Semi-Annual Update
We never get tired of hearing about the amazing things God is doing around the world. Vulnerable churches in Africa and Asia – those who never before learned that God wanted them to care for other’s physical needs, those who thought they were too poor to do anything for God – are learning the truth and rising up. Church members are giving food to widows. Families are welcoming orphans. Couples are finding healing in their relationships. Addicts are finding freedom. The Creator knows how His creation works best, and when we follow His guidelines and rely on Him, transformation happens.
Impact after the Very First Module
As nearly 10,000 churches have recently graduated the five year program, thousands of new churches have just begun to learn TCT.
As the first of their stories begin to pour in, we are amazed at what God is doing in their midst!
After Module 1, we only ask churches to do one small Act of Love–something they could accomplish in a few hours with no outside resources. Even then, we advise our trainers that some churches won’t apply the ideas right away. Change is hard and often starts slowly. And yet God is moving in many churches in ways so big it can only be from Him!
Recently some churches among a remote tribal population in South Asia completed the first module of TCT. Here is what they have already done:
- They planted green leafy vegetables for a widow living in poverty so she would have food to eat.
- Church members gathered wood from the jungle to repair a house for a family in need
- Church members brought an elderly lady to live in their home so she didn’t have to stay alone when her family moved out of town for work.
- Church members visited and encouraged a man whom they had formerly asked not to attend church due to his alcoholism. He attends church regularly.
- Three men and three women from a church started visiting families who only came to church occasionally. After seeing the love and concern of these believers, they now attend church regularly.
- Church members are gathering together to pray and experiencing greater unity.
- Believers adopted a girl from an orphanage, allowing her to continue her education.
- Christians worked to widen a road, allowing ambulances to reach the village.
Keep reading for more stories of how God is moving in churches across Asia and Africa.
Growing in Discipleship
Our largest program is Truth Centered Transformation (TCT), and it has three goals:
God glorified
Communities moving out of poverty
Churches strengthened
These goals flow beautifully into each other. As churches receive training and are strengthened and grab hold of Biblical truth, they begin taking action. They help those around them – a widow who needs food, a couple struggling in their marriage, a school that needs cleaning, or a road in need of repair.
As those in the community see the church loving people, they are amazed and give glory to God.
We’ve seen whole communities that have been trapped in generational poverty begin to flourish as God intends.
But change happens a little at a time. It can be difficult for churches to recognize the transformation God is bringing. So this past year we introduced a tool to help them celebrate growth in key areas. They measure their growth by looking at how they are doing in the following areas:
- Loving and Obeying God
- Loving our Families as our first ministry
- Loving our Community
- Stewarding our skills, time, and money
- Taking care of God’s creation, including our own health
Our hope is that through this, they can see what God is doing and be encouraged to press in. We also hope it will allow them to see the gaps so they can continue to be strengthened.
A Master Trainer who recently completed Module 1 saw this shift happen in her community in remarkable ways:
Not long ago, our churches were struggling. We did not know how to change, how to truly love our neighbors, or even how to care for the environment around us. Our love was often reserved only for those closest to us. Life felt limited.
Then came the TCT program. It became a turning point for us. The program encouraged us and opened our eyes to new ways of living. We began to clean our homes, build toilets, repair roads, and most importantly, extend our hands to those in need—orphans, widows, and neighbors who lacked food and clothing.
Through this journey, we discovered that love is not just for family or friends who love us back. Love must reach out to everyone, especially those who are vulnerable. Our thinking changed, and with it, our way of life.
We know that it isn’t only rural churches who need to grow in these areas. Our staff is diving deep into these five areas of wholistic discipleship as well through monthly devotionals. We invite you to join us by subscribing to the Flourish newsletter.
2026 Trainings
Each year we have hundreds of trainings and events with our partners across Asia and Africa. This year is off to a particularly exciting start as we have many partners that are just getting started and catching the vision of wholistic discipleship. Here are photos of some of the trainings that have happened in 2026 so far.
A Field Saved from Oxen
When Mama Bella’s mother died, she went back to her native village for the funeral. While she was gone, oxen came into the village and were destroying the community’s crops. Everyone quickly harvested their produce to avoid losing everything, but Mama Bella was not there to save hers.
A local church who had recently completed Module 2, quickly acted to harvest her field. Bella’s husband was astonished that church members would help them in their time of crisis and decided to attend church with her.
A boy saved twice
Four-year-old Bayani has already faced much hardship. Yet today, he is alive and thriving because of God’s protection and the love of a local church.
Abandoned by his father, Bayani lives with his mother in a small shack. When he was younger, he was bitten by a cobra. The TCT-trained church in their village responded immediately, helping him receive urgent medical care that saved his life.
More recently, tragedy struck again. While his mother stepped out to gather necessary supplies, Bayani was left inside their small home. When a fire started in the shack, 4-year-old Bayani had no way to escape. Once again, church members rushed in and pulled him to safety.
They also managed to put out the fire but, still, everything the family had was gone.
Without hesitation, the church welcomed Bayani and his mother to live at the church. They provided necessities such as a bed, blankets, cookware, dishes, and food. And worked together to build the family a new home.
Touched by the love she received, Bayani’s mother testified to the way God saved her son and began attending church regularly. Thanks to the church’s support, she is now able to send her children to school. The wider community also noticed the genuine love the church members offered and praised them for their care.
This is one of the many encouraging stories we have received from Nepal recently. Please pray for Nepal as the nation faces many challenges related to government instability, and heightened financial and banking restrictions.
Please pray:
- That the country’s leaders would prioritize rebuilding the nation in ways that benefit all people, especially the most vulnerable.
- Pray that the church in Nepal would have hope, peace, and joy in the midst of uncertainty.
- Pray that the church would show love to vulnerable people leading to lasting transformation.
Empowering the Visually Impaired
In busy areas such as at bus terminals, commotion is common. People reach into the buses to sell fruit or cooked meat. Hungry travelers, tired from a long ride, buy what they can to sustain them for the rest of the journey. Beggars also use the crowd as an opportunity to find money for their daily needs. Visually impaired people have guides, usually young girls, direct them to people with money. Both the impaired and their guides are subject to different kinds of abuse.
In a rural area of Zimbabwe, where this was the scene, TCT Master Trainers decided to help. They trained the visually impaired and their guides to farm.
They are now producing food for themselves and selling the extra. The young girls who used to serve as guides are now attending school.
Rice and Cassava to Serve a Community in Case of Emergency
One TCT-trained church wanted a way to help their community in times of crisis. They found a field a two hour walk from their community. Despite the long distance, the entire church worked together to plant rice there. They hope to use the money from harvesting to help sick people get to the hospital and to provide supplies to the sick person’s family.
A nearby church had a similar vision. They were given land from the government that was a full day’s walk from their community. The men of the church traveled the long distance and camped for days in order to plant cassava.
Let’s pray for a big first harvest for these two churches! And that God would guide them in how to use the money they make to serve their community.
An Entrepreneur Teaches her Community
In a community in Zambia, people believed that vegetables would not grow because of the quality of their soil. But after going through TCT, Dorcus began to wonder. She started a vegetable garden on church land and, with careful tending, it thrived.
Community members noticed, which gave Dorcas and other members of the church opportunities to engage with them. As a result, many families today are earning an income from the sale of vegetables.
Dorcas has now branched out into brickmaking, baking clay gathered from ant hills in the area. She intends to sell the bricks and use the money to sustain the work of the church and to reach out to needy people in her community.