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Meet These Pastors In India Part I

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It is our joy to share the following profiles on three particular pastors in India as well as various updates from the field on the following page. These represent but a few of the many, many pastors whose lives are being impacted for eternity. Only the Lord truly knows the number of individuals, families and villages these men are influencing! We rejoice and praise God for what He is doing through the STN Training Conferences!

Vinay Kalapala in the South

Pastor Vinay preaching in the village of Gangur. Over 1,000 people were in attendance and 58 made decisions to give their lives to Jesus.

“My intention was different when I first attended the STN seminar in 2009. I desired to seek some financial help but my intention dramatically changed to give me a goal that I now long to keep as my vision.” Vinay’s vision is to teach the whole Bible in his lifetime! He holds a university degree and is employed with the State Government for his livelihood. But his calling is to be a pastor and teacher. Along with his father, a senior pastor, Vinay preaches and teaches at his local church. “The STN team teaching of the BTCP courses has not only been equipping me but transforming me with insights and enlightenments. I am learning the orderly pattern, how to study in depth and have a passion for ministering the Word,” says Vinay with a grateful heart. Vinay’s church has an attendance of 80 to 110 people and reaches out to about 125 villages every year. Along with the responsi-bilities of the local church, Vinay is responsible to train and shepherd 26 other pastors, provide administration and spiritual admonition for 32 churches under his care, partner with 40 evangelists and train 30 other pastors to teach BTCP.

After attending the first seminar, Vinay was so blessed that he couldn’t keep it to himself but recruited his younger brother who is a youth leader in the church. Vinay and his brother, Isaac, regularly attend the STN Conferences and are a con-stant challenge to the teaching staff to be well prepared to impart the Scriptures.

2012 Fall Conferences

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We are looking forward with eager anticipation to the upcoming training conferences.

Lord willing, here is the schedule:

  • Oct. 22-26: David Nelson and Ryder Kumar will teach Book #1 in Vijayawada/Southern India to 30 new participants
  • Oct. 29-Nov. 2: Randy Leinen, Ryder Kumar and Jeff Forbes will teach Book #7, Church Ministry, Administration and Education, in Hyderabad (regular ongoing training for these pastors)
  • Oct. 30-Nov. 1: David Nelson and Ryder Kumar will lead a Teacher Training Workshop for Christian leaders from all over India.
  • Nov. 5-9: Randy Leinen, Ryder Kumar and Jeff Forbes will teach Book #7, Church Ministry, Administration and Education, in Lucknow (regular ongoing training for these pastors)

The team will also preach in church on all Sundays in India.

Please pray for the team as they prepare to teach and for all travel arrangements. Praise: Jeff Forbes’ Visa came through quickly! Please also pray for the Indian pastors as they prepare and attend the upcoming conferences.

World’s For Sale! Update, May 2012

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Thank you to all of our generous participants for your abundant donations. More “treasures” than ever were collected in two trailers throughout our Spring collection days. Our sale profits were over $5000 this year! Praise God for all of you who donated, helped, shopped and prayed.

These bargain-priced goods were turned into priceless treasures as money was raised for the spread of the gospel in India.

How many World’s for Sale Volunteers does it take to help one shopper? (As many as can fit in the shade!)

Our shoppers were blessed with mountains of gently used clothes at bargain prices. I think we had enough to clothe all of Reseda!

Our STN President has found a comfy chair for a phone call and a little rest. (Sorry, Paul, I think that chair is sold!)

The Gideons were on hand this year passing out New Testaments in both Spanish and English. Please pray for the seeds that were sown.

For the first time, our World’s For Sale Fundraiser was held at TBBF on our school field. It was a great location!

2012 STN Spring Conferences

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by Ryder Kumar

It is my honor to present this brief report to show my gratitude to the Lord Who allowed these Conferences to take place and to express appreciation for the support of your prayers. Without these, our short term mission trips to India for the 9th consecutive year would have been futile. My heart is filled with thankfulness to God for His great faithfulness and appreciation toward each of you for your faithfulness. The equipping of pastors in India and Nepal continues! Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and financial support that made these Spring 2012 STN Conferences possible!

Ministry in the Local Church

For the past couple of years I have been visiting a church of about 200 people called El Shaddai in Hyderabad city in which I had the privilege of preaching the Word in an evening service. David Nelson and I both preached in that assembly the following Sunday. The pastor’s name is Paul Gideon, a humble man of God. Soon after leaving the city, the whole state was in chaos due to the arrest of a political leader. There were strikes, transportation vehicles burned and turmoil in the city. By God’s sovereign design, we evaded all these as we left for Delhi. Is this not an answer to prayer and a demonstration of the fact that God, who held back all these disturbances until the conference was over, is in control?

Hyderabad Seminar (South)

There were 41 participants who learned much about the doctrine of eschatology or future things! One pastor said, “My father who is a senior pastor could only teach about the second coming of Christ by referring to His appearance in the clouds and didn’t proceed further from there but now we are able to understand the chronological order and events of second coming – we are so blessed.” There was a keen interest in most of them as they not only listened to the topics of the final section of Bible doctrine survey but also asked questions.

It is my honor to present this brief report to show my gratitude to the Lord Who allowed these Conferences to take place and to express appreciation for the support of your prayers. Without these, our short term mission trips to India for the 9th consecutive year would have been futile. My heart is filled with thankfulness to God for His great faithfulness and appreciation toward each of you for your faithfulness. The equipping of pastors in India and Nepal continues! Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and financial support that made these Spring 2012 STN Conferences possible!

 

Lucknow Seminar (North)

There was a unique challenge at this conference due to temperatures as high as 113! Due to the heat, we adjusted the schedule to move the afternoon sessions to late evening; this change was helpful to everyone. The teaching was eye opening for many and insightful to all! One participant said, “I was struggling with the topics of the Lord’s Table and Baptism but I am now going back home without doubts.” Another participant testified saying, “I am from a tribal community which is known for lack of understanding and knowledge but I am so blessed to be here in the seminar to understand so many truths.” Two of the participants are now reaching out to another state in India to teach the BTCP courses and also desire to partner in ministry in Nepal. A couple of the pastors were pleading with us to visit their areas to start BTCP courses.

Future Plans for Suresh Mathews

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And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; but as it is written, “They who had no news of Him shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand.” Romans 15:20–21

What a blessing it is for us to partner together through STN to get the gospel to unreached people in India and Nepal! The pastors we are training and supporting are working in and through their churches to reach thousands of unreached people in remote villages. Thank you for your continued involvement in this vital ministry!

Until now STN has provided training for pastors in Southern India and in Northern India but virtually all of the church planting pastors we support financially are in Southern India. The leadership of STN believes we need to continue to do this but we need to expand our efforts to financially support church planters in Northern India as well. This region has the smallest percentage of believers (per capita) in all of India; in some areas, it is as low as 1/100 of 1%.

How will we do this? After months of prayer and discussion we believe the next thing we need to do is to provide full financial support to our Regional Director in the North who can oversee this church-planting ministry on behalf of STN. That man is Suresh Mathews. He is a godly man with decades of ministry experience in India. He currently works full-time for another agency and volunteers as the Senior Pastor of his church. He has been working with STN since our beginning as the coordinator of our conferences in the North. He has also helped us with all the legal work to establish STN in India and he serves on the STN India Board. We believe that freeing up Suresh to work full-time for STN will enable us to move forward rapidly with church planting efforts all over Northern India and Nepal.

At this time there are sponsors who contribute toward Suresh’s support. Currently we are receiving $390 per month toward his support but for Suresh to go full-time we will need to increase that amount to $1,000 per month. [Note: his expenses are higher than that of church planters because of the costs associated with his ministry (home, office, car, travel expenses, etc.)]

If you are thinking about supporting an STN Pastor (or an additional one) we would like you to prayerfully consider supporting Suresh. He and his wife, Mercy, are passionately devoted to Christ and to seeing India and Nepal reached with the Gospel. Also, if you know of anyone (or any church) that might be interested in finding out more about STN please tell them about this ministry, point them to the STN website, and give us their contact information. We would love to answer any questions they may have and partner with them to reach the unreached.

Thank you again for serving with us in this ministry. Lives are being changed for eternity!

Hyderabad Conference Report

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From Shanthi –

We were eagerly waiting for this conference to start, as this was a Doctrines oriented teaching, and we were expectant to learn new things from our resource leaders Bro.Ryder and Bro.David Nelson.

Dr.Vijay and Bro.Timothy were the translators and as usual they did a good job. The conference started on 31st Oct. 2011, with the opening session commencing at 2.00 p.m. By the way, we want to thank everyone who prayed for the agitation to subside in our state. God answered all your prayers and just a week before the conference was due to start, all form of agitations ceased, and all our pastors could arrive in time and with safety.

This time in all about 46 pastors attended the seminar. The weather was near perfect, and as usual the facilities provided at the centre were excellent.

“In the beginning GOD”—-so started our first doctrinal studies about God. The remarkable thing is we learnt news things on the first day itself. One of the revelations we had is “Bible assumes God is present, and the BIBLE is not intended for proving the existence of God but rather it is a demonstration of His works.”

Three instances of speaking in tongues from Act 2, 9 and 19 and how they were related to the circumstances of those times, was the highlight of this conference. In India there is this prevalent thinking, that if one does not speak in tongues, he does not have the Holy Spirit. The participants were enlightened about this particular gift.

We were enlightened about the characteristics of God, and how these characteristics build up healthy relations with our creator and redeemer.

The next doctrines taught were on Bibliology/Jesus Christ/Holy Spirit and Angelology. The one doctrine on which the participants had so many doubts was on HOLY SPIRIT. The true doctrine was taught from the scriptures and many doubts clarified. All that we can say is that the participants went back with the correct doctrine, and resolve to negate any false teaching on HOLY SPIRIT. We thank STN for these splendid resources through BTCP.

Increased appetite for learning and discipline…

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From Ryder Oct 26

The Lord brought the team safely to Lucknow though there was a confusion of missing the flight from Delhi to Lucknow due to the schedule change by the airlines (we were unaware of it). There are about 40 participants and this time I observed that there is more diligence, an increased appetite for learning and discipline. One of the most diligent participants had to leave the seminar on the third day as his seventh month pregnant wife became seriously sick. Please pray. While David and I are teaching at the seminar, the three ladies went to Unnao (KB’s church) to teach 70 ladies. The ladies who taught experienced joy and satisfaction in this significant ministry. The local church bore the expenses of food and hospitality for the lady participants. Today the ladies from the team have left for Kanpur (Laxman Paul’s church where Randy and Susan ministered the Word). 35 ladies are waiting at Kanpur as there had been a confusion due to Hindu festival. The confusion is a long delay of taxi that is used for the transportation. Please pray that in the midst of all these God’s plan and purpose will not only prevail but the whole team will experience it.

The stay at Comfort Inn is not bad. Our tired bodies are experiencing God’s extra grace and strength. I developed my throat irritation since two days. Please pray for healing.

The Team Arrives – Delhi

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From Ryder Kumar – Oct. 22 – 2011

Twenty four hours ago, Ryder arrived Delhi safely. This time it was bit unusual to leave LA for India. The stress, heaviness in the heart due to issues in the ministry was intensified by the cancellation of American airlines flight to Chicago. It was yet another opportunity to experience God’s faithfulness and He being in ‘control’  as the airlines rescheduled a flight by the United Airlines. There was a good time of witnessing to an elderly lady of Texas flying from Chicago to Delhi. The journey was for 18 hours. Joining Ryder was Flory from Mumbai (meeting at the same airport) and followed by this David and Mindy Nelson and Raelene flew from Bangkok to Delhi’s international airport where one could see a sea of cars, pollution and a mob of people. It was a special joy to see and meet each other. Hearing the news of CCI’s marvelous work in SE Asia has become a great motivation to pursue such a modeling ministry in India. An assembly in Delhi is waiting for David’s two messages. Early Monday the team leaves for Lucknow to meet, fellowship and train about 45 pastor from several states of North India. Please pray for all that has happened and all that is going to happen.

Ministry Report from Hyderabad

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Hyderabad : The Seminar held from Feb 28th thru March 4th was attended by 48 participants. One can observe how well dressed they are, looking healthy and more diligent to grasp what is being taught. Ravi and Timothy have taught couple of sessions and Dr. Vijay and Timothy helped in the translation. On the last day, everybody received book # 5 to prepare for the Fall seminar of 2011. There was a special glow on the faces of the participants giving an impression of their grasp of studies and a sense of being more equipped for the ministry in the churches. The course was taught passionately to enable the participants not only dive into the course book but be able to teach the truth in their areas. The center where we had the seminar has upgraded with better lighting, cleanliness and air-conditioning. Food provided here was excellent superseding the previous times. The management was so kind that they didn’t charge for an extra day for guest room and a room and food provided for the board meeting held on the 5th.

From Ryder Kumar

Ministry Report from India

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Here is a brief report from Lucknow: The participants have come from different states of North India. Right now we are in the midst of the seminar. The other two teachers are laboring (labored) with burden, being conscientious, caring and sound in teaching. The group of 38 are being equipped to be better in their teaching, approach in their counsel and be able in teaching the Truth in  congregations. These lives are impacting thousands of people. the churches are increasing and the number in the churches are growing. I believe that STN is contributing significantly in outreach, making disciples and equipping the trainers. I am honored to be part of this program. I am humbled by the group of people who are raising funds, donating funds and praying with burden back at home. the other day I mentioned about Joseph Samuel who helps in the ministry of gathering items for World’s for Sale for STN. This is no way a insignificant ministry. The donating of free miles for my international trip too is so significant in the whole ministry. I didn’t even meet the guy who donated this. I am humbled by such generous people that we have back at home churches. It has been a great encouragement to speak to the Browns, the Leinens prior to my teaching at the first session. These couples are of such an encouragement to me and I don’t know what I would have been without them and their support.

Yesterday when I requested the whole group to pray and one senior pastor led in prayer interceding for Paul Brown the whole group joined with burden and affirmed with their voices.

I am very tired but not missing any session to teach except for yesterday when I observed that Kishore was doing an excellent teaching requested him to do one of my session. This helped me to rest for an hour in the afternoon. I am also interviewing different ones and these testimonies are so uplifting. These participants are working in remote villages with lot of inconveniences and struggles. Their needs are genuine. Please pray that the Lord would supply. As a receptive of motor bike, Bramhanand is now able to visit 20 villages  but is unable to provide the converts and contacts a place of worship. He doesn’t have any church building. Tej who is receiving monthly support is distributing with three other workers in Nepal because others don’t receive any money. Balleshwar, a tribal guy who dances while sings has the same problem of having no place for Worship for the people he ministers. These are only couple of examples.

Much love, I remain

His Servant (slave) with eternally grateful,

Ryder[slideshow]