JP Sundararajan of Audio Scripture Ministries and their national partner World Cassette Outreach of India, shares this exciting and long-awaited news: “On May 23rd, we will be dedicating our new Ministry Center in Bangalore, India.”

The project began through prayer seven years ago. Through many obstacle-filled years, God has continued to bless the efforts of the two ministries.

JP Sundararajan of ASM and WCOI.
(Photo courtesy of ASM)

Sundararajan says, “It’s taken us a while, but God taught us how to rely on Him even in these matters. We are absolutely thrilled that in a couple of weeks we will be able to move into our building and start using it for ministry.”

Even before the fund-raising began, ASM had to decide where they were going to build. They ended up tearing down their old building because they felt God calling them to stay at their current location in the city. Not only is the city one of the fastest growing in the world, but it provides the opportunity for many of their recorders, who are often poor and blind, to have easy access to the studio. The project was further delayed until ASM could get a building permit with the city.

“Through it all, it was an amazing experience for us all to grow both in faith and reliance on God for even matters like this,” says Sundararajan.

ASM has supported WCOI in recording the New Testament in 90 languages, many of them for remote tribal groups. However, as much of India is illiterate, there is always a need for more audio Bibles in more languages.

To record the Scripture, WCOI asks tribal people to leave their village for a time and help read and record Scripture. For many of these individuals, it is the first time they have left their village, and they consequently experience extreme culture shock.

WCOI had no way to help this with their old building, but the new building will provide housing on site. Sundararajan says, “We could not take care of their dietary needs, their culture shock issues, etc. And it always broke our hearts that we couldn’t do a better job hosting. Now we will be able to house them on-site which is an incredible, incredible gift to give them.”

Along with this housing, the new center will have another addition: “We will also have a chapel there which will serve as both a place of worship [and] a place where we can train pastors and evangelists and others who discovered Jesus Christ through our audio Bibles and now want to know more.”

Sundararajan views this addition as a whole new avenue of ministry opportunity.

While God has provided the main portion of funding, the center is still in need of furnishings. They will appreciate any gift that you feel called to give here. There is also an opportunity for you to go. Check out opportunities here.

Pray that God will continue to bless the work that ASM and WCOI are doing together, and that interest in the true Word of God will grow daily.

(Image courtesy ben via Flickr)

In a record turnout, over 70% of the country’s 12 million eligible voters cast their ballots during Tuesday’s election. Officials started counting votes the next day, and early indications show a close race between Nepal’s three majority parties: the Unified Marxist-Lennist, Nepali Congress, and the Maoist party.

“Winners have been named in some of the locations. There are at least three groups that are very competitive; that alone causes unrest,” says Tom Dudenhofer with Audio Scripture Ministries.

Ballots are still coming in from Nepal’s mountainous districts, and final results aren’t expected for several days.

“It’s one of those times in the history of a nation where things are just uncomfortable, unsettled; and it’s a really good time to pray,” Dudenhofer adds.

Over a hundred parties are vying for the power to help write Nepal’s new constitution. Dudenhofer says their national partner, World Cassette Outreach of India (WCOI), has been sending updates through e-mail from the beginning.

“They were quite concerned about a protest that was taking place…their comments were that ‘many vehicles have been burned, people have been killed,'” he says. “And then the second sentence: ‘But we’re still able to do our recordings.'”

When all of the votes have been tallied, some 601 new members will become part of the Constituent Assembly, a group designated to write a new constitution for the nation. Nepal has lacked this foundation document since 2008 when it became a secular nation instead of a Hindu kingdom.

Nationalist parties like Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal and Nepal Shivsena campaigned on a platform calling for Nepal’s return to its roots. That has some Nepali believers nervous, as Nepal Shivsena vowed in its founding to “assertively oppose” conversion.

“The Hindus, in particular, have come right out and stated that they want to make the country the equivalent of a Hindu state,” says Dudenhofer.

“Their basic premise is that Nepal has no identity unless it’s completely Hindu.”

The air of religious freedom seems to be growing thin around WCOI’s fledgling audio ministry in Nepal, but according to Dudenhofer, it’s not a big surprise.

“The response is something that we’ve sensed in Nepal anyway; there’s sort of a ‘benign’ anti-attitude toward Christianity,” he explains.

“Many people have been coming to Jesus Christ–not through any of the common channels, but most of it through a tremendous outreach through national pastors in the country. This has triggered jealousy…especially among some of the main religions in that country.”

The request of ASM’s partners is simple: “They want us to keep praying,” Dudenhofer says.

“The final results won’t be tabulated for several days yet. We can be grateful that none of this is out of control, that God is still in control, and we can trust Him to use whatever the results for His glory and for His honor down the road.”

While you pray, WCOI will keep working toward the launch of a Nepali office.

“They’re gonna just keep on doing [the recordings]…they’re in the middle of a recording of a New Testament right now,” explains Dudenhofer.

Pray that the project goes smoothly. Learn more about the ministry and outreach of ASM and WCOI here.

World Cassette Outreach of India (WCOI), an affiliate of ASM, recently had a chance to record the New Testament in Komrem, a language spoken by six kindred ethnic groups in Manipur. 

Mangte Chungneijang Mary Pom brought international recognition to Manipur by competing in the semi-final round of the first-ever women's Olympic boxing tournament last month. A London blog said the determined athlete came from a poor farming family and began boxing "in a bid to escape from poverty." Although the British gold medalist defeated MC Mary Pom in the semi-final round, Pom hoped simply competing in the Games would help "bring her state out of abject poverty."

While Pom brought Manipur to the international stage, ASM has been diligently working in the trenches. Last summer, ASM and WCOI distributed 100 units to over 250 people in the jungles of northern India. The Lord has blessed ASM and WCOI with rapid expansion and increased reach to ethnic tribes in India. As a result, their facilities need to be upgraded. Visit this page if you can help their dreams of a better facility become reality.

Ask God to give the WCOI wisdom as they
pursue this project. Pray also for the funding needed to provide audio
Bibles to ethnic communities in Manipur. Click here if you can help financially. 

"This is the first time that they have ever been able to get together as a staff," says Executive Director Tom Dudenhofer. "The two regional centers…and the main ministry center in Bangalore are all getting together for the first time."

ASM's partner, World Cassette Outreach of India, has ministered to the people of India for 25 years. After learning of this service, one U.S. church decided to fund a retreat for the entire WCOI staff.

A small retreat center in one of India's upland regions was reserved for the gathering, to refresh workers physically as well as spiritually. Dudenhofer explains that May is one of the hottest months in India, and ASM wanted to give their partners a chance to escape the heat.

ASM teams will share God's Word with WCOI staff and provide encouragement that their work is not solitary.

"We're mostly just there to encourage them to be excited about the fact that other people know and are praying for them," says Dudenhofer. "We also want to encourage them to think strategically about better ways that they might be able to reach the continent with God's Word in audio."

Along with spiritual refreshment, the retreat would allow staff members to step back from the daily grind and be restored.

"They get just as weary in ministry as we would," Dudenhofer says. "They don't have an annual retreat or anything like that; they've just never been able to do anything."

A new ministry center will be discussed at the retreat, Dudenhofer adds, but no decisions will be made. The current ministry center in India is 100 years old and has suffered significant damage from typhoons. A new building is needed, and the funding has yet to be provided. Dudenhofer says believers could help meet these needs.

"They could pray for the building fund," Dudenhofer said. "They could pray that God would give us and WCOI wisdom on what we should do if we don't receive the full amount of money."

If you want to financially contribute to ASM's building fund, click here.