pbrown – Page 2 – Shepherding the Nations

Focus on Regional Trainers

October 4, 2017 By pbrown

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. (Phil. 1:3-5 – NASB95)

At a recent STN International Board meeting, we were discussing how faithful STN’s prayer warriors and donors have been since the very beginning. As an organization, we really don’t do a lot in the area of fundraising. We often wish we could do more, but our board is comprised of all volunteers and we don’t have the time to focus on that component of the ministry. That is why we are so thankful to God for all of you and the way you support this ministry. Some of you have been supporting STN since we incorporated 10 years ago. Words cannot express how grateful we are for your generosity. The gospel is spreading into unreached areas and churches are being planted because of your faithfulness.

Because of your sacrifice in giving, the Board feels very accountable to use the funds as wisely as possible. We prayerfully seek the Lord, research what the needs are around the world, and then focus our energies on what we believe will make the maximum impact for Christ. As the Lord opens new doors for ministry we seek Him to know how to best utilize the resources He has provided for maximum impact. Right now, that means we are focusing more of our attention and financial resources on regional trainers.

The First 100

In the early years, we were training 100 church planting pastors in India and Nepal, and fully financially supporting about 40 of them (including two medical doctors). It took us about six years to train those men and they are being used mightily of God in unreached villages. Over the past few years, the training ministry has expanded into more areas of India and Nepal, and we started new ministries in Bolivia, Honduras, Guatemala and Southern Mexico. Instead of training 100 men (twice each year at two training centers in India over a 6-year period), we are currently training 500 men in about 18 different locations in six countries. Because they are able to meet weekly, the training can be accomplished in about 2 ½ years instead of 5+ years.

The Current 500

Right now, STN has over 100 people who have graduated from the BTCP training. Add in 500 people currently in training and we have a total of 600 who will be finished with the training by 2019. We are asking each of those people to find at least 10 more people to be trained. What kind of exponential growth are we considering? If we multiply by 10 every three years:

Year 2019 = 600+ trained church planters
Year 2022 = 6,000+
Year 2025 = 60,000+
2028 = 600,000+ trained church planters going to unreached parts of the world where they can reach the lost, plant healthy churches, and multiply again and again.

Why train so many pastors and church planters?

There are nearly 3 billion people currently in unreached people groups with little to no access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Those 600,000 church planters would have to each share the gospel with 5,000 people in unreached people groups to reach the 3 billion currently unreached. And more people are born every day!

The challenge with training that many men is not lack of vision, desire, or commitment. The challenge is the financial cost of supporting them after they are trained. Even at $100 per month per church planter (full support in the poorer areas of the world), the total cost would be staggering to the imagination. Just supporting 600 men would be $60,000 per month. Supporting 600,000 men would be $60,000,000 per month. Our current plan is to continue to support some of the church planters, but the future focus will be primarily on supporting the regional trainers. These regional trainers need our financial support so that they can each devote themselves to train, resource, and encourage hundreds of new church planters.

These men will provide on-going support and accountability to church planters as they go out by faith and plant churches for the glory of Christ.

Your Partnership

Please pray for the financial resources to support our current regional trainers as well as more of them in the future as the Lord directs. If you know of any individual donors, small groups, churches, and/or foundations that would like to get involved with STN, please send them our way. The Lord keeps opening doors into new areas of the world and we need a lot of ministry partners to join us.

Thank you again for your partnership in this growing ministry. We know that you are giving sacrificially, and we are confident that our God “will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). May you enjoy His goodness each and every day, and may His grace and peace be yours in fullest measure!

