February 22 found Leah Darwin, Cynthia Roxas, Gerri Miller and myself winging our way to Sri Lanka. For all four of us, it was our first time in this beautiful country. The purpose of our trip was to launch the PIM Extension program in Sri Lanka, but first, we spent a delightful evening with our IGSL graduates at the headquarters of Sri Lanka Campus Crusade for Christ.
There are 20 IGSL alumni serving in the country – – wait, make that only 15! The earliest five graduates were quick to point out that they were grads of ISOT-Asia. But whether ISOT or IGSL, they share the same DNA which can be seen in their commitment to the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.
All around Asia, we find that our graduates are involved in training others. This was true in Sri Lanka as well. Six of them teach in Colombo Theological Seminary, either full-time or part-time. Several are involved in church planting, and in training more church planters. Others are doing family ministry. Two are teaching in secular schools. They are active in a wide variety of churches, from Anglican to Methodist to Pentecostal to Baptist and everything in between. It was encouraging to see the many different types of ministries, and it was encouraging to see that, actually, they are all doing the same thing — making disciples who make disciples.
Another highlight for me was hearing from their children — the little kids who used to play in Lighthouse and Bright House and study at AIS — they are young men and women now! It was so refreshing to see the next generation with their own dreams of serving God through their professions and ministries.
The following day, we joined with our Sri Lankan PIM graduates in launching the PIM Extension program for pastors’ wives who are not able to study at a seminary. The excitement was high as the room full of pastors’ wives learned how they can be part of a movement of loving and equipping other pastors’ wives throughout the country. We’ll be hearing more from these dynamic ladies as PIM-Ex spreads in the coming months.