KRISTEN IN INDIA
Exodus 24:12-18 and Matthew 17:1-9
Na-mas-te
Hello, it is good to be home, back in Washington and back at Cleveland Park Church. In the weeks since I was last here for worship I traveled to Minnesota to celebrate the holidays with my family, completed my mid-point review at Lancaster Theological Seminary and traveled to India. It has been a busy six weeks and I am glad to be back.
This morning I have been asked to share some reflections on my most recent travels to India. On January 8th seventeen students, two members of the faculty, one associate conference minister and one national staff member from global ministries set out for a three week adventure studying and learning together as we traveled across India. When we set off we had no idea what lay before. There were some anxieties about being away from family for so long, getting sick overseas and not being able to find anything to eat – Indian food is spicy and lots of us were worried about that. But we began. Our first stop was, Mumbai, where we spent three days staying at the YMCA. We visited many of the Ys projects to the poor including schools for children of pavement dwellers, a home for the aged, and hostels where young women live while they work to support themselves and send money back to the rural communities where their families live. Our time in Mumbai was the most difficult for me and many of my classmates. The pollution was overwhelming. The dirty air, trash littered everywhere, and crushing crowds often left me feeling claustrophobic.
From there we went to Bangalore where we spent a week at United Theological College, a seminary of the Church of South India. Being at a seminary where there were lots of green trees on campus was a great change. I felt more comfortable and being in the classroom was a natural fit for all of us. At UTC we heard lectures on globalization, pluralism and dalit theology. Dalits, or untouchables as they are often called, are a group of people who live outside of the caste system. They are the outcastes of society. Within the Christian context many dalits have found their voice and a theology of the oppressed that strives for change and equality. The professor coordinating our stay is a dalit. She helped us understand how her childhood growing up in poverty shapes her ministry. We also visited a dalit village and talked with the women there about their struggle for survival and the hope they have for a better future.
Next we went to the Kanyakumari district which is the southern most tip of India. There we visited the region most devastated by the Tsunami and saw the hope that has come from destruction. It was surreal to stand on the shore, looking out at the ocean, knowing that thousands died right there from the water that looks so peaceful and calm.
Next we traveled to Madras and stayed at Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary, a seminary dedicated to social justice and service to the poor and marginalized. Finally, we ended our travels in Chenni where we visited with the Bishop, who shared his stories and personal experiences as a dalit and the struggle he sees to overcome the caste system.
It was an amazing trip with so much to absorb that I know I will have new insights into God, creation and humanity from this trip for years to come. With these experiences so fresh it was very hard to figure out what to share with you this morning, so I turned to the lectionary readings for guidance.
This Sunday is the last Sunday in Epiphany, the season of light, a time to celebrate the light of God made manifest in Christ. God’s light here on earth. The two passages we heard from the Bible today are stories of God’s light breaking forth and shining for humanity.
In the first passage Moses goes up to the top of Mount Sinai. It was there on the mountain top that a great cloud covered it and then appeared “the glory of the Lord and it was like a devouring fire on top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.” God revealed God’s self to the people and to Moses in a flash of great light.
The second scripture from the Gospel of Matthew comes towards the end of Jesus ministry in the period leading up to the crucifixion. Jesus’ disciples have seen him heal the sick, feed five thousand people with just five loaves and two fish, and heard him teach God’s lessons of love. The disciples must have known Jesus was special, but just in case there was any doubt of who Jesus was, Jesus went with Peter, James and John up on a high mountain and there Jesus was transformed. He “shone like the sun.” Then, God spoke to the disciples saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him.” The power of Christ was made known through the light of God. God’s light shown on earth.
In a church were we believe God is still speaking we may have had our own mountain top experiences – holy encounters where we see the light of Christ shining through God’s human disciples.
While I was in India I had the opportunity meet and spend some time with two heroes who continue to do God’s work in the town of Calachel in the southern state of Tamal Nadu. Prem and Senega Kumar, two doctors from James Memorial Hospital.
