I wish I had a photo of Gladstone.
Instead I will include a village photo to give you a flavor of
the places the EHA community health workers live. I was going
to tell you about Gladstone myself so I wrote to ask him about
his life, what he did before his work with community health, his
goals and motivation. Here’s what he wrote.
Dear Mr.Scott,
Nice to see your email. I just saw your mail and in Obra (the
small town where we live) I use Internet very minimum. Being
a very new and geographically disadvantaged area, it’s
really a time of learning and time of adventures to reach out
the people here. To be true, we are enjoying our work here,
though it makes us to feel worn out many times.
To answer your queries about myself, I, hailed from a Protestant
family, am an MBA with 4+ years of experience in various business
firms. Right from my school days I take part in gospel work
with our church outreach team that is meeting village people
in some of the South Indian villages where I am from. Since
then I had a heart for the rural poor. During my first exposure
trip to Nagpur City, in 2002, to attend a Bible course for two
months, I got the opportunity to interact with the people from
parts of North India and got the urge to do something for the
backward people of North India. I felt that it is something
more than just preaching the Gospel and felt the calling in
me to do so. I was praying and waiting for the Lord’s
guidance to proceed further in this direction. I came across
a few people from mission agencies who suggested Emmanuel Hospital
Association was a good organization to work with, so I applied.
I was given a choice of Hospital Administration too, since I
have handful of experience in Administration area. I opted for
the Community Health because I wished to reach out to people
and to work for them.
Furthermore, so long as I work with the EHA, its vision for
the community is my vision. I would like to see people living
transformed lives, physically and spiritually. Also I see the
individuals and people groups taking active part in the decision-making
process for their own self & of the community at large.
I would like to see this area a model for the entire nation
demonstrating God’s love in every aspect of life.
I hope I am making it clear what I have in my heart for this
people. I am happy to clarify, if you got any more queries.
We look forward to see you here in India again.
Cordially yours,
Gladstone
This is the third time reading the email and I am so impressed
with Gladstone’s commitment that shines through this ordinary
review of his life’s journey. As we prepare to return to
India I am encouraged to be returning to work with people like
Gladstone who share a vision for God’s shalom for the villages
of India and are willing to invest their lives in participating
directly in bring it to be.
Family update
Kelli continues to love living and working in Boston. Daniel
just graduated from Beloit College in studio arts and will start
looking for a job when he returns from Russia, where his college
dance troop will participate in a dance festival in Moscow. Timothy
and Hilary will go back to India with us and attend Woodstock
school.
One major thing that we did this past year while in the States
was to buy a house. It is in a co-housing community in Blacksburg,
Virginia. Check it out at www.shadowlakevillage.org. We have found
renters who plan to stay in the house for at least two years.
It is a good feeling about having a home to come back to.
Now we have to mail our books, sell our car, store our other
stuff, get vaccinations, change our address, get packed and do
a few other tying-up-loose-ends sorts of things before we leave
the country. We leave the United States the end of June, visit
family in England, and arrive mid-July in India. Please note our
Indian address for after mid-July:
Sisters Bazaar
Landour Cantt.
Mussoorie, U.A. 248179
INDIA
Our email will hopefully remain the same: melscofam@sbcglobal.net.
Sincerely
Scott and Melanie
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
182 |
