Dear Friends:

Greetings in the matchless name of Jesus! March is the month our Transformation Center students finish their studies and graduate into full time service as Church Planters.

As you read these reports, please keep our team in prayer, particularly as the soon-to-be graduates are seeking God for guidance about where He is calling them to work. We do not assign our graduates to a village, but allow them to hear from the Lord about this all important decision.

Have you ever considered joining us in India to visit one or more of these locations first-hand? Let me personally invite you to do so. I promise it will be a positive, life-changing experience! We are organizing our fall schedule of trips now. Keep an eye on our blog for updated information or call us for an application.

Grace and Peace,

Jeff Cannon | Director, Empart USA

Dear Empart USA Supporter,

As I think about the upcoming Easter celebration and Jesus’ incredible sacrifice, I am humbled and inspired to do all I can to see lives transformed by His love.

One young woman, Neelam, is living proof of the saving power of Jesus. After years of suffering from an incurable disease, Neelam’s heart stopped beating. Her distraught mother wept uncontrollably as her precious young daughter began slipping away.

Pastor Paul, an Empart Church Planter, prayed and laid hands on Neelam’s lifeless body. Suddenly a breeze, seemingly from nowhere, swept through the room. To everyone’s astonishment, Neelam opened her eyes! She had returned from death to life.

Neelam’s story is truly a miracle.

Pastor Paul was used by God to help Neelam because he was properly prepared and equipped for ministry. He attended an Empart Transformation Center, where he was discipled and taught how to share the Gospel message. This teaching, his unfailing faith and total expectation provided the perfect vehicle through which God moved to raise Neelam from death to life.

Empart has been transforming the lives of unreached people, like Neelam, through God’s Word since 1998. By His grace, and in partnership with loyal supporters worldwide, over 8,400 churches have been planted since.

This Easter, will you ‘Rise Up’ and partner with Empart to ensure that men like Pastor Paul and women like Neelam are properly equipped, and many more lives are transformed for eternity?

You can donate online at www.EmpartUSA.Org, call the office at 1-888-TO-EMPART or email us at Info@EmpartUSA.Org.

Remember: we are all only one heartbeat away from eternity. We look forward to ‘rising up’ with you this upcoming Easter. Thank you for reaching out to those who desperately need to know of Jesus and His saving love. In eternity, you will be so glad you did!

For the Lord and the lost,

Jossy Chacko
Empart Founder and International Director

“Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

The Jewish leaders of the first century considered the Apostles to be utterly unqualified for religious leadership. Their assessment of Peter and John could not have been more mistaken! These men, and the rest of the Apostolic band, had lived with Jesus for 3 years. They underwent a 24/7/365 brand of discipleship that gave them the character and the motivation to turn the world upside down.

Our Empart Church Planters undergo a one year live-in discipleship program not unlike the way Jesus trained the 12. By nature, this training is highly relational, allowing the trainer and his family to get to know each student in a way no US seminary can match. By participating in weekly evangelism and outreach, and planting a church during their year of study, they are well prepared for the rigors of life in an unreached village.

We equip our students with a number of practical skills that will help them connect with the people among whom they minister. We also partner with other organizations like The Gideons for the written Scriptures and Faith Comes By Hearing for Audio Bibles that allow us to reach into tribal areas where our pastors don’t share a common language with the people.

As you may know, the average Empart Church Planter will establish 3 churches in his first 5 years of ministry. We define a church as a gathering of believers that has at least 12 baptized members, meets weekly for worship and instruction by one of our pastors, and is intentional in its own outreach to the next village. That means that, at a minimum, one graduating class from one of our 21 Transformation Centers will have a part in seeing 720 new converts added to the Kingdom in 5 years.

These numbers are quite exciting to consider. Just think of the impact we can have when all 100 of our planned Centers are in operation! We invite you to join us in supporting this vital ministry. Your gift of any amount to our Transformation Centers will help keep the lights on and food on the table as we train and equip the next generation of Christian leaders.

As we support them through our prayers and our giving, we are truly co-laborers in Christ. How exciting it will be to meet these dear brothers and sisters for worship at the Throne of Grace in Heaven. May their tribe increase!

Yours In Christ,
Jeff Cannon | Director- Empart USA

“…When he who had set me apart before I was born… was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone, nor did I go up to Jerusalem … but I went away into Arabia…” Galatians 1:15-17 ESV

Even the best of us need instruction. Proverbs 9:9 tells us that when we give instruction to a wise man, he becomes even wiser. Elsewhere in scripture we see examples of character after character seeking instruction and growing into mighty men of God because of it. Look at the disciples – blue collar workers and fishermen who knew little about theology yet became the instigators to a worldwide movement of Jesus followers all through the instruction of the God-man, Jesus Christ.