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2016 Ministry Summary

December 5, 2016 By pbrown

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. (Phil. 1:3-5 – NASB95)

Words cannot express the gratitude I have in my heart for you and your participation in the gospel with all of us at STN. Your faithfulness and generosity made it possible for hundreds of current and future church planters to be better equipped in 2016 to fulfill the Great Commission. And the Lord is opening new doors to us as we head into 2017! From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

What happened in 2016? There is too much to tell so let me summarize:

India & Nepal – Ryder Kumar

Established a base of operations for STN India in Hyderabad.
Proclaimed God’s truth to and shared the vision of STN with thousands of people in numerous churches in different parts of India.
Worked with the church planting pastors we have already trained through the BTCP materials and provided further training to help them in their ministries.
Identified 13 men that will now be a part of the STN Faculty to train new church planters with the BTCP materials in different regions of India and Nepal. Some of these men have gone to seminary but most of them were trained by STN through the BTCP materials.
Identified new students that will be going through the BTCP training. Currently there are about 200 students who are being trained or will begin shortly. That number could grow to well over 300 in 2017.
Expanded the training to a new group of students in Nepal.
Helped two of the men we trained previously to complete the BTCP training of 35 new leaders in Vijayawada, India. They just had a graduation ceremony in November after completing all 10 books!
Published a commentary on the Book of Philippians.
Finalized all the documents and financial reports to apply for the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) that will make it easier for money to be transferred from the U.S. to the work in India. We are hoping it will be granted sometime in 2017.
Hired an administrative assistant (Prashant) who will work in the STN office as well as teach some of the BTCP courses.
And the list goes on and on. Ryder & Flory are working hard to advance the cause of Christ all over SE Asia!

Latin America – Eddie Bueno

Eddie has been getting requests from all over Latin America to provide the training for their people to go out and plant new churches. There are millions who are being misled by false religions and by the growing number of churches that preach the false “Prosperity Gospel.” Leaders in Latin America want to have answers and want to multiply the number of men who can go out and start new churches. STN is overwhelmed by the requests and unfortunately cannot say “yes” to all who are asking. But at this time we are focusing on 6 different cities in 4 countries:

Bolivia:

Facilitated the training of 3 men to teach the BTCP materials and then hired them to launch BTCP training classes in three different cities: La Paz (Pastor Tito Montero); Cochabamba (Pastor Daniel Ortiz); and Santa Cruz (Pastor Richard Buitrago).
There are 70 students now being trained.
These groups will meet 10 months each year (taking December & January off).
All four groups have finished the first 3 BTCP books and will begin Book 4 in February 2017.

Central America:

Eddie identified 3 men who will be trained to teach the BTCP materials and work for STN in three new locations: Quetzaltenango, Guatemala (Pastor Karel Golcher); Tegusigalpa, Honduras (Pastor Jose Antonio Pino); and Tapachula, Mexico (Pastor Marco Muñoz).
These men will be trained in January 2017 and then will begin new groups with BTCP Book #1 in February.
There will be at least 20 students in each of the three groups.

Praise God for what He is doing through STN! What a privilege to participate in what the Holy Spirit is doing in these countries. It brings tears to my eyes to think of the men STN has equipped to plant healthy churches. There are now over 110 STN graduates and in 2017 there will be about 350 or more in the process of being trained. It is our hope that those numbers will grow exponentially in the coming years and that in a short amount of time we will have 10,000+ church planters going to unreached areas of the world.

How can you help us go forward?

Pray. We need the Lord’s wisdom, protection, and provisions as we go forward.
Tell others. Spread the word to other people about what STN is doing and challenge them to participate.
Financial gifts. Would you prayerfully consider on-going monthly donations or a special year-end donation to STN? Many of our donors have continued to give monthly since the beginning of STN but others do it for a certain period and then stop. There are several specific needs right now as we have expanded the ministry of STN:

Provide training materials for one student. It costs approximately $100 to provide the curriculum for each student.
Ryder Kumar. We are still about $1500 per month short on Ryder’s support needs as the Director for SE Asia.
STN Pastors in India. We currently have 5 pastors at $60 per month and 6 pastors at $100 per month that do not have sponsors.
Latin America Regional Trainers. We now have 6 regional trainers at $450 per month (for 10 months each year) that need sponsors.

If you (or your friends) have any questions about these financial opportunities, please contact us and we will be glad to answer them for you.

