Timeline
On-Going
Status
Currently Operating
Topics
Children's Ministry, Evangelism, Muslims, Pastoral Training, Poverty, Women's Ministry, Youth Ministry
Parents of Preschoolers Crowd Around, Hear the Gospel
It was December 20th. Fifty mothers and four fathers packed into the tiny collection of rooms…
Merry Christmas From Your ITMI Partners!
We asked our partners to share some of the ways Jesus’ kingdom was advanced this year. We hope you are encouraged by their answers and the special messages they have for you!
Your Gifts Shine Jesus’ Light into Darkness
“After many days, we slept well,” Sayida told ITMI’s Taru Kumar, mustering a gentle half-smile.
The Dark Reality of Ministering in India
Taru Kumar thought Rahman* was crying because he did not want to come to school that day. …
What it’s Like to Attend VBS at Deepam Center in Bangalore, India
It was only 9:30 in the morning, but beads of sweat formed on the forehead of ITMI’s Taru Kumar. She sat on a plastic chair in a small tin-roofed room, flanked on each side by a standing fan. In front of her…
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.
A narrow passageway in the slum where David and Taru work.
David and Taru minister to women and children, for whom life in this Indian slum can be unspeakably harsh and oppressive.
Considered property, many are forbidden to leave the slum or sometimes even their tiny, drab homes.
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.
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.
Muslim women learning to sew.
ITMI's Steve Evers and David share the story of the potter and the clay with the women after they've done their sewing.
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.
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.
Taru with two young girls, proudly displaying their crafts.
Taru demonstrates the love of Christ to the young children of the slum through VBS.
David 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.
A Few Words from a Graduate of David and Taru’s Tailoring Training Program (Video)
In addition to holding outreaches for children in the Modi Road slum in Bangalore, India, ITMI’s David and Taru Kumar also have outreaches for the women. Here’s a testimony from one of the women who graduated from David and Taru’s Tailoring Program for women in Modi Road. She’s sharing what the program has meant to […]
Futures Changed: Teaching Children to Call on Jesus
They sat knee to knee with legs crossed on the thin brightly striped mat that covered the cement floor, all facing the front of the room in anticipation. Behind them, in one of the back corners, a white standing fan oscillated over the crowd of about 15-20 women.
How Godly National Believers and ITMI Supporters Reach People for Christ
You Send. They Reach. Your support of our partners is an important part of each of these fun stories of giving and celebrating!
DEAR TEAM: The Impact of Your Influence
Have you heard of Ted Geisel? I’m pretty sure that you have heard of him, just not by this name.
Ted was somewhat entrapped on a ship as it crossed the Atlantic on stormy seas in the fall of 1935. …
David and Taru’s 2020 Police Precinct Outreach is Still Yielding Fruit!
Not long ago, Taru was on the street when she happened to see one of the police officers who belonged to the precinct where Taru and David did an outreach event at the end of 2020. …
