and I want to thank you once again for joining me on this episode of the Inspiring Stewards podcast.

Bickram, thank you so much for your time today. I want to jump in and just ask you to share a little bit about your story, where you're from, where you grew up, what life was like.

BICKRAM SINGH

I am from the most southerly island in the Caribbean, and we are a twin-island republic.

It's called Trinidad and Tobago. And I live in a bigger island, which is Trinidad, and I'm originally from the southern part of Trinidad, and I grew up in the agriculture sector of sugarcane.

So, my dad was a sugarcane plantation worker, and so was my mom. And pretty much all the two guys from the family, me and my elder brother, we both did sugarcane cutting, and this was a manual task.

I was fortunate enough to go to the top high school in the southern part of Trinidad, and there I graduated with what we would call “my ordinary level certificate,” because we take our education from the British colonial system.

So, I did work there. We were very poor in those days and we didn't have a well-suited home with all rooms and all of that. But my dad did work extremely hard, along with my mom, to provide for us, which was a really big thing for us in that community at that time.

I think that, I didn't know that we were poor in those days until I reached high school and realised, “Wait, those guys have a lot more stuff than I do!” But you know what? We were very, very happy as children.

Our entire community lived well together, and so everybody around us were aunties and uncles, and almost like brothers and sisters. It was a good time for us.

NATHAN

So, how did you come to know the Lord, and then what impact did that decision have on your life? 

BICKRAM

My mom was a believer, and pretty much from the time we were born, we were taken to church, an evangelical church in the closest town to us. We had a tremendous Sunday school ministry in those days, and I was one of those who were in Sunday school every week.

My mom did not miss church. That was beyond her. And sometimes we did church in the morning, and we did church in the evening as well. In those days, having two services was pretty normal.

On Sunday mornings, we did a lot of Sunday school stuff. It was through Sunday school teaching that I was reading my own Bible at age seven. I remember in the bed, just lying down and just reading, reading. And then I realized I can't remember today what passage I was reading, but I realised at that point in time that I needed to give my heart to the Lord.

So, I did do that at the age of seven. And when I did, I left the bedroom, and I went to my mom and told her that I had just given my heart to Jesus. She was very, very happy about that.

Of course, when you get a little bit older, doubts set in. And so as a teenager, I did the same thing over again, but my life really took a strange turn the first day of school when I entered high school.

At that time, we would have been aged 11. And I remember our history teacher, Mr. Scott. He came in and said, “Guys, good morning, welcome! Please just stand up, say your name, and say what you would like to become.”

And I was at the back of the class, and there were several guys before me. It was an all-boys school, and I was practising. I got up, and out of my mouth could only proceed, “My name is Bickram Singh,” which I planned, but I said something totally different. I said, “And I want to become a pastor.”

Where did that come from? I didn't know. I sat down, and I felt pretty stupid. But when I went home, and I told my mom, she was like, “Hallelujah!” She was in a hammock when I told her, and she was giving God all the glory, because her prayer was that one of her sons would become a pastor. Well, she had doubled her wish, both sons are pastors.

You know, and so that's the way that I gave my heart to the Lord and believed that. That was the only calling that I had upon my life, to become a pastor, and it stayed with me even up to this day. 

NATHAN

Well, tell us about what work in ministry the Lord has you involved in today?

BICKRAM

That's a lot. I do quite a bit in ministry. I'm very, very busy, but I'm also full-time in the pastorate. So, I pastor a small evangelical church, but we are a very dynamic bunch. And many people can mistake our size to think that we are very small, but we do things at a national level.

We've been involved with big events, transformative events for national culture. We have gotten the opportunity to work with the entire police service. They have formed what is called a prayer group amongst the police officers of Trinidad and Tobago. And as a pastor, I have been able to work with that group and do national events, worship events, prayer events, and evangelistic events.

So, in Trinidad, unlike the U.S., our emergency number is not 911. It's 999. So, we do a national event now for the last four or five years, which we call 999 Emergency: nine preachers, nine prayer warriors, and nine worship bands.

So, we do an all-day event as a national event in Trinidad, and also a similar one in Tobago. We have probably, I think, we had the last time was about 55 churches coming together to do that ministry. And we go from time to time in different regions in the country, different counties, and we perform that same ministry.

I'm also involved in what is called National Emergency Alliance. And ours is called the Trinidad and Tobago Council of Evangelical Churches. I serve on the executive board. I just stepped away from being the vice president, and I am the member at large. But that was done strategically so that when the president, who is there now, steps aside, because his term will be ended, I would probably assume that.

Not sure if that will happen, because since I stepped aside as the vice president, I am now the Country Coordinator for GTP, Global Trust Partners, as well as the Country Coordinator for World Hope Bible Institute. That's a Bible school I brought to Trinidad, partnering with a Bible school in Texas. Now we have two branchesor two campuses in Trinidad, and what we do is a model where we do weekend intensives.

So, these are pastors in the making or pastors who've been pastoring without substantial Bible school training. And we are bringing it to them as opposed to them trying to get to a seminary education.

