Friends of India Network’s year-in-review
Before we get too far into the new year, we want to take time to reflect on all God has done through our partner* and the Friends of India Network in 2023. Praise the Lord Almighty for His faithfulness and provision, and the opportunity to join Him where He is moving! We are grateful to experience this incredible Kingdom movement in India with you and appreciate your prayers and support that make these accomplishments possible.
Celebrate and be encouraged by what the Lord did in 2023:
During Christmas Outreach Week (Dec. 16-22), 2,748 teams of two traveled to 43,778 villages of Northern India to share the Good News. With the aid of story banners, 3,630,601 people learned of Christ’s saving love for the first time, and 290,445 of them accepted Him as Lord! In addition, workers found 26,256 persons of peace to follow up with over the next six months and hopefully, start house ch*rches.
You generously provided the following gifts from our Christmas Catalog:
41 student kits (includes a backpack, uniform, warm winter jacket, and money for shoes) for the children living at the childrens’ homes;
9 bicycles enabling our grassroots ch*rch planters to more efficiently visit and plant healthy house ch*rches in their 1.5-mile areas of responsibility (~15 villages); and
1 motorcycle to help a ch*rch multiplier, master trainer or regional director more efficiently train thousands of people at the block level (includes hundreds of villages).
On our Thanksgiving Day, 9,043 new believers took “holy baths” in 1,101 locations in Northern India! It is phenomenal for 9,000-plus people to publicly declare their faith in one day. These believers turned away from their former way of living – where they worshiped millions of false gods – to follow the one, true God. They said to their community: “We are different. We have changed.”
During Summer Outreach Week (June 24-30), 4,162 teams shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with 1,260,832 people in more than 15,000 villages across Northern India. After hearing the message, 158,725 villagers said they believed in Jesus – praise the Lord! Workers identified 24,226 persons of peace to follow up with and train as well.
The second class of students completed the six-month Mission Study residential course at the Disciple Maker School. From June to November, 65 young adults from five different regions on the Ganges River, were trained and equipped to serve as ch*rch planters, pastors and other strong leaders for the Kingdom. The majority of the workers needed to accomplish the vision of No Village Left – to plant a ch*rch in every village of Northern India by 2033 – will be trained at this school. A graduation ceremony is planned for March.
For the first time, we awarded college scholarships to 14 orphaned boys and girls aspiring to be doctors, nurses, engineers and more! Although we’ve been providing a free education (nursery-10th grade) to the orphans living at the children’s homes since 2019, this was the inaugural year students interested in continuing their education could apply for a FOIN scholarship.
Construction, furnishing and painting of our school’s fourth story was completed this year. This Chr*stian school opened in 2019 with 110 students, and by the grace of God now serves 1,420 students. Not only is it self-sustaining – meaning income from tuition surpasses operating costs – the school is financially supporting 30-50 ch*rch-planting pastors!
The home for orphaned boys’ fourth floor is finished, and now serves 95 boys. Its sister school, the girls home, had interior work done, and serves 42 girls. These children’s lives have been forever changed – they now have hope and a future. They are being educated and raised to one day lead the nation based on Chr*stian principles.
We offered multiple opportunities to engage in prayer, including a new monthly Zoom prayer call that began in July. In addition, we shared a printable prayer guide for Christmas Outreach Week in December, held a 24-hour prayer chain for the Mass Holy Bath celebration in November, and offered a daily prayer focus email during Summer Outreach Week in June. When we pray, God moves!
*Name omitted for security reasons.