EXPLORE
INDIA BIBLE SCHOOL
I had no idea just what the future looked like when we gave our first Bible school away in Manila in the early 90's. I was a new team leader, and feeling the weight of that, while at the same time beginning to see the billions of lives that would remain untouched, unreached, if we kept doing what we were doing.
As I was praying one day, actually while driving SLOWLY in Manila traffic, and seeking the Lord's help with this, He spoke to my heart and said 'Craig, you can do ministry, but when you die you will be done. If you will raise up ministers you will never be done.' That became a life changing moment for me. And not without cost. Doing things 'His way' will often mean letting go of what we are comfortable with. I literally became the Asia Pacific Regional Director of almost NOTHING when we gave that school away to another ministry, and most of our staff, including a few missionaries as well.
I was left with two other couples, and the office moved into a bedroom in our home. But we began to focus on empowering and equipping those we trained to do what we were doing in a very intentional way. Our growth was slow at first, with one school and then two, but in time, as new leaders rose and were equipped and empowered into place more and more schools opened in nation after nation. In 2022 alone, more than 25 schools operated in about a dozen different nations. The first quarter of 2023 resulted in THREE new churches planted EVERY SINGLE week in towns of 18,000 people or more where NO church was present.
Following is a brief update from just ONE of the young men we trained in India, more than 20 years ago, that now leads a team of about 800 ministers, as they start their 37th Bible School! What a joy! To God Be the Glory!
Greetings to you! Yesterday we started our 37th Bible School in Choutuppal village in Telangana state. In fact, one of our old graduates and in-charges of Chityal school initiated to start this school. Here people are having great hunger for the Word of God. Some of them are pastors and some are factory workers. Here people have been praying for three months to have a Bible School. One of the students offered his house to conduct classes temporarily. It was so congested yet they were willing to sit either on the floor or mat. I was deeply moved with their commitment to learn the word. Praise God. - Pastor Paul