Field Reports

Rapid Church Growth in India

Miraculous stories often begin with a normal, everyday act. This story details how one lady’s action has affected nearly 6,000 people in India.

In Andhra Pradesh, a partner of ICM was airing God’s word over the radio. In a small village, a young lady was so impacted by the broadcast that she wrote a letter to our partner. The letter described her love for the program and her desire to have a church in her remote village. As a result, a pastor began to walk 5 km to the village everyday to spread the gospel. This was an arduous journey considering he had to cross streams and other obstacles in the intense Indian heat. Nevertheless, he saw the great need for the gospel in this remote village. As a result of his efforts, the number of believers grew to 75 in the first year, including 23 young men who actively helped evangelize. The only building to hold their worship service, however, was an old cattle shed. The believers appealed to the village elders who fortunately gave them a large plot of land. Then, in 1994, ICM funded the construction of a church on this plot. The size of the congregation exploded after this construction and daughter churches were rapidly planted throughout the area. 125 churches containing a combined 5770 people have now been planted from this one mother church. What began as a simple letter 15 years ago has now affected an entire district of India.