Project India

The goal of this project is to see a movement of disciples, leaders and churches that are sustainable and use business to extend the reach of the gospel. One of the people we trained in September 2019 to become a facilitator for Pioneer Business Planting started a project in India. Right away in October 2019, she conducted a Pioneer Business Planting consultation with 20 participants. 

When they did research in their communities to find products or services that the people don’t have access to, they found a need for a vessel shop, a tailor shop, a poultry shop and a local grocery store. There were previously no grocery stores in the villages. A vessel shop, two local grocery stores and a mobile textile shop have been started. Other church planters wanting to use business for ministry are still searching for investors and seed capital to start their business.

In February 2020, the locals were trained in starting and multiplying house churches and movements. These disciplemakers have been reaching out to different villages in their area and have started 17 beginning house churches in several weeks.

When COVID-19 hit their areas, they started to pray and ask God what to do. The team adapted and invested in several extra sewing machines. They decided to sow face masks that weren’t available at the time and were sold to the local drugstore and to locals in the villages. Later on, they started trading ready-made face masks. With their businesses they helped make the community safe, earn an income and prevent the spread of COVID-19. The local grocery store that started just before the lockdown has been doing well, especially at the stricter parts of the lockdown, when people weren’t allowed to go to town to buy groceries. Now there are two villages having their own grocery store!

During the COVID-19 crisis, the local disciples served the community by providing healthcare information on how to prevent COVID-19, distributing bags of food, vitamin C while sharing Jesus stories (at appropriate distance).