And I am also the Regional Coordinator for the World Hope Bible Institute, and so I am also teaching Bible school in the other Caribbean countries. I just actually came back from the country in Central America, which is part of CARICOM, called Belize. So, we had a really awesome time teaching Bible there in Belize.

So, I'm involved in that, and we have some pastors in Central Trinidad, which is where my church is located now, and I am also involved with that. We have an association of churches of which I am one of the council members and leaders. So, pretty busy with many stuff going on in Trinidad.

NATHAN

I hope you get to sleep every once in a while with all that you've got going on. Well, this being the Inspiring Stewards podcast, how does the biblical principle of stewardship inform your life and work? 

BICKRAM

One of the critical things when I was a young man, teenager, after I got baptised at 12, I went on to do post-discipleship programs with at least two pastors and two elders. It seems as though everybody wanted to disciple me.

So, I had a lot of discipleship at that age. And one missionary who was from India, who came to Trinidad to serve as a missionary, he said to me one day, he said that “Everyone wants to serve God when they have retired. But brother, you must work and serve God. Be a steward of God, and use your giftings with your health and with your life. While it is yet day, you serve God.”

And so, I have actually started. I started serving God at the age of 15, being a youth leader, and then serving as a deacon, then as a national youth leader for my association of churches, and then becoming an elder in my church, and then becoming a pastor now for over 20 years.

So, I have to say that stewardship does not start with a position of a pastorate or organization, but stewardship starts when you are young. From the time you get saved, you become a steward.

It might be in smaller areas, but if you can prove yourself, and your worth, and your value at a younger age, as a not fully mature believer, then God will call you on to greater things.

So, I believe that where I am today is not just because I have evolved, but because I came through the ranks in small steps at a time, and God is taking me further even today.

A lot of people think that stewardship is just about money, and it's not about that. I believe that as a human being, as a believer, you've got to steward the gifting that God has given you, because it is for the use in His kingdom.

Coupled with your talents, whatever talents you have, you use them wisely. Use them strategically. When I say strategically, don't go all over with your stewardship, but stay where God has called you to serve.

NATHAN

Bickram, how are you seeing God at work uniquely in the world today?

BICKRAM 

I think the Church is on the move. I think globally there are some situations where there is a lot of persecution. But you know, like in the Book of Acts, whenever the church was persecuted, the Church grew, and I think I'm seeing that.

For example, in Iran, when I look at the way the church is growing and booming, I know that they are being persecuted heavily, but I think that they are still growing tremendously.

I see the same thing happening in Nigeria, where there are thousands of people being martyred. But still the Gospel is finding its way through every community because of it.

So, persecution – India is also going through a heap of that. Although there are churches in India, and although their constitution says that freedom of religion is allowed, we still don't see it happening.

But I believe God is at work through many different organizations. I think because of technology as well, the gospel has been able to reach spaces where we probably couldn't physically, and that's to me a blessing. Right now, I'm trying to join that bandwagon to take the gospel beyond where it is now.

NATHAN

A follow-up question real quick: What are some of the ways you're seeing technology help to advance the Gospel, maybe in ways that our listeners wouldn't necessarily be aware of?

BICKRAM 

I think sometimes, well, I mean there's a proliferation of media in terms of TikTok and Facebook and Instagram and all of that, and one has to be very careful who you listen to.

But I think the ideal is, as long as you hear someone, make sure and check against the Scriptures. If you don't double-check against the Scriptures, you could be misled. All sources are not genuine, and so there's a responsibility that we have.

But certainly, technology in that form, you can get pretty good stuff. There are podcasts that are really very, very well put together and well researched. I think those are very important, and we can use those.

I think a lot of streaming is taking place of live church services. Even my church services are streamed live, and I'm very surprised to find people across the globe who will listen to our services and make comments, positive comments, and enjoy it. So, yes, media is allowing us to take the gospel way beyond. And gospel music, too, has some influence on culture, and that is also positive.

NATHAN

That’s great. Well, as we wrap up, any final thoughts you'd love to leave those listening with today? 

BICKRAM

Well, I think, like I shared, instant Christianity because of salvation is fantastic. The Holy Bible talks about the culture of salvation, fear, and trembling.

I think that whole sanctification process, it didn't just arrive when you said, “Lord, save me!” But I think you have to go beyond that, and it is imperative on our part as individuals to get into the Word of God and to be discipled by the Word.

And of course, I think if you can get to a good Bible-believing church and get indoctrinated through the teaching of Scriptures, that would really be excellent.

And when you become trained, because the Holy Spirit will guide you into truth, then use whatever means God has provided you to reproduce the same thing. 2 Timothy 2:2 says, “Entrust in this Word to faithful men who will teach it to other faithful men.” The whole key is evangelism, discipleship, and mentorship.

NATHAN 

That's a great picture of being discipled by the Word of God, rather than just approaching it to read it. That's great. Well, Bickram, thank you so much for your time today.

BICKRAM

God bless. Thank you for having me.