Thank you again for your faithful financial participation and on-going prayers for this ministry. God has blessed STN super abundantly with opportunities to train workers to go into the harvest fields. What a privilege! Take a moment and give Him praise.

God Loves Multiplication!

September 26, 2016 By pbrown

“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:1-2 – NASB95)

God loves multiplication! He loves it in the local church and He loves it on the mission field. That is why STN is committed to training national pastors to not only plant churches but to equip others who will equip others… For many years, foreign missionaries would go out and do all the work themselves, but at this time in history it is critical that we train nationals to reach their own nations.

Let me give you a few reasons why:

Language. It is difficult enough to teach a missionary one language so they can minister in a foreign environment. But imagine a nation like India where there are 22 major languages and 780 dialects. It is much better to equip nationals that already know the languages so they can reach their own people.
Culture & Religion. Beyond the language barrier, there are a myriad of cultural practices and religious beliefs that are different than what we have experienced. STN strives to train people who already understand these beliefs and practices.
Politics. Currently there are a number of countries (including India) that are beginning to ask missionaries (or foreigners) to leave when their visas expire. Recently I was told by the vice president of a large ministry that his application for a visa was denied. It is imperative that we train permanent residents who can stay and keep the work going.
Finances. In many countries we can support anywhere from 10 to 60 nationals for the cost of supporting one American missionary. It is our desire to maximize the donations given to STN and get as many church planters out to unreached areas as possible. We still value sending highly trained American missionaries but primarily want them to be sent as national directors or regional trainers. In those positions they can recruit, equip, and deploy hundreds of nationals to reach unreached villages.
Effectiveness. Because of the reasons listed above we believe our effectiveness is increased exponentially by focusing on training and resourcing nationals in every country. And what joy it brings us to see them going out with a heart to MULTIPLY workers for the harvest fields.

Thank you for participating with us in the vital ministry of STN. Your time spent volunteering and praying is making a profound difference in India, Nepal, Bolivia, and beyond. And your monetary donations are making it possible for the equipping and resourcing of hundreds of workers who will ultimately be involved in planting thousands of churches. Please pray for us that we would be wise and faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to us. To God be the glory great things He is doing!

STN India & Nepal!

June 7, 2016 By pbrown

The Apostle Paul was in prison and very aware that he was going to die, so he wrote to his protégé, Timothy, and encouraged him to continue the work in the church at Ephesus. Paul couldn’t reach everyone, and Timothy couldn’t reach everyone, so the ministry of multiplication had to be a priority. Paul basically challenged Timothy to do for others what Paul had done for him. By God’s grace followers of Jesus have continued this philosophy of ministry down through the centuries and it is the strategy we are implementing in India and Nepal today.

In their first year back in India, Ryder & Flory Kumar are focusing on training men who will plant healthy churches where they can train men who will plant healthy churches… To that end Ryder has already conducted several Teacher Training Workshops (TTWs) in different regions of India to equip and qualify men to teach the Bible Training Centre for Pastors (BTCP) materials. Now these men will begin teaching the BTCP curriculum to men in their regions on a weekly basis. By teaching weekly (instead of two five-day conferences each year) they can teach through all ten books in about two years.

The current plan is to start training about 230 men to be new church planters. Imagine these men going out in the near future to each plant multiple churches. Then imagine these men each being trained to take ten or more new men through the materials and equip them to go out and plant churches in unreached areas. It is our prayer that the Lord will bless this and we will see hundreds of new churches planted in the next three to five years. On top of that, we are getting requests from all over India, Nepal, and Pakistan for the same training to be offered to them.

What can you do as a partner with STN?

