“I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor” - (1 Corinthians 3:6-8)
To the Glory of our Great, Gracious & Good GOD, the New Year started with the launching of 10 new church plants! They are mostly located at the Western region of the nation in remote villages where there is no Christian witness. To visit these church works you must be prepared to walk three to four hours to reach and worship with our believers. With the Lord’s help we are making good progress towards our vision and mission to establish 200 churches by 2020 in the Himalayan regions. Since the commencement of our training centre in 2002 till date a total of 137 churches have come forth. In spite of the tough and challenging times, our local shepherds are devoted to the work of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus’ salvation and bringing lost souls to the Kingdom of God. Please remember these courageous soldiers and faithful servants of Christ in your daily prayers.
We believe in nurturing our church planters once they complete the 3-months in-house training at our centre and leave to embark on church planting work in their home villages. Through the year we would provide upgrade training from time to time. One such upgrade training will be held in April. It is called FAITH (Food Always in the Home) Gardening where our church planters will be trained and taught to plant various vegetables in a 10m by 10m plot of land. As the vegetables grow and are harvested for daily consumption new seedlings will be replanted. In this way a family can be assured of placing food on the table throughout the year. This upgrade training is practical and suitable for our village church planters as most of them are farmers and live off from their own small plot of land. When they are successful they can pass on the training and skill to their church members and subsequently teach the whole village community. Besides recalling them for regular upgrade training our centre would also reward the labor of our church planters by bringing them and their families for a short retreat. These days we would need to book the whole hotel to cater for the growing size of our group. This event is often a highlight for the whole family. In a small way we are showing appreciation to the spouses in supporting their church planting husbands/wives in the Gospel work. We believe in whole households serving the Lord.
Ps Usha is one of eight women pastors who have been trained at our centre and now serving in our ministry network. She planted and is currently pastoring #60 Rhododendron Church. Usha receives good support for her ministry by her husband who is a government official. In their home village where they minister and serve, most of the men have gone out of the country as migrant workers. Hence majority of the believers are women in the congregation. There is a police officer who used to oppose his wife in going to the church. Some unbelievers misunderstand the way of Christians and have doubts on their moral behavior. The police officer was concerned that his wife may go astray from the influence of Christians. But she remains devoted to Christ and faithfully attends services. One day she invited her husband to come with her.
From the experience, the husband was convinced of a completely different view of the church. He was surprised to see the church being led by Usha, a lady pastor. The husband not only allowed his Christian wife to go to church freely but later on, he came to Christ and is now a faithful believer. He also has a strong desire to share the Gospel with his police colleagues.
We praise the Lord for a good start in the year and we believe He will continue to use you and I to make further inroads with the Gospel to bring salvation to the people here. We will look to God for your continual partnership and faithful support in empowering us to raise more church planters and nurture them in their ministry and faith. Let’s continue stand as one with them in building Christ’s Church in this region for His glory!
