This ministry is quite different than any other missionary type ministry I have ever heard of. I am sure this concept has been used in other countries, or at least I hope it is, but I have not heard about one like it until I learned about Reaching Indians Ministries International or RIMI.

This ministry is such a great concept. They educate India born missionaries and send them out into the country. They have gained support from several churches in the US but all of their missionaries are Indians.

This was completely new concept from what I have always understood missionary ministries to be. Instead of sending missionaries abroad where they could easily be sent back by a persecuting country through various means of visa issues or simply rejecting their passport, these missionaries go out into the country they were born so they cannot be so easily hindered.

Their main goal is to grow churches in various parts of India, which is no small task considering the persecution of Christians is so great in this country. To do this, they sponsor missionaries for only up to seven years. In that time, they are to become self sustaining churches in that area and which time the missionary becomes the pastor in some cases. The church then raises its own money to build their church.

If you wish, you can actually sponsor one of these church planters. For more information about that visit their church planter sponsor page.

When I was talking with Saji Lukos, founder and president of RIMI, he was telling me how it is not illegal to be a Christian in India, but it is illegal to convert. Baptism to them is a much stronger symbol to them in their country as when one gets baptized in the name of Christ they can be imprisoned and beaten. This kind of punishment goes to both the missionary and the one who converted!

There is so much this ministry has done in the name of Jesus in India. They now have a seminary school to train countless missionaries for their home country. I am in awe of how God has been using this ministry. If you would like to know a little more about their ministry please watch the following video.

Tags: baptism, Christian In India, Church Planter, Church Planters, Churches, Countries, Indians, Jesus In India, Main Goal, Missionaries, Money, Name Of Jesus, Passport, Persecution Of Christians, Seminary School, Seven Years, Visa Issues