Cultivating Leadership: Unveiling New Horizons of Faith with the Academy for Church Planting & Leadership

We are so excited to celebrate the 2023 graduating class of the Academy for Church Planting & Leadership.

Our mission at REAP is to make disciples, one way we do that is through the work of ACPL and church planting efforts throughout India. ACPL’s goal is to cultivate spiritual leadership and empower passionate individuals to sow the seeds of faith across the vast landscapes of India. Driven by a vision to strengthen the spiritual fabric of our society, ACPL is shaping new pastors and church planters, equipping them with the essential skills, theological training, and compassionate hearts to build, nourish, and replicate their own churches.

Graduation Day: A Testament of Achievement and Aspiration

We have just celebrated the graduation of our latest class, a group of dedicated and determined individuals who have shown tremendous commitment to their callings.

This group of men hail from various backgrounds but share a common, burning passion - to be messengers of the Gospel. They have spent countless hours immersing themselves in theological studies, leadership training, and community-building exercises. Their journey has been one of personal and collective growth, interspersed with moments of challenge, triumph, self-discovery, and a deepened relationship with God.

Their time at ACPL has prepared them not just with a rich theological understanding, but also with practical, hands-on experience to navigate the real-world challenges of church planting and leadership. Through our various outreach programs and training they have had the opportunity to engage with communities, understand their spiritual needs, and apply their learning in a meaningful way.

We wholeheartedly congratulate our graduates for their steadfast determination, their remarkable accomplishments, and most importantly, for the incredible journey that lies ahead of them. As they take their first steps into the world as trained pastors and church planters, we know they are equipped to make a lasting difference in the lives they touch and the communities they serve.

Onward with Faith: The Journey Continues

As our graduates venture forth to plant new churches and nourish existing ones, our mission continues. The ACPL will tirelessly strive to provide quality education and leadership training for future pastors and church planters. We are fueled by the success of our students, knowing that each new church founded and each community touched brings us one step closer to our vision.

To our graduates, we send you out with heartfelt prayers.

Let's together continue sowing the seeds of the Gospel, one leader at a time.

Stone Memorial Building Update

We have exciting progress to share this month on The John & Phyllis Stone Memorial building!

If you are unfamiliar with this project, we were blessed in 2021 with donations to The John & Phyllis Stone Memorial. We were able to raise over $200,000 to go towards this important project. All funds raised are being used for the work at our ministry’s main campus in Bangalore, India to build a new dormitory for church planters during their training as well as further training facilities. This is a key tool in our work to raise up church-planting disciple-makers.

Our need to build the dormitory is driven by our goal of educating 100 church planters every year, and we want to begin training their spouses, too. The current facility cannot house more than 20 people at a time and is severely inadequate. The new facility will include dormitories, bathroom facilities, food services, classrooms, and space for producing our online training modules.

New work is being completed and we are starting to see the bones of this project come together. Take a look at recent photos of the work being done below. We still need more funds to finish this project!

The second level of the structure is underway!

This is the first level where there will be parking.

Progress of the roofing work being completed.

We are so excited to see work being completed on this extremely important project. Stay tuned for more updates to come soon!

If you’d like to learn more about this project or give to the John & Phyllis Stone Memorial Project, click here, contact Steve Albright at reaptreasurer@gmail.com, or give us a call at 865-409-0371.

An Introduction to REAP Church Planters: Who They Are, What They Do, and the Impact They Create

At REAP, disciple making is our top priority. Because of this, our mission revolves around planting reproducing churches throughout India. We want to see a movement of church planting across India, with each church planter fully equipped to begin planting churches in their region on their own. Our ultimate goal is to establish sustainable and reproducible churches within a 5-year time period.

In order to do this, we must be have the right people in the right places to carry out this critical work. We wanted to walk you through what that process looks like to give you insight on how it all works, who our church planters are, the impact they make, and how your donations make it all happen.

Who Our Church Planters Are

Our church planters are men who are interested in being trained as pastors, want to have an impact on their community, and want to share the Gospel. These individuals are passionate about serving and helping others in their communities, and they have a deep desire to share the love of Christ with those around them.

