“Please come, Pastor, please come. I want you to pray for my business and my home.” Pastor Yudhbir is a short man with a smile so big it almost splits his face in half. He had been working tirelessly helping host the pastors’ conference we just finished. I wanted to do anything I could to bless this little man who served with such a big heart.

So late in the evening we drove to the edge of town where I was told he operated a tea stall. Upon our arrival I thought, “This is a tea stall?” It was nothing more than a lean-to made of a few blue tarps with a dirt floor. There was an old bench or two and a large blackened pot where his wife would make chai over a propane flame. There was no electricity.

I was told that pastor Yudhbir moved here from Nepal a couple years ago. He started a ministry in an area known for witchcraft and black magic. He has established 3 house churches and has led over 35 people to the Lord. Continue reading on page 2 of our newsletter…

As we have just celebrated Thanksgiving, our focus is on thankfulness, first and foremost to God. We would also like to thank all of you who gave, and/or prayed for 5 Rivers this past year. Because of you, the water is flowing and the rivers are rising…faith is rising.

Through you an international ministry was birthed and ministry is flourishing in places once considered “unreachable.” Through your giving we were able to make three trips to Asia this past year (at least 4 more are scheduled for 2015) and see God do amazing things, which are still continuing. 5 Rivers was able to provide two motorcycles to pastors, and help start three businesses on this last trip alone. These investments will have far reaching results for the Kingdom.

Our most recent trip focused on Leadership Conferences, and pastors who had once felt weak, alone and discouraged are coming together in unity. Continue reading…

Wow, a whole week since the first report…one amazing day after another. This second Field Report will fill you in on the next several days of this journey. For those of you who know any of the team members, be prepared for lots of great stories when they return! Pictures taken by Gregg are scattered throughout, giving you a taste of northern India.  Read the full report here. Note: The area the team is in had rain but not the monsoons as reported further north. Please pray for those affected by the severe flooding. Our hearts go out to them.

Well the team is now full swing into the trip. Our first Field Report will catch you up on the first few days as told by Dan, a very full and rewarding 4 days. They arrived safely in India and folks from 3 different states all arrived at same time, about 1am! Have had wonderful times with wonderful people, and have seen God do incredible miracles. Read the exciting report of the first few days here.

“You need to go home.” I was having coffee with my friend Mark Geppert from SEAPC (South East Asia Prayer Center) in a hotel cafe in Delhi. We had just finished a prayer journey through Punjab and Kashmir, two of the most northern states of India. I looked at Mark curiously and waited. “You need to go home,” he said again. “You are not prepared for what God is going to do through you.” Mark has been a missionary for more than 40 years. I had just completed my 5^th missions trip with him in less than 3 years. We had literally covered thousands of miles together over Tibet and North India. I roomed with him, prayed with him, prayer walked temples with him. I would sit next to him in the jeep for hours on end. I would watch, listen and ask many questions hoping to learn all I could from this man.

Now he was telling me to go home. Continue reading →

I hadn’t really thought of it before. To be the first Christian someone had ever met. I didn’t care much of what people would think of me but what would they think of Jesus after they did meet me?

Would I represent Him well? Would they want to know more about Him? Would Jesus be attractive to them? Would they feel His love? Know His forgiveness? Experience His power? Or would I say or do something that would close their hearts to Him? Would they judge all future Christians by what they saw in me? I began to think it is a great responsibility to be the first Christian someone would meet.

But now here I was. Standing in the tent of a Tibetan Nomad who had never met a Christian before. She was an old woman with wrinkles deeply carved into her face by the wind, the cold and the intense sunlight of the high altitude. She sat on the dirt floor cooking over a fire made of yak dung. The tent was filled with a thick haze of smoke. She looked at the strangers standing before her. Who were we? Where did we come from? Why were we there? Continue reading →