By Ryder Kumar, International Director, SE Asia
While church planting is on-going by the graduates of STN in India, we have a model church that is standing strong against all storms and challenges. Motivated and equipped with teaching for 5 years by the international team of STN, Brother D, who has been working as the principal of a principal of a public school, ventured into the mission of church planting immediately after his graduation in 2014. This was the first graduation in India. The Lord made this abundantly fruitful.
Brother D has established a church in one of the most heavily populated and hostile states in the country, which is H-dominated. Initially, the church had only about 10 members, including Brother D’s wife and 8 unbelievers. However, the church has now grown to 200 members! Additionally, there are now four different church locations under Brother D’s leadership, with each location having attendance ranging from 15 to 50 people. Despite facing challenges such as Covid and persecution, the churches continue. Approximately 80 to 90 individuals have been baptized through Pastor D’s ministry, and many have heard the Gospel message. Furthermore, three leaders who are graduates of STN were trained by Brother D and sent to different locations.
Pastor D at an outdoor church gathering
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.