For young, zealous believers in India the motivation to serve in increasing levels of leadership within the church are common. In India, there is no disconnect between Jesus’ final command to make disciples and the lives of each and every believer. With so many unreached communities across North India and Nepal, it would seem unimaginable to not make evangelism a top priority. This reality has created a massive need to train up new generations of believers to carry on the message of the Cross and the love that Jesus has for everyone.

Empart Transformation Centers are the meat of what our mission has to offer. Robust theological training, evangelistic methodology, and encouragement to live as a Church Planter in a region that will likely be hostile are just a few areas our Church Planters are trained in. The message of Jesus Christ is preached through these men and women in remote and unreached villages and communities. Without the tools and teachings that these centers have to offer many zealous believers will lose the passion and fire that can be harnessed for Kingdom purposes.

Students in our Empart Transformation Centers are taught the importance of sharing the Gospel on one’s heart language. This is the language that one would speak to themselves; their first language and the linguistic line of demarcation that everything is translated through. We are privileged to have a partnership with Faith Comes By Hearing, which allows our Empart Church Planters to share the Gospel even with those who speak a different language! They do this with the Proclaimer audio Bible that is loaded with specific tribel languages we are working in. God is bringing great fruit through these labors!

Srikanth was one of those souls saved from Satanic worship and mingling with a witch doctor after hearing the story of Jesus from an Empart Church Planter. The Church Planter, Anurudh, shared the message in his heart language via the Faith Comes By Hearing message and Sirkanth accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior for the first time. Sumitra is another person saved from listening to the message of Jesus in her heart language. Sumitra was brought up in a strong Hindu family where gossip and fighting was very common. After giving her life to Jesus, Sumitra now shares Jesus with her friends and writes worship songs to praise the Lord.

The Holy Spirit is moving in awesome ways in India and Nepal through our Church Planters. Unreached people are accepting Jesus everyday and becoming encouraged to get trained and carry on in the mission. Empart Transformation Centers are functioning as the “Arabia” of North India and Nepal. They are equipping the next generation of Indian leaders and evangelists to boldly take the Gospel where it has never gone before. Consider taking part in this journey with us as we prayerfully believe that 100,000 churches will be planted as a result of the training up and sending of indigenous Church Planters through our Transformation Centers around Northern India and Nepal.

Learn more about how you can partner with us in seeing the lost saved and training up a new generation of church planters in India by clicking here.

Empart Transformation Center’s are arguably the most important ministry our organization operates. With our vision of seeing 100,000 churches planted by 2030, it is vital that we train and equip young men and women to be biblically literate, skilled in evangelism, and strong in their personal faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Currently, Empart has 21 Transformation Centers scattered throughout Northern India and Nepal each equipping and sending indigenous church planters back into the region once graduated. The average Empart Church Planter will establish 3 churches in his first 5 years of ministry. We define a church as a gathering of believers that has at least 12 baptized members, meets weekly for worship and instruction by one of our pastors, and is intentional in its own outreach to the next village. That means that, at a minimum, one graduating class from one of our 21 Transformation Centers will have a part in seeing 720 new converts added to the Kingdom in 5 years.

Our model is based on the discipleship model we see Jesus use in scripture with the twelve. Jesus didn’t teach a class, close the book and say “see you next week” – no, Jesus lived side-by-side with his students and taught them by living with them. It was the everyday life situations that we see Jesus use as opportunities to tell parables or reveal his perfect character. By nature, this training is highly relational, allowing the trainer and his family to get to know each student in a way no US seminary can match.

By supporting an Empart Transformation Center, you are playing a direct role is seeing churches planted and unreached people saved. Pray about how you too can play a part in this amazing journey in seeing lives saved and communities transformed. In eternity, you will be glad you did!

To help impact thousands of lives for eternity by supporting an Empart Transformation Center, click here.

Dear Friends,

It is with great joy that we bring you these reports. Each one contains exciting updates and heart warming accounts of the every day life of an Empart Pastor. Please keep lifting our team to the Father and use these reports to share our story with others.

Thanks so much for your support of our work in India and Nepal! Write us a note if we can add you to our prayer list. As our Pastor James Samuel says, “With Jesus, all things are possible.”

Grace and Peace,

On February 13, 2012 at Convocation, North America’s largest weekly gathering of Christian students, Jossy Chacko, Founder and International Director of Empart, spoke to students about reaching the unreached and how the Great Commission is for all believers. Jossy said that the Gospel is worth everything, including our own life. Watch the full message via the video below.

To learn more about Empart and how you can join our mission to reach the lost in Northern Indian and Nepal, please click here.

Saturday, February 4, 2012
Greetings from India!

