Project Amount: $15,000

Field Description: The next class of 24 probationers-as-church-planters will be going out in June. Once again, our Lord used the previous class to raise up about 30 congregations, which will now be served by nearby IELC pastors and by incoming probationers. It is a thrill to see the zeal and confidence that God generates in these future pastors and deaconesses through this experience for future church planting in their ministries.

---

The LCMS partner church in India, the India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC), has its seminary graduates serve as probationers for three years after graduation, before they are approved for ordination, under the supervision of a pastor. The next class of 24 probationers-as-church-planters will be going out in June. Once again, our Lord used the previous class to raise up about 30 congregations, which will now be served by nearby IELC pastors and by incoming probationers. It is a thrill to see the zeal and confidence that God generates in these future pastors and deaconesses through this experience for future church planting in their ministries. Each probationer receives approximately $75 per month to cover rent, stipend, and programs.

Rev. Dr. Herbert Hoefer, LCMS Area Director for India and Sri Lanka, submitted the following report during his annual (January – February) visit to South Asia:

“We went to a new congregation that God has raised up through the work of one of the probationers. It’s a very interesting congregation in a burgeoning urban area, using three Indian languages, plus English, in its worship service. These people have such deep piety. After the service, for a good half hour, they come for personal prayers with laying on of hands.

At another village congregation yesterday, they had a grand service of church dedication (built through their own efforts), group baptism (about 15), and Confirmation (about 25). After that, I went to a distant rural village where another probationer is working.”

Contact person: Dr. V. Indrenath Stanley

Church Planters in India

Church planter (probationer) with a group of new believers meeting in a home.