Zion Evangelistic and Care (ZEC) Ministries has witnessed God’s goodness in India for the last 20 years. Syam and Esther, the founders of ZEC, and their team provided 44 VBS camps in May and June, reaching thousands for Jesus. Through their work with church planting and discipling pastors, they began doing summer VBS at dozens of these churches. Afterward, Bible clubs formed that help children grow closer to God. These clubs are ongoing, much like Awana. Many of these children grew to become future leaders of these ministries.
This generational discipleship remains the heart and vision of ZEC. “It is a multiplying effect,” says Craig Smith, Executive Pastor of Adult Ministries and Missions at Northwoods Community Church in Peoria, Illinois. “If you put together [Esther’s] heart for discipling the children and Syam’s heart for shaping the heart of the pastor, I’ll just say, it’s combustible.”
Northwoods first partnered with ZEC Ministries in 2011, inviting FEC to join shortly after. Craig has seen firsthand the impact of God’s work through Syam and Esther’s leadership during his visits to India. In January, Syam and Esther’s sons, who are studying for ministry in California, brought 15 of their classmates back to India with Craig’s team to work alongside a children’s camp that would host 2,000 children.
Despite India’s new president wanting to turn the nation into a Hindu state, God is changing lives in many regions, including countless rural areas surrounding the city and the home base of ZEC Ministries.
