As Ram’s burgeoning ministry expanded across South Asia, he felt a growing concern. Was he accurately preaching the Word of God?
Raised as a devout Hindu, Ram had first heard the truth of Scripture several years prior when he accepted an invitation to attend a Christian prayer meeting. Awed by the one true God he encountered through the gospel, he renounced the pantheon of Hindu idols he had daily revered and committed his life to following Christ.
When Ram’s godly example led his wife and sons to faith in Christ, the family’s conversion was met with persecution within their own home. Ram’s parents and brothers, with whom they live in a joint household according to cultural norms, angrily forbade Ram from worshiping, singing, or fellowshipping with other believers in the home.
“Ram and his wife and sons stood strong, and slowly the opposition is softening,” shared Paul, an ABWE Live Global worker.
Ram’s dynamic influence soon spread beyond his immediate family. He invested himself in sharing the gospel with others, founding a church in his city and then establishing small groups throughout the region that are maturing into biblical churches. He later began leading online meetings for pastors in a large network of churches across the nation. Despite his ever-expanding ministry, however, he became aware of one limitation: he had no sound Bible training.
When Ram and his wife joined a biblical counseling class taught by Live Global workers Paul and Hannah, he was exposed for the first time to sound doctrine and the sufficiency of Scripture for all of life and godliness. He was appalled to learn that the online preachers he had relied on were, in reality, false prophets of a prosperity gospel.
Desiring to become better equipped for ministry, Ram enthusiastically enrolled in the inaugural class of the church planting institute Paul and Hannah launched in April 2024.
Paul and Hannah established the institute recognizing the great need to both train national church leaders and to reach their region, a major world population center.
“The goal is to build teams that are sent out to pursue unreached, unengaged people groups in South Asia,” explained Paul.
They designed the two-year program to prepare current and future pastors and church planters with a sound theological education, along with practical training in health services and business entrepreneurship to allow them to enter and serve local communities. The institute will be housed in the planned South Asia Ministry Center, alongside Paul and Hannah’s additional church-planting and evangelistic ministries.
With many of the 40 students already living in unreached communities, Paul highlights the strategic importance of equipping these leaders for effective ministry—including Ram, who now regularly applies his growing biblical knowledge within his network of churches.
“Ram has significant ministry not just in the capital city but around the country and even across South Asia. He was just recently asked to preach in a neighboring country,” Paul said. “The impact of training such leaders is huge.”
Editor’s Note: Names have been changed for security.
Author: Katelyn Hawkins | Originally Posted at: https://abwe.org/blog/freed-from-false-teaching-pastoral-training-in-action/
