Rev. L. Valsalam established Gilgal Mission India in 1991, to humanize people, sharing the love of Lord Jesus Christ by propagation of the Good News.  The Mission is the major wing of the Gilgal Social Development Trust, a non – profitable registered Trust, registered under the Trust Act of 1982 in 2001. The Trust has its headquarters in the village, Kirathoor in Kanyakumari District, South India. 

The headquarters of Gilgal is situated in a remote tiny hamlet namely Kirathoor in the Southernmost Kanyakumari District in the State of Tamil Nadu in India.  The nearest international airport is in Thiruvananthapuram, just 45 kms, which is in the neighboring Kerala State.  Kirathoor is well served by the State owned and private bus services, from the rest of the country.  

Kanyakumari District receives two monsoon rains and maintains a mediocre climate ranging from 23° C to 32° C., The Southern land’s end – Cape Comorin is 60 kms from Kirathoor.  Many picnic spots and places of eco-tourism bless the district .The district is one of the hot spots.   

The District has a pluralistic society with Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Atheists and Animists. Caste system is widely prevalent and people maintain a high degree of superstitious beliefs and often resort to black magic to ward off diseases.

What is ‘Gilgal’:

The actual meaning of Gilgal is "circle," for it was at Gilgal that the memorial stones were placed in a circle to remind the people of Israel and their children that the Lord had brought forth their deliverance. It was the Lord who caused the Red Sea and the Jordan River to part to enable them walk upon dry ground. This deliverance at Gilgal pictures SALVATION.

Often we are confronted with the question from many that what is the meaning of ‘Gilgal’ and why we named our ministries so.

Another description of ‘Gilgal’ is: The land of Gilgal was the first conquered land for the new generation of Israelites. It was a land flowing with milk and honey. The name of the city means wheel or rolling away heap, to literally roll away the flesh. To understand the meaning of Gilgal let us go to the book of Joshua.

"This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day." - Joshua 5:9

This day God declared a new name, for the conquered land they were in. It was to be named Gilgal. The reason for naming the land is because they obeyed God, by literally rolling off the flesh. They were circumcised. It also symbolically meant to abstain from the fleshly desires. Their reproach from Egyptians and fleshy desires has been taken away at Gilgal symbolically.

You can read more about ‘Gilgal’ from 1Sam 15:21; 1Sam 11:14, 15; Josh 4:19, 20.  

Gilgal Mission with a prophetic visIon:

In 1991, Rev. Valsalam established ‘Gilgal Mission India’ with the sole aim of bringing as many people as possible to God. Before he established ‘Gilgal’ he was reeling under dire poverty.  He could not even feed his children with one meal a day. This compelled Rev. Valsalam’s mother to move from their native place, Thiruvananthapuram, in Kerala State, to Tamil Nadu in search of work in tea plantations. But their stay was short as they were shelter-less living in the forests adjacent to the plantations under threat from wild beasts. They moved back to Kerala where Rev. Valsalam got the opportunity to work with a church named ‘Zeon Kunnu Pentecostal Church of God’. The Church authorities transferred him to minister in the State of Tamil Nadu.

During his ministry with the Pentecostal Church of God – namely Kirathoor Church in Tamil Nadu, the Lord through a divine vision spoke to Rev. Valsalam in a dream- an angel of the Lord spoke to him and showed a place which was full of thistles and thorny bushes and promised him that he will reap bounty - just like from a healthy wheat field on the banks of a great river- from this barren land and asked him to name the land, ‘Gilgal’. Rev. Valsalam shared the dream with his wife and a couple of pastors who later explained him its meaning.

After a few days Rev. Valsalam got a message from the Church of God that they cannot run the ministry in Tamil Nadu as they were under constant threat and persecution of communal and religious fundamentalists where they lodged false complaints against the Church accusing of forced conversions. But Rev. Valsalam stood strong and suggested the church leadership that he would run the ministry. However the Church of God withdrew from their ministry in Tamil Nadu, handing over the Church to Rev. Valsalam. Rev. Valsalam took it as a challenge and with fervent prayer and faith in the Lord; he faced all the opposition and persecution and was able to plant a seed of faith among his adversaries. Amazingly God’s wonderful and redeeming love is revealed there as many of the accusers have embraced Christ as their personal Savior.

In this way God wonderfully removed the opposition and persecution to Valsalam at Kirathoor, which caused him to name his ministry ‘Gilgal’ as revealed to him in a dream.