The need is great and we are grateful that you are partnering with us to meet the need. Here are four things that come to mind:

PRAY! Please pray for Ryder & Flory and for the men they are equipping to go out and multiply. Pray for spiritual vitality, physical endurance, and God’s wisdom. With so many needs, please pray for discernment as to what they should and should not do.
GIVE! We currently have several pastors who need sponsors. You can fully support one of our 7 pastors in Northern India for $100 per month or one of our 6 pastors in Southern India (three that need $30 per month and three that need $60 per month). Or you can help support Ryder & Flory as they are currently about $2,000 per month short of their need. We are making up the difference out of our reserves but would love to apply those funds to other areas of growth.
VOLUNTEER! We could use more volunteers to help us with administrative tasks, researching and writing articles for our Facebook page and newsletter, or serving on our Fundraising Team.
SHARE! Please tell other individuals and churches about the ministry of STN. We would love to give them more details and have them join with us in this work in India, Nepal, and beyond.

STN’s Plans for 2016 in India

February 9, 2016 By pbrown

Ryder & Flory Kumar have been in India for over 4 months now and a lot of things are being accomplished. They have settled into a home, set up an office for STN India, worked on administrative details (legal & financial), met with key leaders, spoken in churches and special meetings, and organized prayer groups. They have been BUSY!

What else will be happening in 2016?

A lot more time will be spent with the STN Board in India. These men will prayerfully give leadership to the movement in India and Nepal. They will plan conferences to train more men as well as spread the word about STN to individuals, churches, and other Christian organizations.

Ryder will spend more time with the men who have already been trained. These men will not only labor to establish healthy churches but will train other men to go to unreached areas. Teacher Training Workshops (TTW’s) will be offered to these men so they can effectively teach the BTCP materials to others. They will also be held accountable for their personal growth, their family life, their ministry in the churches, and their outreach to the lost.

An overwhelming number of requests are coming in for people to be trained all over India and Nepal.

New BTCP courses will be started in different regions and will be led by former students and regional directors.

Regional Directors will be appointed to oversee training and accountability in different parts of the country. Ryder cannot reach the entire country but he can work with key regional leaders who can carry out the work. The ministry will grow exponentially in the coming years as these men train men who will train men…

More men will be trained in Nepal.

The need is great in Nepal for healthy churches and we will help some of our former students train church planters to be sent into the harvest.

Investigate possible sites for an STN India Training Center.

$700,000 was donated last year for this purpose and we want to know the right location for maximum impact in the coming years. This center would double as the STN India headquarters.

On top of all that we will explore the possibility of ministry in Pakistan.

We have been praying for that country for years and hope to see healthy churches established to make disciples of that nation.

Ryder & Flory will be very busy. Please pray for them to draw near to the Lord, grow strong in their marriage, stay healthy, walk in the Spirit, and discern God’s will on a moment-by-moment basis. In a country that has such enormous needs it is easy to get overwhelmed or say “yes” to too many things. Thank you for praying that they will work hard but also find times of quiet rest and refreshment.

To carry out all of these things will require more funds.

From time-to-time our donors need to stop supporting STN and right now we have a few pastors without sponsors. For $60-100 per month these men are fully supported to plant churches in unreached areas. Please pray for the Lord to provide new sponsors for these men as well as hundreds of others that will be trained in the coming years. And pray for more donors to support Ryder & Flory as they are about $2,000 short of their monthly need. Our General Fund is currently covering these costs, but we would love to see specific donors or churches sponsor these men.

We believe God will do great things in India & Nepal in 2016. Your prayers and donations are making an eternal difference. Thank you for partnering with us. To God be the glory!

Shepherding The Nations is expanding!

August 30, 2015 By pbrown

We are overwhelmed by God’s grace and provision to grow the work of STN in India and Nepal and expand into other nations as well. He is answering all of our prayers for wisdom, key leaders, financial resources, and open doors to train more nationals to reach unreached areas of the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Growing in India

Ryder and Flory Kumar will be moving to India very soon to give leadership to the movement in India & Nepal. Ryder will establish a base of operations, work with national leaders of other ministries as well as the 75 men we have already trained, and oversee the training and sending of more church planters to new areas. We have some reserve funds to cover his salary for a little while but he still needs about $2,000 per month in additional support to be fully funded. Please pray for this need to be met quickly. We desire to utilize the reserve funds for some major projects in India in the coming days (i.e., purchase or build a Training Center and National Offices for STN India). We are also hoping to identify and support two or more Regional Directors in India & Nepal to help facilitate training and mentoring more church planters. Beyond that there is a desire to do the same thing in countries that border India.

