Local pastor returns from Asia

Bill Platt and his wife, Susie, pose for a picture during their recent mission trip to Asia.

Bill Platt, the pastor of First Christian Church in Nevada, recently returned from a mission trip to Asia. He flew to China at the end of January, then continued to his destination where he spent seven or eight days. This was his fifth trip to the region as part of a group called Disciple Makers which trains local people to go into their communities as pastors to start churches.

"This ministry started about 16-17 years ago, working with local people. They would spend a year in training, then sending them back out to start churches," Platt said. "Over the 16 years, it has grown explosively."

The group has baptized 17,000 people and started approximately 300 churches. Every year they try to train and send out an additional 20 pastors.

The city where the Platt's spent most of their time in Asia.

"The heartache is, because of transportation and communication, they don't have a lot of contact between them," he said. After arriving in the country, it took three to four hours to drive the 50 miles to their destination because of unfinished roads and mountainous terrain. About 30 pastors and their wives attended the meeting, many of them having traveled three or four days on buses.

Platt and his wife both taught classes for three days along with other team members, classes are segregated by gender because of the local culture. They also had worship time with the pastors, for which they brought materials to leave.

In addition to the church materials, Platt brought 27 multi-colored soccer balls -- which are used to illustrate the Gospel message -- to give to children.

A few of the ladies prepare a meal during the mission trip.

"The only bag I really had checked throughout the customs ... that was the bag they picked to look at. And I had 27 soccer balls in it, all deflated," Platt said. The officials were curious what he planned to do with them.