Shepherding the Nations

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Jam-packed Mission Trip!

November 2, 2023 By Ryder Kumar

This mission trip was very different from others. The entire time that we were in India (March 3 – 17), our schedule was jam-packed. Everywhere we went, we saw God’s wonderful accomplishments. Each day, our faith and hope were focused on not missing the next great things God would do!

Training with the Word Partners:

For two years, the leadership resource staff of Word Partners worked with these dedicated and committed pastors from North and South India to complete intensive training on expository preaching. Each was equipped with five books (four were from the Bible), so that these leaders would become skilled, faithful ministers to diligently teach the Word in their local churches. It also provided great opportunities for the Shepherding The Nations (STN) Directors and faculty groups to sharpen their own teaching skills. An extra blessing is that Word Partners is having some of the study material translated and printed in Telugu. 

These intensive training seminars are held twice a year. Recently, a few leaders demonstrated outstanding skill development and were chosen to lead various sessions with the whole group. Two of them were our STN directors and three were from the STN faculty. (see photo above)

The Power of Sunday’s Routines:

For the past 19 years, STN International has played a vital role in the local churches, developing strong spiritual relationships within each church. These relationships provided opportunities to encourage, admonish, and minister more effectively to the saints. STN’s close ministry association with the local churches (now 57) has led to increased prayer and financial support. Some churches have even volunteered to host our study groups by offering their facilities and providing meals.

God Brings Strength in Unity:

God has united so many Pastors and churches. Pastor J. has been to El Shaddai church three times where Pastor P. G. is the shepherd. Pastor A. has been to Agape Prayer House in Hyderabad to support their Pastor, Bro. P., who is an accomplished civil engineer, an STN graduate, and a participant of Word Partners. 

I personally had the privilege of visiting Bro. A.’s assembly (congregation of 500) in Sangareddy, to minister the Word by delivering three messages and spending time together around the Lord’s Table. 

On the second Sunday of the trip, I was with a church in Vijayawada with seven hundred people. Preaching two messages and spending time with these saints has been a real blessing. 

“…there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.” 2 Corinthians 11 28

Teacher Training Workshop:

Seven key leaders from Nepal, North, and South India were selected to undergo the Teacher Training Workshop with CCI (Crossing Cultures, International). Praise God for the facility and lunch provided by Agape Church. One of the leaders, S., a theology graduate and a native of Odisha started teaching. This was such a blessing as we now have a person who knows the Oriya language. Brother N. in Nepal is another person who started teaching under J.S. After a brief training, N. will begin teaching on his own in different parts of Nepal. N. is a graduate of STN’s 2022 class. The great news is STN has expanded into different parts of Nepal with several classes. 

Administrative Issues:

Now, in 2023, our waiting period is over, and soon we are eligible to apply for our Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) status. Consultations and discussions have continued between V., our STN CPA, and me. We are now including J.S. on the team. J.S. is our treasurer on the STN board while V. takes care of the FCRA. He needs to understand the process, the functioning, and other implications. 

STN’s India Board Meeting:

Conducting regular meetings of the board is a government requirement. The board meeting in March 2023 was important as we discussed certain changes in the board and issues regarding the FCRA. While a couple of board members exited, one new couple was added. We welcome Bro. P. and his wife S. to the STN board. The board proceedings are recorded for the STN office and to comply with government regulations. 

Planting Churches:

Congratulations to two couples who graduated from STN in November 2022. A. & H., and N. & D. are now actively involved in church planting. I had the privilege of spending a few hours with them to encourage, fellowship, and record their stories. Do they have church buildings? The answer is NO. Are they supported by any organization? Again, the answer is NO. Being in remote areas where there is not a good economic structure, pastors often go through struggles. These limitations did not stop them from serving the Lord. By faith, they launched out! I witnessed their zeal, enthusiasm, and burden for perishing souls. These qualities will keep them pressing on with perseverance. Keep them in your prayers so that God will use them effectively for His service! 

Going to your hometown and not visiting family:

Short term mission trips have always been busy times. I have rarely visited the homes of any of my family. Without complaining, but with great understanding, my sisters, nieces, nephews, and in-laws would attend the churches where I was preaching and meet me after the service just so we could have some time together as family. It was on one such occasion that I saw my younger sister, her son, her daughter, her grandkids, and my nephew with his wife. It was such a good time of fellowship together as a family!

Filed Under: Field Updates, Kumar News, STN India, STN News

The privilege of serving on the STN board

July 11, 2023 By sleinen

by Mike Vos

As I read Acts 21:13 Then Paul answered, ” What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” How could the apostle Paul continue to go to Jerusalem after being warned several times about the impending danger awaiting him? I was struck by the understanding that love is stronger than fear. The apostle Paul’s love for the Lord and love to obey Him was stronger than any fear of danger, harm or sacrifice he may encounter.

As we grow in our love for the Lord, we become less and less concerned with ourselves. Christ demonstrated perfect love and He is our example. Serving on the STN International board is an opportunity for me to love the Lord and be used by Him to further the Gospel and multiply mature disciples around the world to know and love Jesus Christ.

God has called us in Matt 22:37-40 to love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are designed by God to love Him and one another. True joy is found in our sacrificial serving and loving others. Serving on the STN board honors God and helps reach others with the love and truth of Christ.

Mike and Mara VosI don’t face danger when I serve on the STN board like the apostle Paul did as he headed to Jerusalem in Acts 21; but I do experience joy as I honor the Lord and obediently help spread His love and truth around the world through the STN ministry. I get to see first hand how God faithfully blesses this ministry with the resources to proclaim Him and His truth. I hear of the many sacrifices our students and teachers make to grow in their love and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s a blessing to be part of STN and bring God’s truth to those who are thirsty to consume and apply God’s word.

Ultimately, just as the apostle Paul understood the blessings of serving the Lord far outweigh any sacrifices we make for Him. Serving on the STN board alongside faithful brothers and sisters these past several years has been a privilege as I watch God amazingly working through this ministry to glorify himself and expand His word to different parts of the world. It was also a blessing to have my wife Mara Vos join the STN board in 2022 and to serve with her in this important ministry.

Filed Under: STN News

STN Southeast Asia Updates

April 21, 2023 By Ryder Kumar

by Ryder Kumar, International Director (SE Asia)

“Having come to these classes, our ministry and preaching is transformed.”

 

Presently we have the challenge of serving about 860 graduates scattered across India and Nepal. These men and women are situated in over 20 locations. We also have about 885 participants undergoing training and equipping. The strategy to be adequately connected with these precious saints in remote villages is simplified by the International Director having regular and direct contact with the regional directors who connect directly with the graduates. These three regional directors have local convenors who organize the study classes.

Our SE Asia Regional Directors

Jose has been made the director for North India and South Asia with specific responsibilities for taking care of faculty for India and Nepal and providing Teacher Training Workshops. In addition, he is also the treasurer for the India national board. His special abilities make him an effective teacher, and he travels widely into difficult parts of the world.
Vinay  has been the director of administration and government-related issues since STN India’s inception. Utilizing his gifts of teaching and administration, he has been well acquainted with all the tasks and responsibilities. He also conducts orientation for the new classes in the country.
Prashanth, along with his wife, has attended prayer meetings week after week with Flory and me. Having developed a great interest in the ministry of STN, he was further trained and mentored to undertake the position of Director for South and Central (Odisha) India. In addition, he assumed responsibility for media communications. He is used in regular teaching and occasionally translates.

Please pray for these men.

These men have families; and yet each month of the year, they move out of their homes for the ministry of teaching. Daily, they are responsible for counseling and praying with others over the phone.

Please pray for their safety, for their faithfulness in the ministry, for effectiveness in teaching, and for their family lives to be fresh and a fragrant honor to the Lord.

The Lord in His excellence orchestrated for Shepherding the Nations to enter the sub-continent at exactly the right time. Two decades ago, when the ministry began the country reached 1.4 billion in population. This year, it will be the world’s most populous country. God knew that false teachers and false prophets would be on the rise as well. While theology is being strangulated, and the message of prosperity preachers has mocked biblical theology, STN stepped in with an uncompromising stand on the truth of the Word.

As a result of the labors, lives are changed, pastors’ preaching is transformed, people have started coming out of false teaching, church plants have begun, and thousands are reached with the truth of the Gospel. 

Filed Under: Kumar News, STN India

2022 was a great year and 2023 is off to a great start!

April 21, 2023 By pbrown

by Paul S. Brown, President, Shepherding the Nations

2 Corinthians 8:1-5 (NASB95) “Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.”

Can you believe it has been three years since the Covid-19 pandemic started?

A few months before it happened, STN was experiencing significant growth in India, Nepal, and Latin America. Nearly 300 BTCP students graduated, we had an incredible conference on expository preaching in India, and churches were being planted. Then the pandemic began, and everything slowed down. But the Lord has heard our prayers and He has opened doors for STN to impact even more people in India, Nepal, Mexico, Honduras, and Bolivia.

2022 was a big year with over 1,000 students in our BTCP training classes and over 450 of them graduated.

Several of those graduates are planting new churches and others are preparing to do so. Pastor Eddie Bueno (director of STN Latin America) made a few trips to Mexico and Bolivia to train new trainers, encourage current trainers, and participate in graduation ceremonies. Ryder Kumar (director of STN SE Asia) also made trips to India for strategic meetings, training conferences, and a series of graduation ceremonies.

2023 is off to a great start.

Pastor Eddie recently went to Honduras for a graduation of BTCP students and spent time with some of them that are planting new churches. Pastor Ryder just got back from a trip to India where he met with key leaders, helped lead some training conferences, and met with committees who are planning some major conferences in 2024 and 2025. They are also preparing to expand to other countries in SE Asia (possibly Pakistan, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka).

Please pray for the Lord to provide wisdom, key leaders with integrity, favor with governing authorities, and necessary finances. Some new churches and individuals joined in supporting STN in 2022, but with the growth of the ministry, our current expenses are $75,000 per year more than income. We are using reserves to make up the difference, but we would love to see more people and churches become ministry partners. Please share the ministry of STN with family, friends, bible studies, and churches. And if you know of any foundations that support ministries like this, please tell us how to contact them.

Thank you for joyfully and generously participating in this work. We love you and are grateful for the privilege of serving our Lord and His people with you.

“Having come to these classes, our ministry and preaching is transformed.”

 

 

Filed Under: STN India, STN Latin America, STN News

Odisha finds a place on the world map of Christian missions!

October 15, 2022 By Ryder Kumar

STN’s Strivings in the State

India is a challenging country to reach with the gospel due to its diversity of languages. It’s 1.3 billion people have 16 major languages and 1600 dialects. Bible translators such as William Carey served the Lord with many sacrifices and translated the Bible into several of those languages, but not all. Even the areas that have a Bible do not yet have very many other resources translated into their language.

The state of Odisha in India.

The state of Odisha in India.

While Odisha had the Bible in Oriya, the BTCP curriculum that STN uses was not available in that language. Jose Simon, our regional director for STN in North India and Nepal, started going to Odisha over 5 years ago and offering classes anyway. The task was extremely difficult. During this time, the President of STN, Paul Brown, wrote on September 4, 2018, “Ryder, I am so grateful to God for you and Jose as you make the long and difficult treks to train these precious saints for ministry. It is only appropriate that our sacrifice would be equal to or greater than the sacrifice these dear brothers are making to be trained. May God use both of you in a mighty way to give these men a greater love for God, tools for ministry, a heart for their people, and a passion to see churches multiply all over Odisha.”

Even with the difficulty of teaching this way, several students graduated in 2019. But it will be much easier now thanks to one of our ministry partners, Crossing Culture International. They have been working diligently on translating the curriculum into Oriya and it is now available!

