Shepherding the Nations

Impacting the World for Christ

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Field updates from India

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from our PCI field directors

We praise God for the opportunities given to serve the Lord in His Vineyard. The year began with a visit to the district of Srikakulam in the month of January. In February we went to West Godavari district ministered in two gospel meetings two days each at Epulapadu and Kannayiguden villages belonging to Koya tribe. Many people from the surrounding villages attended these meetings where believers were encouraged with the Word of God and gospel is given to the unbelievers. These kind of open-air gospel meetings not only spread the gospel but also strengthen the local church believers. They sing songs in their language, share testimonies, hear the Word and cook food and eat together. During the day time local Pastors’ seminars were conducted.

In the month of March, we ministered in the Banjara tribal villages where Pastor Laxman Nayak minister.

Introducing Pastor I. K.

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Years ago, Pastor I.’s father sought to plant a church energized with a passion for evangelism and the building-up of believers. Moving away from the more traditional way of growing a congregation, he preached the Word in several areas—a ministry that Pastor I. K. became a part of in 2008 and now leads as pastor.

The church, located in Vijayawada, India, now has a congregation of 100 members, of whom 80 have been baptized. Every Tuesday, Pastor I. K. travels to local villages to evangelize and preach the Gospel. Just last month, a young girl named Eshwari accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord.

Student becomes teacher

Along with his elder brother V.K., a government employee, Pastor I. K.  enrolled in Shepherding the Nations’ very first training-and-equipping group in 2009 and graduated in 2015.

Along with teaching the 75 people who make up several monthly BTCP classes, Pastor I. K.’s busy ministry also includes leading the church’s fasting and prayer every Saturday, which is attended by as many as 20 people.

Pastor I.K. teaches one of his monthly BTCP Bible Training Classes

Pastor I.K. teaches one of his monthly BTCP Bible Training Classes

He also assists with weekly church-related meetings, both in Vijayawada and in nearby villages. One of the meetings in March was attended by 25 people who expressed an interest in learning more about the Gospel. He also regularly organizes special meetings and day-long, ministry-related seminars for the women of the church.

Pastor I. K.’s ministry of faith is supported by STN International. He and his wife U.K., a nurse, have two children. They are very grateful for your continued prayers and support.

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STN Prayer Partners Needed

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Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. (Colossians 4:2–4 – NASB95)

The Apostle Paul understood the priority of prayer. He prayed incessantly for others and often asked others to pray for him and his missionary endeavors (Eph. 6:18-20; 1 Thess. 5:25). Pastors and missionaries experience weaknesses, fears, frustrations, challenges, temptations, and doubts like everyone else. But added to that is an intense spiritual struggle because the enemy of their souls does not want them to advance the cause of Christ. Satan and his minions work diligently to hinder them from proclaiming the Gospel and training the saints to maturity (1 Thess. 2:17-18).

Prayer partners for each pastor in training

With that in mind, I am looking for prayer partners who will commit to pray (at least once each week) for specific people that we are training for ministry. Currently we have over 500 people in training and that number may rise to 700 by the end of the year.

We would love for all of them to be prayed for by name, asking God to:
  • protect them and provide for them
  • cause them to grow in spiritual disciplines
  • be diligent in studying the BTCP materials
  • apply them to their lives and ministries
  • be faithful in their relationships
  • be bold in evangelism
  • be true shepherds of the people

Imagine what 700 people with solid biblical training and the support of prayer partners could do to advance the cause of Christ in India, Nepal, and Latin America. If all heaven rejoices over one sinner that repents (Luke 15), imagine what heaven will do when these students impact thousands with the gospel!

Are you willing to help us intercede on behalf of these evangelists and church planters in training? Do you have a small group or Bible study that would like to pray together for these future leaders? Praying for one student would be great, but praying for 5 to 10 would be even better. If you would like to join this prayer ministry, please email us at info@shepherdingthenations.org and let us know how many names you would like. We will send you the name(s) and approximate location of where they live.

Thank you for joining with us in this prayer ministry. Some day we will have the privilege of talking with the people we prayed for and the people they led to faith in Jesus Christ. What joy is ours to participate with them on our knees in prayer.

