The movement to multiply faithful and generous stewards and accredit churches and ministries for following standards continues to grow in South Asia. The South Asia region includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

We choose this photo of colorful shoes to top this report for two symbolic reasons. Firstly, the order of their placement illustrates how workers in the region show a growing interest in implementing faithful administration for integrity and diligent oversight for sustainability.

Secondly, this photo also directs our attention to the beneficiaries of this work, such as orphans, in this case. We visited 3 orphanages in Bangladesh and provided advice and templates to administrators. As a result, we can see them engaging more people to serve 5 to 10 times more children.

We celebrate that we see God bringing order and oversight so church and ministry efforts can extend the reach of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This report sums up the fruits of recent trips and shares what we anticipate in the coming year in three areas: countries, collaboration, and consultation.

Countries

In December 2024, I (Rebecca) began my voluntary service as both GTP Regional Facilitator for South Asia and as NobleRank Growth Strategist. NobleRank accredits churches and organizations in India to 5 standards to honor God and build public trust. NobleRank has 25 accredited members.

In January 2025, we spoke at biblical governance seminars in Mumbai and Delhi hosted by CIM (Christian Institute for Management). These two events surfaced enthusiastic stewards and generated 30 accreditation leads for NobleRank.

We also traveled to Bangladesh in January 2025 with Prakash Chandra Giri (GTP Curriculum Developer) from Nepal. We hosted two events: (1) to form a working group to bring peer accountability to Bangladesh and (2) to train workers to spread the message of biblical generosity. The unanimous response to draft standards and grow stewards exceeded our expectations.

Looking ahead, I (Gary) will travel to Pakistan in February 2025, invited by key Christian workers to speak at accountability and generosity events in Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi. GTP also has invitations to visit Nepal and Sri Lanka. We praise God for the growing interest in the region.

Consultation

On 6-9 May 2025, GTP and CIM will host the International Consultation on Enterprise Risk Management for Churches and Nonprofits. It will feature speakers from around the world. This consultation has three aims:

1. To bring together voices from varied backgrounds on one platform to do fresh research and reflect on risk-related issues for individuals and institutions from a biblical perspective.
2. To equip the delegates and participants to integrate an enterprise risk management (ERM) framework in the administration and governance of their churches and nonprofits.
3. To provide a theoretical base for researchers to explore further and practical ERM tools for board members and administrators to apply in churches and nonprofits.

Participants who attend all the sessions will receive a certificate. While registration has not yet opened for this consultation, closer to the event, interested stewards will find the speakers, schedule, and more on this page.

Collaboration

The work of bringing order and oversight to South Asia calls for collaboration between partners and collaborating institutions and networks. We see this happening. Consider three examples:

Firstly, in India, IMA (India Missions Association) serves 317 organizations, 60,000+ missionaries, and 300,000+ national workers. They engaged Via (formerly the Center for Mission Mobilization) to train their workers to rally their networks to engage in mission.

But IMA and Via found that the organizations lacked the structure and standards to do this work. So, with GTP and NobleRank, a pilot group of 25 IMA organizations has started to pursue NobleRank accreditation as a model for all IMA organizations. Imagine the long-term impact!

Secondly, in countries like Bangladesh or Nepal, the invitation for GTP and NobleRank to strengthen stewards and help set up standards comes from the evangelical alliance networks. These alliance networks have convening power and the capacity to spread the reach of our efforts nationwide.

Thirdly, in Sri Lanka, thanks to networking at Lausanne 4 in Seoul, administrators at schools like Colombo Theological Seminary have taken GTP on-demand courses and given positive feedback. This may open the door for onsite program work in 2025 or 2026.

Prayer Points

Praise God for the positive response to NobleRank accreditation in India. Pray for continued growth and refer others to their website. Pray for the workers in Bangladesh to activate a peer accountability group with coaching from GTP and to spread the generosity training nationwide. Pray for fruitful ministry next month in Pakistan and for the international consultation on ERM in May to serve workers around the world. Ask God to open doors for onsite work in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and other countries. Click to read the trip reports for India and Bangladesh for more information.