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 79 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 2021-2024, over 500 leaders throughout the country received ministry training, 357 new churches and house fellowships were started, and 3,244 new believers were baptized. 8,255 Bibles were distributed, along with 50 audio Bibles for illiterate believers. Three church buildings/shelters were built or rebuilt.

Over these four 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, three received motorbikes, two received laptops, two had vehicles repaired, 83 were provided toolkits containing various items helpful to their ministries, and 18 received startup capital and training to launch income-generating businesses. Amid continued high Christian persecution in recent years, we were able to help 31 church leaders with medical bills and other needs after they suffered persecution for their faith. Three remote communities, including one in which Christians were refused access to drinking water, also benefitted from new clean water wells.

Over 550 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 gain the means to care for them again. 20 children from disadvantaged backgrounds attended a preschool run by one of our partners, and more than 300 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 1,300 people from marginalized gypsy and tribal communities received citizenship rights and ID cards for the first time in their lives, and another 240 gypsy and tribal families received the right to permanently occupy the land where their community is located.

These four years were also strong for women’s ministry and economic empowerment. 30 women were trained to earn income through a recycling business, and 11 of these received bicycles that enable them to more efficiently conduct their work. 132 women learned sewing/tailoring, 30 were equipped to work as cleaners in healthcare settings, 130 received agricultural and health/hygiene training, 70 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 97 mothers & their babies received nutritious food during pregnancy and nursing. A further 11 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 1,400 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, 24 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 4,340 families received emergency relief packets following severe flooding and other crises, and our partners supplied blankets and/or snowstorm relief packets to more than 1,040 families suffering from cold waves and snowstorms.

Capital: Delhi

Population: 1.417 billion

Religion: Hindu 79.8%, Muslim 14.2%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Jain 0.5%, other 0.8%

Persecution Watch List Country Ranking: 11

Ministries: Pastor Training, Children’s Ministries, Pastor & Missionary Sponsorship, Economic Development, GATE, 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: