by Pastor Randy Leinen, STN Board
1. Founded by The Bridge Bible Fellowship
In 2007, Shepherds Community Church and Heart of the Valley Community Church merged into one church, and became The Bridge Bible Fellowship (TBBF). At that time, the newly formed TBBF created a new missions organization, called Shepherding the Nations (STN). Although STN is technically a separate Non-Profit organization, it continues to be a vital missions ministry of The Bridge.
2. Mission of STN
The mission of STN is “To glorify God by training and resourcing indigenous pastors to plant healthy churches in unreached areas.” There are many pastors or potential pastors, worldwide, who do not have the resources to be trained to effectively preach and teach God’s Word. So, STN focuses on training these kinds of local pastors, evangelists and church planters so that they can reach their own villages and regions with the gospel.
3. Bible Training Center for Pastors (BTCP)
Before STN was formed in 2007, Pastor Paul, Pastor Ryder Kumar, and I went to India on a few short term mission trips with our wives. We had the privilege of teaching God’s Word to a couple thousand men and women. It was during these trips that we developed a burden to help these men and women who were so hungry to learn God’s Word, and to teach it to others. After researching a number of different types of curriculum we found a series of books called Bible Training Center for Pastors. This curriculum consists of 10 books that have been translated into 42 languages (with 9 more in progress). BTCP was the perfect fit for the people we were working with in India, who speak Hindi and Telegu. So, in the Spring of 2009 we went back to India and began to train a group of pastors using these materials in their own language.
4. Class of 2014
In the Spring of 2009, we started training 50 men in Northern India, and 50 men in Central India – 100 total. Over the course of the next 5 years several of us traveled to India and taught through the 10 BTCP books. And in November of 2014, we held one graduation in Lucknow and another in Hyderabad, India. A total of 80 men were the first STN graduates. They immediately began planting churches and training people in their local areas.
5. Southeast Asia
Since 2014, the initial graduates of STN have been training hundreds of their own people all over India and Nepal. In 2022, having been taught by those first graduates, 450 new trainees became graduates of the BTCP course. And in 2023, the total number of graduates has reached over one thousand. There are 38 Study Centers in cities and villages all across India and Nepal.
6. Latin America
Pastor Eddie Bueno joined us on one of the trips to India. He saw the opportunity to bring BTCP training through STN to Latin America. Training has been ongoing there in the countries of Bolivia, Mexico, and Honduras. People from El Salvador and Panama are also interested in beginning the training. In Latin America, so far, over 200 pastors and church planters have been trained.
7. God’s Connections
An interesting connection was made in the country of Panama. Our new Pastor Marc Boeker has a son named Carter, who is a Freshman at The Master’s University. Carter started dating a young girl from Panama, named Laura. Her father, Ivan, is a deacon of a local church in Panama. Pastor Eddie contacted Ivan and the pastor of the church and told them about STN. This month, Pastor Eddie is heading to Panama to begin training a new group of men. The Lord orchestrated all of this from Pastor Marc, to Carter, to Laura, to her father Ivan, to Ivan’s pastor, to Pastor Eddie. Praise the Lord for allowing STN to keep expanding into Latin America. (See update about Panama institute below.)
8. 100% policy
One of the key principles that STN wanted to adhere to from the beginning was to have 100% of the donations go to supporting the pastors (their churches and their training). We did not want to accept people’s donations and then take a cut out of that for administrative costs. We can do that because the STN International Offices are in a church building and run by volunteers. We do not take a percentage of your donation for administrative costs. The minimal administrative costs for our International Office are covered by donations specifically targeted for administration.
9. You have a part to play
How can you be part of STN? Here are a few ways: First, you can pray for the ministry. In many of the locations where STN training is happening there is serious persecution. Many of our trainers are faithfully proclaiming God’s Word in places where they are not welcome. It is tough and they do it anyway. Pray for their safety and God’s continued blessing. Second, those of us who serve on the STN International Board do it as volunteers. And we can use more help, especially as STN continues to grow beyond our wildest expectations. If you are interested in potentially being part of the board, please talk to Pastor Paul Brown. Third, please consider supporting STN financially. Most of the time those who are being trained cannot afford the cost of the books. And those who are doing the training are usually men who need financial assistance. Would you consider contributing to such needs?
Ryder Kumar is serving as our International Director. As one of the founding members of Shepherding the Nations, it was Ryder's vision to see pastors trained and equipped for ministry that became the foundation of Shepherding the Nations.
Shepherding the Nations has identified qualified and called men who are already working in unreached areas of India and Nepal. We are providing the training to better equip them and the financial resources to support them in their ministries.
Our directors have been equipped to teach our ten-volume training curriculum. These key men are training indigenous pastors and church planters while also providing accountability, resources materials, and support. 
During our training program, we provide our ten volume set of curriculum from the Biblical Training Centre for Pastors (BTCP) in their local language. We also provide essentials resources such as Bible Concordance and Study Bible. We have been able to provide these books to all of our pastors through the generous donations of our donors. These books can be purchased for about $10 each or an entire set for $100.