USA (MNN) — Between India’s second COVID-19 surge and growing hostility towards Christians, Gospel ministries in India need all hands on deck. That includes local believers, mission organizations, and international church partners!
To get more church partners involved with what God is doing in India, Mission India just hired a new Director of Church Engagement, David Chakranarayan!
He says, “There’s a tremendous opportunity to partner with Mission India to go and invest where not many people are going among the most unreached people groups in the world. So my basic role is just reaching out to churches and connecting them with the work that’s happening in India.”
David Chakranarayan, Mission India’s Director of Church Engagement (Photo courtesy of Chakranarayan)
Chakranarayan formerly served as a church planter in Ohio for 16 years before coming on board with Mission India. For him, the mission to share Jesus in India is personal.
“I’ve always had a passion for reaching India because I grew up overseas,” Chakranarayan says. “I was born in Dubai, lived in Mumbai, India, lived in Abu Dhabi, and then my family moved to the US in 1991. But generations ago, my family in India was saved as a result of missionary movement in India. So I’m the beneficiary of that spiritual legacy. I’ve always wanted to give back what God has blessed me with.”
There is a deep and desperate need for Christ’s hope in India. Around 1.3 billion Indians have never even heard the Gospel message. That’s 95 percent of the population.
In fact, Chakranarayan says, “Did you know that one-third of all the unreached people groups in the world live in India? There’s still so much work to be done. So the more prayer partners that we have and pastors that are partnering with us and engaged in this work, the greater the work can continue moving forward.”
Mission India empowers and trains local believers in India to plant churches and reach the unreached in their communities. They support Adult Literacy Classes, Children’s Bible Clubs, and Church Planter Training!
The ministry has also been providing emergency COVID-19 Relief Kits to struggling Indian families. Each Relief Kit feeds a family of four for four weeks and opens the door for Gospel conversations.
(Photo courtesy of Mission India)
“We give [the Relief Kits] to pastors in these areas and we basically empower them to reach out to people in their communities so that they are the face of the relief work that is happening.”
This is where your church comes in! Whether it’s getting your small group to pray for India and the ministry or sending your pastor on Mission India’s pastors trip, there are several ways churches can get involved with what God is doing in India.
If you or your pastor want to learn more, just email Mission India at [email protected].
You can also donate to support Mission India’s Relief Kits here.
Header photo courtesy of Mission India.