2019 Odisha graduates

2019 Odisha graduates pictured above

Presently, we have 200 pastors in Odisha who are waiting to be trained using this new BTCP translation.

Please pray for the Lord to provide the needed finances to pay for the travel expenses of our teachers and for the study materials for the students. The current cost is approximately $100 per student for the BTCP curriculum, a study Bible, and some reference tools.

Filed Under: Field Updates, Pastor Training Groups, STN India, Uncategorized

Latin America is Opening Up Again!

October 14, 2022 By pbrown

by STN President, Dr. Paul S. Brown

STN began its work in Latin America in 2016 under the direction of Pastor Eddie Bueno (Hispanic senior pastor at The Bridge Bible Fellowship – Iglesia Cristiana Puente de Vida). At one time we had a total of six training institutes in four countries offering BTCP courses. Several groups completed the 10-volume curriculum, we held some graduation ceremonies, and we were ready to offer courses to new people. Then 2020 came and most of the work came to a halt due to Covid-19 restrictions. Pastor Bueno and I were supposed to travel to a graduation in Tapachula, Mexico in late March 2020 but all flights were canceled.

The Lord has once again opened the doors! Classes are being offered again in Bolivia and Honduras. By the time you read this, Pastor Bueno will have gone to Santa Cruz, Bolivia (Sept. 26 – Oct. 1) to offer a Teacher Training Workshop (TTW). BTCP requires this training for anyone who is going to use their curriculum to teach others. One of the men attending the TTW already has a group of 20+ students waiting for their new class to start in October.

Pastor Bueno will also be going to Tapachula, Mexico (Dec. 1-4) to preside over the graduation ceremony we were supposed to have 2 ½ years ago. The trainer in Tapachula is preparing to start a new BTCP class early in 2023 with 20+ students. There is a possibility that I will join Pastor Bueno early in 2023 for a graduation ceremony in Honduras. And there are other men and locations we are evaluating for possible STN Institutes in the future.

Thank you for your prayers for STN’s ministry in Latin America. Please continue to pray for Pastor Bueno’s health, for wisdom in restarting some of the Institutes and launching new Institutes in new regions. Ask the Lord to use STN’s training to raise up many new church planters who will go to currently unreached areas all over Latin America. And give Him praise for allowing us the privilege of resourcing native workers to reach their own countries with the gospel. To God be the glory great things He is doing!

Filed Under: Field Updates, Latin America, STN Latin America, STN News

Concern for the Local Churches

September 9, 2022 By sleinen

by STN International Director, Ryder Kumar (SE Asia)

“There is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.”
2 Corinthians 11:28.

The STN organization was born in a local church.

Most of the International board members are either pastors or elders and their wives. Others on the board are significantly involved in the ministries of the local church. I delight in talking about these facts as the Lord has put on our hearts to focus on local churches right from the inception of Shepherding the Nations.

Pastor Suresh with his wife, Mercy

About 18 years ago, even before STN was established, when we first launched out into India, we had about half a dozen assemblies (churches) in India with whom we were closely associated and ministered. The Lord increased the number; today, STN is partnering with about 60 churches in various parts of India and Nepal. On the left, we have Pastor Suresh with his wife, Mercy. Our team worked for several years with this church in North India.

While we labored in North India, we also had a great opening in South India. Left is a picture of a local church on the left where Pastor Ravi Rathan Kumar, along with one of his elders named Timothy, participated in the study courses of STN and graduated.

Everywhere STN has operated, we have worked with local churches. In Nepal, the Lord led our regional director, Jose Simon, to work with local churches.

Jose Simon, center

A Pastor from Nepal says,

“I could learn how to stop the wrong teachings from spreading in our area. I learned what true gospel is and how to keep a church record. Through church history, I could learn to avoid the faults of the previous generation.”
-Dil Bahadur Dharti

In one of the growing assemblies (church) in a remote location in South India, we have a dear brother who resigned from his lucrative bank job to be a pastor of his church.