Imagine the 75 trained men in India and Nepal expanding to 500 in the next five years. Then imagine the 500 expanding to 5,000+ a few years later… Consider with me a growing number of trained men who are zealous to see their own people reached with the Gospel and organized together into growing, healthy, reproducing churches.

Expanding into South America

Pastor Eddie Bueno has a burden to oversee a new work in South America starting this fall. He knows some key leaders in Bolivia that he hopes to work with to launch STN Latin America very soon. We are hoping to begin with about 36 carefully chosen men in the near future and then send them out at the end of a two-year training process to plant churches in new areas. STN would then support those men for up to three years until their churches can support them. While that is happening we will train more men to be sent out and keep the process going. Once the work is established in Bolivia we hope to expand to other Central and South American countries. Pray for wisdom for Pastor Eddie as the foundation is laid in the next few months.

Praise God that $110,000 has already been donated to launch this new area of ministry for STN. That will allow us to do the groundwork, identify the right key leaders, and start the training, but we will be in need of more monthly sponsors to support specific church planting pastors in the coming months. Central & South America desperately need solid Bible-teaching churches!

Will you join us?

Will you commit to pray and support STN monthly? Will you spread the news to other believers, churches, and foundations so they can join with us? We need likeminded partners who are committed to the Great Commission and will sacrifice to see it fulfilled in our generation.

Footnote: Special thanks to the leadership and people of The Bridge Bible Fellowship who allow us to have the STN International Offices on the property at no cost. Beyond that they have included STN in the missions budget! This allows STN to operate without normal overhead costs.

There are billions of people who don’t yet know Jesus. The Lord has blessed us with spiritual and financial resources. Let’s be a conduit for those blessings to flow to the rest of the world!

Big Vision / Big Provision

May 19, 2015 By pbrown

hudson-taylor-quote

J. Hudson Taylor once stated, “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies.”

At STN we have seen that to be true over and over again. Month after month we have seen God supply through faithful people who keep on giving of their time, talents, and treasures. As a result we have been able to train 100+ pastors and support many of them monthly as they plant churches in unreached areas of India and Nepal. But we have desired to see God do “far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think… (Eph. 3:20).” There are over 1.2 billion people in India and most of them have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our big vision for the future has been to:

Have a National Director in India who can oversee and develop the ministry
Have Regional Coordinators that provide training and oversight in their area
Build an STN Training Center where men can come to be trained
Train & support more pastors & church planters in India and Nepal
Train & support church planters in Pakistan and other countries in SE Asia
Develop a similar training program in Central and South America

Doing all of those things would require a dramatic growth in the monthly income of STN.

So about one year ago we began praying that the Lord would provide $500,000 so we could expand the work of STN in the areas mentioned above. We didn’t know how the Lord would provide but we prayed that He would. Last week God supplied over and above our request as an anonymous donor gave $700,000 to STN!!! We were overjoyed by God’s provision and humbled by the stewardship He entrusted to us. Please join with us in praying that we will have a crystal clear understanding of how to utilize these funds to accomplish His purposes.

A big vision and a big donation. Give all praise, glory, and honor to God for the great things He has done, is doing, and will do!

“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
-Philippians 4:19 (NASB95)

First Two Graduating Classes

December 18, 2014 By pbrown

After 5 ½ years, 11 weeklong conferences, and nearly 500 hours of instruction in two different cities, STN celebrated its first two graduating classes on October 31st and November 7th. Words cannot express the joy we experienced watching 75 men finish the training program and graduate. Abraham Kumar & Diane Brown provided special music; Randy Leinen presented a history of STN and its ministry focus in India; graduating students gave testimony of how the training has impacted their lives and ministries; I delivered a commencement speech from 1 Timothy 6:11-16; David Nelson of Crossing Cultures International (the agency we partner with to teach the BTCP curriculum) encouraged and prayed for the men; and Diane Brown took photos as graduation certificates were given out.

