Vision Conference Cleans Up in Hyderabad

We are happy to share the following excerpt from the personal newsletter of DNA co-founder, Dr. Bob Moffitt. Bob wrote after a combined Vision Conference and Training of Trainers held in May in Hyderabad, India. This Vision Conference was national in scope, with participants from 12 states. Some live in places of significant persecution of Christians.

The VC was organized by Gadde Rattaiah of Global Peacemakers Fellowship. Other national leaders included Raaj Mondol (SALT) and Rev. Sudhaker Mondithoka (Centenary Baptist Church).

Rattaiah is a younger leader in India with whom I have been “walking” for several years. He has a passion to spread the Harvest/DNA message throughout India. Rattaiah used his new organization, Global Peacemakers, to gather 35 pastors and leaders from across the country for the six-day event. I was one of four speakers. These folks showed an unusual level of interest and capacity to serve as advocates in their own denominations and/or institutions. Their eagerness to learn did not flag through the long, hot days; the temperature reached 113°F.

After the VC we had a four-day TOT. This training is designed to teach participants how to use and teach three Harvest tools: Disciplines of Love, Seed Projects, and BASICS – an early discipleship program with eleven lessons. Each day, student-participants are accountable for serving others in some new way. They learn a basic pedagogical approach to leading others in discipleship and then practice what they learn on each other, and finally, they design and carry out a project which demonstrates the love of Christ to people not likely to be exposed to the Gospel in either word or action.

For their Seed Project they distributed food packets, and gave haircuts and shaves to destitute men and women on the train station platform. The cooking started at 4 a.m. Our group arrived at the station platform about 7 a.m. By 10 a.m they had cut the hair of (and shaved) a dozen men and given food packets to about 50 people.

Most of the participants are pastors. They told me they had never done anything like this. It is easy to understand why. The destitute people they ministered to were very dirty. One man had long hair, a beard, and filthy clothes. At his invitation they cut his hair and shaved him. But he smelled so bad that when they took him to the public shower the attendant wouldn’t let him enter without paying double the fee. One of the participants went in with him and when the man took off his clothes the smell was so bad that our participant vomited. The team bought him pants and a shirt from a nearby stall for $2. The transformation was amazing. While ministering Christ’s love the team was able to talk to him, witness to him, and pray for him. The team all told me that they now have courage to return and minister in a similar way in their home areas.

Bob reports that participants formed a new all-India association. To decide on a name, they all wrote their suggestions and one of the children of the participants randomly chose the final selection–Vision India Network.