Serving Alongside International

Serving Alongside International (SAI) was founded by Indian Missionary and former Nagpur Seminary President, Manohar James. Dr. James took leave from his seminary to pursue a rigorous Doctorate Degree program in Theology from Asbury Seminary in the US. Upon completion of his 6 years of study he returned to his Indian seminary to meet with leadership and share his vision for equipping India's rural pastors. In that instant, SAI was born. The first donation was collected.

Dr. James is passionate about training leaders throughout his country to equip others in effective ministry practices. To date, Manohar has a team of 14 people serving alongside him throughout the country. He has trained over 800 pastors to date.

SAI provides modular seminary training seminars to rural pastors for free. That's right, free. India's pastors are often very impoverished as they meet the needs of their church and truly trust the Lord to meet the most basic of needs for their own families. Many of these rural pastors have had no training and have no idea about contextualized ministry and how various laws affect them. For instance, most don't know that utterance of the word "Hell" can land them in jail or that proselytizing is illegal. 

In addition to equipping pastors, SAI is involved in Widow care, Orphan care, providing resources for sports camps and school supplies. 

As a publicly funded 501(c)(3) charity, SAI can only reach as far as donations enable. 

The fall of 2017 Dr. James and his team are planning to train 1,000 pastors in 5 different states. This will be a big undertaking. All things are possible with God!(Matthew 19:26)

The cost for training is $25 per participant. NO FEES are collected from the pastors. SAI's purpose is to serve and equip. All meals and training resources are provided; and in some areas, lodging is provided. The training per participant fee also covers a host of expenses incurred by SAI such as: translation services, training materials for participants, rentals of video and sound production equipment,training hall rental, and ground/air transportation for our trainers, as well as their lodging and meals.

Testimonials of Training Participants

“Training workshop on “Contextual Preaching” not only revived my passion for effective way of articulating the gospel through my sermons, but also changed my paradigm of doing ministry.” 

“I learned many new things in the one-day training seminar, especially, how to preach effectively in times such as these.”

“In last two years I have lost five believers through my irrelevant preaching. Had I received this sort of instruction a few years ago, I would not have lost them. I Thank God for SAI’s vision of equipping pastors like me in the field.” 

"I am very much blessed by this workshop and have learned new aspects on how to bring people to Christ in this generation through proper communication. Many pastors need this sort of practical training for their ministry so that they can avoid dangers."  

Pastoral Endorsements 

SAI Board Member Rev. Nic Gibson:

"I have known Manohar James as a co-laborer for the Gospel and as a friend since 2003. He has distinguished himself in the service of the Gospel in many ways that lead me to trust him personally and recommend him to you.  Over the last few years, I have been serving Serving Alongside International (SAI) Ministries as a Board Member. SAI has a specific vision for bringing Gospel effectiveness to pastors in the South Asian subcontinent and beyond. As the religious climate becomes more complex legally and more volatile socially, pastors require shrewder and more contextualized ministry training than they have ever received before. It is the goal of SAI to bring that training directly to the untrained pastors of India - those who have no academic training, and those for whom their training did not cover how to deal with the social, religious, legal, and cultural context of India - especially in its more remote villages. I have been with Manohar and SAI in three different states in India recently. This ministry has the ability to unleash effective Gospel ministry in thousands of churches very quickly – which is what Indian pastors tell us everywhere we go to serve them.  I encourage you to support SAI in any way you can. It is a ministry that has the right strategy at the appointed time, and is being led by a leader with character, experience and the right strategic training for this work."

SAI Board Member Rev. Terry Moore:

"Rev. James is a Spirit-filled visionary leader and evangelist to the people of India. In partnership Serving Alongside International he provides Bible training and leadership support to national pastors in India, as well as programs for widows and underprivileged children in that country. I personally am a volunteer supporter and a member of the US Board of Serving Alongside International. We are proud that our church, First Assembly of God, KY, is an ongoing supporter of this ministry."

Rev. Saji Lukos, Founder and President of Reaching Indians Ministries International and Mission India, Nagpur, India:

"Today's missions approaches are different from the past. India is on the brink of a radical social change and thus the spiritual harvest is ripe. Serving Alongside International provides social innovation and relevant means of grassroots level  leadership development and community transformation. I wholeheartedly commend the endeavors of my good friend Manohar James."