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Our First Four Days

Steph Modder

Apr 01, 2008 · 9:17 AM

It’s a quiet night in Calcutta—think Broadway in New York City, at rush hour, times two. We are finishing up our fifth day here. It has been a long but productive one. Let me back up a little though first to fill you in on the previous four days.

Day 1

We arrived and made our way to the Baptist Missionary guesthouse. We were greeted warmly by the director of the house, Anu. We have three dormitory style rooms. Cameron, our one and only male team member, gets to hold down the male quarters, solo. After a bit of a rest (one can use a rest after 33 hours of cross-continental travel) we were given a tour of what is to become the new nursing school for Calcutta Mercy Ministries. The spacious building, once an orphanage, now abandoned, had become prime real estate in overcrowded Calcutta. But God had a plan for it. The fact that CMM was able to acquire it was nothing short of a miracle. It is an enormous building with plenty of space to house and educate the nursing students who are presently cramped in a small building next to Mercy Hospital. Renovation began in December and has progressed rapidly. The scheduled date of opening is for May 2008. Listening to Surojit, CMM’s project manager, speak of the vision they have for this new school and how God has provided for that vision was inspiring. One thing we have learned so far: Christian Indians live by faith.  That faith, in and through Christ, has brought about amazing things in Calcutta. 

Day 2

We visited a Hindi Christian church. The small chapel seated about 150 people. The people there welcomed us with open arms extending the love they so expressively have for Christ. The pastor and his wife, a couple of hand drums and a synthesizer led the worship time. The congregation was in full participation singing, praising, clapping and tambourine shaking. They saturated the air with petitions, prayers and praises all in Hindi.  It’s so unifying to worship in a service that is led in another language. The awareness of the Spirit of God is so much more crucial because you aren’t distracted by the lingual content. You have to move with and listen to the voice of the Spirit. One of our own, Sarah Eian, was asked to preach the sermon which was interpreted in Hindi. “Sister” Sarah brought it! It was a great experience to worship with brothers and sisters from the other side of the world.

After service we had lunch with Huldah and Bonnie Buntain and then boarded our trusty bus and headed to Divine Fellowship, a blind school for children, about 30 minutes from Mercy Hospital. Upon arrival we entered a room full of 125 children ages 4 to 16 years old, sitting perfectly aligned on hard wooden benches, quietly and respectfully awaiting the afternoon devotion with us. They began, accompanied by a Harmonium and hand drums, by singing a number of praise songs in both English and Bengali including “Rejoice in the Lord Always” and “God’s Not Dead”. The sound of their unified voices and the sight of the fervor with which they were praising Jesus were so beautiful. Cameron was asked to share from the Word with them. We sang a few more songs together including “Jesus loves Me”, “He’s Got the Whole World”, and “I Give You My Heart”.  They closed out the devotion by lining up 11 little girls dressed in pretty, colorful dresses. One by one they walked over to each of us and handing us a delicate rose. Half the team spent the next hour or two playing and engaging the kids while the other half spent it meeting, photographing and interviewing 8 children who are still in need of the support required for them to be cared for.  Some are candidates for surgery, which could restore their sight. Others are children who have been abandoned by their parents because the stigma of having a disabled child is too daunting to keep them at home (in Indian culture, having a disabled child is seen as a curse). Still others have loving families who are unable to care for the child so they send them to the school where they’ll be better cared for. The blind school then becomes home, school, and playground. They are taught mobility and trade skills so as to become self-sufficient when they graduate. The director, Jabesh Dutt, started the school by taking one, then eight blind children into his home. By God’s call and providence 125 students are now educated, fed, medically treated, discipled and loved on the grounds of the blind school.  We each found our time with these precious children to pull on our hearts. The joy they exude is remarkable. As Iris interviewed one little girl, Manjum, she asked her how much do you love Jesus? Manjum spontaneously popped to her feet and opened her arms to the fullest breadth she could. It’s apparent where their joy comes from. We were humbled and thankful for our time with them.

Day 3

Krystal led the nursing school devotion for 75 of the nursing students. Savonne led the devotion for the hospital staff of doctors and administrators. Many of those who attend are not Christian, but rather, Hindu or Muslim. Nevertheless, they are faithful to attend each morning as the hospital chaplain, Pastor Joshua has heard many say, I feel good when I come here and find strength for my day. Pastor Joshua is an amazingly anointed man who left a well paying job in the engineering field when God called him into ministry. He has been with the hospital 6 years and is speaking the love of Christ to the sick, the dying, the mourning and those who care for them on a daily basis. He has been an inspiration to us.

After lunching with Dr. Huldah Buntain, the founder of CMM, we took a tour of all the hospital grounds and the location of the first tent meeting she and her husband, D. Mark Buntain held over 50 years ago.  We were shown the CMM printing department where brochures, pamphlets, tracts, books, etc. are all manually cut, bound, typeset, and printed for distribution.

Then, we braved the streets once more and headed to the ministry Mother Theresa founded, Missionaries of Charity for our volunteer orientation.  Upon entering, one could sense the divine reverence that is observed there.  Before the orientation we had a chance to see Mother Theresa’s tomb and go through the exhibit that chronicles her journey of ministry and service. I couldn’t help but cry as I read of her life, her dedication, and her sacrificial love for humanity but most of all for Jesus and realizing how much more of myself I need to die to.  Christ calls us to love so much more than we do on a regular basis.

Our final stop of the day was to one of the many feeding programs CMM organizes in the city where over 25,000 people are fed daily. The line of hungry people went all the way down the street. Fathers and mothers, elderly and babies all making thier way up to receive their ration of food for a day. It was hard to look into the hollow eyes of those that hungered so much. 

Day 4

We led both the hospital devotion at Mercy Hospital.  Amy Foley spoke on being created uniquely for God’s glory.  After devotions we began our main duty of taking measurements of all the rooms of the hospital. This is something the hospital is in dire need of. Presently, there are no accurate building plans that indicate points of exit or entry for evacuation in case of a fire. Without these measurements the fire brigade will have no building plans to reference.  The hospital, its staff, patients and years of service to this city are at serious risk. Armed with our 10 ft. tape measures, we started measuring- one uneven room at a time. Only seven floors and a basement to go!

The crew is finishing up measurements of the operating theaters right now. Iris and I are working on the stories for the blind school. In about an hour we’ll head to the Queen Victory memorial. We’ll also be connecting with a fellow NCCer who has been living in Calcutta for the past six months working with victims of human trafficking. 

Tomorrow we will lead devotions again and then head out to Chakdha, one of the rural medical clinics CMM supports.

As I write the sound of the Islamic call to prayer is seasoning the airwaves. It’s hard to believe our time is already coming to a close. We only have two more full days in Calcutta. There is still much to do and will call on God ourselves for our sustenance. Thank you for all the prayers you are praying for us. Everyone is invaluable.

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