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Prayer Requests Spring 2018

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  • Pastor Eddie Bueno to be completely healed of heart problems so he can go visit the work of STN Latin America sometime this year.
  • Wisdom for our 6 trainers in Latin America as they are currently training nearly 180 students. Half of the groups are in BTCP Book #7 and the other half are in BTCP Book #4.
  • Wisdom and good health for Ryder Kumar as he heads up STN’s work in India & Nepal. They are currently training more than 300 students and hope that number will grow to 500 by the end of 2018.
  • Ryder Kumar still needs about $1,400 more per month in financial support. Pray for more supporters.
  • Wisdom for Ryder & the STN India Board of Directors as they make plans for a National Expository Preaching Conference in November 2019.

Village Churches in India – an Inside Look

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Have you ever wondered what it was like to worship in a church in a completely different culture? Our regional directors, RK and SK in central India, took these photos earlier this year of the churches and pastors supported through STN. Here is an inside look at the on-going ministry of our training graduates as they continue to evangelize, disciple and baptize believers in the rural villages of India.

Village Churches

Our pastors count it a real blessing to have a church building to meet in! For many, this has meant years of sacrifice, building, and meeting out of doors or under temporary shelters. They don’t mind sitting on the floor on thin mats for hours at a time to listen to the Word preached and sing and pray! (More people can fit inside this way!) Please pray for funds for those still building and for protection against enemies.

Baptisms

Believers gather at rivers, concrete baptismals, or even over-sized pots to celebrate the Lord’s command to be baptized. Public baptism is a genuine test of genuine faith for these believers. This step will lead many into persecution from their families, loss of jobs, financial opportunities, and in some cases, physical harm. Please pray for strength in the face of adversity, the strength that comes from the Lord, and the comfort of the fellowship of the church family.

Evangelism and Training

Our pastors oven travel to neighboring villages, go door-to-door, and preach in the public areas in order to spread the Gospel. Thousands are hearing the Good News through tracts, street preaching, conversations and song. Regular prayer meetings, special services and events are held in these areas, and belivers are being added to the church.

Pastors and their Families

Pray with us for these pastors as they faithfully shepherd the flocks that God has given them. We praise God for His grace and mercy at work in them and through them in India.

300 Children Hear Christmas Message

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Ryder Kumar in India

Ryder gives Christmas Message, December 2017

The Lord gave fruitful ministry in a remote village where J.S. and his family have been ministering for several years. J.S. is a graduate of STN and presently teaching in several areas of India. Our hearts are touched by the sacrifices of His people.

The gospel is reaching remote villages and homes. 300 students at J.S.’s school where he’s the principal heard the Christmas message. J.S. is also a Pastor, having a congregation meeting in his home. The contractor who built this school building along with his family became believers and started attending the church. What a joy to witness what God is doing.
children at school

Making a Difference a Little at a Time

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One of the biggest life lessons that I’ve learned from my ten years of participation with Shepherding the Nations is how one person can make a difference. God has been faithful over the years to take the little that I have to offer and make it count for eternity. I am so thankful for those of you who have been faithfully giving – it has really made a difference! God has used the resources you have given to further His kingdom. Many have been trained, many have heard the gospel and many have been saved. I can’t personally go to India every year (though I would love to!) but here are some things I can do:

Amazon Smile

I don’t know about you, but I love the convenience of shopping at Amazon for all kinds of stuff. When I use smile.amazon.com, a small percentage of everything I buy goes to STN. It doesn’t cost me anything additional, and every little bit helps. If you haven’t signed up for this yet, it’s so easy. Just go to https://smile.amazon.com, sign into your account and then select Shepherding the Nations as your charity. Then, everytime you shop, go to smile.amazon.com and a donation will automatically go to STN. (More about the program here.)

Sponsorship of Materials

Part of our family Christmas giving this year was to give donations for STN books and Bibles in honor of our family members. It was such a blessing to give a gift that was meaningful, sacrificial, and would bear fruit that would last for eternity! When we accept a pastor or church planter into our training program, they will receive a set of learning curriculum including 10 books in the BTCP series. (Biblical Training Centre for Pastors) They also receive a study Bible, and a concordance. These materials are available in the local languages of the pastors that we train in Latin America and India. The cost of one set of materials is about $100. These materials are so appreciated, used and treasured by our trainees!

Would you consider making a year-end gift to STN to sponsor materials for one of the pastors that will be trained in 2018? You can sign up online.

