Orphans Ministry - India

In 1994, UNICEF estimated that there were 11 million street children in India. This number is said to be a drastic under-estimation. The Indian embassy estimated 314,700 street children in cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Kanpur, Bangalore and Hyderabad and around 100,000 street children in Delhi.

Children living on the streets often go days without food, and without funds for books and uniforms, they are unable to attend school. Without shelter or any kind of protection, they are at great risk for exploitation and trafficking. As Don Shire toured India with his trumpet, he saw local pastors reaching out to these children, but with very limited resources. Don decided to be a spokesperson for them in his concerts and established “DSM International India”, a NGO in India. Today, working with the local churches in India, the ministry feeds, houses, and educates hundreds of orphans. The children love to sing praises to the Lord and memorize scripture. This outreach is funded by concert income and through the generous gifts of donors. 100% of all gifts designated toward our India orphans goes toward helping these children.

A group of boys rescued from the streets of Visakhapatnam, proudly displaying their new shoes.

Our newly constructed home for orphans and widows in Vijayawada, India.

​​Don Shire Ministries has established a sponsorship program to place children from our orphanages into the homes and families of local Indian pastors. In general, pastors in India are very poor. Their churches are made up of the unemployed. They do not have jobs because most businesses hire Hindus only. This program enables them to adopt boys and girls from our orphanages. Each sponsored child is placed with a pastor and his wife who will raise the child as their own. DSM seeks sponsors for $50 per month to place each child in a home. The monthly sponsorship funds are used by the adopting family to cover the cost of care. In addition to providing a stable and loving home environment for each child, the sponsorship program, by freeing up space in our orphanages, also enables us to take in more children who are desperately in need of food, clothing, shelter, and education.