Having no biblical training, he not only joined our study program but also provided the use of the church facilities and food to all the participants from the beginning to the end of the program. He graduated and continued to serve the Lord at the same location. (Photo on left.)

India has a population of 1.3 billion and will have the largest population in the world by 2023.

We look forward to tens of thousands who will be trained and equipped to catch the vision. We came in contact with one senior pastor who came into the grip of this vision. Brother Paul Chepa, a senior pastor, says, “STN has been pivotal in planting and establishing new local churches in remote and tribal villages of Andhra Pradesh. I can proudly say that STN training shaped, equipped, and prepared the ministers for effective and healthy churches. I found a mentor in Ryder, International Director, who personally prays, speaks, guides, encourages, and challenges with daily devotions and different biographies and his testimonies. We are always indebted to the STN ministries for blessing us with training”.

Is the Church in India growing? Yes!

  • New churches are planted.
  • The Word is preached.
  • STN stepped into these nations with God’s provision, enabling us to serve His people.
  • There are many needs to be met, and this can’t be done without the partnership of churches with a vision for Missions!

1 Corinthians 16:9 – “For a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”

The STN training and equipping is not limited to study programs. The International team that goes to India has been involved in counseling to resolve conflicts in interpersonal relationships. The leaders’ relationships in the local churches were restored.

One of the blessings has been to be an example to the local churches in keeping New Testament practices. On the right, we have prayed over those baptized by laying on of hands. On the left, we have a photo of a child’s dedication. This attests to the teaching that we do dedication but not child baptism.

We do praise God for the local churches that are partnering with STN. Philippians 4:19 – “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Filed Under: Field Updates, Kumar News, STN India, STN News

Sacrificial giving is an answer to twenty years of prayers!

August 4, 2022 By Ryder Kumar

by STN International Director, Ryder Kumar

New class in India STN India UpdateWe praise God that he is raising up faithful prayer partners who also give sacrificially. This includes US local churches and individual believers that support the ministry of Shepherding the Nations. I know of a dear lady from the church where I pastored for 15 years. She has been retired for many years but is so committed to giving that even with her limited resources she keeps giving to the mission work of STN. Another brother from a Wichita church retired from his job many years ago, but out of his limited resources is committed to give to the ministries of STN sacrificially.

Even during the times of Covid lockdown, the giving of our donors enabled our regional directors in India to receive their monthly financial support. Each of our 1000 participants receive the set of 10 books in the curriculum, each costing $10. These participants could not afford to buy these books without your donations.

Not a single day goes by when I don’t thank the Lord for His saints’ giving! Here is a real story to tell how your giving enabled us to start a new class in an “H”* populated location which has been hostile to the Gospel for decades!

36 participants meet in a local Christian school

36 participants meet in a local Christian school

Praying for 20 years!

“This church has been praying for twenty years to have the course introduced by STN regional director, “P,”* said Bro. “S,” the local church’s pastor in “B” town. His local church, with about 150 believers, has opened the doors for STN training classes. The group of people in this local church also ministers in eight other churches in 15 surrounding villages. However, none of these believers, including the pastor, have formal training to teach God’s Word. “P” introduced the study program of STN. The church believes that this systematic study and equipping program was an answer to their prayers!

“P,” our regional director, launched STN training into this new area through the local church as is his practice. Incessant rains didn’t force him to cancel his schedule, but he sent a prayer request to several people. The Lord answered and stopped the rains!

This is not only a new class for STN, but a new state in India for STN. For these 36 new participants, this STN training will be a turning point in their pilgrimage to study the Word systematically and dive into reformed theology. While 32 new participants registered, 36 attended. The four extra people who attended couldn’t resist their hunger to study the Word, and for “P,” it became irresistible to stop them from attending the class.

