| |
India
 Young children sparkle as angels in the St. Thomas School’s Christmas musical.
Rani D. Chauhan, a Christian student in Class IX, sparkled as the angel Gabriel in St. Thomas School’s Christmas musical while younger students danced in the background. The futures of these vibrant young women are as wide open as their dreams. The school was founded in 1930 by a woman missionary who knocked on doors inviting families to let her educate their daughters. Now 2,800 students are enrolled from nursery through Class XII. The school’s motto is “Light to Lighten.” Affiliated with the Church of North India, St. Thomas encourages students to develop their own spirituality in an environment of interfaith tolerance, mutual respect, and service to others.
The Rev. Sue Hudson serves the school as a values education consultant. Students are being equipped to make a difference. One child dies in India every three seconds, which places India first in children’s deaths across the globe. Thus, creativity and problem-solving skills of girls at
St. Thomas are sorely needed to turn the tide of infant mortality in their country. For Sue, it is encouraging to be part of a school that practices at the grassroots level what it means to respect and love people from different religious backgrounds: Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Jain, and Christian. In the Spirit of Christ, students and staff at St. Thomas School look for the light God has placed in every human being and are challenged to share that light with others less fortunate.
 The CNI provides a safe place for street children to sleep.
The Church of North India (CNI) runs a drop-in sleep center for street kids in the central Indian city of Nagpur. Up to thirty of the hundreds, maybe thousands, of street kids in the city can come to the center, which is close to the bus and train stations where most of them “work,” for a safe night’s sleep and much more. Mission co-worker Scott Smith saw the center on a visit to Nagpur as PC(USA) consultant for health and development in south Asia.
Scott writes about the Emmanuel Health Association’s (EHA) community work on the border between Nepal and India in the state of Bihar, probably the most poverty-stricken state in India. During the monsoon rains of July 2007, Bilhar suffered its worst flooding in living memory.
“A 37-year-old widow who is HIV positive brought her two young children to one of the medical camps the EHA conducted in a flood-affected village. She told us how the visit of an EHA flood relief team had made a big difference in her life.
“Before the floods, she had been a field laborer. She earned nine pounds of grain on which her family survived. When the fields went under water, there was no work and she could not get enough food to feed her family. She was surprised when the EHA team visited her home to deliver a food packet. The villagers had refused to visit her family because they feared becoming infected with HIV/AIDS. When they saw members of the EHA relief team going into her home, her neighbors saw it was safe to mix with people who are HIV positive. The visit from the EHA team brought not only food but also love and new hope from her community.”
PC(USA) People in Mission
Regional Liaisons, South Asia, World Mission: Rev. Dr. David Hudson and Rev. Susan Hudson
Anne Dayanandan, archivist for Diocese of Madras, Church of South India (CSI)
Kathryn Hoffmann, teacher/academic dean, Woodstock School
Rev. Paul Love, mission volunteer, researcher, Study Center for Indian Literature, American College of Madurai
Emmanuel Hospital Association: Melanie Smith, team ministry, Scott Smith, consultant/health and development project
Young Adult Volunteers, community development interns, Central Kerala Diocese/CSI: Ariel Givens, Sudie Niesen, Lindsey Santamaria, and John Stanger
Partners/Ministries
Church of North India: The Most Rev. Joel V. Mal, bishop, moderator, Rev. Enos Das Pradhan, general secretary
Church of South India: The Most Rev. J. W. Gladstone, moderator, Rev. Moses Jayakumar, general secretary
Miraj Medical College
Wanless Hospital: Dr. Deepak M. Kamle, director
Union Christian College, Young Adult Volunteer Program: Rev. Thomas John, professor United Theological College, Bangalore: Rev. Dr. Isreal Selvanayagam, principal
Allahabad Agricultural Institute: Dr. Mani Jacob, chancellor
Baring Union Christian College: Rev. R. M. Chaudhary, principal
Christian Retreat and Study Centre, Rajpur: Rev. P. K. Tandy, director
Henry Martyn Institute, Hyderabad: Dr. Andreas D’Souza, director
Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Malabar: The Most Rev. Dr. Philipose Mar Chrysostom, metropolitan
Kodaikanal International School: Mr. Geoffrey Fisher, principal
Mussoorie Gramin Vikas Samiti: Mr. Surender Singh, coordinator
Sangli Industrial School: Mr. Sandip W. Raut, principal
Woodstock School: Dr. David Jeffery, principal
Emmanuel Hospital Association: Dr. Matthew Santos, executive director
Presbyterian Church of India: Rev. Laldawngliana, administrative secretary, Rev. E. F. Lyngdoh, moderator
Mizoram Synod of the Presbyterian Church of India: Rev. C. Rosiama, senior executive secretary, Rev. Chanchinmawia, moderator
Christian Medical Association of India: Dr. Vijay Aruldas, general secretary
Christian Medical College, Ludhiana: Dr. Silas Charles, director
Christian Medical College and Hospital at Vellore: Dr. George Chandy, director
Presbytery Partnerships
Grace Presbytery with the Church of South India; Sacramento Presbytery with Joining Hands Against Hunger
PC(USA) General Assembly Staff
Tammy Gish, FDN
Patricia Gleich, GAMC
John Glenn, GAMC
Rev. Wayne Gnatuk, GAMC
Gracious God, We lift up the students at St. Thomas School in hopes they will help turn the tide of inequality in their country. Lead us all out of ourselves to bring Christ’s light to forgotten people and places. We ask that you would bless those who serve and those who are served by the ministries of the Church of North India and Emmanuel Health Association. Amen.
Ps. 99, 147:1–11 Ps. 9, 118
Micah 7:7–15
Acts 3:1–10; John 15:1–11
|
|
