|
The
Village at the End of the Road Hears the Gospel for
the Very First Time
AIMS News: Posted 12/1/2004
 At
the end of a long dirt road, deep into the jungle of
the Vadhya Mountains in Southern India, a small village
of Adi-Vasi Indians live secluded from the world around
them. During the day, they work in fields they cleared
for their crops. At night, they retire into crude huts
of thatched grass with their families. Traditionally
Hindu, the Adi-Vasi worshiped many gods in hopes of
finding peace. They had never even heard the name of
Jesus Christ.
A
couple hundred miles away in Chennai (formerly Madras),
"Pastor Paul" wanted to do more for the Kingdom
of God. In 2003, he enrolled in the Church Mobilization
Pastors' Training (CMPT) at Hindustan Bible Institute
(HBI). During the next six months, Paul learned how
to create a vision and strategy for reaching people
who had never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At the
end of the training, he decided to "adopt"
the Adi-Vasi people in the Indian state of Tamil-Nadu
and began to formulate a plan to reach them with the
Gospel.
The
Vision to Reach India
Several years ago, Bobby Gupta, president
of HBI, had a vision to train 200,000 Indian pastors
to plant one million churches among the more than 4,000
cultural groups in India with little or no Gospel presence.
But in order to accomplish the task within fifteen years,
he needed help. In 2003, HBI partnered with AIMS to
develop the CMPT. Throughout the intensive program,
pastors learn about evangelism, saturation church planting,
and discipleship. Each pastor completing the program
agrees to plant five churches within the next 3-5 years.
In February, 2004, AIMS staff taught
the fifth and final training to the first group of pastors
to complete the CMPT program. As the week progressed,
the pastors began partnership groups to pray for and
formulate a plan to reach their ìadoptedî
cultural group.
About 210 pastors from five cohorts
graduated from the program that month. Pastor Paul was
among them.
The
Adi-Vasi Hear about Jesus Christ
Pastor Paul learned about the Adi-Vasi
village at the end of the winding road on top of the
mountain. He traveled to the village and began developing
a relationship with the people. Since Paul was fluent
in Tamil, the main language in the village, he could
easily communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them.
By September of that year, fifteen men in the village
had accepted Jesus Christ.
But
Pastor Paul has not limited his vision to the Adi-Vasi
people. Since February, he has planted three additional
churches among cultural people groups who have the least
opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Related
Stories:
|