Our team had an incredible day on yesterday.
After an early morning bicycle-rickshaw ride down to the Ganges river and auto-rickshaw ride back, we headed out to the Varanasi Church Planter Training Center. This is what we were all waiting for. What a morning together with these dear believers!

We were greeted with singing, dancing and flower leis and then had a chance to share the Word and our hearts with these young, committed, passionate men in training.

Over the course of the meeting 6 of our team did an excellent job sharing what God had laid on their hearts to share with these men. One spoke from the story of Elijah confronting the prophets of Baal. One spoke about the importance of Scripture memory. Another spoke about the greatness of God and his care for us from Isaiah chapter 40. I spoke of the blessing of Abraham in Genesis 12 and its fulfillment in Christ and our shared mission to bring the blessing to the nations from Matthew 28.

Around 1:00 we left the training center and travelled around an hour to visit an Empart ladies sewing center. Again our hearts were stirred to see village women being simply taught to sew to provide for themselves. Many of these women don’t yet know the Lord, but are hearing the Gospel day after day as they receive their training. This sewing center, like all Empart Sewing Centers, is the outgrowth of a local church, planted and pastored by a trained church planter.

Next we visited an Empart Children’s Home, yet another expression of ministry of a local church. This home consisted of 8 boys, some orphaned, some who could not be cared for by their parents, living in the home of an Empart Church Planter, his wife and their 4 children. The boys were joyful and well behaved, and obviously very loved.

The work of God in North India came alive for our team today! They all said, “Pictures and videos don’t capture it. You have to see it for yourself.”

Tomorrow we will board a 5 hour train for the Training Center we as a church support in Patna. Thanks for your prayers.

Because of and for the Gospel. . . Pastor Tim (Grace Church, San Luis Obispo, CA)

If you’d like to support one of the Empart ministries mentioned above, please visit our giving page by clicking here.

“It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke in his youth.” Lamentations 3:27

Impoverished populations in nations such as India, share a commonality in demographics often over looked. A missing generation exists, yet few have taken the time to notice. Population statistics reveal a startling trend in that the populous of the young and the old are surged, while the middle aged have become a rarity. What causes such an anomaly to happen?  What are its implications for the future of a nation? And how does it affect the way we spread the Gospel message?

Poverty breeds desperate and painful realities. When the main life struggle is to simply earn enough money to feed your starving family, whatever options of income you have, you take. This looks different for each person but the desperation to survive leads to painfully exploitative and backbreaking labor. Life isn’t easy for an impoverished man or woman in India. This harsh reality cuts lives short, leaving children to fend for themselves sooner and begin their life of arduous labor at a younger age. This has brought the average lifespan down, the young population high, and the elderly as the lucky few. Fifty percent of the Indian population is below the age of 25 and sixty five percent of the populous is under 35.

With demographics like this, ministry happens differently than in the western context. In virtually all cultures, age denotes wisdom. But when age is unattainable, who’s left to gain and share wisdom? Young men and women in India have had to work with what they have to gain respect in a world defined largely by age.

As a church planting ministry throughout Northern India, Empart has found the age demographics of this region do not pose a hindrance but a blessing.  Unreached people groups around the world are largely unreached because access is not easy. Youthfulness is helpful when living life in an inconvenient, rural and simplistic way. These difficult locations make it too hard for an older married pastor to relocate. Many regions have inadequate schools, medical care and other necessities that a young family needs. If a young single man moves to a place like this and God prospers him, he can then put down roots and begin a family after he is established.

The realities of persecution also make a younger church planter more advantageous than an older man. Ministry in a society of non-Christians means having the boldness to weather through harsh verbal and sometimes physical abuse. And lastly, a youthful population is often the most zealous and passionate about their mission to save the lost.

(See the update on this situation in the comment section below this blog)

Empart USA Friends & Supporters, we urgently need your prayers.

Over the weekend, an Empart Church Planter and two church leaders were kidnapped.

The Church Planter and two leaders (names withheld) were taken by force on their way to an evangelistic outreach event. At this stage, we do not know who took them or what their demands are. Local witnesses were unable to identify the perpetrators as their faces were covered.

The kidnapping occurred in the Udaipur Region, in an area dominated by militant Naxalites – a Maoist party considered to be the most dangerous terrorist organisation in India. Many people suspect that Naxalites were responsible for the abductions.

While this is a serious situation, we serve a mighty God who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:19-21).

Please join us as we lift these precious brothers in prayer. Pray for their safety, protection and for God’s comfort and peace to rest with their terrified families until their safe return.

This is the first time any of our workers have been kidnapped. Please also pray for God’s divine wisdom and direction for Jossy Chacko and the Indian leaders.

Please encourage your friends, family and church community to mobilise prayer for these men. How can they face such situations without us standing with them?

Together in prayer,
The Empart USA Team