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 house 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. Some have started small businesses and are beginning to prosper. They walk different, look different. They carry their head high and are not ashamed or downtrodden.  The Word of God has changed their identity forever. This training is changing our lives and our culture.  For the first time in our history women are being looked at as being important and valuable. Now I have 390 students that have finished three levels of the training and many of them are men.  Men are now coming to a woman to receive training.  In our culture this is a great miracle.”

Thank you to all of you who have helped us spread ISOM in India. We are now able to give this training in four different languages. It is changing lives. It is changing culture and it is equipping people to do great things for God.  Strong spiritual leaders are being multiplied by the thousands in north and central India!