175 Kids + Hundreds More Cared for in East Africa

Our East Africa team was busy  at the boarding school!  While there they were able to care for 175 kids.  That is a lot of kids to see in one day!  They were able to treat minor illnesses, infections, and problems with kid's teeth.  I believe they were also able to slaughter an ox for the kids to eat!   I’m sure that was a great treat for them.  The kids always enjoy visits from the teams so I know it encouraged them.

It is such a miracle that these kids had no hope just a short time ago, but now they are in a boarding school with three meals a day and receiving a Christian education. 

While in back in the major city after serving at the boarding school,  the team went to serve in the local community TSC partners with to setup a clinic to treat 100 people.  They also did some home visits and evangelism and Bible Study with the church leaders.   

(TSC Partners in East Africa through GOCTW funding, short-term trips, and long-term support.)

Sharing Jesus with the East Asian Mafia

by Ryan Wagoner

Recently, I was able to travel to the home town of one of our new believers. For security purposes, we will call him "Cal". Cal's family is literally the mob in his city, led by his older brother.  They have many illegal and shady practices, and in my first hour in the town I was offered women, the finest alcohol, and drugs.  His family has become very rich and powerful by gaining from immoral practices, and all of that is obviously enticing to a 20 year old kid.  While Cal knows what is going on is not right, it's not only hard to say no to money/girls/alcohol/drugs, but I think it's even harder to say no to his older brother.  They are close, and Cal doesn't want to disappoint.

Cal and I shared two evenings at a coffee house talking for over 3 hours about Father and life...as we had declined the offer from his older brother to go to the downtown clubs in the big city.  These hours of conversation were very revealing about the inner turmoil inside of him. We talked alot about grace and forgiveness, the rich young ruler in the Word, and how short this life is.  He knows that none of the things this world has to offer truly satisfies and that eternity really matters more in the long run, but yet I still can't put myself in his shoes.  Saying no to his older brother in participating in the things of the world would undoubtedly cause a family rift of some sort.  I shared some with his older brother, and his older brother knows Cal is a believer, and at this point he is ok with it because he doesn't know really what being a Christian really is.... probably because he thinks all of America are Christians, and all he knows about American are drugs/alcohol/women/casinos so he doesn't see much of a difference. 

Please just continue to keep Cal and his brother  in your prayers.

(TSC continues to support and partner with workers in East Asia through GOCTW funding, short-term trips, and long-term support to reach Cal and others like him who have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ.)

8+ New Churches Planted in South Asia

by Hank Techentin

In November 2010, we traveled with a group to a city in South Asia. God used 16 North Americans and 40 native pastors and Christian interpreters to proclaim the gospel.  We were invited to partner with Indian national believers as they prayerfully appoached a population of 100,000 people scattered among 169 rural villages, or "thandas" . Fewer than 100 Christians were estimated to live in these villages.

The state in the country we went to was very populated. If it were a country, it would be the 10th most populated country in the world, with more than 113 million people! In rural areas surrounding the city we were near, the devastating poverty and spiritual darkness is among the worst in the world.

Our plans were to visit about 45 of the 169 thandas. Sharing the gospel openly is not legal in this area, so we had to be invited to each village by someone. Praise God that many of the villages we were invited to were home to family members or friends of our native pastors and translators. There were no believers in many of the thandas we visited. They had never heard the name "Jesus" before. God's favor was great as we were welcomed into every village, and treated with great respect and wonderful hospitality.

We had the opportunity to share the Good News with many who responded enthusiastically to the Gospel message. Members of our team saw entire villages profess faith in Jesus Christ! Men and women of peace (people who offered us hospitality; see Luke 10) were discovered in each thanda.

The word of God was given in their language as we studied together. It is stunning to see the faces of new believers as they read the word of God for the first time, and to see the conviction in their hearts, and to watch as they have understanding immediately, by the presence of the Holy Spirit. 

The Lord permitted us to participate in a great harvest in India: More than 1,600 people heard the Good News. 768 adults professed Jesus as their Lord and Savior, as did many more children and youth. Eight new churches were established - where a person of peace is willing to have the new Christian Community meet in their home.

Within days of our departure, follow-up with new believers by our national pastors revealed that fellowships were thriving in 15 other villages our team visited, in addition to the eight new churches we identified! Our national partners have a renewed commitment to ministry among their people, having been encouraged greatly by the work God did among us in November.  

Please pray with us that every one of these new fellowships are examples of the seed falling on good soil.

(The trip indentified above was a TSC partnership trip with E3 Partners. TSC believes in the work of E3 Partners around the world as they share the Gospel with those who have not yet heard. For more information on E3 Partners, visit http://www.e3partners.org/)