Rev Moses Devaprasadam was born on September 9, 1917 on a train travelling between Ipoh and Teluk Anson (now Teluk Intan). His parents, Mr and Mrs Devaprasadam Pillay, named him such in reference to the biblical narrative of how baby Moses was placed in a basket and sent down a stream on a journey that would take him to greatness.
Rev Moses' father was a postal official under the British administration who retired in 1924. He then decided to return home to his village of Porayar in Tranquebar with his wife and six children of whom Rev Moses was the third.
Rev Moses grew up in this village until the age of 17 when he went to Madras to stay with his younger sister (who got married at an early age) and brother-in-law. He completed his typing and stenography with distinction and set sail for Malaya in 1937 to look for greener pastures.
He worked with several companies until 1942 when he was forced by the Japanese invaders to become a Japanese interpreter due to his strong English and Japanese language skills.
On July 3, 1943, he married Suceelabai Evanson and their first child, Santha, was born in 1946, the year that he joined the Income Tax Department as a stenographer.
He then became an anti-malaria health inspector until he joined the Customs and Excise Department in 1949, the year his second child, Sarojini, was born. His sons, Rajan and Balan, were born in 1951 and 1955 respectively.
After decades of serving the church as a lay leader, Rev Moses was ordained as a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore (ELCM) in 1968 after three years of pastoral training under the pioneer voluntary pastors training programme.
He took optional retirement from the government in 1970 to join the church as a full-time pastor after serving two years on a voluntary basis. He served in several congregations including Sentul, Teluk Intan, Ipoh, the Northern District, Port Dickson, Port Klang and Petaling Jaya until his retirement in 1986.
His children are all active in the ELCM with Balan, formerly a senior editor with the New Straits Times, being ordained a pastor of the ELCM on October 31, 2007, after six years of part-time training at the ELCM's Luther School of Biblical Study.
Rev Moses passed into eternal glory on July 9, 1990, aged 82, while Suceelabai joined her Lord and Master Jesus Christ on November 2, 1999.