We as a
family are on a pilgrimage, and even before we left our beloved Lalitpur at the
end of May, I had been visiting a few places on behalf of Sheba and
myself. Here are a few glimpses of one
of these journeys. This trip took place in mid-April...
Jhansi railway station would not normally be a
place for me to spend a night, but my wait-listed ticket for Lucknow did not get
confirmed. So I hopped on Sheba’s train
to Delhi (she was going for her last spurt of classes and then the final exam
of her ultra-sound training) and got off an hour and a half later at Jhansi. I slept a few hours in a retiring room at Jhansi
station and then got the early morning train for Lucknow since I was to meet my
dear friend Christian and drive up to Rupaidia with him later in the day.
We had blessedly good rains this year in our
part of Bundelkhand (thanks to many prayers) and it was lovely to see harvested
fields. I was reminded of our Lord
telling His disciples that the fields are ripe for harvest, and that they
should pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more workers.
Lucknow is an old seat of power, and added to
its crumbling ancient piles, there are also the trappings of a modern Indian
city with the prestige item of having a metro.
Super convenient for me as I was able to walk out of the railway
station, onto a metro and was then whisked to the airport to meet the incoming
Christian. I did note, however, that
there were very few fellow travelers.
Perhaps the line doesn’t connect enough key places in Lucknow yet.
After a quick lunch I was off being driven
North with my old friend Christian (engineer, lecturer, entrepreneur and all-round nice guy) and my
new friend Anand (who helps manage the Prem Seva work). We were headed due north to the border town
of Rupaidia where Christian’s in-laws had served for many years, the work which
Anand and his wife Anne have bravely taken up.
A long road trip demands at least one stop for “Special
Chai” and the place we halted at did. not disappoint.
Prem Sewa boys home is a hostel for boys who
need some extra inputs in life. Started
50 years ago, the home has helped scores of young lads blossom into young men, especially
boys whose parents were struggling with the pain of social scorn due to having
Hansens disease (commonly called leprosy).
Over the years the special love these boys have received has seen so
many develop into men of honour. The
legacy continues with the current cohort of 25.
Needless to say, the boys love football, and
having a big spacious compound to live in with its own football field is a
boon.
Besides plenty of space for their dormitories,
the boys are bathed in green and everyone pitches in to grow healthy veggies
and fruit. For city slickers, this is a
sight for sore eyes.
The other amazing work that Christian’s in-laws
pioneered was the Prem Sewa clinic.
Step outside the Boys Home gate and cross the
broad road which is the main highway between India and Nepal. The clinic is on the other side. You literally can’t get any closer to Nepal
than this – the main welcome gate is less than 20 meters from the PS clinic.
The Indo-Nepal border is pretty hassle free for Indian and Nepali
residents (Mr. Trump, are you listening?).
People walk across from both sides, and the clinic being right on the
border caters to sick folks from both countries. Prem Seva means ‘Love Service’ and love is
what draws the steady stream of patients who come for cost-effective lovingly
provided medical care.
And stream the patients do. Though
the clinic does not provide in-patient care (mainly referring to nursing homes
in Nepalganj (obviously on the Nepal side), about 150 to 200 patients are seen
each day. Having their own laboratory
and pharmacy helps of course, but the real draw is good care, provided
faithfully at low prices in a pretty rough border town deep in the boon-docks.
A big salute to this amazing team who are
carrying the legacy of care forward!
A very special part of my visit was celebrating
Resurrection Day with the staff and boys in a sunrise service. As the red disk slowly dawned on a summer
day, we were on a roof singing praises and listening to the seemingly
unbelievably good news of our Master’s conquering death with His bodily
resurrection from the dead.
His first disciples had a hard to believing on
the very day that death was broken. It’s
no surprise that the challenge of belief continues today. But our speaker reminded us about how Jesus
met with two disciples who were leaving Jerusalem sad and confused. The speaker then shared about how God had
helped his own mother through tragedy of losing her husband and a son and
struggling with deep mental illnesses which required multiple
hospitalisations. But how Jesus had
personally helped the speaker in those confusing days, and had helped his
mother too. What hope we have amidst all
our brokenness!
I left Rupaidia as a pilgrim does. Deeply moved by what I had seen in the service
being carried out. I was so thankful to
have been able make new friends and see the destiny shaping work being carried
out. I am humbled by a legacy of service
being taken forward by these dear ones.
My taxi driver on the way back to Lucknow
station regaled me with tales about how rough a border-place Rupaidia is. The magnificent Lucknow station took me in
and gave me a place on the platform on a
hot muggy night to wait for my long-delayed train back to Lalitpur.
Tempus fugit.
Soli Deo gloria.
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