The Medical Clinic

Chilakallu Village, India

This year the ministry has opened a medical clinic for the local citizens.

The cost to the community is minimal (approximately 2 rupees for 2-4 visits) and has proven a great way to minister and share the love of Jesus.

We visited the facility which is right outside the compound.

They see about 30-40 patients a day.

There is one doctor (thanks to a Canadian mission team who raised the funds to pay his salary for one year) and several nurses and nurse helpers. Because it is a small community the women will often make visits to homes to encourage those who need to come in to the clinic.

The clinic is bright and cheery and very clean looking. We heard a little about their ministry and how they have seen what a blessing it is to the community.

We laid hands on each of them and prayed for God to pour out His healing touch on each of them.

Visiting The Children of India

Tuesday July 1, 2008
Chilakallu Village, India

Today we are finally getting on track with the time change. The first big event this morning was that Harrison got invited to go see the local monkey. There are many different animals and bugs here that the boys are enjoying seeing. Wild monkeys are all over the place and suddenly show up in trees above us.

We spent time with the boys from the orphanage in the morning and shared the Gospel with them using the salvation bracelets and soccer ball. They were quick learners. My boys stayed there and played with the soccer ball and match box cars with the local boys. I rarely saw them the rest of the day.

Visiting the Widows

Visiting the Widows
Chillakalu Village, India

I must admit that this is one ministry I have really looked forward to being a part of.

Being a widow myself, I always feel an immediate connection with other widows, especially younger widows. And when I first learned of their program here, my heart leapt with joy at the thought of coming and seeing this first hand.

First you need a little background on the Hindu faith and widows. It has been a custom in this culture that if a husband dies, then the widow would be burned to death with her husband’s body. The Hindu faith taught that this would move the family 14 steps closer to nirvana. This practice was officially outlawed almost a century ago. The practice continued long after that and to this day there are still some widows who die along with their husbands. Because of this custom, widows who lived were considered outcast and often not helped by family members. Widows receive little sympathy in this culture.

In order to minister to these widows, IPCC has created a sewing school. The widows take 5 months of sewing lessons. When they graduate they are given a sewing machine, table, chair, material and all they need to start a sewing business so they can support themselves. There are two classes on the compound and several others locally.

When I walked into the first class, it was all I could do not to burst into tears. They were all standing at their sewing machines to honor me coming to visit them. As I looked around the room I was overwhelmed by their youth. I never asked their age, but there were many there in their mid-teens. Even Reid noticed their youth and asked me how old they had to be to get married.

The widow on the left accepted Christ after we shared the Gospel with the women.

We gathered around in a circle and I shared with them about us and our mission call. We shared the Gospel and they each got salvation bracelets. This would be our first of several visits with this group.

We were blessed to have one widow pray to receive Christ that day.