ART’s 2020 ANNUAL TRIP TO INDIA FEBRUARY 25th THRU MARCH 14th
This year’s trip was my 14th annual trip to the mission field. Every trip has always been very encouraging. But this year’s trip was the most encouraging and exciting to date! This is such a “God story” – a classic case of God working behind the scenes when we are tempted to wonder It’s a story of God using His faithful servants to weave his plan together. To explain I’ll have to give you a some background both from the beginning of Completing The Call and from recent activities. Bottom line – There is no doubt that He is answering our prayer to “bless our ministry and expand our territory”! The prayer of Jabez 1 Chronicles 4:9-10.
First, from the beginning of our 16 year relationship Bobby George and I have been praying that the Lord would bring other ministries along side us to help in various ways. For thirteen years we prayed! It seemed as though the Lord didn’t hear us. But, then He brought Serving Orphans Worldwide to help us support our Good Samaritan Children’s Home right when more and more kids were showing up! Later He brought Wells for Life to provide badly needed bore wells at a number of locations!
Now, fast forward to fall 2018. Hindu converts, who had dedicated their lives to taking the Gospel to the unreached in Karnataka, started showing up, contacting Bobby George, and asking to be a part of Karnataka Gospel Mission to receive training and be sent out among the unreached. By the time I arrived in Byndoor in February the number of them totaled 25! That’s in addition to the 13 missionary/pastors comprising KGM before. Not having the resources to support and send these new men out, we wondered what the Lord had up His sleeve. A year and a half later we would find out.
Behind the scenes and unbeknown to us, the Lord began orchestrating events beginning in September 2018 (about the same time these men started showing up!) that would lead to a partnership that would begin supporting these pastors. That was when the Lord made it possible for me to move to Blairsville, GA in the beautiful north Georgia mountains where I had dreamed about living for decades.
Not long after arriving in Blairsville the Lord led me in a very unusual and providential way to the House of Prayer Church, one of the most mission minded and committed churches I’ve known.
Shortly after attending the church I joined a Sunday school class where the Lord had Dennis & Alice Mitchell befriend me (adopted is a better word). When they learned about my work with Completing The Call in Karnataka they took me under their wings, began praying for me and the ministry. They are two of the most mission minded people I’ve ever met. Their entire lives have been devoted to sharing the gospel, discipling believers, and supporting missionaries in all sorts of ways. Their house is a revolving door where missionaries and missionary kids show up, take a break, and are encouraged and reinvigorated.
Then in early May last year the Lord led Dennis & Alice to take me to a mission conference in Tellico, Tennessee put on by Partners in Ministry (P.I.M.) and introduced me to P.I.M.’s directors Bobby and Nan Bullard.
Shortly afterwards in early July the Lord arranged for Bobby George (KGM director and my Indian partner) and me to meet Bobby and Nan Bullard. Bobby G. had come to the states to spend time with his siblings in Dallas, TX. He flew into Atlanta to first spend a week we me and see some of our CTC partners. Bobby & Nan Bullard invited us to stop by their home in Atlanta after picking Bobby G up at the airport. As soon as the door opened at their home it was like ‘old home week’. The connection was instant and unmistakable – we were family! That was the beginning of their commitment to partner with us in taking the Gospel to the unreached in Karnataka. And the partnership would be a perfect match. Why? Because Bobby & Nan were in the process of shifting P.I.M.’s emphasis from supporting and sending American missionaries, to supporting indigenous missionaries. And, not only that, they were specifically looking for indigenous missionaries who had others under them so they could make a more meaningful impact in the areas they supported. They call these ‘Mission Hubs’. Perfect fit with Bobby George and KGM!
Bobby & Nan informed their board of their desire to consider making KGM one of their missionary hubs. With the board’s approval they joined me in India a week after my arrival to meet Bobby George, his family, and learn as much as they could about KGM and KGM’s Good Samaritan Children’s Home. You probably already guessed it – they fell in love with Bobby G and family, the children in the home, and all the pastors! I can’t begin to tell you what an encouragement their excitement is for me and Bobby G! They left wholeheartedly committed to partnering with KGM and helping us support our missionary pastors!
Now, if that’s not enough here’s another exciting aspect to this new relationship – Bobby & Nan introduced us to another ministry in the metro Atlanta area – Renew World Outreach (https://renewoutreach.org/) who invent, manufacture, and distribute high-tech equipment for digital distribution of the Bible and other media such as the Jesus Film. Renew together with P.I.M. provided us with micro SD cards and seven of their Lightstream Pilots loaded with all five of the mother tongue languages of the unreached people groups in which we work. In addition to that The Jesus Film Project headquartered in Orlando provided the funds for us to purchase Renew’s Solar Video Backpack and their solar powered pad loaded with all five or our languages. You can learn about these devices here: https://renewoutreach.org/equipment/.
Nan Bullard and I received two day training on these devices before our trip to India and we spent two days training our 38 missionary/pastors who Bobby George brought together in Byndoor while we were there. All the pastors are so excited and can’t wait to put all of these devices to work in the field and see what the Lord is going to do! These devices come to them at a particularly good time due to the recent increased persecution in Karnataka and many other Indian states.
There is no doubt the Lord is “enlarging our territory” and blessing our work! What an encouraging confirmation!
I hope this story of God’s working behind the scenes encourages you to ‘never give up’ in your prayers and that it has been a blessing to you.
God bless,
Art
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