India (GAM/MNN) — A Global Advance
team just returned from a two-week ministry trip to India, working in the historic
cities of Gandhinagar and Kolkata.
Gandhinagar,
named after Mahatma Gandhi, is in Gujarat state, northwest India. Church leaders there have a strong desire to
equip and train village pastors in this area, making this the follow-up event
to one that took place just under a year ago.
Local
leaders have been busy over the last 11 months. They've planted 23 churches and baptized hundreds of new believers. The recent three-day seminar encouraged 105 leaders
with discipleship and leadership training, as well as church planting and evangelism.
At the end, over 60 of these leaders committed
to planting at least one new church within the next 12 months.
27
pre-selected leaders stayed on for additional training on launching church-based
Bible schools within their villages. Global Advance partnered with Russ Frase and
Joshua Nations of Colorado Springs, CO for this effort.
The
following week, the Global Advance team was on the other side of the country in
Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta. One
of its most famous residents was the late Mother Theresa. Offering hope and
compassion for the least of these, her influence and ministry can still be seen
today.
However,
things at the conference started off slowly. It was obvious that many of the participants were
discouraged. The team was concerned that
the leaders were not ready for the material, but they saw a change over the next few
hours.
Day
two ended early, and the final hour of the conference was devoted to praying
for each of the 187 attending pastors and leaders. The next morning, the team arrived to find a
revived group of church leaders, excited and expectant for what they would
learn.
As
the energy in the room continued to increase, the conference was nearing an
end. With the final message, Jason Holland commissioned these leaders to be
God's hands and feet and to go to the lost and unreached.
Challenging
the leaders to do something great for God, Holland issued the call to plant new churches
among the unreached. Over 170 of the 187 people almost immediately stood up. Unsure if his intent was communicated, he
tried again…with the same result.
Please
pray for these bold and courageous leaders in India. Many of them will suffer
greatly for the sake of the Gospel, even to the extent of giving their lives
for the sake of the Gospel. God is at work in India, and it is exciting to see Him
move in powerful ways.
