From the President's desk...
Dr. Paul R. Gupta
Period April to September 2003
As we begin the new era after completing the first fifty years, my heart is filled with gratitude to our Lord Jesus Christ for His continued providence in the ministries of Hindustan Bible Institute. We are so excited to continuously work with Him in His mission of reaching the unreached people and discipling them into communities of believers. I am thankful to the Board of Directors for your continuous support, counsel and prayers for me and the ministries of Hindustan Bible Institute.
As I look into the future of India and the mission in India, I am completely convinced that we ought to hear God every moment and do what He wants us to do. I do realize and acknowledge that more challenges are ahead of us and we can move forward only with His power, grace and wisdom. I am convinced that more prayer warriors are to be raised all over the world to help us bring the people who are in darkness into His marvelous light.
It is projected that by the year 2035, India will overtake China in population. India is more like a continent that has many nations. There are over 5,000 people groups in India and less than 10% of them have Christian presence. Our population is 1,029,991,145 that consists of 57.6% Hindus (4% Brahmins, 8.3% Kshatriyas & Vaishyas, 45.3% Sudras), 14.5% Scheduled castes, 7.6% are Scheduled tribes, 12% Muslims, 2.3% Christians and 6% others like Budhists, Sikhs, Jains etc.
The increased growth of urbanization and globalization along with religious fundamentalism, India is experiencing rapid changes in economy, politics, religion and culture. The need of the hour is an evangelical awakening in existing churches and the mobilizing of local churches to evangelism and missions. Our strategy should include a church planting movement in every people group of our nation so that one day there will be a church in every village and colony of every town and city of our nation.
It is very evident that God is at work and thousands of people are turning to Christ every day. It is also observed that church planting momentum is taking place all over India. We see multiplication of cell groups and house churches all over our nation. This brings a challenge for developing "transformational leaders for the Church and the nation". If Hindustan Bible Institute & College were going to make a significant impact in India, we must continue to develop various types of transformational leaders using formal, non-formal and informal methods to equip and enable men and women for the mission of the church.
Our master strategy, Leadership Development, is to fulfill our purpose of giving every individual an opportunity to hear, understand and respond to the Gospel and be discipled into communities of believers, so that a church is planted in every village and colony of every town and city of India. As we enter this new era, may the Lord enable us to never loose sight of our mission and may He give us wisdom to strategically carry out the vision He has placed in our hearts during our generation.
©2010 HBI Global Partners. All Rights Reserved.