Ministry leader and Liberty alumnus on mission for God across the globe, supporting persecuted Christians as they share the Gospel

As the president of Alpha Ministries, based in Lynchburg, Va., and a global speaker for Voice of the Martyrs, Brother Bennie (’11) has made it his life’s mission to empower persecuted Christians around the world and support the spread of the Gospel. However, it wasn’t until God answered his prayers to have a child and after he received an unexpected letter from Liberty University founder Dr. Jerry Falwell that Bennie saw this path for his life.

Bennie is the son of the late Pastor Matthews Cherian, a pioneer who founded Alpha Ministries in 1963 in his home region of India that was only 1% Christian. His father didn’t have much support, financially or otherwise, for his church planting efforts. The family of eight shared two 10-by-10 rooms.

“My father lived by faith without support from family or any affiliation,” Bennie said. “It was a harsh life for us. Most days there were five hungry boys and neighbors who mocked our religion and condition. My mother would sell Christian books to feed us, and there were times when she would lock us up in a room not knowing where the next meal would come from. On one such occasion, my parents prayed and they immediately received a money order, and they bought food for us with that money. There are many similar stories of God’s faithfulness.”

The hardships that Bennie’s father faced in the mission field and Bennie’s own path to ministry are documented in the book “My Father’s Business” (see more information below).

Bennie recalled times in his childhood when his mother, Grace, would speak of her hopes for her children, that they would be Christian witnesses everywhere they went and share the Good News.

“I remember my neighbors talking to my mother and saying, ‘Grace, why do you have so many kids when you cannot provide for them?’ and she would say, ‘My children are going to be giants, brave-hearts and champions for Jesus Christ and they will be going around the world and sharing the Gospel,’” he said. “When we look back over 50 years now, what she spoke came true though the grace of God, and God has placed everyone in a wonderful position to be salt and light around the world.”

But growing up, Bennie didn’t have an interest in evangelism and joining his father’s ministry. Citing the American Dream, Bennie moved to New York to begin a career in healthcare and soon married his wife, Lina. They sought to begin their own family in America, but they were unable to conceive. They visited specialists, but they still hadn’t found their answer when they walked into church one Sunday. The pastor was talking about Jesus’ disciple Matthew leaving his work as a tax collector to follow Christ, and Bennie felt led to do the same.

“That day I said, ‘God, my mom always wanted me to serve (you) and I’ve been putting it off, but it’s not my will but yours that will be done, and I am going to serve you,’” Bennie said. “I asked my wife if she’d be willing to leave everything to serve God and she said, ‘I’ll do anything if God blesses us with a child.’”

The following year Lina gave birth. They named their daughter Faith-Hannah, after Hannah in the Bible who prayed and promised to devote her life to God if He gave her a child. The couple went on to have two more children, Ben-Israel and Joy-Ruth.

Admittedly knowing very little about the Bible but holding a genuine faith in God, Bennie was in search of how God could use him, and upon opening his mailbox he found a letter from Dr. Falwell offering a free scholarship to study at Liberty for anyone willing to move to Lynchburg.

“In America, nothing is free. Everything has a catch to it. But there was no catch to this,” Bennie laughed. “I prayed and saw it as God’s providence, so I shared it with my wife and she didn’t hesitate to say, ‘Let’s go,’ so we moved to Lynchburg in 1995.”

Bennie would go on to study in what is now known as the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity, coming under the mentorship of the late Dr. Harold Wilmington. Bennie said that he often visited Wilmington’s office and always left with something, whether it was a valuable piece of advice or an item from Wilmington’s library of Bible commentaries and other books.

He studied for a year and a half before he became heavily involved in his father’s ministry. But Wilmington kept in touch with his pupil and eventually convinced him to complete his degree in biblical studies online.

Liberty has partnered with Bennie’s ministry for overseas trips, most recently in 2015 with a medical trip to south Asia.

Since joining Alpha Ministries and eventually taking his father’s place as president, Bennie has helped to educate pastors and Christian leaders in parts of Asia and Africa where it is dangerous or even illegal to share the Gospel.

“We have been training frontline leaders and messengers who share the Good News with others,” Bennie said. “We train them and meet them as a whole person so they are not ‘weary in doing good.’ The seeds we have placed in their hands will grow an abundant harvest which we may not see until we get to heaven. I am what I am because of Jesus Christ, and my desire is do something significant every day with my life that will outlive me for eternity.”

In the over 50 years since its founding, Alpha Ministries has trained 47,262 leaders across Asia and Africa, distributed 500,000 Bibles, dug 93 wells that provide clean water to 4,600 families, and built 155 prayer centers where over 30,000 believers worship. During the pandemic, they have also supported 29,000 families in Burma, Bangladesh, Nepal, and beyond with relief kits.

Three of the roughly 671 frontline messengers supported by Alpha Ministries were arrested in late February and held in prison for sharing the Gospel in a country where there are laws that forbid religious conversion, and Bennie was finally able to help free them after one month. These obstacles in spreading the Gospel, however, do not dissuade Bennie and many others from continuing their mission.

“Jesus does not promise a comfortable life,” Bennie explained. “Jesus says ‘In this world, you will have trouble,’ (John 16:33) and that we ‘will be hated by everyone because of My name,’ (Mark 13:13),” Bennie said. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed for the Church. Without persecution and opposition, the Church will not grow and flourish. God is going to work all things together for His good. He is in control, so he will accomplish His purposes.”

In outlining the hardships for Americans who seek to share the Gospel overseas, Bennie pointed out that the mission field isn’t just in another country or continent — it can be wherever you live.

“It has become very difficult for Americans to be missionaries in other countries because nations are targeting Christian workers with laws against missionary work, but the great news is that the world has come into our nation,” Bennie said. “The world is right here, and we have a big mission field right in front of us, and our job is to reach it.”

Even though he didn’t spend much time on Liberty’s physical campus, Matthews said the knowledge and relationships he built have helped shape his ongoing ministry.

“(Studying at Liberty) was the first time I learned how to investigate the Word of God and glean from it,” he said. “I was inspired to study more, through (Liberty co-founder) Dr. Elmer Towns’ books. and we translated lot of teaching material of Dr. Ed Hindson for our Bible Institute training. God opened a new world of prayer, church planting, and evangelism through my studies. That time of learning has been engraved in my heart because God opened doors for this big investment in my life. And now that investment has multiplied a thousand-fold through my conversations with others.”

“I am living in the shadow of Liberty Mountain because of Dr. Falwell,” he added. “Dr. Falwell’s acceptance and warmth toward servants of God was remarkable. Ever since I came here, I have been blessed with the greatest privilege to go around the world and strengthen the hands of those who are being persecuted for the Gospel.”

Brother Bennie’s book, “My Father’s Business,” is available on Alpha Ministries’ website for a discount of $3.99 for any member of the Liberty family. Use coupon code LU1971.