Where the church stands in India
India contains more unreached people groups than any other country — well over two thousand of them, many numbering in the tens of millions. Caste keeps these communities socially distinct, which means the Gospel does not simply spread outward from one group to the next; each has to be reached on its own terms.
India also has a genuine and growing church: perhaps thirty million believers, concentrated in the south and north-east, with rapidly multiplying house-church movements in the Hindi belt. Pressure has grown sharply — anti-conversion laws now operate in a dozen states, and violence against Christians is regularly documented.
Signs of hope
Fast-multiplying indigenous house-church movements in the north, led entirely by Indian believers.
The honest difficulty
Anti-conversion laws in a dozen states, documented violence against believers, and caste barriers that isolate each community.
What "Unreached" means
There is no indigenous community of believing Christians large enough to evangelise the rest of the nation without outside help. Commonly measured as under 2% evangelical.
In India the majority religious context is Hinduism (~79%), Islam (~15%). The largest population still considered without meaningful Gospel access is the Numerous Hindu caste communities, each in the tens of millions.
How to pray for India
Prayer is not a substitute for going; it is how going begins. Take one of these for a week rather than all of them for a day.
- Pray for the more than two thousand unreached peoples of India — most have no church at all.
- Ask God to protect Indian believers facing anti-conversion laws and violence.
- Pray for house-church movements multiplying across the Hindi belt.
- Pray for Dalit communities, where the Gospel has often been most welcome.
Questions people ask about India
Is India an unreached nation?
India is classified as unreached. There is no indigenous community of believing Christians large enough to evangelise the rest of the nation without outside help. Commonly measured as under 2% evangelical. Roughly 2.4% of the population identifies as Christian and about 2% as evangelical, with an estimated 2100 of its 2600 people groups still considered unreached. Figures are rounded estimates and vary by source and year.
How many Christians are there in India?
About 2.4% of India's roughly 1.45 billion people identify as Christian — approximately 35 million people. Around 2% are evangelical. The largest group still without meaningful Gospel access is the Numerous Hindu caste communities, each in the tens of millions.
How can I pray for India?
Pray for the more than two thousand unreached peoples of India — most have no church at all. Ask God to protect Indian believers facing anti-conversion laws and violence. Pick one of these, pray it for two minutes a day for a week, and ask one other person to pray it with you.