WORDS OF TRANSFORMATION

(A Quarterly Newsletter of Transforming Leaders in Asia (TLA) for private circulation only)

Volume 14, Issue 2

June 2015

Serving Since 2012

From the Executive Director

Dear friends,
We certainly need better roads, phone and internet services, better education and employment opportunities in our region. Lack of peace and stability is one of the important obstacles that has slowed
down the process of development. What about lack of right motivation, courage, far sightedness, and
service oriented moral values? How can we have more of these? Yes, we can demand these from the
government schools, our social and political leaders, but most of all we will expect them from our Pastors and Church leaders. They are our trusted hope and beacon of light in darkness. But arent they
also just human beings? Where would they get it from and what is their source? The one and the only
source we all have is the Word of God. Pastors and Christian Leaders are expected to be the men and
women of the Word of God. Society expects them to dive deep into the Scripture and come out with the
precious insight and wisdom for us. The power of transformation lies in the Word of God. To cause true
transformation in our society we need a transformed Church and to get a transformed Church, we must
aim for a transformed pastor and Church leader. This is why Transforming Leaders in Asia (TLA) ministries is committed to serve our pastors and Christian leaders. We desire to Equip, Encourage, and
Empower them so that they may remain passionately committed to their call of service. We covet your
prayers to do this.

. . . prepare
Gods people for
works of service
so that the body
of Christ may be
built up until we
all reach unity in
the faith and
knowledge of the
Son of God and
become mature .
. . (Eph 4:11-13)

Rev. Dr A. K. Lama

A BRIEF REPORT ON THE EXPOSITORY PREACHING AND COUNSELING SEMINAR AT RRTC, Meghalaya

The

annual Expository Preaching and Pastoral Counseling

Training Program conducted by TLA for the Pastors and

Christian leaders was held at RRTC, Umran (May 25-29).
While the main trainer was Rev. Dr. A. K. Lama (How to
Prepare and Preach Expository Sermons), the other resource persons were Dr. Asangla Ao (The Basics of Counseling), Rev. Chris Horton (The Calling as a Discipleship Maker), Rev. John Turner (The Calling as a Preacher), Dr. David
Parks (Developing Vibrant Youth Ministry) and Mr. Jase
Vann (The Leadership Virtues). In total, there were 87 participants, coming from more than 20 Church Associations
and organizations from the various North Eastern states of
India.
The main aim of the training program was to train the participants in expository preaching. Rev. Dr. A.K. Lama, in
his teaching covered various dimensions namely: the biblical
mandate for preaching, theological basis and principles of
expository preaching and some practical aspects on sermon
preparation, and delivery. The scholarly content of the materials, accompanied by his grass root level approach made
the training sessions exciting and memorable. During
preaching practice time,
opportunity was also given to a
few participants to preach and to be evaluated.

On the last day, many participants expressed their gratitude for the training. A participant said, reading the
text, being led by text, is a new thing. Another commented, letting the Word of God speak for itself is a new found
truth. Still another stated, this training helped me to re-

The essence of all benefits could

be summed up in the following
statement, I have received more
than my expectations.
The participants enjoyed the rich
fellowship and the time of interaction with Pastors and Christian
leaders from other states. They
were able to expand their network for mission opportunities
and prayer partnership. There
was a deep sense of fulfillment,
as the five days training program
impacted their convictions, particularly,
on the need for expository preaching.

Contents in This Issue

1. Report on the expository
preaching and counselling
seminar at RRTC, Meghalaya
2. Testimony of Budhin Mahanta (Sadiya mission field
in-charge)
3. Introducing our new staff
and his family
4. Report on UESI-Ar AGM
Ministry

Mailing Address: Dr. A.K. Lama, HN. 42, Panjabari Road, Six mile, Guwahati, 781022 Assam

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TESTIMONY OF BUDHIN MAHANTA

WORDS OF TRANSFORMATION

My name is Budhin Mahanta and I come from a Christian family. It was my fathers life and work that
encouraged me to serve God. I grew up being ridiculed, hated and even considered as untouchable by
my friends for embracing the gospel, though I belong to the Brahmin caste. This attitude towards me by
my friends disturbed me but God called me to serve him. So, after my graduation, I decided to serve
God. God provided me a scholarship through CBCNEI to join the Eastern Theological College, Jorhat, for
Bachelor of Divinity (BD) program, to both nurture me spiritually and prepare me for ministry. After
completion of BD in 2012, I am now working in Sadiya as mission field in-charge under the sponsorship
Sadiya is a place of historical significance for the Christians in Assam. In this place, the pioneer American Baptist missionary Nathan Brown began his work in 1836. However, presently out of 125,00,000 people, around 2000 people only claim
to be Christians. Yet, I am glad to inform you that Gods Spirit is still at work. In 2014-15, God helped us plant two
churches and one Immanuel Youth Club. Sadiya is home to many people groups including Assamese, Mishing, Deori,
Sonowal Kachari, Nepali etc. The field is vast and the work is challenging as I labor to reach the unreached. I thank TLA
for the financial support extended to the ministry. Finally, I request you to kindly keep me and my mother, and the entire
Sadiya field in prayers.

Introducing New Staff and Family

R.T. Johnson Raih is our new staff. He has joined as the Ministry
Associate with TLA w e f May 2015. He hails from the Poumai
Naga community in Manipur. In April, he graduated from SAIACS
with Master of Theology. Earlier, he served as the Principal of MBC
Higher Secondary School for 5 years in Imphal. He also earned
Master of Arts from Delhi University and Bachelor of Divinity from
Eastern Theological College, Jorhat. Johnson claims, God has
called me to communicate the gospel: to preach, teach, train and
engage in apologetics.

He is married to Laldinmoi Pangamte who is from the Hmar tribe. She earned Ph. D. from JNU, Delhi American Students Centre, and is now with her husband in the Lords ministry. Johnson and Dinni are blessed with two sons Joel
(5) and Julian (3). Please uphold them in your prayers.

Report on Ministry at UESI-Ar AGM 2015

The 4th AGM of Union of Evangelical Students of India-Arunachal

(UESI-Ar) was held at Naharlagun, UESI Students Centre (June 12
-14) under the theme, Give Careful Thought (Hag 1: 5). Around
60 delegates from 21 districts of Arunachal came for the meeting.
While Rev. Dr. A.K. Lama was the main resource person who
brought forth Gods word from the given theme, Johnson Raih also
took up a Bible study session.

UPCOMING PROGRAMMES OF TLA

1. Expository preaching training program
with TBCA, Arunachal and Future Leadership Foundation (FLF), Oct 13-16, 2015.
2. Family Enrichment Seminar, Jan 2327,
2016.

For more information write to the mailing address given below

Email: ak.tlaministries@gmail.com
Mob: 09435400893. www.tlaministries.org

Thank You Donors

We are grateful to our donors for owning and
supporting the vision of TLA:
Dr. Ngahorshai Luithui
Mr. Kripa Pertin
Rev. Pumsuanmung
Mr. Nehemiah Rong
SBAK, Aizuto

:
:
:
:
:

Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.

5,000/15, 000/500/1,000/5,000/-

Mailing Address: Rev. Dr. A. K. Lama, HN. 42, Panjabari Road, Six mile, Guwahati, 781022 Assam.

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