Young Indian partner is a leader in innovative leadership training

The New Theological College (NTC) in Dehradun, India, is one of a few schools located in the strongly Hindi north and serves as a church planting and missionary base for Christian leaders. Although a young OC partner, the interdenominational college has over 2,100 graduates and is a leader in developing innovative leadership training.

India faces major issues, including illiteracy, infant mortality, discrimination and HIV/AIDS. NTC students learn how to address these issues through practical ministries in their local churches and ministries in city hospitals, orphanages, prisons, villages and a nearby leprosy colony.

Hindi is the national language of India spoken by more than 450 million people. NTC launched their Hindi Bachelor of Theology program a few years ago, and the college hopes to widen the production and publication of theological literature in Hindi. The college also collaborates with OC partner Allahabad Bible Seminary (ABSI) in India to promote th eological education in the Hindi language.

Graduate Ashish Khandelwal

Together, NTC and Christian Evangelistic Assemblies (CEA) offer satellite training centers for basic Christian ministry training and conduct ongoing training programs for lay leaders and clergy. CEA is an organization with more than 300 worshipping congregations in North India and many founded by NTC graduates. Within the next five years, NTC also hopes to introduce at least one Master of Theology program in order to address the need of a strong Master’s evangelical program in India.

An example of an outstanding graduate is Ashish Khandelwal. Ashish realized that the best way to reach a remote, staunchly Hindu area with the Gospel would be to provide a service that met a need in the community. He opened a small English medium school that now has 130 enrolled students and is the first Christian school in the area. He has since been able to start two worship services with more than 60 people attending. Ashish hopes to further his ministry in the surrounding villages. His wife, Reema, is also an NTC graduate and supports him in ministry.