“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.

There’s more to the story…

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.

She began to speak, and in her soft voice she began to tell a powerful story. She and her family are very poor. Her home is a hut with a dirt floor.  In India a woman is considered second class, especially if you are a poor village woman from a very low caste.

Over the course of one year she had made the 23 hour train ride to Delhi five times to finally finish all five levels of the International School of Ministry (ISOM). The anointed teaching of the Word of God changed her life. She went back home and began to share the ISOM training with pastors and believers in her network. She said that through ISOM women are gaining dignity and purpose. Women are now looked at as being important and valuable and they are gaining honor by becoming powerful leaders.

“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.

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This past trip was so filled with the presence of the Lord everywhere we went, and the God-ordained appointments are too numerous to count…one of the most productive trips we’ve ever had. In just a few weeks, we get to do it AGAIN! So excited to return with two of my good friends, Karl and Kenda. Northern India will never be the same! We are blessed to attend the wedding of one of our shepherds in the village and spend time with our Muslim friends, participate in another ISOM graduation, and pray in several states as we travel and release the presence of God during 3 weeks in October. We appreciate your prayers!

During my recent trip to India, my first in more than two years, I had the opportunity to return to a village that I had ministered in the summer of 2019. It was just a short visit for a few hours but it was good to be back and see how the ministry had grown since our last visit.

They told me how a man that had been blind could now see and how a woman who was crippled had been healed during our last visit. Because of these miracles the church was growing by leaps and bounds. I was so encouraged to see what God was doing in this remote place of North India.

Then they brought a man to me. He was very small in stature but it turned out that he has a very big God. “Do you remember this man?” The pastor asked. “No, I’m sorry I don’t.” I replied.  I have prayed over thousands of people and to be honest there are many of them I just don’t remember. “When you were here last we visited this man in his home. He was dying of AIDS and you prayed for him.  God healed him and he was able to get his job back,” said the pastor.

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They said it was a road but I didn’t believe them. I just hung on tight as the little car bounced and rocked along the tight turns of the mountain path. Then, as we came over the rise I saw it. After more than two years I was back in my mountain village high up in the Himalayas. It was here that we began our sheep project in this little village of Muslims more than 4 years ago. I had kept in touch with our “man of peace” and had consistent updates but it felt so good to have my boots back on the ground and see all of my old friends again.

That evening we sat on the floor in the home of one of the shepherds drinking chai and chatting with some of the men. I began asking them about the sheep. “Do they only recognize your voice and no one else?” They nodded yes emphatically. They began to tell me how many herds of sheep will gather in the mountain meadows but when it is time to go the sheep will separate and only follow the voice of their personal shepherd. “In fact,” they said, “we can recognize every one of our sheep by face. We personally know every sheep.”

“If the sheep are in danger will you fight to defend them?” I asked. They all began to laugh and look at one of the shepherds. He raised his hand full of scars. He had actually fought a snow leopard who had tried to take one of his sheep. Armed only with a knife the man fought the leopard and rescued the sheep. That night we had the most wonderful time as I used their stories to tell of Jesus who is our Good Shepherd. How His sheep know His voice. How He knows each one personally and how He actually did lay His life down for his sheep.

Continue reading for what happened next…

Congratulations to our first graduating class of ISOM in North India (many more to come)! I had the distinct honor to be there and speak at the graduation and hand out the diplomas for our first group of graduates.

In one house church network we already have more than 1800 students who have completed the 2^nd trimester and hundreds more being added almost daily. The Word of God is going forward and people are being trained to be church planters and move in the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank God for using this tool to change a nation!