The Twist of the Praying Whiskey Titan

The story of Raj Peter Bhakta recalls the old saying that “politics makes strange bedfellows.” 

Born in Philadelphia to an Irish mother and Indian father, Raj studied economics and finance, got his start in investment banking, and later appeared as a contestant on the second season of The Apprentice. He ran and lost a bid for Congress, was arrested twice for drunk driving, and garnered plenty of publicity for illegally crossing the United States/Mexico border, while riding an elephant and lumbering alongside a mariachi band.

The stunt was intended to call attention to the porous border-mission accomplished.

In 2007, Bhakta founded a whiskey company. He was later forced out and started a second one in 2019.

A Catholic, Raj Peter Bhakta has recently announced plans to donate a $200 million college campus that he bought in Poultney, Vermont, to a yet-to-be-identified faith-based buyer who agrees to use the space for “the [spiritual] revival of our country and our civilization.”

The entrepreneur bought the 155-acre campus of Green Mountain College, a historic school founded in 1834 and closed in 2019. 

He told Fox News, “I bought this place, and then quickly learned that starting a college was a little bit more complicated than I had originally envisioned, especially while starting a new spirit startup. There’s a deeper, more fundamental need in this country, and that is to go back to our Christian roots.”

At this point, it’s unclear whether a Christian college, parachurch ministry or organization is best positioned to appeal to the whiskey mogul. Bhakta reserves the right to accept or reject proposals, but he’s made clear his main objective.

“We’ve had two great awakenings in this country before, and I think we’re at the dawn, God willing, of a third great awakening,” he reflected.

Scholars will debate the actual number of such revivals, especially since the Holy Spirit has moved in significant ways in North America even before the country was technically founded. By God’s grace, growing spiritual interest continues to spike anywhere and sometimes seemingly everywhere. The Lord can and does move whenever and wherever He is called on.

Bhakta suggests that it’s only by God’s grace that revival will come and that it’s something “worth fighting for.”

He added:

“We know that mankind’s greatest achievements flow from humility and service, and that humility and service lie at the heart of our destinies.”

From Moses and David to Gideon to Peter and Paul, God has used unlikely people to accomplish His purposes. At times they’ve been reluctant, overlooked, weak, and inadequate. Other times, such as with the apostles Peter and Paul, they’ve been brash and hot-tempered. 

The fate of the Green Mountain College property brings to mind Glen Eyrie, home of our friends at The Navigators, the international interdenominational Christian discipleship ministry located here in Colorado Springs. Their beautiful 700-plus-acre campus was originally the home of General William Jackson Palmer, the founder of Colorado Springs.

Nestled beside Garden of the Gods Park, the crowning jewel of the property is the Glen Eyrie Castle, a structure Palmer built for his wife. The property eventually landed in the hands of a private owner. Back in the 1950s, the owner decided to sell, but realized that with such a high capital gains tax, most of the proceeds would go to the government. To prevent that from happening, he sold it at a huge discount to The Navigators. 

Please join us in praying for the next owner of the Green Mountain College campus and that their efforts will help lead to Christian revival in America.