Icing on the Cake!

The change in the men’s lives from the beginning of the training until now is almost unbelievable. They have grown as men of God and men of the Word. Their ability to handle Scripture accurately, defend sound doctrine, refute false doctrine, teach and preach, lead their congregations, train leaders, and make disciples has grown exponentially. And the final week of training was icing on the cake! The topics were: “Missions, Evangelism, and Discipleship.” The men got so fired up they couldn’t wait to get back to their villages to be faithful to what they learned.

These men are “doers” of the Word! One man told us that in the past 5 ½ years since the training began he has worked with a team of people to plant 12 new churches and has plans to train pastors to plant churches in hundreds of villages in India and beyond. One man has planted a number of churches in Northern India and has worked with others to plant 7 churches in Nepal. Two brothers started teaching the BTCP materials to 35 people in their city and are now halfway through the 10 books. One man is ready to leave his current position as director of a school to devote himself fulltime to training pastors all over Northern India. One of the men who translated for me while preaching in a church worship service said he now feels called to leave his position teaching in a college to serve God in fulltime vocational ministry. Several of the men pleaded with us to come to their region and help them train hundreds of pastors who have never had this kind of teaching.

And the wives of the pastors have grown as well! Susan Leinen, Flory Kumar, Diane Brown, Tammy Werth and Mindy Nelson all shared in teaching the women at each conference. We have observed dramatic change in their personal lives, their marriages, and their ministries since the training began. These women have become true partners in ministry with their husbands and will be used of God to disciple other women on into the future.

Special THANK YOU to those who taught in one or more of the 11 conferences (Dr. Keith Essex of The Master’s Seminary, Mike Amoroso, Jeff Forbes, Dr. David Nelson, Pastor Casey Danley, Sean Ransom, Ryder Kumar, and Randy Leinen). Special THANK YOU to all who prayed and gave sacrificially. The investment was so worth it and the abundant fruit in the coming years will bring much glory to our great God and Savior.

Preparation for Future Ministry

Please be in prayer for Ryder & Flory Kumar as they prepare to move back to India to head up the ministry of STN India. They will work with the STN India Board to provide on-going training & accountability for the men who have graduated, equip those men to train others, offer training for new pastors and church planters, oversee church planting efforts, handle administrative responsibilities, identify men to be supported as new church planters, network with other likeminded Christian organizations, etc. They need to raise about $3,000 per month in additional support to cover their personal and ministry expenses in India. We are hoping that can be accomplished so they can move sometime in the spring or early summer of 2015. If you would like to be a part of their prayer and financial support team please let us know.

Pray for Pastor Eddie Bueno. Eddie is the Senior Pastor of the Hispanic Ministry at our church and went with us to observe the training. He is now seeking the Lord to see if he should do something similar in Central and South America.

Pray for God’s direction and provision in the coming days as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission (Mt. 28:18-20) for His glory. Many of these men need financial support so they can give their attention to fulltime ministry. For as little as $60 to $100 per month these men can be fully supported. Pray that many more churches and individuals will support these men to reach the unreached villages of India and Nepal. If you know of a church that might be interested in hearing more about what STN is doing and how they can partner with us please let us know.

To God be the glory great things He has done, is doing, and will do!

Graduation Celebration

January 17, 2014 By pbrown

btcp

It is with deep gratitude to God that we are making plans for a huge celebration next year in India. After nearly six years of training conferences, STN will hold its first GRADUATION CEREMONY for the men who have completed the 10-book curriculum from “Bible Training Centre for Pastors” (www.BTCP.com). In November 2014 we will hold our final training conferences in Hyderabad and Lucknow, India, and conclude each week with the graduation. Although we are not conferring a degree, the men are very excited to get a graduation certificate. We are also inviting their wives to come with them to celebrate the accomplishment and join in as we give praise to God. During the week we will offer special training for the women while the men study Book #10 – “Missions, Evangelism, and Discipleship.”

