“The Joy of the Lord is your strength” – Nehemiah 8:10

Another year is swiftly drawing to a close.   So, it is time to pause and reflect on the past, to take a good look at the present and envision the future.  It is a special time to count our blessings, the greatest of which is your partnership in this ministry and all that God has accomplished through this for His glory.   This is also a time to review and evaluate our efforts and to look ahead and plan with faith for the future.  Every single day of the past year has brought fresh and new experiences of God’s grace in my personal life and ministry.  At the very outset, I want to thank you for your prayer and support.

It is critical to have clarity about ourselves, our call, and our mission.  Reflecting on the past is always good because it reveals a lot about us, what we have achieved and what our strengths are.  It reminds us of our weaknesses and shortcomings.  However, such an exercise is never disheartening because it unveils God’s grace and His faithfulness in a very refreshing way.   Conviction and joy go hand in hand even though their connection seems strange.   The more we are aware of ourselves and our needs, the greater the joy in having experienced sufficiency of God.  It is always amazing to see how He has guided us every single step of the journey and provided for all our needs.

This has been a year where IGL has stepped into a lot of new ground and experienced good results.  Our adoption of regions in central and northern India have been the most exciting highlights of the recent past.  The need for ramping up our efforts with training and leadership development continues to increase and has become one of our priorities.  As the indigenous church continues to grow, leaders need to be trained at all levels.

The empowerment of women and young believers is another critical piece in the process of leadership development.  The strength and health of the Indigenous church in this nation will hinge on the quality and level of people who are called to lead it.  Equipping them cannot become an afterthought.   It should begin now.   Leaders must also have the ability to connect to the needs of society that surrounds them.  It is easy for the church to remain isolated from community and become exclusive.  It will be the task of leadership to help the church understand this reality and also to find creative ways to connect with community,  not just for the sake of staying connected but to bring about transformation.

Our North American team is gearing up with a huge vision for development and resource generation to meet the increasing needs of the ministry on the field.  I want to invite you engage with us in this process of giving the ministry a fresh and new look, but remembering that our focus of bringing the Gospel to the unreached rural villages remains our central objective.

I am very optimistic of the future.  We cannot afford to be held captive by  the fears and uncertainties of the present times since great opportunities lie ahead for the Kingdom.  They beckon us to step out and move forward.  With your continued prayer and generous participation, that is exactly what we are determined to do.   I want to close wishing you all God’s best during this beautiful season of Thanksgiving and Advent.  May the Lord pour out on you a special portion of His peace and joy now and always.

Gratefully,

Sam
President
India Gospel League