A local Christian school provided facilities to hold our classes. This helps our ministry continue to be  cost-effective for our students. Usually each class takes about 2 ½ years to complete the 10-book curriculum. Shepherding the Nations’ goal is to provide these classes in remote villages where most of the population live.  This method is working to reach thousands of participants who live in unreached areas.
Paul Brown speaking online

  • STN ministry’s presence in already reaching several states of India and Nepal. Please pray to that we may launch into eight new states where there is a need.
  • Pray for about 1000 participants in several states of India and Nepal who are currently being equipped to be the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, spreading the message of peace in personal lives, families, and societies.
  • Please pray that graduates of 2015 (67), 2019 (199), and 2021 (127) would multiply by taking His Word further to those who need this training.
  • Pray for the graduations scheduled in November 2022 as Paul Brown addresses over 450 graduates via Zoom. Pray that these graduates may consecrate themselves to plant new churches, establish new study centers and multiply the impact of solid Bible teaching into local churches.

New class in Orissa

teaching group in OrissaSTN is also working in this state in a new location where a new class has begun. “S” is a small town in the Orissa state of North India, one of the most backward areas on earth. It is populated predominantly by a tribal society that has responded to the Gospel in the last century. The church’s growth is limited chiefly to family expansion due to the lack of proper guidance and training.

In this town in 2022 STN has registered 16 pastors and leaders in our training classes to equip them with the systematic study of the Word. The group gathers every month for two days for study and training. “J”, STN’s regional director for North India and Nepal, spends 9 to 10 hours each day teaching, answering questions, and leading the students in discussions. He has such a heart for people to reach these unreached areas!

*Names of people and places have been abbreviated for security.

Filed Under: Field Updates, Kumar News, STN India, STN News

Four cities, two countries, and lots of news about STN in Latin America.

July 10, 2022 By sleinen

Latin America Trip, May 2022

One of The Bridge Bible Fellowship Pastors, Eddie Bueno, along with his son, Sammy, was finally free to travel to Latin America to meet in person with our STN trainers.

 

The purpose of this long-awaited trip was two-fold:

  1. to discuss and reestablish the priorities of STN in the Bolivian cities where we had started this ministry;
  2. to encourage the trainers to make sure that many had access to sound biblical training with an emphasis on planting new churches.

Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Pastor Bueno met with our Regional Director for Bolivia, Pastor Richard Buitrago. They were mutually encouraged as they discussed the challenges that came with Covid, and the plans to move forward with STN’s training program in Bolivia.

Summary of the work in Santa Cruz, Bolivia:

  • Pastor Buitrago has seen two classes graduate with more than 30 total graduates.
  • Four churches were planted by STN graduates before Covid; these churches have struggled, but now three of these churches continue to meet, each with up to 20 adults plus children.
  • Pastor Buitrago moved during Covid and is planting a church near the airport. He will be starting training classes in his home in this new area.
  • At the same time, he is starting a children’s ministry and has already formed a group with more than 35 children. Pastor Bueno says, “I hope that God will help us to restart support for this children’s ministry, which before the pandemic reached more than 600 children.”

Prior work in Cochabamba and La Paz, Bolivia will not be continuing at this time. Pray for Pastor Tito for provision for his frail health and difficult financial situation.

Pastor Bueno in El Alto, Bolivia

Pastor Bueno was able to meet with several pastors who are interested in starting new training classes in La Paz, Bolivia.

  • Pastor Jhonny Villareal, has been a pastor for more than 25 years working with “Union Bautista Boliviana” (Bolivian Baptist Union) in one of the most difficult regions of La Paz called “El Alto.” A million and a half people live there; the majority are indigenous people of very low income, with few Biblically sound churches. This makes the need to have an STN training institute even greater in this city, where witchcraft is very common, and alcoholism is very high among the youth.
  • Pastor Bueno also met with Pastor Joaquin Barrau, a pastor in the southern region of La Paz for over 30 years. He teaches in the Christian Seminary of La Paz and has a Master of Divinity. He is very interested in our BTCP training program. Many Christians who would like to prepare for ministry are not able to attend a seminary because they don’t have a high school diploma, or they don’t have the resources necessary to pay for their studies. Pastor Barrau believes that our program would be an answer for these.

