By God’s providence, Harvest Bridge founder, Dr. Tim Mech and Pastor Jairaj* met in Chennai, India in 2007. Noticing Pastor Jairaj and his coworkers had very effective ministries among the poor in spite of serious material constrains, Mech realized that assisting local ministries would be a highly effective model of ministry. He initially attempted to connect his Indian partners with existing mission organizations, but he found this wasn’t feasible because poorer Asian missionaries lack the requisite English skills, Western accounting standards, and projects of sufficient scale. He realized that these barriers could be overcome by creating a network of small Asian ministries with English-speaking regional coordinators, so that resources and needs could be combined and shared. In 2008, Mech and Pastor Jairaj implemented this strategy, giving birth to Harvest Bridge.
Now, we come alongside men and women who demonstrate and share the Gospel in many of the most impoverished and persecuted places in the world.
In 2020 alone, through our network of about 215 pastors and missionaries in eight countries, 1,320 men and women made earnest commitments to follow Jesus. Several hundred pastors and church leaders were trained in ministry. Nearly 1,000 children received access to education. Dozens of women received funding for small business or vocational training. In the face of both COVID-19 food shortages and severe flooding, over 4,280 families – about 21,400 men, women, and children – received life-saving food and personal protective supplies through distributions led by our local leaders.