In 1979, I was involved in a good work at the Southwest church in Phoenix, Arizona, enjoying my role as the local preacher. I worked hard to win souls to Christ. I believe this is the work of the preacher-for that matter, of every Christian. I devoted myself to soul-winning by personal evangelism. The church grew, by the grace of God and the power of the Gospel. It was from Phoenix I made my first trip to India.
A few years before, I was the preacher for the Lackland Terrace church in San Antonio, Texas. Just after I began my work with the church there (in 1971), I had hoped to go to India. I had wanted to serve the Lord as a missionary, but plans were put on hold while I learned a number of things-including how to grow a church and to become more effective as a preacher of the Gospel. And because our work took off so fast while in San Antonio, I had to further shelve my plans to go to India.So in 1979, I finally made my first trip. Since then, I have made many more. I have devoted 30 years of my life to India, over 25 of which have been full-time. God has blessed those efforts-and those who have worked with me. This truly is a team effort. We have grown from a handful of workers then to 20,000 Indian preachers working with us today. It is not false humility to say the Indian brethren are doing most of the work-that has been true for many of those 30 years. God gets all the praise and honor and glory. In human terms, the Indian brethren deserve most of the credit.
I love India and the work there in a way most people cannot imagine. Its hold on me grows, not lessens. In many ways, I am more Indian than American. That is not because I do not love my country. But the work there is the closest thing I know of to what the church was in the first century (without the miracles and the apostles). It is the nearest thing to the early days of the Restoration Movement in this country about 150 years ago, when many denominational preachers left sectarian doctrines and embraced the Truth of the Gospel. Whole congregations were led to the Lord's way.
The same thing is happening in India today. Over and over again, entire congregations of denominations are being led to the Lord's church. In our work alone, more than 13.550 denominational preachers have been converted to the Truth. Our team has now conducted well over 1.1 million Gospel meetings. We are approaching 3 million souls that have been baptized through the combined efforts of our team. God has blessed this work because we have been willing to yield our wills to His and to do His work as He has commanded in the Great Commission.I am honored and privileged to be a part of this great work. The kind of life Karen and I live is not easy. When we are home (in the USA), Karen and I have to travel a great deal to raise the funds necessary to do this work. In a very real sense, we are beggars-and we are not the least bit ashamed to beg for the work we love so much. Please do not misunderstand. I am not bragging on what I have done. God has worked through me to do His will. I am not complaining. I am content with the life I am living, and the Lord has blessed our efforts (Phil. 4:11,12).
Why have I written this? I have written this because I hope that somehow you will share in my passion for this greatest of all mission fields. I have written this because the most religious people on the planet deserve a chance to hear the Gospel before they die. I have written this because we are building a great work to the glory of God and the saving of precious souls. Will you join with me by assisting this work with your prayers-and your financial support?