Jai Mashih Ki — Praise the Lord!  We had our Field Director and his wife visit in November and December, and were able to introduce them to many new people and churches.  There was also many good working meetings and discussions as we discussed how to move this new ministry forward.  North India Indigenous Partners is really still a very new organization, and as such, we continue to ramp up our operations.

This March the NIIP President went to India to spend two weeks following the Field Director around, day and night, to get a feel for the field ministry.  He came back impressed with the competence of the field teams and the amazing community of Great Commission Church, who share our vision for North India.   God is moving throughout North India in amazing ways!  Our Field Director gets calls daily, asking for his team to come to some village or town to minister.  Right now, there is not enough financial resources to respond to most of these calls.  The field teams are made up of local volunteers, many of which are themselves poor, and still they enthusiastically and sacrificially do the work.

Our President has returned from India with fresh resolve to help this field ministry.   There is much need for additional training of new believers, training of new leaders, and encouraging existing leaders and local congregations.  Everywhere the field teams go, there is opportunity to pray for healing, to counsel, and to encourage.  And because we are working primarily in areas of poverty, there are always resource limitations.  God is faithful to respond!

For those who have not been to North India, travel can be difficult and complicated.  Some places can be reached in a few hours from New Delhi, and others can take more than a day by train and four-wheel drive vehicle.  Logistics and cost of travel can pose a challenge.  Travel on India’s highways can also be slow and chaotic by Western standards.  Yet, our team will travel 8 hours to be able to spend a few hours training and encouraging a new community of believers.  Living conditions can also be extreme by Western standards, but our teams come out of these remote villages and communities, so they have learned to live in these conditions.

One of the reasons we are partnering with Indigenous ministries is because they can do the work better than Westerners, and every dollar we contribute will go father than if we did the same work through Western NGO’s or missionaries.  Also, the work is done in areas where English is not spoken.  Western people going into these areas do not know the language or culture, they are not use to the conditions, they have trouble eating the food, and are more susceptible to sickness and disease.  The local teams can live and work on a peer level, and as such, they are more easily received.  The field work is made up of local people who are responding to the needs of their communities.  NIIP is only coming along side them by providing  a small financial assistance to fill some gaps, and thus enable more ministry work.

Since NIIP is still a new organization, we have a very small team to work with here in the States.  It is made up largely of our Board, who, as volunteers, receive no compensation, and they have full time jobs as well.  There is a desperate need to have more volunteers to help expand the work locally with the Minneapolis and St. Paul metro area of Minnesota.  We are also open to volunteers in other communities.

The good news is that much of the field work is going on regardless of the limitations of NIIP.  Also, we have been able to help the field ministry move forward into this next phase of work.  We have been able to define a plan for the next 2-5 years.  In the next couple months we hope to have our story defined so it can be told to those who might want to partner in our mission and vision for North India.

If you are interested in partnering with us, either financially or as a volunteer, please contact us.