Freedom from Drugs
Jesus told his disciples, when going to a new village, to stay with a person of peace and not to go around from house to house. So how do we find this Person of Peace? Well, here is Daha's* story from South Asia that helps us to answer the question.
Daha went to a village that was famous for making alcohol. The farmers there also grew a plant that was an illegal drug. When Daha showed up in the village looking for a person of peace, they thought he was a drug customer. Daha examined the plant and began asking, "What is this? How is it used?" That's when they realized he wasn't a customer, and Daha realized this wasn't just a new vegetable.
Then Daha told them his own story, how he had used drugs, but then his life had been changed. The head of the drug business, a man named Raahi, asked him, "How were you delivered? I've tried many times, but I'm not able to leave it." Daha started with the story of creation, and told him, "The God who created us in his image did not make us to use this drug."
Raahi* then invited him to his home. On his second visit to the village, Daha found that Raahi hadn't taken the drug for six days and he had been telling people, "Let's stop this business." Soon Raahi was baptized, and he brought along twenty others. A church started. In two years, it spread to ten groups in ten villages.
Daha found a man of peace by sharing the peace he had personally found in his own life, and the man was attracted to it.
Help support our ministry to those struggling with bondage and addiction in South Asia by giving today.
*Names are changed to protect the privacy and security of those we serve.
A Woman of Influence
Jyoti* has a passion for oral learners and has trained hundreds of women who are now starting and leading Bible storytelling groups. But after attending the Disciple Making Movement training, she realized she wanted to be part of starting a Disciple Making Movement among the middle and upper class in the capital city of a state in North India - a social strata where the church has yet to see breakthrough. So Jyoti started a neighborhood English class for women. In the middle of each lesson, she would somehow insert a simple statement about God and what He meant to her. The women were touched and began asking her to pray for them. Soon she was starting every class with prayer and the ladies were opening up about family problems. Then Jyoti taught the women that they could pray for themselves -- anytime, anywhere. That was a turning point. They began to tell how Jesus was giving them peace and making their lives happier. Their self-image was being restored. Amita, a widow who was so depressed she wouldn't even make eye contact with people, began speaking boldly and sharing her new hope in the Lord. This is particularly important in light of the reality that relegates the role of women to servitude. The fact that these women are doing such remarkable things, because they are being transformed is amazing, especially in the context of the Indian culture.
When Amita asked for a Bible, Jyoti took the opportunity to introduce the whole group to the Discovery Bible Study. The women dove into the discussion of the scriptures.
"It's amazing how they have begun understanding God in a personal way" says Jyoti
Because of social and religious pressure from other sectors of society, these women would be restricted from traditional religious worship in their own communities. But they can readily be accepted and discipled in informal Discovery Bible Study groups. And Jyoti is finding that these ladies have influence in their social strata.
In fact, she sees great potential for this Discovery Bible Study to multiply and someday become the citywide movement she longs to see. Partner with Cityteam International to help provide training and equip individuals like Jyoti continue planting churches and making disciples in South Asia.
*Names are changed to protect the privacy and security of those we serve.
The results have been amazing! Over the last 8 years we have seen the Lord raise up over 22,460 new churches with 778,580 new believers in 55 countries spread across 10 regions of the world.
To fulfill our mission in South Asia we are focusing on training local leaders to both launch and sustain disciple making movements. The idea of a “movement” is to start something that can keep going without you. That is why our focus is not just to make disciples, it is to multiply disciple makers.
What we do does not revolve around professionals and programs. It is about giving ordinary people the vision to see that they are at the very center of God’s plan to win the world and then giving them the tools to start multiplying disciple makers where they live. Read above about Jyoti's passion for making disciples in South Asia.