Church Planting Movements

When 3+2=27+300

Dec 6, 2023 | South Asia, Stories

Three years ago, the caste leaders of a village attacked a visiting disciple of Jesus named Roman. They wanted Roman to stop telling “their” people about Jesus. They beat him up, destroyed his motorcycle, and threatened to do worse if he didn’t leave immediately. Roman was terrified. He fled the village and spent the next few days hiding in the jungle. Disciples of Jesus from other villages brought him food and other essentials. After a few days, Roman stopped hiding. He first went home, then, amazingly, he returned to the village he’d fled.

The caste leaders were unhappy. “We beat you. Now, you’re back!?”

“You must hear me,” Roman said. “I have good words for you.”

Intent on stopping Roman for good, the village leaders “reported” him to local Hindu radicals. They came and threatened Roman. He responded by boldly proclaiming the Good News about Jesus. Eventually, the group left, but later, two returned to speak with Roman privately. Roman asked two other movement leaders to join him in the village. Once all were together, the Hindu men exclaimed, “What kind of strength do you have to endure these things [beatings and threats]!?!” The five men talked for days and visited a local house church.

As soon as the two Hindu men returned to their own community, they started a Discovery Bible Study. Four months later, 27 people in their village, most of whom had also been radical Hindus, were baptized as disciples of Jesus. Of the 27, three pairs of workers emerged who have influenced 300 villages for Jesus so far. Recently, 60 people from those villages gathered to learn how they also can make more followers within the disciple-making movement and see new churches birthed in other unreached villages.

Being a disciple of Jesus does not erase suffering or eliminate trouble. However, when struggles come, we, like Roman, can listen to the Spirit and obediently go where He leads. We serve a God who performs wonders – Sauls become Pauls, Simons turn into Peters, and Sons of Thunder change to loving servants!

WHEN TRADITION CLASHES
When a Christian woman visited another state in India last year, she met some believers from read more …

MORE BAPTISMS …
“We’ve shared much with you about the persecution faced by the churches in India. Our last report was especially read more …

LEARN ABOUT OUR WORK
IN SOUTH ASIA

Wife Beater to Jesus Follower

Nov 30, 2023 | Stories

Nur had an anger problem. Almost daily, he would say degrading and vile things to his wife. One day, he went a step further and landed a few punches on his defenseless wife. Fearfully, she fled to her parents’ house, and the police arrested Nur.

When his wife refused to press charges, Nur was released. Filled with humiliation and deep remorse, he returned to his empty house.

Sam and Nancy visited Nur. They listened patiently, then said, “Nur, what you did is inexcusable. You must change, and real change starts on the inside. Study about the prophets and Jesus with us and ask God to change you.”

Like a starving man, Nur devoured the Scriptures and sought to apply them to his life. He put aside his Islamic beliefs and decided to follow Jesus as his Savior and Lord.

Though she was still living with her parents, Nur’s wife observed the change in him. When he invited her to come back home, she cautiously agreed. Nur gathered his son and daughter-in-law, and the four of them studied the same prophet and Jesus stories under the mentorship of Sam and Nancy.

They have all come to faith, been baptized, and now meet as a house church.

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“I Am Ready!”

Nov 30, 2023 | Turkic World

“I have some great news to tell you,” Job shared with Frank over the phone. “I’m ready to follow Jesus!”

Thrilled to hear this good news, Frank invited Job and his wife Sarah over for dinner later that evening to celebrate and hear the rest of the story. Since then Job has invited his friend, Chris, to also discover God. Chris said,”Yes,” he is interested in reading the Bible and learning about Jesus. Now the two men are looking for a third person to join them in a new discovery Bible study!

Behind the scenes, over the past year, Job heard the good news, met followers of Jesus for the first time, and began reading the Bible. He was interested, but he wasn’t ready to make a commitment to obey and follow Jesus.

Then, during the Sacrifice Holiday (Eid Al Adha) this past June, when you and hundreds of other people were praying for the Muslim world, Job made a decision to follow Jesus.

When God’s people pray for the lost, He responds.

