2020 Network - Training Pastors and Leaders

The 2020 Network is a united effort of many leaders and organizations to see the Ganges River state of Uttar Pradesh grow from 1% to 20% Christian by the year 2020. Uttar Pradesh has total 72 districts divided into 836 community development blocks.

There are more than 107,000 villages. TellASIA isreaching out to pastors, churches and organizations, equipping them to be more effective in evangelism and church planting. With 1,791 new house-based churches planted in 2009 alone, there is an urgent need to train new leaders to pastor the curches and also to continue further evangelistic work. Thanks to a grant from The Springs Church, we have been able to plan two three-day training programs in 47 districts. About 17 districts has been covered so far.

Alok, Dr. E.R. Sharma and Kamal from TellASIA, David and Naveen from BOAT Ministries, and other team members have been the prinary teachers in these workshops. They show the young leaders how to prepare a message from the Word of God and help them develop skills in how to teach others. Our teams also taught on church planting and challenged the young leaders to not only pastor their house-based churches but also to go to new villages and share the Gospel. These training programs are enabling many leaders and pastors to bring more people to Christ and also to instruct their new believers in the basics of the Word of God.

Pastor Sandeep Harrison is also one of the leaders among thousands who are participating in this vision. Before joining the 2020 Network Pastor Sandeep was satisfied to lead a small church in his native district of Shajahanpur. But after attending the 2020 Network Conference in 2008, God enlarged his vision to reach his whole district, a population of approximately two million. Shahjahanpur District is very unevangelized and existing churches and missions were disunited and competing with each other.

Pastor Sandeep shared the vision to work together without organizational or denominational barriers. Thanks to a generous donor who adopted this district, essential resources such as bicycles and Bibles have been provided to the needy church planters. Crusades and training programs have also taken place. On September 28th Pastor Sandeep completed a four-day training program for new church planters in his district. We thank God for the commitment of our whole team to train many young men and women for the Lord’s work.

Be part of the excitement! Sponsor the 2020 Network today.

In the Old Testament, God’s people are known as a “Holy Nation” (Ex. 19:6). Israel was not named by man but by God himself because God called them out for a very specific purpose… to make His name known to others. Recently I was reading Exodus 1:7 which says, “The Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.”

Only a short time before, God had made a covenant with Abraham saying, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing” (Gen. 12:2). God’s plan was to increase His people, bless them abundantly, and also use them to bless others. This is the true purpose of God’s people and this is his plan for the Church. God used many people throughout history to show His goodness and to reveal His will for humanity. But ever since the day he created Adam, from generation to generation it has been God’s great desire to fill the earth with His people and His praise. If this wasn’t so, then the Bible story would have ended with Adam’s fall into sin.

What do you think we as believers are supposed to be and do? Exodus 1:7 tells us that the people of Israel “filled the land.” This is our destiny as believers and as churches. The Church is called to increase its territory “from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.” Let’s keep up hope, stand firm in the faith and pray for the nations to come to know the Lord. Let us remind ourselves that we are GO people. We are people of Israel through faith in Christ. We are not called to sit and watch what’s happening in and around the world. We are GOD'S OWN people, called to fill the land.

Are you ready? Even today, millions are still waiting to hear the Good News of Jesus for the first time. Can you GO – either personally, or by enabling a native person to reach their own people? Is your church a GO church? Do something today to FILL the land with God’s glory.

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