Founder & Pastor
At the helm of Bethesda is Dr. K.J.Wesley, Founder & Senior Pastor.
Dr. Wesley was born & brought up in a Christian family under good and strict discipline and parentage. His parents Late Dr K. Devadanam & Late Mrs. K.V.D. Krupamanie, both basically from teaching fields, were also involved in the God’s ministry. Dr. Wesley is a social scientist having a Master’s degree in social work (specialized in social welfare administration) from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Mumbai), Post graduate Diplomas in Training & Development, Post Graduate Diploma in Psychological Counseling and earned two Doctorates in Administration and in Theology.
Before coming to full-time ministry, Dr. Wesley worked with a wide-range of organizations at various levels. His career stints include:
- Programme officer with Department of Social Welfare, Government of Andhra Pradesh
- Projects officer( in-charge of four southern states) with Churches Council for Child and Youth Care, Bangalore
- Asst. Director with National Institute of Child Development, Government of India, Bangalore
- Joint Director with the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, New Delhi where he was in charge of entire country’s Women and Child development departments and programmes.
Dr Wesley served at the highest positions at a young age; he had various plans in his career. But God too had His own set of plans for Dr Wesley. It was in the year 1999 that the Lord had given a call to Dr Wesley to dedicate himself to full-time ministry. Obeying God’s instruction, Dr Wesley gave up his promising secular career & came to Hyderabad to serve the Lord. He feels he has left behind a prestigious job to do ‘THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS JOB’ i.e. to serve the Lord. In the year 2000, the ministry started off as a bud under the banner of ‘Bethesda’ and since then, the Lord ‘Adonai’ has been leading both Dr Wesley & Bethesda Church as per His will & plan.
In 2010, Dr. Wesley was unanimously elected as President of All Christian Association (ACA) ECIL Zone. Dr Wesley along with his team is able to bring unity among 120+ churches in the area & create a spirit of oneness & brotherhood among pastors & member churches.
Mrs. Ratna Wesley
Dr Wesley’s wife, Mrs. Ratna Kumari assists him in day-to-day ministerial responsibilities. Mrs. Ratna Kumari too hails from a Christian family. The ministry founded by her father, Late Pastor S. Ratna Raju is now being managed by her mother, Mrs. S, Shanta Ratnam & under the name of BPF which has 100+ branch churches in Andhra Pradesh.
Mrs. Kumari did her graduation in Science from AC College, Guntur & a diploma in Computer Applications. She has also completed a theological course with Chennai International Evangelical College. She is actively involved in all the prayer meetings of the church. She heads the Women’s fellowship at Bethesda.