Good News Amidst Growing COVID Crisis in India
As you are well aware, the COVID crisis has gripped the world, perhaps none worse than what we are seeing in India today. Fortunately, A3 just received a matching challenge to help serve the church in India as well as the Middle East.
I’m writing to ask you to prayerfully consider giving to help meet that match. But I’m not asking you to give for relief efforts in India—that’s not the purpose of the match. It’s for something much more important during this time of increased COVID in India:
Leader development expansion.
Read on to find out why this is even more critical than relief efforts. And don’t forget, your gift for leader development in India will be doubled!
The Current Situation
To get a sense of how bad things have been in India and how A3 has prepared leaders to face crises, I wanted you to see this letter from Santosh*, one of our leaders in India. The first part of the letter tells the current situation:
Things are very bad. The government’s only goal is to cover up, so that Modi’s [Prime Minister of India] image is not affected. Many of our alumni were tested positive and by His grace no fatalities. But many lost their parents or close relatives. Even among our national team five were COVID positive. Some of them very severe, even admitted to hospitals. But by His grace, all recovered.
Since the hospitals are exploiting the situation, medical care is expensive at this time. Our national situation is scary. If one falls sick today there are no hospital beds available. Sourcing oxygen is tough. People are dying because they are not getting timely medial assistance. The pandemic is ravaging the nation. It’s an ocean out here. So many deaths even within our known circle.
How A3 Leaders Are Different
But those who have been through A3’s leader development program don’t panic and don’t just sit around waiting for the government or someone else to take action. This part of Santosh’s letter tells what they are doing about the situation:
Since the government is clueless, the civil society is doing everything within its capacity to pitch in at this time of crisis. At this point we are helping families in our network who are struggling to pay bills. A3 leaders are involved in relief and they partner with one another to assist those who need it. And we have set up a task force to provide oxygen and help with hospitalization for the whole Christian community. Please continue to pray for our Nation.
Helping struggling families… setting up a task force to provide oxygen… helping with hospitalization… partnering together to provide relief and assistance. That takes leadership initiative. That’s what A3 leader development programs prepare leaders to do. Relief supplies, especially oxygen, are important, of course. But if the supplies are available and no one takes responsibility for distribution to those who need it most, the relief does little good.
A3 pulls together leaders from churches across the nations for an intensive two- to three-year process that builds comradery and trust, just like you see in Santosh’s letter. These alumni are reaching out to one another, delivering aid in their communities, taking food to shut-ins, even risking their own lives to do so.
The Coming Leadership Vacuum
With three strong training areas in India, A3 alumni are having a positive impact during this COVID increase crisis. And your prayers and gifts in the past made that happen. But India’s population is quickly approaching 1.4 billion. Also, Christian leaders are dying from COVID. Vijayesh Lal, general secretary of Evangelical Fellowship of India, told Christianity Today recently,
"The church has lost a lot of leadership. And when you consider that it takes time and effort to build up leadership, I believe we are headed for a leadership vacuum."
Some informed estimates put the loss of Christian leaders at more than 2,000. India’s church desperately needs more of the kind of leadership development A3 provides.
Now you can make that happen!
Your gift of $50, $100, or $150 will be used to open a new training area in India which will develop more effective leaders like Santosh. Perhaps the Lord has blessed you in such a way that you could give $500 or $1,000 or more. But even if you can’t give $50, your gift of any size, when combined with many others, will provide desperately needed leader development for pastors and other ministry leaders.
And don’t forget . . . your gift will be doubled! Thank you for caring and for walking beside leaders like Santosh who are making a difference today!
With Christ,
Rev. Joseph W. Handley, Jr., Ph.D.
President, A3
@jwhandley
@jwhandley
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