Thank you for sacrificially giving and faithfully interceding for South Asian people. In a region where 99.9% of people are lost, your gifts train biblically grounded church leaders to take on the tasks of evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. You help develop quality curriculum and fund scholarships for students at one of the few seminaries in this country.

The ripple effect of investing in theological education shows. Rashmi* and his wife, Pushpa*, are trusted national partners leading a network of churches in this country. Because of your prayers and gifts, they are also attending seminary. Both are learning about God’s Word, how to teach it to others, the importance of the Great Commission, and how to plant healthy, biblically grounded churches. Rashmi and Pushpa share what they are learning with those in their church network, who, in turn, pass on these Christian fundamentals to their congregations. Your generosity is multiplying as it impacts thousands.

Please join us in prayer.

• Pray for Rashmi and Pushpa as they continue to learn and grow as believers, leaders, and teachers of God’s Word so this entire South Asian country can hear the good news.
• Rashmi and Pushpa represent one unreached people group (UPG) receiving and sharing the gospel with another UPG. Pray new believers here respond to God’s call to share the gospel in their Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria (Acts 1:8).
• Pray for our team as we develop new materials to train Christian leaders and meet the needs of church leaders.
• Ask God to provide the necessary textbooks and materials for this ministry.

We are immensely grateful for your generosity! Your prayers and gifts address the world’s greatest problem: lostness. Thank you for partnering with us in this ministry.

*Names changed

Thank you so much for your generous support of our team and those who live in our city, the earth’s densest city according to population statistics. In 2018, we launched a strategy to impact this dark city with the light of the gospel, and your prayers and gifts are sending the message of Christ’s love into homes and hearts.

Throughout this project, the goal has been to see the majority people group come to faith. We have diligently worked to equip and empower local believers and their churches to be the light of the world among the millions and millions packed into this small area. We have seen great strides in reaching this vision through your faithful prayers, gifts, and encouragement.

Here are a few things your giving has helped us to accomplish:

• Thousands heard the gospel for the first time.
• Dozens came to faith in the risen Christ!
• Several new churches have been planted.
• Many more existing churches are now participating in the strategy to reach the city.
• New leaders have been appointed and trained, which truly harnesses the power of local ownership of the Great Commission.
• Dozens of U.S.-based churches have come alongside the team here to join in the strategy and are beginning to send full-time laborers to the harvest.

The Lord has used your generosity to accomplish all of this!

A woman seeking a purpose. Her name is Lydia*. She is a middle-aged, single woman who taught math, science, reading, writing, and Bible at a local slum school as part of a ministry. As an unmarried woman in this oppressive culture, Lydia had little confidence that God could use her beyond the school walls.

However, Lydia found her calling during a gospel emphasis sponsored by the “Shining Light” project in which her church trained lay people to share the good news with friends and neighbors. As she and another single young woman prayer walked around their neighborhood, looking for women with whom to share the good news, they discovered a school where mothers spend the morning waiting for their kids. They engaged some of the women, praying for their needs and discussing the gospel.

Lydia described that day: “I’m 40 years old, and today I learned to share the gospel in [the local religious language]. I’d never shared with a [majority religion follower] in my life. Now I not only know how, but I love it!” Lydia has since begun regular gospel sharing as part of her church’s women’s ministry. She also now trains and equips other women to communicate the good news with their friends and neighbors. Women are a vital demographic in the “Shining Light” strategy, so women like Lydia are an integral example of how your giving empowers local believers.

Reaching the unreached. In 2020, just as the pandemic began, a group of believers in the city identified an unreached population—the wealthy class. These believers knew they had to do something to reach these people of privilege diligently. Many believers already had access to affluent individuals—access that few local pastors or leaders have due to the highly restrictive class system here.

These families had begun gathering each week as a house church, so they banded together with a few more families and launched “City Church.” Not only was the church to be a place for English speakers from the upper class, but its biblical model and principles, such as a church that serves the city, a church that sends, and a church with Christ-centered preaching, became a model among many established churches. The church has now partnered with various churches across the city, fostering initiatives to train new leaders. They hope soon to launch “City” churches in other urban areas. When he joined the church, one local member said: “I’d been praying for God to lead me to a church where I could learn God’s Word, serve with my giftings, and impact the lost. There is no other church in the city like this, but I hope to help there be many.” This brother, formerly of the majority religion and already a disciple-maker, now leads worship and is being equipped to launch a City Church in another urban area.

Thank you so much for your kindness, generosity, and partnership! These and many other stories exemplify how your giving impacts God’s kingdom here. Christian workers here gain strength and encouragement daily from your prayers and giving. Your partnership encourages us to continue to take on the yoke with local believers to “shining light” across this dark city. Your gifts have propelled the gospel in this dark place among a people who desperately need it. Thank you for linking arms with us in this great task.

*Name changed

Because you gave and because God has blessed those gifts, hundreds of people in South Asia have heard the gospel truth for the first time through this project. In addition, local believers have engaged new areas of the city, and our church network has trained dozens of believers in Biblical, reproducible tools that empower them to reach the darkest corners of this megacity. To God be the glory! Thank you for your partnership!

A recent project has trained local believes in a church network to engage the lost through COVID relief and get Bibles into the hands of new believers. A national network leader from this church network shared this testimony: “I wanted to move to the village and continue my church planting ministry there. But now I see God’s vision to reach the city with the gospel – to stay here and invest my life. Now I am going to devote time and resources to city church planting ministry by developing a church planting team here.”

Another national pastor, who started a new church in the north part of the city has been hosting “Gospel Push” events designed to involve every member of the church in bringing the truth to the largest unreached people group on the planet. He prays each day at 10:02 a.m. (to represent Luke 10:2) from the roof of his high-rise apartment building over the city: “Father God, we know you have people in this city we have yet to find. We know you are Lord of the harvest. Send more laborers for the harvest and let revival come to this land.”

Your sacrificial gifts and your supportive prayers that rise as very incense before the throne of the Living God have provided access to new parts of the city, including those once overlooked, such as the “refugees” that are stranded in camps, unable to return to their homes. Our workers, able to sit with faithful men and women to cast vision and study God’s Word together, have trained dozens to share the gospel and make disciples. The affluent and educated of the city, a previously unreached segment of the population, has now been engaged thanks to the start of a new church in the wealthy area of the city.

Thank you for your gifts and your love for the Lord, His people, and those not yet saved but who were chosen by God before the foundation of the world. The task is vast, but we continually seek “just one more.” You are giving us that opportunity. Praise God for you. Praise God for the gospel.

Your faithful giving is impacting hundreds of lives in South Asia! To learn more about giving opportunities, visit our webpage, https://www.imb.org/give/project/shining-light-into-earths-densest-city.