LATEST NEWS

The small motorbike was piled high with household goods. …

What do the students learn at Deepam Primary School? Take a behind-the-scenes peek at what it’s like to attend Deepam Primary School in India with ITMI’s David and Taru Kumar.

ITMI’s David Kumar and his co-worker, Pastor Walter, travel to distant and isolated locations and teach a series of lessons on how to talk with and present Jesus to their friends and family of other faiths. They teach one session each month for 6 months, then…

kumar, india

Equipping People from the “Hakki Pakki” Tribe to Share Jesus

The small motorbike was piled high with household goods. …

deepam, india, kumar

Behind the Scenes at Deepam Primary in India (Video)

What do the students learn at Deepam Primary School? Take a behind-the-scenes peek at what it’s like to attend Deepam Primary School in India with ITMI’s David and Taru Kumar.

Kumar, India

Training Rural Indian Believers to Share Jesus Since 2015

ITMI’s David Kumar and his co-worker, Pastor Walter, travel to distant and isolated locations and teach a series of lessons on how to talk with and present Jesus to their friends and family of other faiths. They teach one session each month for 6 months, then…

For the past couple weeks it had been raining across the state of Karnataka. Everything was muddy. As they traveled, David wondered if anyone would surmount the travel challenges of the rain and attend the training. …

Mary was orphaned when she was 10…

Her siblings could go to school, but because of a disability, she could not. Now in her twenties, she recently fell and broke her arm. …

Six-year-old Ruman couldn’t hide his tears as he passed through the gate into…

Kumar, India

Why Indian Believers Rode Fifteen Miles on Motorcycles in the Rain

For the past couple weeks it had been raining across the state of Karnataka. Everything was muddy. As they traveled, David wondered if anyone would surmount the travel challenges of the rain and attend the training. …

Sin Hurts and Jesus Cares: Examples from Around the World

Mary was orphaned when she was 10…

Her siblings could go to school, but because of a disability, she could not. Now in her twenties, she recently fell and broke her arm. …

Deepam, india

Meet Six-Year-Old Deepam Student, Ruman

Six-year-old Ruman couldn’t hide his tears as he passed through the gate into…

THE CONTEXT

David and Taru have been called to minister in a Muslim slum in Bangalore, India.

Impoverished and forced out, this group of people have set up an informal settlement next to a dump, where no one else wants to be.

Many of the men squander their meager income, leaving their wives and children with little to nothing.

It's not uncommon for the little that is left - if there is any - to be split between a husband's multiple households that are home to children numbering the double digits.

School is not provided for these children, so their future is not likely to include anything brighter.

Most of the women are forbidden by their husbands to obtain work outside the slum, and there's little industry within it.

 


Kumar, modi road

A narrow passageway in the slum where David and Taru work.

 

Kumar, modi road

David and Taru minister to women and children, for whom life in this Indian slum can be unspeakably harsh and oppressive.

India, Kumar

Considered property, many are forbidden to leave the slum or sometimes even their tiny, drab homes.

WHAT YOUR SUPPORT DOES

Reach Muslim Families for Christ

Your support of David and Taru Kumar allows them to continue the ministries of Deepam Center, reaching Muslim families for Christ.

Equip Rural Pastors to Share Jesus with Muslims

Partnership with David and Taru provides for David to travel to rural villages and train pastors and believers how to talk to their Muslim friends and family about Jesus.

Reach a "Closed" Community with the Gospel

David and Taru have been offering hope and love to families in this slum for years, and they have been given unique respect and access to this community that not just anyone has.

Get to Know the Kumars and Their Ministry

Deepam Primary School

David and Taru operate a small primary school that prepares children of the slum for future schooling.

They are taught how to hold a pencil, recognize letters and count, but they are also taught about Jesus and that they can call on him. Just participating in organized activities is immensely beneficial. Their parents are thrilled to see how they learn and grow.

Without these experiences, many would begin elementary school having never held a pencil.

India, Kumar

India, Kumar

Tailoring and Crafting Courses

Taru and other Christian women provide machines and teach the women of the slum to sew. This allows them to earn income without leaving the slum, making a huge the difference for their family's well-being.

David and Taru, India

Muslim women learning to sew.

David and Taru, India

David and Taru, India, sewing

David and Taru, India, Steve Evers

ITMI's Steve Evers and David share the story of the potter and the clay with the women after they've done their sewing.

Deepam Center, Women, David and Taru, India

They come to earn income making crafts, but they LOVE the rare opportunity to connect with other women in a way that is acceptable to their husbands.

Children's Ministry

During the summer, Taru holds week-long VBS-type outreaches at the Deepam Educational Center. Attendance is highly sought-after by the children of the community and they often have to turn children away.

During the week, the students participate in crafts, stories and games that demonstrate the Biblical principles needed to understand God's plan of salvation.

David and Taru, India,

Taru with two young girls, proudly displaying their crafts.

David and Taru, India

Taru demonstrates the love of Christ to the young children of the slum through VBS. 

A Glimpse Inside VBS With David and Taru

Evangelism Training

Many believers in rural villages are scared and unprepared for how to talk to their Muslim neighbors and community members, much less to discuss the truths of the Gospel.

David has a passion to equip Indian Christians for this. He travels to rural villages and equips pastors there to reach Muslims with the Good News. As a result, many have led their Muslim friends and neighbors to the Lord!

What a Rural Pastor in India Had to Say About David's Training

HISTORY

kumar, feature, indiaDavid and Taru both grew up in orphanages in India.

Taru doesn’t know why her family left her where she grew up when she was a baby.

David’s father worked at the orphanage where he was raised, but was so poor that the orphans were better off than his own children, so they were raised with the orphans.

David and Taru had been living across the dumping ground from a Muslim slum in Bangalore, India for some time.

They had been in a employee-like role with another ministry organization for quite a few years. But around 2015, when the organization wanted to relocate them to Northern India so David could manage something they were doing, David and Taru risked everything and said they couldn’t go.

They knew God had called them to demonstrate and declare the Good News in that Bangalore slum.

In this two-and-a-half-minute on-location video, David Kumar gives us a look at the rural village where he, his wife, Taru, and Pastor Walter conducted their most recent training. 

I was both amazed and saddened at the same time. …

Monday, June 5 was the first day of the school year for Deepam Primary School, the outreach of our partners, David and Taru Kumar! Deepam Center…

David and Taru Kumar, India

Greetings from a Small Rural Church in India! (Video)

In this two-and-a-half-minute on-location video, David Kumar gives us a look at the rural village where he, his wife, Taru, and Pastor Walter conducted their most recent training. 

India, Kumar

Dear Team: Reaffirming Our Commitment to (Real) Success

I was both amazed and saddened at the same time. …

Kumar, India, Deepam

From Tears to Smiles on the First Day at Deepam

Monday, June 5 was the first day of the school year for Deepam Primary School, the outreach of our partners, David and Taru Kumar! Deepam Center…

It was a warm spring morning. The small collection of rooms that houses Deepam Primary School was full. Tucked into the area of Bangalore, India, known as Modi Road…

“I never came out of my house but stayed within four walls of my house and never went to see the outside world…”

Kumar, India, Deepam

Honoring 20 Graduates in an Indian Slum

It was a warm spring morning. The small collection of rooms that houses Deepam Primary School was full. Tucked into the area of Bangalore, India, known as Modi Road…

Kumar, graduation

What One Skills Training Graduate Says About David and Taru’s Ministry

“I never came out of my house but stayed within four walls of my house and never went to see the outside world…”