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NEWS:  Please read the October 2011 Waldron Newletter for updates on the work in India

NEW:  Printable Handouts in .pdf available HERE

TRAINING SOUL-WINNERS & CHURCH PLANTERS

The state of Tamil Nadu is about the size of Georgia.   Tamil Nadu has a population of around 75,000,000, which is about ten times that of Georgia.  Brothers from Canada like James Johnson and Carl Johnson (no kin) entered the state in the 1960s and shortly thereafter began to train preachers to win souls and plant churches. James began such a school in the state capital at Madras (now called Chennai), and Carl conducted such a school in the Blue Mountains of South India near the village of Ketti with support from the Shades Mountain church in Birmingham, AL.  Today Dennis Johnson continues to work with the school his father James began in 1967.  The school in Ketti closed sometime after brother Carl returned to Canada.

My first visit to India was in 1972, with a second trip in ‘83, both times the purpose was to research the opportunities of training men to preach.  My actual work in Tamil Nadu began in February ‘86, and by God’s grace in ‘89 we were able to begin a school of preaching (SOP) in Dindigul, known as the Dindigul Bible Institute.  Over the next twenty years more than 850 graduated from the school.  In the early 1990’s a number of the graduates wanted to begin preacher training schools in their areas, thus the schools began to multiply.

In 1997 Don Iverson came to India and began to labor in Tamil Nadu also.  And, to put it mildly, he hit the ground running in training men to be soul-winners and church planters.  Today, after just over twenty years from 1989, to the glory of God, more than 1,400 Tamil brothers (see the figures below) have been trained to preach Jesus and Him crucified.  Many of those trained are not only effective gospel preachers, but in many cases are as effective at training preachers as we are, if not more so. 

As I have written before our aim is to train men as Paul did, that is to be tent-making preachers (See Acts 18:3; 20:34-35) for our desire for the churches of Christ in India is that they not be a glorified welfare program for the church in the U.S.; thus only a very few of these graduates receive support from the States, perhaps 5%.  The vast majority of them work with their hands to support themselves and their families.

Yet, this does not mean that we send our graduates out and forget them, but once every year or two we support them in a regional or even a state-wide campaign.  Such a state-wide campaign, we will hold for three days in April (22-24). 

FOLLOWING THROUGH ON OUR PART FROM THE U.S.

Peter Wilson a fine gospel preacher, who is our computer specialist at Dindigul, translated the above letter and with the help of sister Regina, who is the school secretary, sent these letters to 1,348 preaching brothers around the state whose names and addresses we had listed.  The final total, however, ended up being 1,462 for some brothers we learned have stopped serving the Lord (136), yet 250 were added of whom we had no record.  This means, at $10.00 (I left off the 20 cents to get a round figure) per brother we can support these 1,462 for three days as they campaign for Christ and His church for a total cost of $14,620.00.  It is difficult to imagine that for just a little over ten dollars you can support a well-trained gospel preacher to win souls over three days; besides this campaign will have long term residual effects in hundreds of villages and towns.  If you can help it will only cost $20 or one hundred for a $1,000; please do what you are able, with God’s help.

Point #8 in my letter to the preachers was made about the brothers using their own bicycles, because we have provided one for almost all of them.  There is an exception to this statement, however, because eleven young men will be graduating in April from their two years of training in the school for single men for whom we must buy bikes.  A cycle, as they call it, costs Rs 3,300\- ($75).  

Contact us with any questions:

Phone: 931.484.5297 ext 226

Email Jim Waldron

Address:  Waldron Missions, PO Box 1010, Crossville, TN 38557