Shankar Pawar grew up as a Hindu in extreme poverty in the poorest neighborhoods of Mumbai. As a young person, he heard the Gospel and responded. Today he leads a church planting network he began with over 100 churches and still growing. He also started a school that educates over 125 young people K-middle school which helps them rise out of poverty and secure a future. He trains thousands of pastors each year throughout 13 different states and is reached over 7000 leaders in 2019. We anticipate him training over 15,000 in 2020 through his 30 master trainer team.
Ernesto Alfaro became a follower of Christ as a teenager through our alliance ministry Sonlife Latin America in Costa Rica in the early 2000s. Today he is helping plant churches and train pastors in South America and lives in Santiago, Chile. His network is reaching a predominantly nominal Catholic and secular audience with the Gospel. He and his wife have also been critical players in starting a new Latin American mission called Singular that is impacting over a dozen countries while providing training, mentoring, and support for missionaries throughout Latin America.
Katka Rooney was raised in an unbelieving family. In the mid-nineties, she became one of the first of thousands of converts to the Christian faith through the camp ministry of Josiah Venture. She then served 4 years in Pennsylvania as one of my interns while attending Lancaster Bible College on a scholarship. Katka has been significantly involved in training others to lead ministries that reach young people with the Gospel in the former Baltic states. Today she and her husband David serve as Josiah Venture missionaries in Latvia. She has been a key player in expanding ministry to several European countries.
