On February 8, ITMI's David and Taru Kumar left their home in Bangalore, India heading north. They were traveling to the the towns of Ujjini and Ballari as a part of their training program that equips believers to share Jesus with their Muslim friends and neighbors.
The following morning, David, Taru and Reverend Walter, David's teammate and co-laborer when he does the evangelism trainings in rural areas, met with a group of believers who had taken David and Walter's training one year prior.
At the last count, in 2001, Ujjini had a population of about 8,000.
The local believers gathered at a church situated outside the town on agricultural land. David was eager to see the trainees again.
"We started the day with singing and praising God," David writes.
After worship, Taru shared her testimony and personal experiences, how the Lord opened doors while she was in North India so that she could learn the local language as well as to read and write Arabic.
She encouraged the group, reminding them how God can use them if they commit their lives to the Lord.
David briefly reviewed and reinforced what he taught them a year ago, and Reverend Walter closed with encouragement. Then they shared a traditional meal and fellowship.
After the meal, David, Taru and Reverend Walter left for Bellari.
After the meal in Ujjini, the trio was back on the road, this time for the 3 hour drive from Ujjini to Bellari.
Bellari is a large city in the midst of a wide, level plain. The city itself is spread around two hills of granite composition, Bellary Gudda and the Kumbara Gudda.
Photo Credit: By Marc Roberts - originally posted to Flickr as Bellary Fort, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7761408. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
When they arrived at the cottage where a local believer had gathered about 12 people, Taru shared her testimony again and encouraged the group with a beautiful sharing of Psalm 23.
"The next day 10th February, was a very exciting day, because this was our final day teaching," wrote David. Following the teaching that day, 40 men and women who had completed the 6 monthly installments were graduating and would be awarded a certificate. "They never before had such training and graduation," David adds.
It was clear how important this was to trainees. They had prepared a big meal to celebrate their achievement and their joy at now being equipped and qualified to take the Gospel of Jesus to Muslims.
Some of them had already started to share Jesus with Muslims. Some of them even brought new believers to the graduation!
"What can give us more joy than people coming to the Lord through simple sharing from what they have learnt from the training, from their personal testimonies and through prayers answered?" David writes.
Through David's trainings, believers - and even pastors - who once believed Muslims didn't deserve to be saved, now boldly and kindly open discussions to share what Jesus has done for them and how to follow Him!
These trainings are a regular part of David's ministry.
He is passionate about equipping believers to share Jesus with the Muslims in their lives. This trip was followed by another in Hubli City, north and toward the west side of the peninsula, at the end of February.
"We sincerely thank you for your amazing partnership with us, while all the glory goes to the Lord for His work through us, the equal credit goes to each of our partners who have been so faithfully standing with us through prayers and support. May the Lord continue to bless you as you continue to take part with us in building His kingdom in this part of the world."
This is the impact you have when you support ITMI's David and Taru Kumar. A lasting, eternal impact.
