“India is closing down Christian work — schools, hospitals, churches, and ministry organizations — as never before. The current Indian president is pushing to make Hinduism the national religion.” —Kathleen Cooke, Co-Founder, The Influence Lab/Influence Women
How do we overcome governmental restrictions to sharing the good news of Jesus? While in India this summer, Phil and Kathleen Cooke noted a shift in the cultural climate towards Christianity. The changes raise growing concerns for Indian Christians.
In this news brief, Kathleen reports on the state of India and shares a story of incredible impact from an Influence Lab media training conference many years ago.
India Report – The State of India and Savio’s Story
Kathleen reports: India is always intense. This was our 9th time in India, and we were there to document Good Shepherd India’s (GSI) work and share it with a wider audience in the Western world. GSI works to help young girls who have been given as sexual slaves to chiefs of outlying villages as a gift to the local temple and its priest. Parents consider it an honor to give their daughter and are glorified for doing so.
Indian women learn skills to become self-sustaining.
The girls must do whatever they are asked to survive, and are at the mercy of the village people to provide for them. Good Shepherd India rescues them from abject poverty, educates them, and helps them develop microbusinesses to become self-sustaining.
However, India is closing down Christian work — schools, hospitals, churches, and ministry organizations — as never before. The current Indian president is pushing to make Hinduism the national religion. Pastors are being imprisoned for sharing their faith, and Christian organizations that have helped educate, provide medical care, and share the redemptive story of Jesus are being shuttered.
We know media will play an even bigger role in reaching and sharing the redemptive story of Jesus in the future, and we must keep training and encouraging the boots (or, in India’s case, the sandals) on the ground.
Savio’s Testimony — It All Began at an Influence Lab Media Training
Savio’s media training began when Phil and Kathleen visited India in 2014.
We captured many incredible stories of transformed lives in India, but one of the most significant stories for us came unexpectedly when we met Savio Rodrigues. Influence Lab partners will appreciate the significance of this encounter!
Savio is an Indian media producer and media director for Good Shepherd India (GSI) and leads a large media team in Hyderabad. Savio’s story began when he attended a media training conference that Phil and I spoke at in India in 2014. The conference totally changed his life’s path. He had been studying to be an engineer, a high-paying job in India, but God spoke to him during the conference, urging him to change direction and go into media instead.
After the conference, he attended film school and earned his degree in media production and film. He secured his position with Good Shepherd India as a media producer and director, and now Savio’s work as a media professional plays a major role in sharing GSI’s work in rescuing young girls from the sex trade.
Savio’s media team tells the girls’ stories of hope and rescue.
Savio’s media team tells the girls’ stories so that needed change can happen. And it all began with the media training he received through The Influence Lab.
I sat listening to him, tears in my eyes, as he told Phil and me how much it meant to him years ago when we first came to India to conduct media training. Now he follows us on social media and reads our Influence Lab Journal to learn and be encouraged. He was excited and honored to work with us while we were there.
We are often given many gifts when we visit India and other countries. But this gift of Savio’s story and what he is doing today in media is one of the most cherished we could ever receive.
It revealed that our efforts to teach and encourage media leaders in their own country are making a difference in the Kingdom of God. The lives they touch through media with the redemptive story of Jesus has an eternal impact. —Kathleen Cooke
Thank you, Influence Lab partners!
The media training we offer helps ministries continue to share God’s love in their countries.
Your generosity helps make stories like Savio’s happen! The media training we offer is increasingly important as nations like India face challenges in sharing God’s love.
Media transcends boundaries. Your partnership trains “boots on the ground” with updated media strategies. Give your best gift here.