"We are a group of people
sacrificed our lives to care for
Dalits "The Untouchables".
Sanjeeva Rao & Esther Rani - Founders of FIM
Sanjeeva and Esther are the founders of the ministry.He is the main backbone to all the works in India. His whole family committed to serve Him till their last breathe. He along with his wife, Esther Rani, has been serving the Lord for 25 years. Their passion for God and dedication to serve the Dalits (the untouchables) led to the establishing of FIM. If you want to know more about the story behind, please click Read More.
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Sanjeeva and his wife, Esther is the backbone to the ministry in caring the orphans as well as praying for the ministry. Her daily hard work gives us a great example of serving. They married for 36 years. Together, they have two children, Raj & Rao.
It is a story of a mere man whose life became a meaningful for others, who once thought that he had not. A man who was an unclean (Dalit), a pure Hindu, rejected by the society, friends and his own relatives. He was abandoned by his family, living on the road side in a makeshift hut. At this point in life he was far from the destiny of Kotipalli village, but the Lord had a plan for him. His life became meaningless and devoid of hope. He was so low he and his wife planned with their two boys to commit suicide through drinking poison.
However God had other plans and great destiny for this family. And sent a pastor with the word of the lord, saying "You were born not to die like this, and though your life now has no meaning I have a great plan to make it meaningful to others. There are many lost, many spiritually dead because they do not know ME (CHRIST). I want you to show my sacrificial life and love for them. Rise up, I will use you and your children mightily for my glory”. He took the word of the Lord and ran with it... and this is what he became:
Sanjeeva Rao, the founder and President of Faith India Ministries. God took a hold of his life and gave him and his young family a vision for a church an orphanage and mighty testimony for God in South East India, made his life beautiful and meaningful, living with his entire family in His vineyard. It was clear to all that Christ himself had touched this man. Therefore, Church has been planted then and there and began its services in the year of 1995. After committed his whole life for Christ and His mission, he dedicated his two children for the ministry and sent them to be trained in Bible schools. God has enabled them to establish an organization called "Faith India Ministries" in the year of 2004 with a great passion to serve people who are higher and lower, untouchables (Dalit) in caste system. The ministry is now functioning tremendously in sharing the love of Christ to others: the untouchables. With over two hundred baptized and many more saved, Pr. Sanjeeva Rao and Faith India Ministries have been going strong in the Lords Commission since 1995.
"We are a group of people sacrificed our lives to care for Dalits "The Untouchables". Serving thousands of people on a daily basis takes a small army. FIM prides itself on working as a team to fulfil the call that God has placed on them. Raj and his wife Teja oversee the day in and day out operations of the ministry living in the middle our village in Kotipalli, India. A team of committed and dynamic Indians make up our key staff and Board of Directors. Without them, we could not function. Everyone on our amazing team of staff and volunteers are committed to “spread God’s Love to every village in India.”
Raj is our new elected Presidentof FIM. he committed his life to learning and service for the benefit of FIM. One of the greatest passions he has is demonstrating the love of God in action actively in both ways: in what he says and what he does. He has taken great role in FIM after his theological studies. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Sociology at Andhra University, Visakhapatnam and now he aims to complete his master’s degree in Sociology. He loves photography and videography. He also wrote, sung and produced Christian devotional albums in Telugu language and it is his ultimate passion to do more albums in the days to come.
Tejaswi is in charge of Book Keeping for FIM and overseeing the care of the children who live at Faith India Children’s Home and Day Care Centre in both Kotipalli and Amudarlanka. Teja and her husband, Raj, have been married for 10 years. Together they have two beautiful children, Sahay 8 (boy) and Sahrudhi 5 (girl).
Rajani takes care of the health of all of the children in our care as well as caring for people suffering from leprosy that FIM is working with. She also get involves in rural free medical camps that are organised by FIM. She is happily married with two beautiful girls.
Venky is responsible for managing all of the FIM’s mission programs when global teams arrive to serve alongside. He plans, coordinates, and runs our outreaches. He & his wife, Roja are eager to have beautiful kids soon.
Rao and Glory have been associating with FIM in the operation of social welfare activities. He is the good translator too and God gifted him with so many talents in sharing the word relevantly. Rao is married to his loving wife, glory, and they enjoy parenting their two wonderful children, Shine and Sajeev.
Dinesh is our elder boy of the FIM’s orphanage. Recently he completed his college studies in industrial training institute. He is involved in all the ministry, especially as an office assistant and media director in FIM church plants.
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India is a vast and vibrant country. Rich in culture, history, and people. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country in the world with over 1.3 billion people, and the most populous of all the worlds' democracies.
India is the birthplace to several world religions including Hinduism and Buddhism. Over 80% of the population are Hindu, while 13% are Muslim, and merely 3% of the people are Christian. It is a deeply spiritual place, where even government parties are often affiliated with religion. And temples, churches, and mosques are the most popular type of tourist attraction you will see in India.
The caste system is a pyramid of social divisions. A less talked about part of Indian culture is the caste system. On top are the Brahmins (Priests), who are the ultimate authorities. They have been the caretakers of the system. The Brahmins are the pinnacle of the pyramid under them is the Kshatriyas, the warriors and landlords. Another step down is the Vaisyas, the artisans and tradesmen. At the bottom are the Shudras. They are the unskilled laborers, and make up the overwhelming majority. However, there is one more caste level, the lowest of the low - seen as the dregs of society. This subterranean caste is known as Dalits (the untouchables or outcasts). The rest of society regards them as they would regard a stray dog. Even touching or interacting with one of these individuals is seen as gross spiritual pollution.
FIM is located in the Southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh in a small village called Kotipalli. This state is known as the "rice bowl" of India and located on the coast of the Indian Ocean. It's people speak predominantly Telugu. Kotipalli village is the hub of all of FIM's work; however we reach every village in the local area by spreading God’s Love in action.