Christmas Fundraising Efforts

The Women’s Ministry at The Bridge Bible Fellowship wanted to do a special fundraiser to help pay for the cost of the wives attending the final conference. They wrote a special Christmas poem that communicated the Gospel of Jesus Christ and put it in a gift box with several candies that are included in the message of the poem. These boxes were sold for $10 each with all profits going to STN. To date over $1,300 has been raised through these gift boxes.

Please Pray

Please pray for us as we finalize plans for the graduation ceremonies. Current plans include special music by Diane Brown and Abraham Kumar, testimonies by the students, challenging messages from STN leaders, and graduation certificates & gifts for the men. Leaders of Christian Ministries in India will be invited to come celebrate with us and learn more about what STN is doing in India and Nepal.

The costs will be higher this time than for previous conferences (more people going from the U.S., cost of the Pastors’ wives coming to the conferences, and graduation costs). If you would like to make a donation toward these costs please write “Graduation” on the memo.

Come and See!

If you would like to go with us for the final training conferences and graduation ceremonies please let us know. You could come for a portion of the time or the entire time. But be warned that your heart will forever be changed by what you see and experience.

Thank you for your vital part in this ministry over the past six years.

God has answered your prayers and used your donations in ways we will not fully understand this side of Heaven.

Pastors have been trained,
churches have been planted and strengthened,
multitudes have heard the Gospel,
unreached villages have been reached,
and a large number of people have come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

And this is only the beginning!

These men will reach & train up others who will reach & train up others who will make disciples of nations (2 Tim. 2:2; Mt. 28:18-20). Some of the men are already training other Pastors and church leaders using the BTCP materials and we look forward to helping them continue this for years to come. To God be the glory great things He has done!

Did You Think I Was Immortal?

June 26, 2013 By pbrown

Recent developments in medical science have given people the hope that they will live longer, healthier lives. Unfortunately, no matter how long and how healthy our lives turn out to be, we will all ultimately die. Last week Emmy Award winning actor James Gandolfini died at the age of 51. Whitney Houston, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Michael Jackson, and Abraham Lincoln all died relatively young. Other famous people (Betty White, Bob Hope) live to be 90 or older. The key to life is not its length but its depth. It’s not how many days we live, but how we live our days.

Consider the last words of some famous people just before they died: Winston Churchill said, “I’m bored with it all.” Queen Elizabeth I announced, “All my possessions for a moment of time.” By contrast, John Quincy Adams testified, “This is the last of earth! I am content.”

Charles Le Brun [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Louis XIV, King of France, asked onlookers, “Why do you weep? Did you think I was immortal?” Actually, we are. We will each spend eternity in heaven or in hell—the choice is ours.

At STN we are laboring to be obedient to the Great Commission (Mt. 28:18-20). Since none of us knows how many days we have left we are laboring to fully train men who will fully train men who will fully train men long after we are gone (2 Tim. 2:2). We know it’s not the length but the depth! That is why we are investing in the lives and ministries of church-planting pastors in India & Nepal. We have about 80 men who will graduate from our 5-year training program in March 2014. They are already active in full-time ministry but more than half of them still need financial support to be freed up to reach more people with the Gospel and plant more healthy churches. For $2 per day you could support one of these men so they can take the Gospel to unreached people.

Now that the training of these men is almost completed, STN is at a crossroads. We are getting requests from all over India & Nepal to train hundreds of other men. The STN International Board will be meeting on Saturday, July 6th to seek the Lord regarding the future of our ministry and where to invest our time and resources. Thank you for praying for the men who have been in training. Thank you for praying for each of the training conferences. Thank you for praying for the leadership of STN India. Thank you for praying for the leadership of STN International. Thank you for praying for God to abundantly supply the resources needed to equip and support more men. There is a combined population of 1.3 billion people in India & Nepal and most of them do not know our Savior. It is a privilege to work with you to reach them. It’s not how many days we live, but how we live our days. Thank you for living yours for eternity!

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