#56 An Unlikely Missionary to India - Josh Howard
After his family fell apart, Josh Howard became one of the most unlikely missionaries to India. Now, he has a front-row seat watching God orchestrate an incredible discipleship-multiplication movement across the subcontinent.
The following is a summary of the podcast interview above with Josh Howard. Many more details are included in the original podcast episode and we encourage you to listen.
Written by Jace Bower
An Early Faith
Josh Howard grew up going to church with his mother and grandparents. His grandfather was a deacon in the church and his parents had divorced when Josh was four years old.
Growing up in the church, Josh often heard the Gospel and was surrounded by Christian people. One Sunday afternoon at the age of eight, he professed faith in Jesus Christ and became a Christian. That night, his grandfather baptized him at the Sunday evening service at their church.
A New Passion is Born
As the years passed, Josh’s love for Jesus grew. When he was thirteen years old he was asked to preach at an upcoming youth retreat. He agreed.
Josh’s uncle was very close to him and offered on multiple occasions to help Josh prepare for the sermon. Every time, Josh declined. Finally, just a few hours before the retreat, Josh admitted to his uncle that he hadn’t prepared anything for his sermon.
The two went down to his uncle’s library where Josh hastily flipped through a book of object lessons until he found something to share.
That night, Josh spoke for only five out of the twenty minutes allotted to him. The message went poorly but when Josh sat down that evening he knew this was what he was born to do. He felt the call to ministry and preaching.
During one school assignment, Josh was tasked with writing his own hypothetical obituary. He wrote about his life as a traveling preacher who brought thousands to Christ through worldwide evangelism, much like Billy Graham did.
Living a Double Life
But despite Josh's desire to be a pastor, he was living a double life.
He had stumbled across pornography when he was in middle school and it had dug in deep. There would be seasons when he would be convicted, repent, and run away from it, and then other moments where he would run right back to it.
On Sundays, he would be the “preacher kid” at church. He always had all the right "Sunday School" answers and looked like a good church-going kid. At school, he was super outgoing, friendly, and would talk about Jesus publicly.
But internally, he was struggling with secret sexual sin. In addition, Josh was proud, arrogant, and self-righteous.
In the midst of this internal struggle, Josh’s life was also falling apart on the outside.
A Storm of Circumstances
His grandfather had a stroke, was diagnosed with brain cancer, and eventually passed away. His uncle’s wife was arrested for having an inappropriate relationship with a teen in the youth group and was sent to prison.
Due to these circumstances, the people who had been closest to Josh became more and more emotionally unavailable. His mother took to drinking and his uncle withdrew in his own pain.
Jesus was all that Josh had left. As Josh looked back on the moments of brokenness in his life he could see that God had never left him. His Heavenly Father was caring for him each step of the way.
Josh knew that God loved and cared for him despite the hypocrisy of his life. God knew exactly how broken Josh was and He loved him all the more. This season drew Josh closer to God. He made great progress in his struggle with sexual sin and he grew in his relationship with God.
New Ministry Opportunities
In his late teens, Josh met a young pastor who led a church about an hour from where he lived. This pastor was only a few years older than Josh. The pastor invited him to join him at his church as he launched a young adult service. He wanted Josh to be his intern and to help him build the new service.
Josh prayed about the opportunity and decided to take it. He moved out while he was still a senior in high school and began the internship. Josh was young and had many areas of growth to work on, including humility. But he was growing in his ministry. After a second internship, Josh was certain he wanted to enter full-time ministry, so he enrolled in Bible college.
A Burden For Missions
At Bible college, God placed a new burden on Josh’s heart. He attended a missions conference and his eyes were opened to the tremendous need and opportunity for the Gospel outside of the United States.
At the conference, he walked forward and made a commitment to missions when the invitation was given by the speaker.
From there, Josh went back to his hotel and prayed for God’s direction in his new commitment. God spoke to Josh that night and reminded him that God didn’t need Josh but He wanted him.
The very next morning, Josh returned to the conference center and attended a breakout session. He met a man who was offering an internship to go overseas and do photojournalism with the missions team. Josh applied for the position.
India
A few months later, Josh got the internship. This position took him all around the world but the place that touched his heart the most was India.
While in India, Josh met his future wife. The couple got engaged and one month before their wedding, Josh moved to India. He got plugged into his father-in-law’s church and began learning how to make disciples, not just converts.
It was a learning curve for Josh as he adjusted to the new culture and practiced humility in learning from other Christians. Despite having a lot of ministry experience and preaching many sermons, Josh had never actually engaged in one-on-one discipleship.
The Cost of Discipleship
The Christianity that Josh witnessed in India looked different than the Christianity he was used to in the United States. Discipleship came at a high cost in India and proclaiming one’s love for Jesus was often accompanied by family abandonment, ostracization, and persecution.
Despite this cost, many Indian Christians were boldly living for Christ. Josh had a vision for the entire nation to be reached with the Gospel. But according to his calculations, it would take over a thousand years of preaching.
That’s when he began to rethink the strategy of reaching India. Rather than adding disciples, what would happen if the church multiplied disciples? In other words, what would happen if each Christian focused on making disciples that made disciples that made disciples?
Multiplication, Not Addition
This idea energized Josh’s missionary efforts. He preached a sermon outlining his idea and expected a flood of responses. Instead, only twelve people committed to joining his initiative. Of those twelve, only one uneducated villager actually followed through in his commitment.
But Josh learned that God can use anyone. That one villager went on to apply the training he received and within the first two weeks had already planted eight house churches in nearby villages.
The multiplication continues to this day. Josh has seen thousands come to faith in India as the church disciples more and more people.
God Uses Everyone
Josh’s story reveals the heart that God has to use His people to do His work in the world. Despite Josh’s struggles, pride, and uncertainty, God used Him to reach a nation with the Gospel.
And God continues to use each and every one of His children to do His work. Whether it’s an experienced preacher or an illiterate villager, God can (and does) use anybody. What is He calling you to do? What work is He inviting you to join Him in?
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Jace Bower is a writer with a passion for justice and biblical principles. He writes at jacebower.com.
Win an Autographed Copy of Christian Extremism by Dr. Ajai Lall and Josh Howard
Note: Winner must live in the United States.
Note: Winner must live in the United States.
Additional Information
Read Christian Extremism (the book Josh co-wrote with this father-in-law, Dr. Ajai Lall)
Read T4T (Training for Trainers): A Discipleship Re-Revolution (the book that revolutionized Josh’s approach to discipleship multiplication)
Central India Christian Mission - CICM (where Josh works)
Quick video from Josh describing the explosion in churches and new Christians they’ve seen just this year.
Learn more about multiplying disciples, churches, leaders, and movements at No Place Left
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