1/25/22
God moved mightily through our partner* this past year! As we reflect on 2021, join us in praising the Lord for His miraculous works. We are grateful for your partnership in spreading the Good News - your prayers and support made these accomplishments possible.
Celebrate and be encouraged by what the Lord did in 2021:
During Christmas Outreach Week, teams of two traveled to 25,190 rural villages of northern India with Good News story banners. Over 4.2 million people heard about Christ’s saving love for the first time, and 867,947 of them accepted Him. Even more exciting is that the teams found 11,614 persons of peace, meaning they are welcome to go back to those houses and further expand the Kingdom.
On Thanksgiving Day, 14,223 believers from 13 regions received “holy baths” in 1,122 locations in a historic Mass Holy Bath Celebration. Workers continued going out to villages the rest of the week and gave an additional 7,029 people holy baths.
After a temporary closure for COVID, the school re-opened in mid-August with 400 students, and within a week there were 700 students. These numbers are heartening because at 600 students, tuition fees cover operating costs making the school self-sustaining. As enrollment increases further, the income can finance other aspects of the ministry.
From May – July, FOIN raised $234,547 in COVID relief, enabling 1,529 ch**ch-planting pastors and 2,200 widows to feed their families, provided medical care to 40 workers with COVID, and financially sustained the school’s 43 teachers and staff for 5 ½ months while the school was closed.
Construction began on a home for boys in April, and by September, it was home to 80 boys. By October, the homes for boys and girls were caring for 109 orphaned children, and will soon serve 200. Caregivers at these homes are raising the children to know and love the Lord. They will be first generation Chr**tians!
Our partner created a Women’s Empowerment Group to encourage women whose husbands are in ministry. From June to August, 80 ladies met weekly on Zoom to worship and hear from a female U.S. speaker. The women discovered their identity in Christ and came to understand that they are valuable because they are children of God, made in His image.
On Feb. 26, the Disciple-maker School (DMS) held an in-person graduation ceremony for its first class of students. Representing 15 states, these 130 students received certificates for completing a six-month course in Mission Study. In September, the DMS started an 18-month certificate program to develop trainers and strong leaders. Two groups of 70 ch**ch planters will gather every quarter for three days of training. Our partner is constructing a physical DMS facility on the same campus as the children’s homes and school that should be ready for a six-month residential course at the end of February 2022.
From April to December (excluding May-July because of COVID restrictions), master trainers traveled to more than 1,300 locations to lead house ch**ch planting training for approximately 33,800 people. The two-day sessions covered how to share the Good News, find a person of peace, start a small group and turn that group into a house ch**ch.
Our partner mobilized 50,000 believers across northern India to participate in a fasting prayer chain April 24-30 for COVID protection; on April 25, FOIN held a 24-hour prayer chain in solidarity with our partner. FOIN held a second prayer chain on Nov. 21 to cover the mass holy bath celebration in prayer. It’s inspiring to know that our partner and his leaders pray and worship together the last night of each month – praising God for what He’s done and seeking His blessing and direction for the month to come.
With grateful hearts,
Friends of India Network
*Name omitted for security reasons.