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Professor Dr. Arthur Dhanaraj
Dr. Raphael Thomas is the president of Blessing Basket International, a missions organization that he cofounded with his wife, Velda, in 2017. He also currently serves as director of missions and e...view moreDr. Raphael Thomas is the president of Blessing Basket International, a missions organization that he cofounded with his wife, Velda, in 2017. He also currently serves as director of missions and evangelism at the Germantown Christian Assembly, Philadelphia.
Dr. Thomas and his wife served the Lord in Jamaica for over thirty years in full-time Christian ministry before they relocated to the United States in 2020. Dr. Thomas served as pastor of the Annotto Bay Gospel Chapel, St. Mary, Jamaica, for thirty-two years. He also served as chairman of the Gospel Chapel Education Centre, which he was instrumental in founding in 1990. He is a former chairman and executive director of the North-Eastern Missionary Conference, a fellowship of thirty-three Christian Brethren Assemblies in Jamaica. Raphael continues to serve on various boards in Jamaica, including Gospel Chapel Education Centre, Midland Bible Institute, Choose Life International, and North-Eastern Missionary Conference.
Raphael holds a doctor of ministry from Columbia Theological Seminary, a doctor of clinical Christian counseling from Central Christian University, a master of arts from the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology, a bachelor of arts in theology from the Jamaica Theological Seminary, a diploma in teaching from the University of the West Indies (through Shortwood Teachers’ College), and he is also a graduate of Haggai Institute (now Haggai International), of which he now serves as an international facilitator.
Dr. Thomas has been an Adjunct Lecturer at the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology since 2001 where he taught the courses Caribbean Evangelism, Dynamics of Church Growth, Biblical and Theological Themes in Counseling, Theology of Missions, Latter Prophets and Writings, Pentateuch and Former Prophets, Pastoral Care and Counseling and Biblical and Theological Themes in Counseling.
Raphael has a passion for preaching and teaching the Word of God. He has spoken at Evangelistic Crusades, Bible Conventions, Christian Camps, and Mission Conferences. He carries a burden for Global Evangelization.
In 2003 he was certified as a behavioral consultant with the Institute for Motivational Living. He is a licensed clinical pastoral counselor with the National Christian Counselors Association. In 2017 he received a National Award from the Prime Minister of Jamaica for his contribution to education.
In 1984, while he was still a teenager, Raphael was named the Year of the Bible Personality for emerging as the champion in the Jamaica Youth for Christ Year of the Bible Competition. In that competition, Raphael memorized and recited eleven hundred verses of scripture (one-eighth of the New Testament) and won a trip to Israel and Jordan.
On many occasions, Raphael has fasted for revival, sometimes for periods lasting forty days. He shares this passion for revival in his book Biblical Dynamics for Revival Today: Studies in the Life of King Hezekiah.
In 1992, Raphael and his wife were commended to the work of the Lord by the Annotto Bay Gospel Chapel in association with the North-Eastern Missionary Conference, a regional body of the Christian Brethren Assemblies Jamaica (CBAJ). Their commendation statues were endorsed by the Germantown Christian Assembly (GCA) in 2020, thus recognizing them as missionaries in North-America as well, where they serve with GCA and Blessing Basket International to share the gospel locally and globally. They have two adult sons, Timothy and Nathanael, both of whom are actively engaged in Christian ministry.view less
Books by Professor Dr. Arthur Dhanaraj
Demystifying Discipleship: A Fresh Look at the Great Commission