Pastor KP uses his 'Gospel Chariot' to win India for Christ
How Pastor KP is using a van purchased by three American businessmen to spread the Gospel and compassion in remote Indian villages.
Pastor KP fondly calls it his “Gospel Chariot.”
It’s a Suzuki Eeco, a compact, five-seat microvan that he uses to carry the message of Jesus across rural India. This van is more than transportation — it’s a lifeline for evangelism, compassion and community service.
Sometimes, KP drives for hours to reach remote villages along India’s eastern coast. Once there, he sets up a sound system atop the van and preaches.
Other days, he loads it with food and delivers it to a leper colony or to people ostracized because they have HIV.
And on occasion, it even serves as an ambulance.
Once, at 2 a.m., KP received a call to transport a pregnant woman needing an emergency C-section. The hospital was 20 miles away, and without the Gospel Chariot, KP says she would have died.
A few times a month, he’ll use the van to drive hundreds of miles to a village where 50 or 60 pastors will gather to hear my colleagues and me at The India Pastors Project (TIPP) teach on scripture. KP provides the mobile technology so the pastors can see and hear us over Zoom — and KP translates our words into Telugu.
“It’s the Gospel on wheels,” KP told me. “We go to villages where people have never heard of Jesus and tell them, ‘We have good news for you.’ They’re eager to hear it — that Jesus paid for their sins so they can have eternal life.”
From hitchhiking to motorcycle to Gospel Chariot
I first met Pastor KP nearly five years ago when Chuck Myers, Tim Brown and I began working with him through TIPP, the ministry we founded to teach the Bible to local pastors via Zoom.
Back then, KP was hitchhiking to preach in villages. He would stand by the roadside waiting for a truck driver willing to take him, often paying $5–$10 for a ride. It wasn’t easy. Sometimes he waited for hours in harsh weather, rain or blistering sun. The return trips were even harder, often stretching into the early morning.
“It was dangerous, because some of the truck drivers drove drunk,” KP said. “I was in accidents multiple times. I only suffered minor injuries, but two truck drivers who gave me rides died in crashes. But God protected me.”
One of the first things we did for KP was buy him a motorcycle, allowing him to reach more villages and carry more Gospel tracts. It cost $2,500 and transformed his ministry, enabling him to visit up to four villages a day. He has put 60,000 miles on that motorcycle in just four years.
Then, in late 2023, we went further. Three businessmen from Hickory, N.C., donated $20,000 for the Gospel Chariot — a microvan equipped with a generator and audio/video equipment.
Now, KP can visit six to eight villages in a single day. He has already put 30,000 miles on the van.
“I use it every day,” KP said.
On one trip to Dallpalli, a crowd of 300 gathered to hear him preach through the van’s sound system. That day, 62 people responded to the altar call, leaving behind idol worship to embrace the truth of Christ.
“These people had never heard of Jesus before,” KP said. “When I preached Acts 10:34-43, they saw the truth for the first time. They said, ‘Thank you for opening our eyes.’”
In Acts 10, Peter shares the good news with the Roman centurion Cornelius, proclaiming that God shows no partiality and offers forgiveness to all who believe in Jesus. It’s the same message KP carries to the tribal villages of India.
Pastor KP’s Gospel Chariot reminds me of two Biblical chariot stories. In 2 Kings 2, Elijah is taken to heaven in a chariot of fire.
And in Acts 8:26-40, Philip shares the Gospel with an Ethiopian eunuch traveling in his chariot.
The eunuch, a high-ranking official, is reading Isaiah but does not understand it. Philip explains the passage, pointing to Jesus as its fulfillment. The eunuch believes, and when they come across water, he asks to be baptized. The eunuch continues his journey in his chariot, rejoicing.
Like Philip, Pastor KP uses his Gospel Chariot to spread the good news of salvation. And like the Ethiopian, those who hear and receive the message continue their journeys rejoicing.