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A note from Dan…
In March of 2020 I was forced to leave India due to the Covid pandemic. It was more than two years later that I was able to return in June, 2022.
I wasn’t sure what to expect upon my return but what I found truly astounded me. Our ministry partners not only endured the worst Pandemic in modern history but they actually flourished in it.
When I left India we had one class of 17 students enrolled in ISOM, (International School Of Ministry). Today we have more than 4000 students enrolled with over 100 who have fully graduated with a Bible Studies diploma.
We had begun ISOM in one language and now we are fully active in 4 languages and are making plans to expand into the nation of Nepal. When I was there last fall, God opened up an entire state for us to expand ISOM into by giving us wonderful strategic contacts that only He could do. He truly is an amazing God! The Word of God is being taught and people are being trained to become spiritual leaders, bearing fruit among their own people.
“It seems shepherds are important in your religion?” my friend asked. We were sitting on the floor with a few of our shepherds in Kashmir drinking chai and talking. Over the course of my visits here I would tell stories about Jesus being the good shepherd, how Jesus laid down his life for His sheep, about David being a shepherd who became King, how he killed the lion and the bear and several other stories. (I do love telling a good story.) My friend’s question opened the door for another one. “Yes”, I replied. “Shepherds are very important to God. In fact, when His son Jesus was born, shepherds were the first ones to hear the good news as God sent angels to appear to them in the night sky as they were watching over their flocks.”
For the next several minutes I told the story of how the angel appeared to Mary, a young virgin, and told her the Holy Spirit would come upon her and place the seed of the Son of God in her and that she would give birth to the Savior of the world. I told of Joseph being visited by an angel to tell him to stay with Mary and that the baby was sent from God. How they had to travel while Mary was very pregnant, but all the rooms were full and the only place they could find was a barn, and that the Son of God was born in the presence of cows, sheep, and donkeys. The shepherds sat and listened intently to every word I was saying as I made the story as dramatic as I could (with my friend interpreting). In this culture most of the adults are illiterate so they love stories, and I was really enjoying telling them this one.
She stood about 5 feet tall and probably didn’t weigh 100 pounds. She was quiet, almost shy. At first glance you would almost overlook her but as I looked closer, I could see the fire in her eyes and a determined look on her face. My first thought was “This woman is a warrior!” She stood in front of a group of 37 pastors (6 being women) that represent 14,000 churches in North and Central India. All of them are leaders of at least 100 to 1000 churches.
“When I first began”, she said, “I was despised and very few people wanted to come to the classes. They would gossip and spread lies about me but there were a few women who wanted the training, so I began with them. When others began to see the difference in their lives, they began to come to me and ask for the training. The women who have received the training have become better wives and mothers.