The Privilege of Sharing

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Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do. (2 Corinthians 8:1–5 – NLT)

As I read that passage in 2 Corinthians 8, I am amazed by two things:

  1. the sacrificial giving of the churches in Macedonia;
  2. the sacrificial giving by all of you.

God has been using your generosity to enable STN to train more pastors and church planters. Existing church leaders and churches are being strengthened to impact their own villages more effectively, and church planters are going out to new villages with the good news of Jesus. Right now, we are training over 500 people with the BTCP materials (322 men in India and Nepal plus 180 people in Bolivia, Honduras, Guatemala and Southern Mexico). I just received a report yesterday that there are 125+ more men in India & Nepal who are waiting to be trained. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! We are getting requests from other countries in Central & South America and now some requests from countries in Africa.

Year End Giving

As we approach the end of 2017, I know a lot of people are thinking about end-of-the-year giving. If you aren’t familiar, at the STN International office we are all volunteers; none of us are paid. We LOVE serving through STN and we are thrilled with the privilege of participating in what God is doing, but we don’t have paid people heading up fund-raising efforts. And to be quite honest, it’s not something that we currently are very good at doing. That is why we pray. Would you join me in praying for God to abundantly provide for this ministry? Here are some specific needs we are praying for God to provide:

  1. Training materials. What does it cost to train one new person? At current prices, we spend about $100 for the materials that each person needs (10 BTCP books, a study Bible, and a concordance). That means each time we add a new student we need to raise an additional $100. Please pray for at least 125 people to give $100 each so we can provide training materials for the men we want to start training in 2018? Or pray for one person to give $12,500 to cover all of them.
  2. International Director. Ryder Kumar has been in India now for a little over 2 years. He is the catalyst & overseer of the ministry in India and Nepal. He is currently about $1500 per month short of being fully supported. Please pray for 15 donors to give $100 per month to bring Ryder up to full support.
  3. Latin America Trainers. We currently have six men who serve as STN Trainers in Latin America. They are teaching the BTCP materials to over 180 students. Most of these students will finish their training by the end of 2018 and then we hope to start training new people. STN supports each of these trainers at $375 per month and we currently have $25 per month coming in for one of them. We are able to pay them because of a large gift we received to start the ministry in Latin America. For the training to continue past 2018, please pray for new donors to sponsor these men. To cover the additional $2225 per month we would need 22 donors to give $100 per month.
  4. Church Planters. At this time, we have over 100 graduates of our STN training, most of whom are actively involved in pastoring an existing church, planting new churches, and/or training more pastors and church planters. In the next 18 months that number will grow to over 600. For these men to go to unreached areas and plant churches they need financial support. Currently we are supporting 33 of these dedicated men. Please pray for the Lord to raise up an army of donors willing to give $100 per month to support more of these church planters.

Options for end-of-year giving? Here are a few suggestions:

  1. Cash donations. This can be done by check through the mail (postmarked no later than 12/31/17) or online at the STN website.
  2. Stock donations.
  3. House or property donation.
  4. Contact a Foundation on behalf of STN. Ask them to make a one-time donation to support this ministry.

Thank you for supporting STN so faithfully with your prayers and gifts. Jesus is building His church all over the world and you are a vital part of it. May God bless you richly as you give yourself to making disciples of all the nations. Until the whole world hears!

 

 

STN in Latin America – Update

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Bolivia

In Bolivia the institutes are already entering the second phase of the program, the attendance is varying. In Santa Cruz it remains with 24 students, in Cochabamba 22 students, La Paz has dropped a little because some students had to travel 90 minutes to reach the Church. For this reason we are seeing the possibility that next year we send a teacher to the city of “El Alto” and there we would have more than 20 students. La Paz now has 12 students since 10 no longer could travel the distance. But still the institutes are doing well.

Guatemala

Pastor Karel Golcher visited our church this year and was the preacher at our Family Camp. The Institute he directs in Guatemala is already starting the third book and they have 18 students.

Honduras

Honduras had to stop classes for two weeks due to heavy rains but they are back in class. The Honduran Institute is outside of town and has 45 students.

Mexico

Classes were also stopped for 2 weeks due to bad weather and the first earthquake of 8.2 that hit Mexico. The Church did not suffer damages, although some students and families of the Church suffered some damages in their houses, but thankfully no injuries or loss of life.

Focus on Regional Trainers

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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.

chartThe 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.

chart showing projections

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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