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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Kandu of India

The Kandu of India, numbering approximately 2,105,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a grain-parching and confectionery community of Bihar and West Bengal, also called Halwai, believed descended from a Kahar father and Sudra mother. Business remains their main occupation, supplemented by cultivation. They are an Indigenous people in the Bihari people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Maithili and their primary religion is Hinduism.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Anonymous

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Bihari
Primary Language(s): Maithili (mai)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 2,105,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041292
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Pray for the Kandu of India

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

99%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Maithili
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Maithili Speakers

Media Resources in Maithili:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Maithili:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Maithili bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Kandu:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kandu are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Kandu:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Kandu are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Kandu:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Kandu of India

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
readMatthew 9:36

Pray that those who have no hope and are in need of a Savior will be comforted by the Good Shepherd, who seeks to gather the lost and weary into His care.

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.
readPsalm 119:97

Pray that the lost will have access to God's Word in their language and treasure it deeply, meditating on God's promises and precepts.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
readJohn 10:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have assurance of eternal life, knowing that no one can snatch them out of the loving hand of Jesus.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessing.
read1 Corinthians 9:23

Ask God to give believers a deep desire to share the gospel with those who don't know the truth about God's redemption plan, and to provide them with opportunities to do so cross-culturally.

Kandu Across Countries (ROP3 - 112418) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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