Tag Archives: Yabbeju (Jabez) Rapaka

Dr. Jabez Rapaka publishes book on Indian Pentecostal Church

The Library is pleased to congratulate a member of its staff. Rev. Dr. Yabbeju (Jabez) Rapaka has just published his first scholarly monograph. Dalit Pentecostalism: A Study of the Indian Pentecostal Church of God tells the story of the Indian Pentecostal Church (IPC) of God in the state of Andhra Pradesh, the largest and most populous state in South India.

In his preface to the book, Dr. Rapaka writes that the genesis of the book was his discovery during his doctoral research that no substantial research had ever been done on the Indian Pentecostal Church, the largest indigenous Pentecostal denomination in India.

Dalit Pentecostalism has already garnered laudatory reviews from leading scholars of Pentecostalism. Dr. Eric N. Newberg calls the book “a groundbreaking study… [that] authenticates the formative role played by Dalits in the formation and development of the Indian Pentecostal Church.” Dr. Vinson Synan, Dean Emeritus of the School of Divinity calls the book “by far the best treatment of Indian Pentecostalism to date.”*

Dr. Rapaka has been with the Library since January 2002, serving as a circulation and reference GA, before joining the staff in March 2006. He holds M.B.A., M.Div, and Ph.D. degrees from Regent and is an adjunct professor in the School of Divinity and the College of Arts and Sciences. He and his wife Gloria are the founders of Love and Hope Ministries, which is active in India and Haiti, “meeting the physical, educational, emotional, and social needs of the poor, needy, destitute, abandoned, neglected, and the unwanted of society through providing food, clothing, shelter, medical care and education.”

Dalit Christianity will be offered for sale soon on the Love and Hope Ministries website.

 

*Emeth Press, “Dalit Pentecostalism.” http:www.emethpress.com9781609450548.htm.

Library staff donates items and volunteers time

The Regent University Library faculty and staff recently completed their third annual Thanksgiving & Christmas service projects to help those in need. Instead of exchanging gifts, they collected food and toys to be donated to the Union Mission. Then, on December 5, they gathered at the Union Mission’s warehouse in Norfolk to deliver their donations and help sort other food received in preparation for distribution to needy families in Hampton Roads. Some members of the group worked on the initial unpacking of the many boxes and bags of food donated to the Mission. The expiration dates and condition of the cans and boxes were checked. The items were then sorted by type of food and stacked on the corresponding shelves. Later, other groups of volunteers will take the items from the shelves to fill boxes that will provide holiday meals for hundreds of poor families. In addition to helping the Union Mission, the Library staff also collected cash and gift items for Jabez Rapaka, founder of Love & Hope Ministries, to take with him on his mission trip to India later this month.

What do they do? — New monthly column

Editor’s note: Beginning this month, we reprise a column that ran from 2003 to 2004, in which we featured the different departments within the Library. This time around, we will feature each month a member of the Library faculty or staff, in order to give our readers a snapshot of the people behind our resources and services.

Yabbeju (Jabez) Rapaka
InterLibrary LoanDocument Delivery Assistant

I have been working full-time in the InterLibrary Loan Department for the past five and a half years. I assist Regent students and faculty as well as students and faculty members from universities around the world by sending books and articles. At Regent, I teach Religious Studies courses in the School of Undergraduate Studies and Old Testament I & II in the School of Divinity.

Originally from Eluru, Andhra Pradesh, India, I earned MBA and M.Div. degrees from Regent in 2004 and will complete a Ph.D. in Renewal Studies at the end of 2011. In my leisure, I like to cook Indian food, especially curry chicken.

In 2004, my wife, Gloria Rapaka, and I founded Love & Hope Ministries to meet the spiritual and physical needs of the poor, needy, destitute, neglected and the unwanted of society, including children, widows, the elderly, and pastors in India and Haiti. For seven years, God has been faithful in helping our ministry continue projects both in India and Haiti. For more information about Love & Hope Ministries, please see our website.