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Partnering in the Catch
Thursday, July 12, 2007
You might not relate to fishing like I do. Fishing is something I have great memories of growing up. Like the time I caught a 5lb bass in the pond of the farm in Pennsylvania we lived on for a while. I was small and when I pulled the fish out of the water it was so heavy that it dragged the ground all the way back to the house. The cats ready to pounce and drag it away at any moment made my little heart race with fear. Im not sure which was stronger that day the excitement of the catch or the sickening feeling that I might - lose one. No one wants to lose their catch. In the Gospel of Luke the 5th Chapter the disciples had fished all night and caught nothing. Jesus saw they were helpless, unable to bring in anything. So He told them to cast their nets on the other side, and when they did they couldnt pull the load in themselves. They had to call for help from their friends and partners!
Metaphorically the same situation exists today in India. There was a time where no one was coming to the Lord. T L Osborn almost quit the ministry because on his first trip to India not one person was born again. A wonderful friend of ours who traveled with us in our early years had the same experience. She had been a Missionary to India for 35 years and remembers only 5 people who were born again.
That was then and this is now. Today its estimated that more than 75 million people will be born again in India within the next 6 years. So whats the problem? Our nets are breaking. New Disciples are being produced at a record pace. Response is at an all time high. We have the capacity to train 400 students per month in our Discipleship Training (STDT), but only have the resources to train half that many. Its heart-breaking.
We are deeply grateful for the more than 2,500 wonderful new believers who have been transformed in the STDT discipleship training process across north India. Churches are reporting double and triple growth as a result. Yet, what troubles us most is when one gets away.
If youre like me and your heart races at the thought that you might lose the catch, you can do something. When you partner with us you ensure that the catch makes it from the pond (like my fishing experience as a boy) all the way to the House.
(This past March 70 Pastors were trained in the annual Strategic Leadership Summit to conduct STDT schools throughout north India. As a result 107 STDT schools were scheduled in new districts, a potential of 5,000 will be discipled within one year).
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China has 7% of the world's land. India has 2.4%. | |
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