Working for Christ in India ...

… is HARD WORK. I have just taken up the post of Regional Director in Viva’s Indian office, and I have been on the road for weeks - first to England, then to a conference in India, then moving my family from Mumbai to Delhi. Finally I’m in my new office, getting to know the intricacies of how Viva works in India. The need is huge, and individually we are so small. But together we can accomplish many things, and I’m very excited to be here, at work for Christ! Let me tell you a little of how I came to be here.

I became a Christian as a teenager living near Mumbai. Shortly after my conversion I was prophesied over, that I would “set the captives free”. I started my career in a mutual funds company, but saw that my real calling led in a very different path: working in social and church issues.

I began working with a Christian organisation in Mumbai, helping to free drug addicts from their addictions. During my time there I witnessed many miracles. Our method of rehabilitating drug addicts was this: pray constantly for ten days. We would never give them any alternate medication, but rather did the only thing we really knew how to do: share the love of Christ and pray. Often by the sixth day the man we were praying for would be free from his addiction, with no withdrawal pain! Now that’s what I call Jesus at work! There is no denying that prayer is a powerful thing.


Later, I worked as Chief of Investigations for another Christian organisation. In this position I would visit brothels incognito and identify girls not legally old enough to be prostitutes. These girls are almost always in situations of what we call ‘forced sexual exploitation and abuse’, but which should really be termed ‘slavery’. We were up against the Mafia and against corrupt officers, at a great risk to our lives. But with God on our side we were able to rescue many girls.

My wife was at the time working for a similar organisation, and she told me of one girl who wanted to be rescued. In Indian culture it’s common for a girl to be shunned by her family once she’s been prostituted, even if it was against her will. But by God’s intervention and grace this girl was not only rescued, but also accepted by her mother back home! Jesus is truly the one “who redeems our life from the pit”.

After years of working with people on the streets, I had a desire to work at a level from which I could have a greater sphere of influence. So I applied for the post of Regional Director with Viva. But it’s not only the position that interested me – it is the work! I had never heard of any organization that works at getting people united to generate a Christian response to any issue, but Viva does!

Sadly, organisations in India are often more than happy to work in isolation, and it’s very difficult to convince them to share information. This is the case in Christian organisations too. What does working together look like in India? As I see it, working together means having a united and strong effort to tackle a particular problem. It means praying for one another, supporting one another, sharing information, encouraging one another by sharing success stories, sounding the alarm on failures, sharing resources – all for one purpose. Only pride prevents us from doing this.

Christians have a biblical command to live in community together, supporting one another in faith and good works; we have another biblical command to care for orphans. It is obvious to me that God reveals his plans in Scripture for us to work together to help children at risk! It’s as simple as working efficiently, and not re-inventing the wheel. God is very practical in some ways. We must not waste time; we must be good stewards of what we’re given. One way to do this is to work together.

Please pray for us. Not only for Viva, but also for other agencies that work for children at risk. We urgently require your prayer. At this very moment, as you read this, one more child is added to the unending list of children at risk … one more girl is being abused and exploited. And if you wait to pray, or even while you make the decision to do it, anything could have happened to this child. Yes, please pray.


~ Nitin Thakor, Regional Director, Viva India


Want to hear more exciting stories about Nitin and our other regional directors?  Visit www.viva.org.

If you'd like to join us in prayer for God's work in India,  please visit www.viva.org/pray