During our time of lockdown in S. Asia, a co-labor and pastor was taken to the police station and beaten for his faith. We spent 6 weeks not sure where we would get food, wondering what would happen as our visas were revoked and the world was in crisis. As you may remember, the US Embassy finally offered an emergency flight from S. Asia after the whole world had already been evacuated. Given the circumstances at that time, we were not able to see our dear friends and pastors as we departed. It was heart wrenching and unsettling but it was a greater danger to the ministry if we stayed since police were visiting the home of every foreigner….so we departed.
Throughout India, Nepal and Pakistan the lockdowns were brutal and lasted much longer than what most of the world experienced. As churches in America opened and gatherings resumed, many of our brothers and sisters who we have lived with and served alongside were cut off, secluded, threatened and persecution has been at an all time high.
With all of this in our hearts, we began dreaming….what would it look like to bring together every pastor in Asia that has graduated from one of our campuses and planted a church and host a conference. It had never been done before. Honestly, it seemed impossible! The amount of coordination, travel arrangements, funding and logistics needed were greater than anything we had embarked on before. But, the importance of gathering as we enter this next season in ministry seemed like a commission from the Lord, not just a nice idea.
In late October/November, we gathered 150 pastors for a conference and time together. We had pastors from India, Nepal, Pakistan and American who are dear friends and co-laborers and it was a gift from God. They traveled from all over Asia, from 12 different airports, some by bus for 3 days and others came by train. We also had 5 pastors from 4 churches and a team to help serve at the conference. The conference theme was “That We Would See Jesus” and the teachings were from the Gospels. From the opening reception of long embraces after an extended period apart to worship in many languages to testimonies of God’s work in reaching the lost to the Word going forth…..WOW…..God is still in the business of doing the IMPOSSIBLE!
The timing, the gathering, the reunions, the encouragement, the refreshment, the testimonies, the Word, the worship, the gifts, the fellowship and the meetings to discuss future plans for church planting all greatly glorified God and exceeded all of our hopes, dreams and many prayers that were prayed. It was a vision fulfilled!
What started with a School of Ministry with 6 young men in the foothills of the Himalayas almost a decade ago when we had a lot of faith and no clue what we were doing has culminated into so much more than we could have ever imagined. There are now 40+ churches planted in formerly unreached areas of Asia and countless bible studies, 5 bible colleges and a multitude of outreach / compassion ministries in the most remote parts of the world.
The national pastors and their families have not only answered the call but are serving the Lord in their cities, towns and villages and it is nothing short of miraculous and you are apart of it all. It has been through your prayers, love, financial support and encouragement that our family is able to be on the ground and apart of all that God is doing in Asia to reach people for Jesus. We wanted to share a few of the testimonies that were received from the pastors who attended and what it meant to them.
As the theme of the meeting was, “Seeing Jesus” I was encouraged and challenged by the life and teachings of Jesus shared at the conference. The teaching from John 13 where it says that the hour has come and that time was appointed by God for Jesus to be crucified on the cross. God is in control and no can do any harm to us without His will/permission. This is very practical in our situation where we are facing so much persecutions and we needed to be reminded of this.
Pastor Peter from S. Asia
That’s really very much helpful and also very much encouraging. I’ve been busy in ministry from long time and I have needed this type of fellowship and encouragement. I really felt God has made a way for me to refresh and step into ministry and family in a biblical way. It was really a great blessing to sit and listen to the Word of God.
Pastor John from S. Asia
Meeting Pastor Bond and sister Heather is always exciting. They are the couple who has the most special significance in my life. They are like my spiritual role models. It’s always so interesting to watch them being so busy in dealing with many on and off screen schedules and I haven’t seen them boasting at least one time about how they are working hard for God’s kingdom. I have been learning love, kindness, patience, discipline, exhortation from them for the past 5 years and it was so inspiring and refreshing to meet and share time with these beautiful souls. Loved to see them connecting people with people who care and pray and it’s so joyful to see them spreading the gifts and blessings to hundreds and thousands of saints.
I can’t measure the value of time that I got to spend in Nepal, each moment was precious. Each person that I met was so inspiring. Each day was the day of renewed love for the ministry of God. Each hand shake and each hug and every gift I value so much as they meant a lot to me. I returned to my town with so much love, with a new perspective of doing ministry, with new hope and moreover with a new appetite for the Word of God. Thank you for making me the part of this beautiful reunion where I was so loved unconditionally!
Pastor Reggie from S. Asia
We are thrilled to share with you that from the 2021 graduates, there have been 6 new churches planted this past year. We are planning to have each one visited over the break and looking forward to how these new works will blossom and transform villages, families and many lives forever moving forward. We were grateful to pray for and commission the 2022 CBI graduates that we have been teaching and investing in. Pray for the graduates that like the 12 disciples they would take the Gospel to the ends of the earth and many more churches would be planted.
We thank God for you and for making it all possible!
Bond, Heather and Breanna Gaona
