Advancing the Great Collaboration in India
God is doing new and great things in India through NewThing’s Central Asia Regional Team. In the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, we have the opportunity to start 5 Networks with over 50 pastors who are partnering with Ignite and NewThing. One of those pastors is Pastor Akula.
Pastor Akula
Pastor Akula is a part of the Network in the city of Visakhapatnam. Growing up, Pastor Akula was raised in the Hindu faith before accepting Jesus Christ and becoming a Christian. He has a Bachelor of Theology and Doctorate of Theology from Calvary International Biblical Academy and is married with three children.
He started his pastoral ministry in 2013 when he tried to establish a church, but he soon found that this church hardly saw any fruit in its ministry. They were reaching very few people with the gospel, and they knew that they wanted to do more. Everything changed for this church when Pastor Akula was introduced to a training hosted by Ignite and NewThing. After implementing some of the tools and practices learned in this training, he started to see the multiplication of the believers, disciples, and leaders in his ministry.
Impactful Results from Collaboration
Here are just some of the results of Pastor Akula’s ministry…
He baptized over 54 people.
He trained 4 small group leaders that led 113 people.
He apprenticed 2 new pastors, Abhinazer and Isaac, who are now leading their own churches.
He has become a trainer of trainers, helping train over 350 leaders between NewThing, Ignite, and CIBA Residential Program.
He is also pioneering relationships with other pastors in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State to catalyze networks and see movement happen in India.
Pastor Akula understands what it means to reproduce at every ministry level: disciples, leaders, churches, networks, and movements.
Collaboration is key
This is the story of one pastor in one Network. Imagine the impact when pastors come together in collaboration in multiple networks worldwide to help people find their way back to God. New small groups are being started, and new people are coming to faith every month because of the work of this Network in Visakhapatnam.
Collaboration is key to reproducing and spreading the gospel. In John 17, Jesus prays to the Father:
“...I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."
-John 17:20-23
By the unity of the church of believers, the world will know that Jesus was sent. That is why we strive to advance this Great Collaboration globally.
Because pastors like Pastor Akula came together in collaborative Networks, we have seen unbelievable and exponential growth in Central Asia. In 2021 alone, we saw over 5,000 new churches start. That means that there are 5,000 new communities who are trying to reach the lost for Jesus.
This is the kind of exponential growth that can happen when someone supports NewThing efforts around the globe. You can help us continue this mission to catalyze movements of reproducing churches by collaborating with us in our Go Together initiative.
