India
India is where it all began! In the world’s most populous country, we come alongside local leaders in 11 states and three union territories. We directly support the work of 65 followers of Jesus on the mainland (not including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands) who are reaching their people for Christ through economic empowerment programs, children’s ministries and education, disaster relief, pastor training, and more.
Nearly one in five people on earth lives in this diverse country. India has 121 languages spoken by 10,000 or more people, and its geography ranges from the Himalayas to dry deserts to tropical rainforests and everything in between. Not only is it home to the world’s largest Hindu population, it is also home to the third-largest Muslim population.
Through conferences and pastor training courses, Harvest Bridge has trained several thousand Indian church leaders. From 2021-2025, over 600 leaders throughout the country received ministry training, 493 new churches and house fellowships were started, and 3,619 new believers were baptized. 9,055 Bibles were distributed, along with 50 audio Bibles for illiterate believers. Three church buildings/shelters were built or rebuilt.
Over these five years, in collaboration with partner organizations and donors, we coordinated distribution of ministry tools and related types of support to local leaders who needed them. Five were provided with bicycles, 10 were given motorbikes, two received laptops, two had vehicles repaired, 83 were provided toolkits containing various items helpful to their ministries, and 19 received startup capital and training to launch income-generating businesses. Amid continued high Christian persecution in recent years, we were able to help 33 church leaders with medical bills and other needs after they suffered persecution for their faith. Five remote communities, including one in which Christians were refused access to drinking water, also benefitted from new clean water wells.
Over 800 children were able to further their education through school fee support and after-school tutoring programs run by our supported pastors and church volunteers, while another 53 children were cared for temporarily until their families gained the means to care for them again. 30 children from disadvantaged backgrounds attended a preschool run by one of our partners, and more than 400 children from low-income families received nutritious meals and dietary supplements. A further 50+ children participated in athletic outreach and sports ministry. Through the tireless advocacy of one HB-supported leader, over 2,000 people from marginalized gypsy and tribal communities were given citizenship rights and ID cards for the first time in their lives, and 600 received banking access for the first time. Another 240 gypsy and tribal families received the right to permanently occupy the land where their community is located, 256 families from two gypsy communities were granted the government-provided housing they were entitled to.
These five years were also strong for women’s ministry and economic empowerment. Over 30 women were trained to earn income through a recycling business and supplied with tool, including bicycles, that enable them to more efficiently conduct their work. 189 women learned sewing/tailoring, 30 were equipped to work as cleaners in healthcare settings, 130 received agricultural and health/hygiene training, 130 attended vocational training and empowerment workshops, and more than 70 were taught to work as makeup artists. 20 women benefitted from an adult literacy course, and 137 mothers & their babies received nutritious food during pregnancy and nursing. A further 18 women received small business grants to boost their income and escape extreme poverty.
Medical ministry has been another area of focus over the past four years. Over 2,500 people attended general medical clinics, while another 140+ attended eye clinics where they were seen by an optometrist and received glasses as needed. 130 people received regular glucose testing for diabetes, 25 men attended an alcoholism rehab program coordinated by HB-supported leaders, and over 2,000 people received Covid-19 vaccines through our local leaders’ efforts. With regard to disaster relief, 1,650 families were provided emergency food packets during the peak of the Covid crisis, to avert food insecurity from being unable to work during lockdowns. A further 5,959 families received emergency relief packets following severe flooding and other crises, and our partners supplied blankets and/or snowstorm relief packets to more than 1,170 families suffering from cold waves and snowstorms.
Capital: Delhi
Population: 1.43 billion
Religion: Hindu 79.8%, Muslim 14.2%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Jain 0.4%, other 0.9%
Persecution Watch List Country Ranking: 12
Ministries: Pastor Training, Children’s Ministries, Pastor & Missionary Sponsorship, Economic Development, Gypsy & Tribal Development, Disaster Relief & Rehabilitation
Leadership Information: Our India Director oversees HB’s network of partners in India. For over 40 years, he has helped plant dozens of churches and has led pastor training and discipleship programs throughout South Asia.
Give directly to our India fund: