Meeting the Girl from the Tea Plantation
After seeing a girl clutching a Bible to her chest on a tea plantation in South Asia in 2023, Deibi Lapian prayed often, she said, for that unidentified girl and her friends. That striking image never left her heart, said Lapian.
And in March 2025, while Lapian was on a ministry trip to South Asia for Global Coffee Break, a ministry of Resonate Global Mission, that “Bible girl” was one of the first persons she met during training sessions for Christian lay pastors and Bible study leaders in that mountainous part of the world.
“Since I first saw her, I had been praying for her – and then I was able to meet her!” said Lapian. “She has a passion for the Lord and is now in college and taking our training.”
Lapian and Janis Persenaire, training coordinator for Global Coffee Break, recently returned from an eight-day trip to South Asia to equip lay leaders with resources and training to lead small groups using the Discover Your Bible series. “When we hit the ground, we realized the local people’s passion for evangelism is huge and that their lack of resources is also huge,” said Persenaire.
Discover Mark, a study within the Discover Your Bible series, along with a leader’s guide and training materials, is being translated into two different languages spoken in the region, thanks to the availability of Resonate resources allocated to translation services and leadership training.
Million-dollar views
For security reasons, Lapian and Persenaire cannot publicly identify the area they worked in and the people they met. However, they are able to talk of people they came to love, living in populous villages with busy markets in a mountainous area. Roads with hairpin turns made travel exciting, and they often saw green garden hoses snaked along roadways, bringing water from mountainous reservoirs to peoples’ homes. “This is a place with million-dollar views overlooking the Himalayas,” exclaimed Lapian.
Persenaire said she was struck by people’s commitment to faith, despite the danger of persecution. They met a pastor whose father had been a Hindu priest. The pastor explained that he had been allowed to be educated in a Christian boarding school. “He came to know the Lord at that school, and he went back to share his faith with his family. His Hindu father became a Christian and, while dying of cancer, encouraged his son to ‘tell the village’ about Christ,” said Persenaire. The son, now married with two young children, pastors five churches, traveling many hours on Sundays. “He is powerfully living his role,” said Persenaire.
Another pastor invited Persenaire and Lapian to his home to meet his wife. To reach the house, they had to climb “200 stairs – at least!” said Persenaire. The pastor’s wife was six-months pregnant, and Persenaire said it struck her that the woman was climbing those stairs multiple times each day. Seeing how people live, what they eat, and how they welcome newcomers is all part of the connection, understanding, and excitement of leading Bible discovery global workshops, said Persenaire.
Lay pastors came to the training as well, said Persenaire, and, with the benefit of their own experience, modeled how others could participate in the training.
Lapian explained too that the Christians they worked with, who are mainly Presbyterian in that region, have a heartfelt eagerness for Coffee Break training material and support. She said it was exciting to see their welcoming perspective, offering the training for young and old, for men and women, and for all Christian believers regardless of their denominational affiliation.
Personal impressions and observations
On a personal level, said Lapian and Persenaire, the work has been a great blessing for them as well. Lapian said she found the people “genuinely kind” and supportive. They went out of their way to provide accommodations, meals, and guidance for the visiting Global Coffee Break leaders. Persenaire said, “I am always very excited when Deibi asks me to come with her. I have a heart for global missions, so when it works with the budget and my family, I feel beyond blessed to be able to go.”
Persenaire added that there is also room for an expanded vision back home as the Discover Your Bible series is translated into more and more languages. “Think about who is in your backyard. What language do they speak?” she asked. “English is not the first language for many families in our communities. Maybe people in our backyard will need translated study materials. I see Bible study resources coming here too because of what happens at the global level.”
