India (MNN) — India’s flooding year in and year out has pushed Audio Scripture Ministries (ASM) to new measures.
The rainy season in Bangalore, India often filled their ASM’s recording studios with water and impacted their audio Bible ministry. Their current studios stand six feet below street level, allowing flood waters to rush in.
Tom Dudenhofer with ASM says they wanted to sell the land where their building was located and rebuild somewhere else. However, “It seemed like the Lord shut the door on somebody actually coming up to us in India and putting money on the table, so to speak. And when that didn’t happen, the team over in India and the board of directors decided they needed to put a timetable in front of God and ask for some wisdom.”
After looking for buyers and nothing turning up, ASM decided to tear down the old building and construct a better one with upgraded plumbing for their ministry.
Getting a permit was the next challenge. Dudenhofer says, “It’s a tremendously difficult process to get permits in the country because of the multiple layers of hierarchy and red tape.”
In time, the Lord cleared the way for ASM to receive a building permit. The next step was to start the project. “Now we’re at the point where the over-100-year-old original building that used to flood every rainy season has finally been torn down,” says Dudenhofer. “Now the builders are in the process of setting the footings and doing some final calculations on the new building itself.”
According to Dudenhofer, “We knew something had to be done to take care of the water problem in order to keep the ministry going. We also believed that there was a need to expand the physical size of the facilities, and it looks like that’s going to happen now.”
Thankfully, the project hasn’t hurt their ministry of recording God’s Word into audio. ASM’s facilities are made up of two buildings: one for residency, and one for the recording studios. “We’ve been able to make the transition. Everybody was moved out of the residential building and into the apartment that was there,” Dudenhofer shares. “But the studio has not been touched in this process. As soon as the new building is completed, then there’s going to be a remodeling of the studio, probably an expansion of the office area.”
Their continued recording work has enabled ASM to keep going in audio Bible distributions, with the focal point being God’s Great Commission. “We’re really not an organization that focuses on building buildings. We’re an organization that focuses on putting God’s Word in audio into the hands of people who are waiting to hear,” says Dudenhofer.
The project’s budget has fluctuated as they’ve gone deeper in the building process. So far, Dudenhofer says the project is currently pegged to cost around $270,000. They have over half of that, but they still need $110,000 to finish the building.
ASM asks for prayer. “Our team in India would appreciate regular prayer for wisdom in picking the areas where the audio Bibles are to be distributed. The need in India is so overwhelming that choices just have to be made about where to go and how many players can be purchased.”
