Metropolitan Missionaries

Dear Friends,

Recently I had the privilege of traveling with one of our graduates and listened to him as he narrated God’s faithfulness in guiding him in the ministry after he graduated from HBI.  I was so blessed by listening to him and knowing our efforts in developing and building transformational leaders are bearing much fruit. I know you will rejoice and be blessed so let me share his story.
Mathew graduated with a Master of Divinity in 2000. When he enrolled as a student, he was talented but unassuming. As part of the training he was skilled to disciple people through cell groups, lead worship, share the gospel in village through music and drama, conducting Sunday school for children, mobilizing prayer concert and many other ministry skills. He told me that his active participation at New Calvary church gave him a passion for world missions. 
However, when he completed his M.Div program, he was not sure what was next in his life and asked the Lord to show him the direction. Mathew did hear God asking him to start the work in his own town but he did not want to follow God because he always thought that’s where most of the hindrances and difficulties would come.  Mathew, in his heart said a big “no” to God’s plan and started to do his own things and joined a Bible college in North India to teach. 
In the mean time Mathew was married to Prasanna, also a graduate from HBI, and God blessed them with a beautiful girl. Life seemed to be going okay, though God the Holy Spirit kept nudging him to surrender to God’s plan to start the ministry in his own town.
Two years went by and God blessed them with another girl.  Three months later, one night the newly born was not able to sleep and was crying. Mathew and Prasanna were up all night to help the baby and the baby finally slept at 4.00 a.m. Prasanna was too tired and she too went to sleep but Mathew could not sleep. About 30 minutes later, he wanted to check on the child and found there was no movement in the baby.  When he touched the child, he felt the child’s body was so cold and the child was not breathing. They immediately rushed to the Doctor who told them the baby was dead.
Completely broken, Mathew looked to God for His grace and experienced a new level of intimacy. God reminded him of His desire to start a ministry in his town.  He told the Lord, “I would listen to you and start the ministry in my own home town”.  Mathew told me that they were not angry at God but realized their unwillingness to obey God and now wanted to listen and follow Him.
Mathew and Prasanna shared a vision for planting Churches as there were no churches, especially among young people. So they started to look for a place to rent but could not find a place.
One day when Mathew was walking near a restaurant, he sensed the Lord asking him to contact the manager of the restaurant for a place on Saturday evenings. Knowing the manager belongs to an anti-Christian movement and a fanatic Hindu, Mathew was hesitant but did not want to reject the prompting of the Holy Spirit. He approached the manager and asked him whether their conference hall would be available every Saturday to conduct a fellowship meeting. To Mathew’s utter surprise the man immediately said “yes it is available”.
This was the first sign of God’s miracle. They negotiated the rent and again it was a surprise that the manager gave him a discount and did not ask for an advance.  Another miracle!
Mathew printed out hand bills and distributed them to many young people without knowing who would come. The day came and he rented 50 chairs and a PA system. The service was scheduled to start at 6.00 p.m. but by noon it started to rain heavily. Mathew and Prasanna knelt down and prayed to the Lord to do a miracle. Exactly at 5.00 p.m. the rain stopped. Another miracle!
While Mathew and Prasanna were waiting for people to come, they saw a group of young people coming into the restaurant. Exactly at 6.00 p.m. they started singing. Mathew had to do everything from arranging the chairs, setting up the PA system, playing the guitar, leading the singing and sharing the Word. There were totally 62 people who came for the service. PTL Another Miracle!
At the end of the service an elderly man walked to Mathew and asked how much was the rent and who was going to pay every week. Mathew told him “I started it without any money in hand, only trusting the Lord to provide the resources. It costs $400 a month”. Mathew told him the manager of the restaurant allowed him to start without even taking any advance. Hearing this, the elderly man told Mathew, “I will pay 50% of the rent and here is my contribution for the first month”. Mathew was astonished and praise God for another miracle he experienced the same day.
Friends God is good all the time and all the time God is Good!  All God wants us to do is to listen to Him and trust Him. Prasanna and Mathew learned where God leads He will provide. God began to burden them to develop a church planting movement in and around the villages of their town.
They started a training unit in their home and trained 13 young men from villages. Morning was theory classes and evening was practical ministry in village. God began to open the doors in villages and today there are 13 churches planted in a period of 18 months!
Mathew’s goal is to plant 500 churches by training 500 people in 5 years. Mathew told me, “Sir, the training we received at HBI is truly helping us in the ministry. The practical ministries and skills we have gained while at HBI, are very beneficial to plan and carry on the ministry. We will ever be grateful to HBI for giving us a vision for ministry and a passion for God”
Friends, we have many such Mathews who have graduated from HBI serving the Lord in villages, towns, cities and countries.  Just in the last 12 months, God gave us the opportunity to invest in the lives of 4,704 men and women from various regions to build them as transformational leaders for church and nation.
As we continue to press on towards the goal of equipping 200,000 men and women all over India to plant one million churches, will you continue to stand with us in this great task of discipling India for Christ?
We are soooooooo thankful to each one of your for your faithful prayers and support. We need many more like you, so will you please forward our news letters to others and introduce the ministries of HBI to your friends, families and churches.  We need your involvement to help us fulfill the vision and mission God has placed in our hearts. Last year because you gave over 218,000 people received the Lord Jesus Christ, 49,410 were discipled and joined the local church and 414 new churches were planted where no churches existed. Thank you for helping us make a difference!
Look forward to hearing from you. Praying for you and may the Lord bless you.
Your servant in the Lord,
Dr. Paul (Bobby) Gupta
President
HBI Global Partners