As volunteers come across the world to share the Good News of Jesus with lost souls in India, seldom do they realize the positive ripple effect that their short-term ministry has on local Christians – especially youth.
South Carolina volunteers share stories with students during a short-term trip to India.When South Carolina volunteers visited India last summer, six Indian youth from a local Baptist church served as their translators. The experience changed the youths’ lives, and now they are bolder witnesses for Christ.
“It was really awesome to see the local youth step up to help with translation. They did a great job!” said Irene Wayne,* a Southern Baptist representative serving in India. “None of them had ever thought that they could be involved in ministry like that.”
The daughter of the director of the local Baptist association served as one of the translators for South Carolina volunteers.
“She said, ‘I never thought I could do this kind of thing like my father or my uncle or my aunt.’ We pointed out to her that her father, uncle and aunt all had to start sometime – and they did it when someone gave them an opportunity like this,” Wayne said.
All six of the youth who helped the South Carolina volunteers seemed amazed that they could minister as they did.
“They were very encouraged,” said Bud Fox,* who serves as a journeyman in India. “They realized that they can serve the Father, and they were very excited about that.
“Ask that the Father would continue to give the local youth passion to serve him,” he said. “Ask that they would be used mightily by him.”
South Carolina volunteers enjoy having their photo taken with some of their new Indian friends.The South Carolina volunteers used Bible stories as a way to train local believers to share their faith and as they personally shared the gospel with non-Christians.
“They were here to share stories from the word of God to encourage believers in nearby villages and to reach out to non-believers in areas we are not yet working,” said Liam Giodorno,* another journeyman. “The Carolina team also helped my partner and me resume our existing work. Our ongoing training in a nearby village has resumed, and the believers there are responding with great enthusiasm.”
As the local Baptist youth translated for the volunteers, they learned – both from the material presented and the examples modeled.
In one village, “the volunteers taught the first few lessons, and two youth were there to translate,” Wayne said. “Since then, these two youth have continued to help the Journeymen train the local believers. They were quite eager to do this.”
During the month following the volunteers’ visit, 32 of those local Christians shared their testimonies with 108 people, Wayne said. “And 42 decided to follow Jesus!”
One of the two boys has to be at work at 7 a.m. each day, but that doesn’t stop him from going out to minister at night, even though it is nearly midnight when he gets back home.
“He really wants to be involved with this ministry,” Wayne said. “The opportunity that the South Carolina volunteers gave him has spurred him on to continue doing ministry like never before.
“This volunteer team was strategic in helping us as we work with the local Baptists here in India,” Wayne said. “We are so grateful to South Carolinians who come to serve alongside us.”
*Names changed for security reasons. Frances serves as a writer in South Asia.
Learn more about SCBC service opportunities at www.scbaptist.org/international/article97982c591322.htm.?