For those of you who are sports fans like us, you may remember the 1992 USA men’s Olympic basketball team, nicknamed the “Dream Team.” It was described by journalists as the greatest sports team ever assembled. During the Olympics held in Barcelona, the team defeated its opponents by an average of 40+ points as they went on to win the gold medal against Croatia. When the rules were modified to allow professional athletes, the team was stacked with Jordan, Pipen, Johnson, Stockton, Malone, Bird, Robinson and Barkley. They were the best of the best in the sport and it showed on the court as they brought home the gold medal.
When the door of opportunity opened in South Asia to be part of launching a ministry campus, we began praying for a team. In the past, we have been a part of ministry teams to launch new works and many of them were compiled by others from the states, which worked well at the time. But, given the parameters of working in this area we began to pray specifically for a team of nationals from within the country that would see the vision and have a heart to disciple, teach, serve, prepare others for the ministry and plant churches throughout Asia. In 2017, a prayer team was assembled and that was a consistent request on our list all year, that God would provide a team. Luke 11:10 says, “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
Truly God has come through and provided a team of nationals…the “Dream Team” as we call them and they are in our opinion the best of the best. Each of these men have answered the call and moved from their home towns to a new location to be a part of launching the ministry campus and serve in this place. They are managing and doing construction, teaching, cooking, discipling, shopping, cleaning and helping to see the ministry campus completed. Each of them have vision for how God desires to reach this country with the good news. They are praying, planning, studying, pouring their lives into students, recruiting new students, teaching and working to meet the many needs that arise on a daily basis. We feel like the “Dream Team” was handpicked by God and we are amazed to see how the Lord orchestrated each detail, preparing each person long before and as we say now…..it is GAME TIME!!! We are truly humbled to serve with such amazing men of God who have given up much to make Jesus known, equip others in the Word and impact this community and this country for Christ.
We want to introduce you to them and ask you to pray for them (from right to left):
W.J. – Attended CC Bible College Europe at the Hungary Campus and served as an intern after graduation and went on to get his masters in 2016. Wesley first met some of our teammates, who were serving together with us in South Asia in 2014 and he was excited to hear there were others with a heart for his country. Then in 2015, in the aftermath of the earthquake he traveled with a short-term team to Nepal and we officially met and served together. Later that year, as we were in Uganda during the summer, he traveled with a short-term team to Africa and we ran into each other again we knew there was a reason that God kept having our paths cross. After several meetings with mutual ministry partners, we began praying as did he. It has been his passion and prayer to be part of a bible college and to plant churches. It was neat to see how God answered our prayer and at the same time answered his.
R.K. – Is from South Asia, but came to Nepal to study with a friend because there was no place that taught the Word in his home country. In April 2017, he traveled with Bond to South Asia to scout out the land, meet other national ministry workers and make a connection with S.B. He graduated from CCBC Nepal in Fall 2017 and was excited about the opportunity to join the staff, serve the Lord in his own country and invest in the lives of the students here.
S.B. – Graduated with his Masters in Divinity before coming to the SG SOM in 2015 where he was further equipped. Later that year, he married one of our teammates (not pictured) in who we also served together with for several years. S.B. was from the South, but was living in the North at the time. When we heard about the location opening up in the South, we quickly came to learn that S.B. was from this region and spoke the language. He joined Bond on the very first scouting trip to this place with several others. After praying and making plans, he moved his family 2,000 miles to this new location. He has worked tirelessly for months to manage the overall project and helped to lay the foundation for this new work.
L.B. – He has been serving the Lord full-time for 30+ years. He and his wife have many years of experience working amongst unreached people groups. They have navigated huge projects and overcome many challenges throughout the years and he has already been a big asset as he has transitioned and came to serve here. He has endured persecution and tribulation, but he has never wavered at the promises of God. His testimony and countless stories have captured the hearts of the staff as he humbly serves in both big and small ways.
We are overjoyed that as you partner with us, we get to disciple and train up nationals in the Word throughout Asia. The fruit of this partnership is two of the four men that are a part of the staff are graduates of two other schools in Asia that we got to be a part of launching. To see graduates now serving the Lord full-time gives us a glimpse of God’s faithfulness. We believe that this is just the beginning of so much more that the Lord has in store as we continue to serve Him and see the “Dream Team” engage in all God has.
Thank you for standing with us, supporting us and praying for our family and this new work. While we get to work with the “Dream Team” here in-country, we thank the Lord for blessing us with the most amazing dream team of supporters, friends, family and churches that continue to cheer us on as we keep running hard to accomplish all God has called us to in reaching the unreached with the good news! Keep praying as God is hearing and answering prayers in overwhelming ways just like He promises.