How We Identify Them/How They Are Chosen

We invite local leaders and others to send their potential candidates for the next church planting project. The key leader and the leadership team then select likely candidates. These candidates receive initial training and are sent for a 6-month trial period to prove their commitment and capability. Proven candidates will be taken into the project for 3 years, with a contract to plant indigenous and reproductive churches. During the 3-year period, church planters will go through 16 weeks of training and receive financial support, supervision, and mentoring. We encourage pioneering and the formation of new disciples, rather than taking members from other churches.

Their Impact On Their Local Community

Our church planters have a tremendous impact on their local communities. They share the Gospel and bring people to Christ, rescue orphans and provide them a home at a Springbuds location, help those in poverty or in need in the local area, help people find jobs or ways to overcome their difficult situations and so much more. By planting churches, our pastors help build up the local community and provide a foundation for lasting change.

How Your Donations Impact Them

Your donations directly impact this work and allow it to happen. Donations directly go to church planters to help them provide for their families while ministering in the community. Generous giving allows more pastors to be trained and churches to be planted. Your support is essential in helping us achieve our mission of planting reproducing churches across India. We can’t thank our donors enough for their faithfulness!

Church Planting is Our Greatest Mission

We believe that planting churches is essential to building up local communities and spreading the Gospel in India. Our church planters are dedicated and passionate about serving their communities and sharing the love of Christ. With your support, we can continue to train and equip more pastors and plant more churches across India. If you’d like to give towards our mission, click here.

Picnic in the Grove 2023 Recap

Our third annual Picnic in the Grove event was a huge success! Keep reading to learn about all of the fun we had, the amazing turnout, and the final tally of the funds we were able to raise for REAP!

This year’s event included a corn hole tournament, a petting zoo, and a basketball game. Kids in attendance were able to create art pieces with their handprints and then were sold in a live auction! These pieces will be hung at the Springbud's homes in India.

We were also incredibly blessed to have the premier fundraising group in Austin, Cowboy Auctioneers, donate their time to help put on the live auction. Thank you SO much to the Cowboy Auctioneers for all of your help!

We had 225 attendees this year and our very own Dr. Jayakumar was in attendance too! He joined in on the fun and shared the history of REAP.  It was amazing to see so many new families at this year’s event and to be able to share what God is doing in India.

In all, we were able to raise $255,000 dollars! Truly incredible. We could not be more grateful to every single person who made this possible. These donations will help to deploy 25 church planters over the next year as well as the ongoing needs of the Springbud Children's Homes. 

We already can’t wait for next year!

Springbuds Update | February 2023

We have many new updates to share with you about our Springbuds Program. Keep reading to learn what our Springbuds have been up to lately.

Whenever we have Springbuds that are old enough to graduate from our Shihaphumi home and head to our home in Dimapur, the staff puts on a “Farewell Dinner.” These 3 Springbuds recently graduated from the younger home and enjoyed their special dinner before they head to Dimapur.

Two of our Springbuds in Dimapur — Viboli and Namasen — got to participate in a special cultural song/dance at the school’s recent jubilee!

Springbuds at school!

Meet Loinoli! She is 5 years old. Her father passed away when she was just 5 days old. She has 7 other siblings but her mother eloped with another man and is now excommunicated from the village due to her poor moral behavior. All of her siblings are quite young and not able to take care of her. When her uncle approached us about helping we immediately took her in. We’re so grateful to be able to help precious children like Loinoli.

Meet Akivi! After his father passed away his mother remarried a man from her own tribe and left him at her aunt's house. Since the aunt was childless, his mother left him believing she could take care of them. However, his aunt is very poor and unable to take care of herself, let alone him. Since she lives in a village nearby Shihapumi, she approached us to see if he could help. Thanks to many generous donations we were able to immediately say “Yes!”

Wrapping Up

Thank you for investing in our Springbuds program. Because of you, we’re able to take new Springbuds in, invest in their lives, send them to school, and share the Gospel with them on a daily basis.

If you want to learn more about our Springbuds program, just click here.