India Report

Here's a great overview of the recent trip to India through the lens of Dave Browning...

From November 27th through December 10th four of us traveled to India to encourage the CTK leaders there - Pastor Dave Browning (CTK Burlington), Pastor Jonathan Oleson (CTK Oak Harbor),Duane Youngren (CTK Burlington) and Gerard Post van der Berg (CTK Lopez Island). Our time in India was a whirlwind adventure throughout the state of Andhra Pradesh, involving 20 meetings in 10 days, including a large womenʼs conference and four large pastors conferences (1500 pastors in total). We spoke at both CTK and denominational churches. We made presentations at Hindu and Christian schools. We also presided over a dedication of the CTK headquarters in Hyderabad, and a groundbreaking ceremony for a CTK Bible College at Mirasapally. The CTK story is expanding rapidly, and leaders we met were excited about what CTK represents.

Beginning with a shirt.
The CTK story in India began when Yedidya Parker found a Christ the King t-shirt in a used clothing bin on the streets of Hyderabad. Having seen the magnitude of that city (6.5 million people), it is miraculous that Yedidya would find this shirt, particularly considering Yedidyaʼs call from God to rapidly expand His kingdom. Now, a couple years later, it is startling to see CTKʼs logo not just on shirts, but on church buildings, trucks, motorcycles and handbags.

A modern day apostle.
I consider Yedidya to be a modern-day apostle. He has preached in over a thousand villages, many places where the gospel has never been preached before. He has baptized thousands of converts. He has deployed scores of evangelists and pastors. He is courageous though regularly threatened for his witness by both the Hindu and Muslim population. He is revered throughout the country as a man of God who gives himself sacrificially. He follows in the footsteps of his godly father, Abraham Parker, who pastored for many years in Hyderabad in spite of persecution and hardship. Yedidya is the greatest legacy of his fatherʼs ministry, as he is now raising up hundreds of leaders in his wake. Yedidyaʼs family is very supportive in the work. His wife Sondra, daughters Shimeath (18) and Priscilla (17), and son Jeyson (13) and Eg (12) are all very dedicated to the Lord.

An existing relational network.
Yedidya has developed many personal relationships throughout India. We saw approximately 25% of his network during our two week trip. Many of his colleagues are “converting” over to CTK now that Yedidya is affiliated with us. Yedidya is vetting possible leaders as they express interest. He wants to make sure that leaders are willing to sacrifice and are not wrongly expecting financial support, etc. There are approximately 100 leaders on board at this time, but this could easily swell to 1000 in the coming months, particularly now that we have visited and raised the level of awareness further. The Bible College may also prove to be a very strategic development, as it will be the first one in that district of A.P.
Yedidya is shifting in his personal ministry from being a leader of people, to a leader of leaders. Many of the leaders with which Yedidya is working are dynamic in their own right. One man that I met from Tamil Nadu (the most southern state in India) has plans to develop CTK leaders in each of the 18 districts in south India. He has leaders identified in 8 districts already.

A different posture.
The church in India is fractured around competitiveness and denominationalism, and CTK is having a unifying effect because we are “keeping the main thing the main thing” and walking in humility. In one district where we held a pastors conference we were told it was the first time in recent memory that pastors had gathered in that district without the meeting ending in a fight. Everywhere we went we were treated like royalty. We were uncomfortable with this attention, of course, but the Indian culture is certainly a culture of honor. This quality needs to be balanced by the leaders honoring the people. Yedidya made a point of getting on his knees and praying for the pastors at many meetings. This sort of servanthood is being blessed by the Lord and needs to be modeled going forward.

Pakistan, here we come.
While I was in India, I spoke by phone with a prospective CTK leader from Pakistan. While it may be prohibitive for American CTK leaders to go to Pakistan to meet with him, Yedidya is looking to make a trip in the next couple months to support this new leader. India may prove to be an excellent avenue to reach into other Muslim countries, as well.

A technology partner.
Many companies in India are on the bleeding edge of technology. It may be that believers in India end up giving support to the web/technology needs of the entire CTK network. While I didnʼt have time to explore this in depth, I believe that Yedidyaʼs daughter Shimeath may be key to this possibility, as she is top of her class in a technology university

Funding options.
The leaders in India walk by faith and are leveraging the few hundred dollars that we send from America to good effect. With those funds they are not only assisting pastors, but supporting an orphanage, a 700 student Christian school, and sustaining a number of blind believers. Of course, one of the challenges is to see the ministries in India self-supporting, without increasing funding from other countries. One possible option might be to leverage the rising economy in India for kingdom expansion. For example, there is a businessman in India who exports slate, and is willing to arrange proceeds to go toward the ministry. If we can find an outlet for this slate in the U.S. we may be able to develop a viable business strategy to support the expanding ministry in India. Until then I see us continuing to support India with modest resources and then giving them some additional backing for projects like the Bible College through special offerings.

Six parts work, one part rest.
The leaders I met in India are working hard to spread the gospel and build the ministry. I believe we can learn a greater work ethic from them, and that they can greater balance from us. I encouraged Yedidya to take a week off when we left, and his response was, “Can I do that?” There is a sense of passion and urgency that is refreshing, but we also need to plan for the long haul if the Lord tarries.

Future visits.
Yedidya and Sondra intend to come to the Arrows Out Ministry Conference in Mount Vernon February 2nd, and perhaps to invite some other leaders to join them (if those leaders can raise support to come). I would anticipate leaders going to India annually to support the key leaders there.