*pseudonym

READ OTHER STORIES AND MORE …

WHY HAD JESUS APPEARED TO HER?
She often prays this prayer for Muslims in general and for her friends in particular, so this notion was not out of the ordinary for her read more …

I’M BAPTIZED!
Knowing that it’s generally better to baptize someone together with their closest community, the women pondered whether to wait for Havva’s husband to read more …

OUR WORK AMONG TURKIC PEOPLES
The Turkic peoples are part of old and proud civilizations that have spanned continents and learn more …

“It Must Be Jesus Who Did This!”

Nov 23, 2023 | South East Asia, Stories

*Uhn was the town drunk and the senior patriarch of his large extended family. Over a year ago, *Scott’s local partner, a capable movement catalyst, led Uhn to faith in Jesus. After prayer, he was able to stop all drinking and has taken deliberate steps to walk in obedience to Christ. After completing a short set of lessons with his discipleship group, they dug into the book of Mark using an obedience-oriented discovery process. Uhn even took upon himself the task of memorizing the Gospel of Mark. Scott was very moved when he followed along as Uhn recited Mark chapter 10, word for word.

Uhn’s change in behavior is captured in the words of his Buddhist brother-in-law: “It is miraculous how he has changed. We used to be afraid of him, [but not now]. How can I explain it? It must be Jesus who did this!”

Since November 2021, Uhn and the leader working with him have actively gathered his extended family and shared God’s word with them. Some have already come to faith and obeyed in baptism. Even more encouraging is the weekly Discovery Bible Study group with his extended family. Pray they grow into maturity as a church and function as one among their extended community to the glory of God.

Thank you for impacting the lives of unreached peoples and spreading God’s glory among the nations.

*pseudonym

READ OTHER STORIES FROM SOUTH EAST ASIA

THREE DELICIOUS DISHES …
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MIRACLES, DEMONIC EXORCISM
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WORK IN THIS AREA

Thanking God for New Disciple Makers: Jesus, Paul, and Us

Nov 17, 2023 | Stories

Have you ever realized that all the new disciples Jesus, Paul and their teams made were the first disciples where none had ever been? What did they do? Over and over, we find Jesus and Paul thanking God for these new disciples and leaders!

In Luke 10:21, Jesus “overflowed with joy” that the 72 had received God’s revelation and fulfilled their mission.

Every one of Paul’s letters went to the first disciples and churches in unreached peoples. He and his team constantly thanked God for them, such as in 2 Thessalonians 1:3: We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. Some among other such verses include Romans 1:8-9; 1 Corinthians 1:4-6; Ephesians 1:15-16; Philippians 1:3-6; 4:4-6; Colossians 1:3, 2:6-7; 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 1:2; 5:16-18; and Philemon 1:1-4.

Would you join the Beyond team in giving thanks for some of the following first disciples and leaders among Unreached People Groups?

This Thanksgiving our hearts are full with gratitude for the way God has moved among our teams around the world. Below are just a few highlights:

North Korean Expo: This meeting saw partners from 17 countries! Many new church networks, and organizations declared they will join in the call to reach the North Koreans in our lifetime. One of the highlights was seeing the Japanese delegation repent to the Korean church! In the end they were singing songs to each other. The Koreans even came and held the hands of the Japanese believers!

North India: Our movement in North India now has churches in 16 states! Some of the newest works are in the two South Indian states of Goa and Karnataka. We praise God that this movement now has 27,000 House Churches and 150, 000 reported baptisms. These new disciples are not converts that passively experience Christianity, these new disciples will go on to make new disciples.

Tazig Team: This team has visited three Tazig valleys, they’ve distributed New Testaments, showed the Jesus Film, and shared the Good News of God’s Kingdom. They recently published a Bible in the Tazig language and for the first time, people in this region of the world were able to read the Word of God in their own language.

A New App for Scripture Access for South Asia: This new app gives users access to scripture in several South Asian languages. They have easy to follow lesson sets, Bible portions, and some even have the whole Bible.

For all of these new disciples and disciple-makers, Lord, we give THANKS and we overflow with JOY!!