Poor, Persecuted Pastors Can Transform India
Inviting 500 Pastors to Reimagine Education
August 14-16, 2026
@ Anderson Hall, Madras Christian College, Chennai, TN
https://conf2026.truthpedia.ai/
In 2015, Dheeraj Palande, a Hindu follower of Christ, visited me in Allahabad (now Prayagraj) with some friends. My 18-year-old friend, Kuldeep, took them to visit a slum on the other bank of the river Yamuna. Seeing Kuldeep educate 20+ kids under a tree so moved Dheeraj and his friends that they donated 13 tablets for the class. The manufacturer’s price for each tablet was about Rs.3,200.
The slum had no internet. So, we downloaded the UP Board High School curriculum on those tablets. Children aged 4 to 15 were paired by age and gender, with each pair sharing a tablet for their lessons. Kuldeep moved around the open-air classroom, guiding the students and ensuring they remained engaged in their learning. At the end of each session, the children gathered to play, pray, sing, and memorize a Scripture verse.
The slum had no electricity. So each evening, Kuldeep brought the tablets to my house to recharge them overnight.
One day, (Late) Mrs. Rebecca Shourie sent me a huge jar of fish pickle. Kuldeep loved it and decided to learn the art of fish pickling. I advised him to organize the slum women to learn that skill. My suggestion was that they package and sell “King’s Fish Pickle” to help finance his university studies. This would also bless the women who spent the day gathering garbage to feed their families!
It took only Rs. 200 (about US $7) to start that micro-project. A kind professor taught four illiterate women how to make ‘King’s Fish Pickle.’ None of them had a kitchen, clean dishes or water in their huts. So they used my kitchen when I was in the university!
Kuldeep was not a teacher or a pastor. He was a student with a shepherd’s heart. That made him an “Academic Pastor” to the families.
When it rained, the class could not meet under a tree. None of the huts had the space for the class. Thankfully, Rev. Ashish Khandelwal of the Jamuna Church (CNI) invited those slum kids to use the church facilities.
Imagine 100,000 churches using available technology to educate 50 students each over the next ten years. Indian churches would disciple 50 lakhs (5 million) students EVERY DAY. They will acquire knowledge, skills and God’s wisdom!
Truthpedia-India would train Academic Pastors for churches. Participating churches will get the highest quality high school curriculum for free. College curriculum will be available for a small fee. That will finance the Church to disciple and uplift the marginalized.
Churches do not need to start schools and colleges. They need to motivate families to organize informal educational coops for all ages.
“That’ll invite persecution,” some would protest. “Those in power won’t allow the church to educate the poor.”
Indeed! Persecution is a real possibility. However, God’s servants are being persecuted in some states precisely because many oppressed are seeking liberty, dignity and development.
Research shows that over 50% of the new churches are led by believers from the “Other Backward Castes.” Fear does not paralyze these cross-bearing shepherds because God’s Spirit is empowering them to lay down their lives for the sheep.
Please bring/send 500 pastors/elders to the Reimagining Education Conference.
They can begin with non-formal micro-schools. We will train their Academic Pastors. Fifty or so churches and seminaries should also offer an online MA in Nation-Building. This course, based on the UPSC curriculum, will train godly leaders, especially civil servants.
Obviously, poor pastors cannot pay for their travels as well as for registration, room, board and local transportation. If you cannot come, please sponsor a pastor with Rs. 3,000.
Contact:
2026educonf@truthpedia.ai
+91 91368 98029
The conference, incidentally, is being organized by the Bless India Movement and Triaze Tech and Publication Pvt. Ltd.
Vishal Mangalwadi
Author, The Bible and the Making of Modern India