When we arrived in Calachel at James Memorial Hospital we were welcomed with amazing Indian hospitality. We were sprinkled with holy water, anointed with sandalwood, festooned with flowers and invited to break bread with the family that runs the hospital. Having grown up in Southern India, James Vijayakumar works for Global Ministries and organized our Cross Cultural trip. His brother is the director of James Memorial Hospital. It is their story I would like to share with you.
A number of years ago when Vijay was a young man, newly married and just out of seminary he came to Illinois do his doctoral work. There he visited a UCC congregation where Reverend Robert A. Lee was the pastor. In conversation Bob learned that Vijay’s wife was still in India and would not be joining him during his two years of study because the Church of South India only had the resources to send Vijay, not his family. Bob brought the situation before his congregation and they raised the funds to bring Vijay’s wife to the states so they could be together during his studies. This act of love and caring was the beginning of a lifelong friendship that changed the lives of thousands of people for the better and is an example of Christ work that I will strive to live up to in my ministry.
When Vijay and his wife returned to India they invited Bob to come for a visit. Bob traveled to India to the small village in Kanyakumari district where Vijay’s father, a doctor, ran a small hospital. This hospital was really more like a clinic with just seven beds and very little modern equipment. It was so basic that our definition of hospital or clinic does not really fit. While Bob was there, a small boy of about ten came in with dehydration from Cholera. His veins had collapsed and they could not get an IV started. The child died in the clinic because they did not have the tools to save him and the closest hospital was 45 minutes away by bus. They did not have the money to make the trip.
The clinic, the only source of care in this small town planned to close when James, Vijay’s father retired because there was no other doctor ready to take over. In order for the clinic to continue they needed another doctor. Prem, Vijay’s brother wanted to go to medical school but the family did not have the resources to pay for his education. In India medical school takes five years and the whole amount of tuition must be paid up front. It was over $20,000 at that time. Bob’s church in the states raised that money to send Prem to medical school.
Years later, Prem and his wife, Senega, who is an OB/GYN doctor, with the help of Bob’s churches in the states were able to move the hospital four kilometers into Calochel, a larger town where they are able to attract more paying patients in hopes of continuing to provide care for all who need it. The new hospital has five floors, the top two of which are dedicated to housing for Prem’s family and the nurses who are students in the attached nursing school. Additionally, there are an HIV/AIDs ward and a free clinic on the grounds. They also provide in-home care to HIV/AIDs patience in the community and have village clinics where doctors and nurses go to the villages to provide the medical care that is so desperately needed. What started as a small seven bed clinic is now a hospital with operating capabilities; however, it would never remain open in the states.
Over the years what started as a gesture of compassion has developed into a partnership of mission and justice that has built the best hospital in the southern district of Kanyakumari.
One December 26, 2004 a great test came to James Memorial Hospital. Sitting just a few kilometers from the sea the hospital became ground zero for the area devastated by the Tsunami.
Prem and his family where home that morning when they heard the news of the Tsunami. Prem made evacuation plans for his family and the patients. As they were heading for the cars the first truck of victims arrived. Instead of evacuating they stayed. The wave did not reach James Hospital but the devastation and suffering that lay in its wake did. The other hospitals and clinics in neighboring towns closed their doors and the doctors and nurses fled, but James Hospital remained open. Hundreds of people received medical care for near drowning, lacerations and blunt force traumas. The doctors and nurses worked non-stop for two days. The campus became a shelter for hundreds of people who had lost everything. The hospital fed and provided shelter to all who came. For three months people lived in and around James Hospital as rebuilding efforts began.
For the amazing acts of care that Prem, Senega, and the staff of James Memorial Hospital provided, Prem and Senega were named as two heroes of the Tsunami by the Indian National Government.
The day we were at James Memorial Hospital hearing Rev. Bob Lee tell this story, touring the hospital and seeing the patients, I saw a glimpse of the bright light of Christ shining in all the good, care and compassion that this family gives each day to Calachel. I saw how a small act of kindness and compassion can blossom and grow and change the lives of many. That day I felt like I was in the presence of holiness. That day was one of the highlights of my time in India.
Amen
Reflections from India
