richardwollard

Baptism Area

I had a big part of the training time today, Thursday. I had covered the topic of purity the day before and most of the men were still talking about that. I have absolutely enjoyed these guys and really feel connected to these kindred church planters!

The topic today I was teaching on was “The most important relationships,” namely Jesus, spouse, family, and ministry mentoring. These sessions were absolutely a blast! I had some handouts, gave away some books, and the men really engaged with the topics. This day was the highlight of trip for me so far. I was really able to share from the heart the lessons I have learned in ministry.

My little stomach issue is on the backside, and I’m sad not to be pounding down some of these wonderful meals. After the training was over, I passed on dinner and playing cricket with the guys and headed off to bed for a 12 hour good night sleep. I’ve been getting 4-5 per night, and think it caught up with me. I’ll probably adjust just about the time I come home and get to do it all over again!

We are leaving Bangalore for Chandigarh Friday morning, and I’m looking forward to visiting some of the training centers there. Thank you for praying!

On the journey together,
Richard

Bangalore CP

I was talking to several district leaders at our training session Wednesday about their districts, and the training centers they have setup using The Timothy Initiative (TTI) material. These men travel from all over the area to work through 10 different studies to learn about the Bible. I don’t think I have ever seen so many men talking about discipleship and thirsty to learn about the Bible – it was refreshing.

The TTI material covers topics such as hermeneutics, homelitics, Old Testament survey, New Testament survey, and a host of other topics. Each study takes several weeks to complete, and the entire series might take up to 9 months finish. The discipleship process requires starting a church to finish with a certification, and in several cases some of these men are starting more than one!

Each of the 30 district leaders I was working with had 5-45 churches that they are working with, and each church is praying about multiplying a new church with the next year – that would be almost 300 new churches! To top it off, there is no “church shopping” or “what do you have for me here,” these are new churches that are staring up with new believers! It was amazing to see, I felt like I was walking through the book of Acts.

We finished off the day with a visit to a local established church plant in Bangalore and had a great night of worship. Only 4 of us were allowed to go because of the need to keep the number of foreigners visible low. It’s wired because we are dropped off at the door and quickly ushered inside. We have to take our shoes off when entering, which always makes me think of Moses taking his shoes off at the burning bush. It definitely feels like holy ground.

Thank you for your continued prayers. I absolutely love India food and typically have a cast iron stomach. The last 24 hours have gotten the best of me and most of the guys. It appears as though the water bottles at the hotel have been refilled. Wow, we should get a discount!

On the journey together,
Richard