September has been a fruitful month.  I spent the entire month in Sri Lanka and held leadership development seminars in three major churches.  I have been working to build two teams of 12 men to help me develop and oversee new church plants in the island and those teams are coming together well.  I am also helping two of the three churches to transition their congregations to the Principle of Twelve and their leaders are excited about the potential for growth and the rapid development of leaders.

The third church I am ministering in is the one Beverly and I launched three and a half years ago.  What has helped me most in Sri Lanka has been the credibility that the Lord has given me through the phenomenal growth of this congregation.  They have now reached a solid 350 members and we sometimes have 400 in Sunday services.  The problem we have now is that every inch of the building is filled and really, we stopped growing three months ago when we ran out of space.  We will be going to multiple services as soon as we can make the necessary leadership adjustments.  Pastor Dishan & Stephanie DeSilva are doing a superb job in leading this young congregation and have matured so much in the Lord.  I can not begin to describe the joy I experience every time I return to Colombo and see the growth of the church.

Three months of direct persecution in early 2004 set the congregation back as far as growth.  From January to March they actually met under the protection of an armed guard.  The situation here has been serious but seems to be quieting down.  Still, the turmoil has hurt us in growth.  I have seen that persecution can be a blessing in deepening a congregation but it hinders outreach in the worst way!

My second book, The Master of Relationships, is now available at bccn.com.  I am very pleased with how it has turned out and I think you will find it to be helpful in developing the relationships in your life.

Thanks for all you have done to help us plant significant churches in Asia.  ―Rick