160+ Churches and Growing: Inside ARM's Church Planting Movement
Since Bishop Dr. Surya Karada founded Agape Reaching Ministries in 1995 after 40 days of prayer and fasting, church planting has stood at the very heart of the ministry's calling. Today, that calling has grown into a movement of 160+ churches — 18 established main congregations and 142 house churches — spread across Sambalpur and other districts of Odisha.
Every one of those churches began the same way: with a single evangelist, a single household, and a willingness to walk into villages that had never heard the name of Jesus Christ.
From House Church to Congregation
ARM's church planting strategy follows a simple, reproducible pattern. A trained local evangelist first builds relationships in an unreached village, often starting with a single believing family. Prayer meetings begin in that family's home — a house church. As more neighbors respond to the Gospel, the fellowship grows, local leadership is raised up, and in time the house church matures into a main church with its own regular worship services and trained pastoral care.
This model keeps the ministry rooted in the community rather than imposed from outside. Local believers become the evangelists to their own neighbors, which is part of why the movement has been able to spread across all 30 districts that ARM has targeted for outreach.
"When the first believers in our village began meeting in one home to pray, people mocked us. Five years later, that same home could not hold everyone who wanted to worship, and now we have our own church building." — A Church Planting Coordinator
The Road to 900 Churches
ARM's long-term vision is to see 900 churches established across Odisha and beyond. It is an ambitious goal, but one grounded in nearly three decades of steady, patient growth — not sudden campaigns, but faithful discipleship, one household and one village at a time.
Each new church plant also becomes a hub for ARM's other ministries — Sunday school programs for children, literacy classes for adults, and practical relief for families in need — so that planting a church means far more than adding a building. It means a community gains a lasting source of spiritual and practical support.
We are deeply grateful to every partner, prayer supporter, and donor who has made this growth possible. If you would like to help ARM plant the next church in an unreached village of Odisha, we would love to hear from you.
Church Planting FAQs
As of 2026, ARM has planted 160+ churches across Odisha — 18 main congregations and 142 house churches — spread across Sambalpur and other districts, with a long-term goal of reaching 900 churches.
A main church is an established congregation with a fixed meeting place and trained leadership, while a house church is a smaller fellowship meeting in a believer's home under a local evangelist — often the first step toward a main church.
You can partner through prayer, financial giving toward a specific district or church plant, or by contacting ARM via the Contact page to sponsor a local evangelist.