CBN’s vision is to prepare the nation of India for the second coming of Christ by presenting the Gospel, primarily through the media and by reaching out to the poor with humanitarian endeavors.
Christian Broadcasting Network India is a multimedia company dedicated to reaching every Indian home with a message of hope through quality television programs. CBN began its operation in India in 1995 and was incorporated in 2000. Its entry into Indian television began with a program called Flying House in October 1995, on channel DD2. Since then, CBN has produced and telecast several indigenous programs.
1997 experienced a great increase in the level of programming and evoked a tremendous response. First, the serial on the life of Christ, “Dayasagar,” began on channel DD1. Super Book went on air on DD2, and the international version of the 700 Club was broadcast six days a week on Home TV, a satellite channel. Flying House continued on various regional languages, terrestrial stations.
Currently, CBN programs use various genres such as drama, real life stories, music, and children’s shows. Produced in various regional languages, four programs are aired every week on some of the major television networks of India They are Ek Nayee Zindagi in Hindi, Nireekshana in Telugu, Thiruppumunai in Tamil, and the children’s show Khushi Ki Duniya.
The humanitarian ministry of CBN India is Operation Blessing India, whose mission is to alleviate human need and suffering in India. Since its inception in 1998, the ministry has improved the quality of life for the underprivileged who often live in remote and inaccessible villages through the provision of health care, clean water, disaster relief, HIV/AIDS care and counseling, cleft lip and palate surgeries, and education for children.
One of the major thrusts of Operation Blessing India is the Vidya Jyothi program, which is Hindi for “the light of education.” The main aim of Vidya Jyothi is to educate children who do not have the opportunity to go to schools due to their poor economical conditions. Most of the children who attend are orphans, school dropouts, or the children of widows and rag pickers. In addtion to giving them education, one of the main focuses of Vidya Jyothi is to bring Christ into the lives of these children. Operation Blessing India currently has four such centers in India, ministering to 300 children.
