By Paul Windsor, Langham Preaching

Alex and Joyte, Langham Preaching, India

Alex and Joyte are part of a new move of God. They are two of the thousands of people who have responded to God’s call and moved across India, or into neighbouring countries, as mission workers. They have learned new languages. They have moved into new cultures. They are even eating new food. They have left their homes in Meghalaya and Manipur, in North-eastern India, to serve God.

Alex is church planting in Bihar, one of the most difficult areas for the gospel in all of India. Joyte has gone to a remote region of western Nepal. Neither has the support of a mission agency, nor the assurance of a regular income.  Alex and Joyte have had some training to be cross-cultural workers. Joyte remembers how his heart was ‘pumping-up’ to reach the unreached. He started by teaching English in a school, using the Good News Bible as his textbook, and now he pastors a church. Alex works with a team of six leaders to oversee the three churches that he has planted.

Both Alex and Joyte acknowledged a need for training as preachers. Last week they boarded trains and went home to the North-east to participate in the Langham Preaching seminar in Assam. Joyte brought Rana, who speaks no English, with him and quietly translated the material as the week proceeded. After eight days of intensive learning, they have returned to Nepal and Bihar determined to pass on their training to others. Alex plans to draw his team of leaders into a preaching club.

The church in North-east India is strong in numbers and its people are mobile, often with a missionary vision. This is why Langham Preaching responded to the invitation to start the work in this region. People came from as far away as Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. Like with Alex and Joyte, they returned to the people to whom God has called them, motivated and equipped to train others as preachers of the word of God.