Pastor Bueno in El Alto, Bolivia

Pastor Bueno in El Alto, Bolivia

Colombia

Pastor Bueno also traveled to Tulua in Cali, Colombia, a beautiful town where they cultivate sugar cane. He was there with brother Edwin Verjan, who was a deacon of Iglesia Cristiana Puente de Vida (TBBF’s Hispanic congregation) for 14 years. He went back to Colombia and now attends a Baptist church.

The pastor of this church, Rigoberto Revelo, is from Honduras. He was a missionary in India and is now planting a church in Colombia. When he heard about our project, he was very excited to make STN a reality in his church.

Status of STN in other Latin American countries:

  • México – Pastor Marco will soon hold the graduation which was cancelled two years ago due to Covid. He will then start looking for new students to start the training classes again in Mexico.
  • Honduras – After many trials, Pastor Pino is again giving classes; they are in book nine (of ten). Pastor Pino is challenging the students to go and plant churches and there are several brothers from the 26 students that are excited to accomplish this calling. Let’s pray for Honduras.
  • Guatemala – We ask for your prayers so that God would open the doors in Guatemala again. We have a contact with a church that seems to be interested in starting STN training classes since they are growing and would like to be more useful in the labor of the Lord.

Please pray for Pastor Eddie Bueno as he is committed to the Lord and depending on his physical strength and health, he would like to continue the original plans for training classes in Latin America that Covid interrupted. He says, “I believe in the Lord that it is time to continue forward. Knowing that these times are decisive and maybe the last to preach and teach the Lord’s Holy Word.”

Filed Under: Uncategorized

“… men of whom the world was not worthy…”

July 5, 2022 By pbrown

Duane Ulrich

Ralph Evans

Ralph Evans

It has been my privilege over the past 44 years of ministry to work with amazing men and women who love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and are committed to seeing the Gospel reach every nation. They truly are people of whom the world is not worthy. Two of them stand out in my mind right now: Duane Ulrich and Ralph Evans.

Duane and Ralph were elders at The Bridge Bible Fellowship who also served on the STN International Board since its inception. They gave of their time, talents, and treasures in sacrificial ways. They were men of the Word who prayed with great faith.

At one critical juncture in STN’s history as the doors were opening wide for effective ministry, we knew we needed a substantial amount of money to move forward with the vision. I shared with the Board that we should all pray and ask the Lord for a half a million dollars. To me it was a huge step of faith.

Ralph replied, “Why don’t we ask for 1 million dollars?”

I was convicted by his strong faith in God. We prayed earnestly about this and a few months later the Lord answered our prayers when $1,100,000 was donated.

Duane and Ralph were men devoted to their wives. Duane and Janet were married for over 63 years. In January of 2020, Duane went home to be with the Lord. Two weeks later he was joined by his wife Janet.

Ralph and Joyce were married for almost 63 years. On April 9, 2022, Joyce Evans graduated to heaven. She was joined 3 ½ weeks later by Ralph. Their godly marriages are a profound example for us all.

Duane and Ralph (and their wives) left an incredible legacy of faith. Like the Apostle Paul, they “fought the good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). They have entered the joy of their Master having heard Him say, “Well done” (Mt. 25:21). And I know they are thrilled every time heaven erupts with joy over one sinner on earth who repents (Lk. 15).

Our STN Board misses Duane and Ralph.

Please pray that the Lord would send us more people like them to join us in this ministry. And please join us in praising God for the work He accomplished through His two choice servants. “Men of whom the world was not worthy.” Heb. 11: 38

By STN President, Paul Brown

Filed Under: STN News Tagged With: STN Board

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How to Partner With Us

  • International Director
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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. Donate online.

There has been nothing so crucial to the on-going ministry of Shepherding the Nations as the continued prayer support of our sponsors and supporting churches. Those who commit to sponsoring our International Director, one of our Regional Directors, or a pastor, evangelist or church planter, will receive a photo and prayer requests so that you can be praying by name for those on the field. If you are not currently on our email mailing list, please consider subscribing so that you can receive prayer updates via email.

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