Rage to Redemption
To the astonishment of anyone who knows him today, Rohit Jadhav was once the epitome of road rage.
“I would punch walls just to vent my anger, and I started looking for fights on the road,” Rohit admits. “I would take my bike and ride so rashly that I would have an accident so I could fight with someone.”
Rohit’s life spiraled out of control in his hometown of Pune, India—until one day he met Jesus. Once he surrendered to Christ, he began transforming from an angry adolescent into a passionate pastor and Moody Bible Institute online student. Now Rohit’s sole focus is helping others encounter and embrace the Savior he owes everything.
A life of constant anger
Rohit’s family went to church on Christmas and Easter. The rest of the time, they fought.
“Life was a mess, basically,” Rohit says, describing his constant anger. “I tried to commit suicide. I’d run away from home. I got into fights. I was a very rebellious person at that time. I was addicted to pornography.”
Looking for something to placate his outrage, 19-year-old Rohit explored the occult and started drinking. Neither helped. But at the gym, he reconnected with an old classmate who invited him to church.
His first Sunday there, he was hooked—but not by the message. “Someone came and just embraced me. That’s what spoke to me.”
Finding the love he desperately wanted
Before long, Rohit began to understand what a real relationship with Jesus Christ was. He knew it was not two visits to church a year and struggles with rage the rest of the time.
“Before that, I saw God as a person who was angry with me, hated me, judged me, thought that I was not good enough for Him, was disappointed in me,” Rohit says. Suddenly, he realized that wasn’t true. Not only was God not angry at him—God loved him dearly.
But Rohit’s home life and friend group hadn’t changed, and having trouble breaking his old habits, he asked his mentor—Sangram, who had given him the welcoming hug—for advice.
“He helped me to not focus on home or family or the hurt but to keep on growing and keep on knowing more about Christ,” Rohit says.
So Rohit threw himself into Bible study, both alone and with fellow believers. After about a year, he even started leading one of the Bible studies at church.
A six-year failure
In the meantime, Rohit’s parents mapped out Rohit’s career.
“They wanted me to do engineering,” Rohit says. “But I was not keen on engineering, and because they forced me, I really lost passion in studying. Every exam I wrote, I kept failing for six years.”
Rohit watched in shame and disappointment as his younger siblings succeeded at something he couldn’t seem to accomplish.
“I became like the black sheep, the one that everyone spoke bad about or said, ‘Don’t be like him,’” Rohit says. “That season was a very dark season, but in it, God really broke through. I think if that season didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be ready for God to mold or shape me or call me the way He has done it.”
Unexpected turn of events
After six years of failure, Rohit decided to pursue a degree in computer science—and when he completed his first year successfully, things seemed to be looking up.
And then his appendix ruptured.
“When they opened me, it was already ruptured and there was pus,” Rohit says. “They had to wash my intestine. It was really like a life-and-death situation.”
Rohit’s church family rallied around him, prayed for him, and stayed with him. His parents saw this and became more open to faith and attending church more than twice a year.
Eager to help him continue on a successful path, Rohit’s parents recommended he make a fresh start.
So, in 2009 he moved south to Bangalore, and attended the church his pastor had recommended, where he continued to grow in his faith and let go of past strongholds. No matter what he was doing—jobs in IT, website development, or anything else—he always ended up at church.
“The senior pastor of that church said, ‘Rohit, you’re always hanging out in church. Would you like to be part of the staff?’”
A ministry jack of all trades
Rohit and Diya Jadhav at their sending ceremony.
In 2013, Rohit became a full-time kind of jack of all trades at the church. He found a passion for teaching the Bible in smaller, more serious settings. In addition to finding his calling, he met Diya, who was also on the church staff. They married in 2014, and in 2017, they were ordained and began serving as pastors.
Before long, Rohit realized that he needed more ministry training.
“My actual understanding of what church is, what ministry is, how we disciple people, what is truth, how to know the Word and study the Word—I really didn't have a footing there.”
Ministry training from half a world away
Soon he found Moody Online, and was immediately intrigued by the hands-on, practical ministry training. He started attending classes in the spring of 2021 from his home in India.
“When I came into Moody, one of the things that really opened my eyes were the discussion forums,” Rohit says, admitting how judgmental he’d been toward different denominations in Christianity. “But when I heard these people speak, and the way they were so genuine about Christ, and the love for Him, and they had their context to why they did what they did, I realized how narrow-minded I was.”
Rohit was also delighted with how practical the assignments were. They trained him to help others grow and pursue his own spiritual growth and health.
“Moody really helped me to shape my own ministry,” Rohit says, “and learn what are the non-compromising things about Christianity and what are the things that can be worked out based on these circumstances.”
Two professors in particular made an impression on him—Greg Stephens, professor of Old Testament, and Richard Hayes, who taught theology.
“There was such a richness in the way they shared things and spoke about things,” Rohit says. “That impressed on me who I would like to be.”
Preaching love over anger
In 2021, Rohit’s mother passed away suddenly, and he took some time off from classwork to help his sister. Still active in his church, Rohit continued to learn and grow in his own faith and minister to others—but he and Diya began to feel it was time for a change.
Rohit Jadhav teaching.
“Toward the end of 2022, my wife and I had a strong conviction that our work in Bangalore was done and that we would be moving,” Rohit says. “But we didn't have clarity or direction at that time.”
In the beginning of 2023, a church planter from Dehradun—in the mountainous part of north India—was praying fervently that God would send someone to help him. Rohit and Diya’s pastor independently recognized they would be an immense blessing to this pastor, who had been at their church in 2019, and recommended they move to Dehradun to help him.
They moved to Dehradun in November 2023. In his role at the new church, Adonai Doon Community, Rohit continues his coursework at Moody as he’s able and supports the pastor in many different roles.
Often that looks like performing everyday tasks such as administration, IT, and media. It also includes leading groups, teaching, discipling, praying with people, and just doing life with them. But one thing is always at the forefront of Rohit and Diya’s ministry: helping other people abandon their anger for the love of Jesus, just like Rohit did.
“That was like a day-and-night transformation for me, where I came to know God as father. When I encountered Him, I saw who God really was, and His love for me in Christ,” Rohit says. “If not for His intervention, I would have been consumed by anger, addictions, and rejection.”
