Chaplain of St Martin’s Church, Sharjah
Reverend Dr Ernest Victor was born to a fourth generation Christian family and with his family attended a high Anglican Church in Mysore, India. At the age of 10, during Sunday school, Ernest had a life changing experience of knowing Jesus as his personal savior. At his confirmation, he recalls a special sense of God’s presence, when Bishop Sergeant laid his hands on him. While in the second year of his engineering degree, Ernest heard the call of God to be His servant in the context of John 4:34-38. Ernest vividly remembers his response “Here am I God, I lay it all on the altar. Have your way.” He remembers too that his heart became strangely warm and a special joy filled his heart.
In 1984 Ernest travelled to the Sultanate of Oman to work as a Pastor in the Protestant Church in Oman and he was was ordained in 1996. Ernest, together with his wife Lalitha, planted 15 house churches in the interior of Oman, and was the first Pastor after 1700 years in the Sohar Protestant Church, established in October 1997. History records that the Bishop of Sohar was one of the signatories of the Nicene Creed in 325 AD. Lalitha being an educator established a kindergarten school for Omani children, with Omani teachers, in Sohar and this was greatly appreciated by the Governor of Sohar and the local community.
Ernest was appointed as Chaplain of St Martin’s Church in Sharjah in August 2004. Since then the Church, by God’s grace, has grown in the Word, in grace, and in the favor of God and man and today really is a local Church with a global vision. Ernest’s passion is to work among the poorest of the poor migrant labour here in the UAE, most of whom come from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and other parts of Asia. Although this ministry is very challenging it is incredibly rewarding as it strives to meet the physical, psychological and spiritual needs of men and women who are in dire conditions, far from their homelands. Ernest says that his greatest joy is to experience God’s transforming work in St Martin’s Church, moving the Church from one level of glory to a higher level of glory (2 Cor 3:18).
You can get in touch with Reverend Ernest through the St Martin’s website or by sending an email through the online contact form.
