Graduate Jonathan Zingkhai is a great example of how an OC scholarship makes a huge difference in the lives of countless others. Jonathan has been serving in full time ministry to drug addicts, alcoholics and those infected with HIV/AIDS for 22 years. His reach is widespread from serving in drug rehabilitation centers and as the chaplain in a men’s recovery program to training pastors, counselors and social workers in substance abuse rehabilitation.

Today, Jonathan works as the Recovery and Rescue Program Manager for San Francisco CityTeam, which operates four comprehensive programs: residential addiction recovery, career enhancement, transitional shelter/homeless job empowerment and community outreach. By providing a safe environment, addicts find God’s grace through small discipleship groups, individual counseling and addiction classes. Jonathan and his wife, Khan, also started an HIV/AIDS counseling center in Northeast India to care for families, build a faith community educated about HIV/AIDS, treat pregnant women living with HIV/AIDs and care for HIV-infected children.

“I have a passion for people throughout the world who are poor, hurting, broken and destitute due to drug and alcohol use and HIV/AIDS,” he says. “My passion is to be a voice for the voiceless people and share the Gospel in their lives.” Jonathan is a graduate of Clark Theological College (CTC) in India. Please click here to read more about CTC and other OC partner schools in India.

If you would like to support the training of future ministry leaders around the world like Jonathan, please click here.

Perfectly placed next door to countries that are closed to the Gospel are three OC partner schools in northern India: Clark Theological College (CTC), Allahabad Bible Seminary (ABSI) and Shalom Bible Seminary (SBS). All three are not only providing quality theological training to students who minister to some 26 tribes speaking different languages in northern India, but also training students to step across borders to serve in churches throughout the region. Dr. David Baer, OC President and CEO, and Dr. Ashish Chrispal, OC Regional Director for Asia, just returned from northern India where they were guest speakers at the CTC graduation ceremony and dedicated a bus that OC helped acquire for the college’s compassionate care projects.

Clark Theological College: a leading leadership training center in Nagaland, Northeast India
CTC was established in 1972 in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the coming of Christianity to Nagaland, located in a remote part of India. Named after Dr. Clark, the first missionary to Nagaland, CTC is nestled in the Himalayas bordering China, where it serves the eight states of Northeast India and the neighboring regions of over 40 million people, the majority of whom are unreached by the Gospel. The college is a leading leadership training center for the Church, providing biblical, theological and holistic training to Christian leaders, and is becoming one of the major missionary sending centers of Asia with over 1,500 graduates in ministry.

As a way to “uplift and transform the society around us,” CTC serves the community through various ministries, including:

• A care and counseling team that visits a rehab center to counsel and minister to those affected by HIV/AIDS;
• A dairy farm that serves the community and generates income for the college;
• The Clark Literature House that reaches out to people of all faiths through literature sales and distribution; and
• The Clark Center for Leadership Development, which offers grassroots training to Christian leaders and church pastors with the goal of training at least 200 lealders each year.

Please click here to read about Jonathan, a CTC graduate who says his “passion is to be a voice for the voiceless people and share the Gospel in the lives” of drug addicts, alcoholics and those infected with HIV/AIDS.

If you would like to support the training of future ministry leaders at schools around the world like CTC, please click here.

The village ministries of Allahabad Bible Seminary (ABSI) in India are one of the most important programs taking place outside of the classroom. With a population of nearly 5 million, the district of Allahabad is located in the densely populated Ganges Valley where a great scope for sharing Christ exists in hundreds of villages almost entirely without a Christian witness. The junction of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers at Allahabad is a holy place for Hindus; thus situated in a religious-cultural center, ABSI students are able to learn the best cross-cultural approaches to a wide range of people who represent all the major religions of India. ABSI’s village ministries are growing tremendously as groups of students take the skills they are learning and travel to surrounding areas to share the Good News. Many villagers are receptive to the ministry, are ready for baptism and even offer their homes to host worship services and ministry activities.

Women’s ministry is a crucial aspect of the village ministries. In addition to preaching the Gospel to the women villagers, the ABSI students focus on health and hygiene, teachings on such topics as raising children, family relationships and family planning, and literacy. Adult literacy programs are essential in the villages, not only for believers to read the Bible on their own, but also to improve the residents’ lifestyles, help in their trade and transactions and enable them to know what is happening in the world. Children’s ministry is another key focus in the villages. Bible classes are held for the children, and a youth program exposes their talents through music and singing. The goal is to equip the youth to face challenges in their lives and avoid various social evils that are corrupting society. Through the relationships with the children, ABSI students are also able to minister to the children’s parents.

Additionally, the students serve humanitarian needs. HIV/AIDS awareness programs are taught in many villages; used clothing is collected to distribute to poor families; and reconciliation and peacemaking are facilitated between families. The students hope to provide free medical care in villages soon.

Praise the Lord that 10 new house fellowship groups have been started this past year in the villages with the number of attendees increasing each week. The students’ impact is becoming widely known with many neighboring villages inviting the students to their villages for ministry.

If you would like to support the training of future ministry leaders at schools around the world like ABSI, please click here.

The first two 2010 Institutes for Excellence in Christian Leadership Development took place April 13-16 in Quito, Ecuador, and May 4-7 in Nairobi, Kenya. During the four-day Institutes themed “Re-envisioning Seminary-Church Relationships,” 85 church and seminary leaders interacted with each other in order to build partnerships and be mutually beneficial in meeting each other’s needs. Click here to read more about the Quito Institute, and click here to read more about the Nairobi Institute. The next Institutes for Excellence will take place in Serbia, Sri Lanka and Ghana. Click here for the 2010 schedule.

Please join OC in prayer and praise for Asia:

• For transformed lives through the outreach programs of CTC, ABSI and SBS in northern India and neighboring countries
• God’s special protection for students, faculty and graduates as they minister in these places, sometimes amidst dangerous persecution
• For the continued construction of The Clark Center for Leadership Development at CTC and for the leaders who will be holistically trained to impact their communities for Christ
• For house churches and believers to be strengthened in their faith and witness for Christ
• Praise for God’s faithfulness revealed through the great movement of reconciliation between people after the first-ever conference on biblical peacemaking at ABSI
• Praise for the Lord’s provision at partner schools during the recession
• Praise for open doors for new ministries in various places through CTC,  ABSI and SBS, and for this past year’s graduates at each school, most of whom are engaged in full time ministry or pursuing higher studies
• Praise for faculty members who completed doctorates and have returned to teach