According to church history, Thomas, the disciple best known for his doubts, first took the name of Christ to India, ushering in a rich and centuries-long history of Christ followers there. These “Thomas Christians,” as they are known, have provided a faithful presence in the region, along with missionaries and others who continued to bring the Gospel and start churches. Perhaps best known is renowned missionary Amy Carmichael, noted for providing a sanctuary for women and girls in India seeking to escape slavery and prostitution. She was also instrumental in the outlaw of those practices.

Another example is Scottish missionary Dr. Alexander Duff, who offered an education in English, in the sciences, and in biblical studies, hoping that upper-caste Hindu students would see the contradictions in their own beliefs and move toward Christianity. His work helped bring Krishna Bannerjee to Christ, who brought modern ideas of scholarship and social justice to India and developed an approach to Christianity that honored Indian culture while remaining firmly anchored in evangelical tradition.

Hindu authorities spent centuries attempting to stamp out the flame ignited by the Apostle Thomas. In fact, their effort continues today. Despite the work and witness of faith leaders, India remains a place of religious persecution, with anti-conversion laws, deadly elections, and brutal treatment of Christians and non-Hindu minorities. Nearly half of India’s 28 states have anti-conversion laws, while the intensification of Hindu nationalism has brought mob violence “upholding” these laws.

According to the most recent Global Persecution Index,

India’s anti-conversion laws are so broadly phrased as to outlaw even the most basic practices of religious life, such as singing worship songs, gathering corporately, and benevolence. For the mobs, the laws give a veneer of legitimacy to their grievances and empower them to act with violence against innocent Christians.

Despite the terror and persecution, God has His people in place there, including Dr. Ananthi Jebasingh, the recipient of the 2025 William Wilberforce Award. Each year, the Colson Center presents this award to a Christian leader who has made a lasting difference in his or her sphere of influence, demonstrating similar principled courage as British abolitionist William Wilberforce, whose faithful work helped end slavery in the British Empire.

Dr. Jebasingh was born in a southern city in India that was established by Christian missionaries and known for education. As a youth, she accepted Christ after hearing from these missionaries. Her faith found a mission of its own when years later, a small boy knocked on her door begging for food. In addition to feeding the child, Dr. Jebasingh felt called to “teach and love him.” A week later the boy returned with 25 other children who wanted to attend her “school.” She was soon teaching more than 100 children from her home and eventually received permission to establish a school within the so-called “toilet complex” of the Alakananda slum in 1991. This was beginning of the Friends of the Good Samaritans Schools.

By 1998, Dr. Jebasingh was teaching more than 600 children of all ages within the slum community. She now manages a staff of over 150 in New Delhi, India. They provide free education, nutrition, and medical care to more than 1,000 of India’s impoverished children. The children and families of the communities call her “Mummy-ji,” which in Hindi means “honored mother.”

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