“Whatever it takes to share the love of Jesus Christ, that is what we’re here to do.”
Church planter Shaun Pillay talks to a group of students from Minco, Okla., who came to Norwich with a mission team from their church to help the Pillays with an outreach project. PAGE 14: Pillay leads the mission team from Minco, Okla., in a time of prayer for the community of Norwich, Conn., and for Cornerstone International Church.


 


“We looked at the homeless population, the drug problems in Norwich and just knew there needed to be a light in the city,” Pillay says. “We had compassion as Jesus did, looking on the multitudes and seeing them just waiting like sheep without a shepherd.”


Since their arrival, this has been the goal of Shaun and Deshni: to lead and love the people of the community just as Christ does. They started Cornerstone International Church in an effort to give the “sheep” in the community of Norwich a place to gather and grow in Christ. And it has been from the moment they opened the doors.


David Holland arrived at Cornerstone International Church as a carpet cleaner, hired to help spruce the building up before the launch on Easter 2007. Notoriously known as a drug dealer and in trouble with the law in Norwich, Holland was worn and searching when he arrived to work at Cornerstone that day. Never one to pass up an opportunity to build a relationship, Pillay stayed with Holland as he worked and spent the afternoon talking and sharing with him, ultimately inviting him to Cornerstone’s launch that Sunday.


“David was in the congregation that Easter Sunday when we launched our church,” recalls Pillay. “As we were wrapping up, he came forward and accepted Jesus Christ. It was a huge moment in his life and the life of our church.”


Just last year Holland became the first deacon at Cornerstone International Church and is working alongside Pillay to reach the city of Norwich for the name of Christ. “God put Shaun right there in my life,” Holland says, “and he’s seen me through so much.


16 Spring 2012 • onmission.com

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