Pioneers

In 1991 a small group of doctors and nurses went to one of the most underserved parts of our country to work among the tribals of the Lamptaput district, Orissa.

Seen in the picture (from left): a young Dr. Varghese Philip, Bobby (an engineer), Deen Dayal (who later became community health coordinator), Shaji (now the construction supervisor), Dr. Nirmala Philip & 2 nurses - and the daughters of Drs. VP and Nirmala

[Drs. Manoj and Manju were at CMC Ludhiana for their PG studies]

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This week we had the unique privilege of hosting one of the original band - Dr. Manoj Jacob.

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Initially working out of an old rice godown, they literally started from scratch. Many hardships, many experiences of trusting God, many tears but also many amazing experiences later we now have the Asha Kiran Hospital - a centre of a thriving wholeistic community health and development.

A group of trained community health volunteers from tribal villages

Working with women and men from local tribal groups - the folks at Asha Kiran have been able to reduce infant and maternal mortality, build up educational networks, do native-language translations and partner with tribal communities to make real changes in their lives.

The main hospital campus has been designed by the architect Laurie Baker to mimic as much as possible the clusters of homes found in surrounding tribal villages.

In 1992 some of the doctors from this nascent hospital attended the Evangelical Medical Fellowship of India annual conference in Orissa. Among the medical students was a young Bethsheba Rajan.

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She was deeply moved by meeting Dr. Manoj and his wife Dr. Manju - and the relationship helped open up her horizons to the opportunities and needs of medical mission work in the North of our country.

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15 years later Sheba has already been working for a decade, with work done in Uttar Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand and now Maharasthra.

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What a joy to meet Dr. Manoj again. As he works on understanding Missional Healthcare during a sabbatical from Asha Kiran, our prayer is that he and Manju will continue to be lead by the Spirit into work of lasting value.

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True pioneers.

An older, and wiser, Dr. Manoj Jacob shares the Asha Kiran vision at Jeevan Sahara Kendra, Thane 14th Sept. 2007

Leonine Ecclesiology

Bed-time, a few days ago.

We were talking about the Church. About her being the bride of Christ.

I asked if the kids knew what that meant.

Enoch said: "Yes, a pride is a group of lions!"

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On reflection - he could be right.

We know that Jesus is called the Lion of Judah.

We know that we are called from darkness into light and are called to be a royal priesthood and a holy nation.

The lion has always been a royal beast (shades of Aslan come to mind).

Perhaps it would be good to think of the Church as 'a group of lions'!

7 Cousins

One of the great blessings in life are cousins!


Asha and Enoch are blessed with a whole passel of them!

They are certainly wonders - perhaps on par with the 7 modern wonders.

We decided to call them the 7 bhandars of the world.

Here they are - in birth order - and by current residence:

1. Frankie - Phoenix, Arizona, USA
2. Asha - Thane, India
3. Joanna - New Delhi, India
4. Enoch - Thane, India
5. Anmol - Nairobi, Kenya
6. Ashish - New Delhi, India
7. Tammana - Varanasi, India

The photo above was taken this May when Asha and Enoch spent an unforgettable 2 weeks with Joanna in Delhi.

We now have the added joy of having Ashish move into the same neighbourhood - Gautam Nagar - where Joanna lives (and their respective parents of course too!).

The one problem with the 7 bhandars is that they do not see each other as much as we would like.

Man at the ticket counter

Where are people with HIV?

Everywhere.

We went as a family to the Planaterium today. All the way down to Worli - an autorickshaw, train to Dadar Stn., train to Mahalaxmi Stn., taxi to the site. It was closed. The attendant said it was always closed on Monday. I pointed out that it was Saturday. He said it was closed because of the Ganesh festival. Anyway. The Nehru Science centre had to do for us Eichers.

But what about people with HIV?

At Thane station I went to buy a booklet of coupons for the trip. I looked into the small ticket window and saw him.

One of our HIV positive patients.

Selling railway tickets to urban communters.

A man who was deeply depressed and under psychiatric treatment at one point.

Selling tickets.

Head down he was dispensing tickets right and left. Every day 500,000 communters pass through Thane railway station.

I asked him whether he knew me.

"No" he said - not looking up.

I repeated the question and asked him to take a look.

A huge smile erupted on his face.

"Please come into my office through the back door", he said. "I have started my ART drugs!"

And then, when I said that I wasn't able to, he actually fished out his bottle of Lazid-N and showed it to me with a big smile.

Who says people are afraid to take their meds.

I was so pleased to see our friend that I promptly forgot to punch the coupons - I had to tell Sehba about it - and had to go back later to punch them to be valid for our train trip.

Where are people with HIV?

Everywhere

The story of the man with the swollen head

Our daily staff reviews of people with HIV who have been visited in their homes is a mixture of the grim and joyous (with the former usually predominating the mix).

Today we talked about Mr. Indramani (name changed of course).

Indramani had come to us some months ago with a huge swelling on the side of his face. He needed urgent hospitalisation and drainage of the pus to have any hope of survival. On that very day a veteran surgeon from South India was visiting us. He stripped down to his undershirt and did the operation on the spot! Mr. Indramani went home with a far smaller face and a new life.

Sadly the old life that was on the inside of this dear man has not changed.

Today we reviewed his condition. He is sick. Coughing. No appetite. Lost weight. Feverish.

TB if there ever was such a thing.

Problem is that he has few options right now. He is estranged from his wife - though she still comes and brings him food. He has run away from the govt. hospital at least once before, so they will not care for him. He has relied on his sister to care for him - which she has done in the past - but she is sick too.

Life with HIV is not only about the virus. It is also about the varied detritus that makes up our lives.

His comment today? "I don't want to take any tablets. Give me medicines that I can take in syrups."

So many times our staff have faithfully gone to meet him. So many inputs and sharings with him. It seems horrible to see this man who has had so much done for him slipping away. But unless he turns his own rudder in the direction of life, he will continue to drift to destruction.

As much as we feel helpless in this situation (and many like it) we have to just continue doing the steps that we can. Meet. Talk. Listen. Pray.

Only eternity will tell the outcome of Mr. Indramani's life - and our lives with him.

Africa

The historian Tim Jeal ends his 384 page book about David Livingstone with this quote:

"Undoubtably Livingstone's greatest sorrow would have been that Africa never became a Christian continent." Livingstone, p. 384.

Perhaps in 1971 that may have seemed the case.

Well in 2007 we see a continent far more Christian than the place where men like Livingstone came from.

The picture above is of Peter and Yashmeet - our folks in Kenya (and S. Africa) with a church fellowship in a rural part of Kenya.

The thought of Indian followers of Jesus fellowshipping with Kenyans around the Lord's supper is sure to make the flawless Master of the very flawed Livingstone very happy.

School

Early this morning two of our JSK staff went with a boy and his mother to school.

It was exam time, but Ramu (name changed) has not been to school for 3 weeks. Ever since his father died 3 months ago the boy's life has been torn apart. A 13 year old - he started 'working' - helping out a local mechanic - with the promise of Rs. 10 per day.

Late last week our staff visited the family on one of the regular visits with Ramu's HIV positive mother.

She told them about how she had tried to get him to go back to school - but Ramu would not listen - 'just like his father' said Ramu's mother and disolved into tears.

The boy then came in and our staff talked with him and his mother.

He agreed to go back to school - but was afraid that he would be scolded and beaten. Our staff told him that they would come with him and talk to the teachers.

And so at 6.30 AM the little group came to the school. Exams were on. The staff met with the teachers. Ramu was allowed to start school again. He sat down and was allowed to take the test with the other children.

A small step for a small boy.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.
- Proverbs 31.8 (NIV)