New Delhi, India: Day 4

Once in awhile we realize that all things are possible especially if you believe it. And today was one of those days.  An incredibly gifted US Medical Mercy medical team, working with an incredible India team from MoM project 253,  saw 600 patients. In one day. Without fanfare, thorough medical examinations done, prescriptions handed out, patients prayed with and for, and with not one…not one complaint, excuse, or question. I saw silent servants giving of themselves for others. I believe.

We came back to the same slum community that we were in yesterday. There are as you remember, over 2000 children who are cared for by the ministry of Pastor Koshy and his wife Joicy. 600 of those are MoM children. We decided to see as many of the the children as possible, and between yesterday and today, we saw 1000 of the children. We must move on to another slum community tomorrow, but we will be back. Soon.

This slum community is rift with evil. Drug addicts, parents selling their children for $500 to gangs never to be seen again just to feed the drug habit, girls as young as 12 years old being married off and having children at the age of 13. I examined a 26 year old woman today, who had 5 children, the first one at the age of 13. Her husband is a drug addict, abuses her, and sells her. Pastor Koshy and I spent a lot of time with her. 1 of her children is a sponsored MoM child. she never looked at us, wringing her hands, never shedding a tear as she told her story. She had lost her emotions. We examined children with dark make up on their eyes to ward off the evil sprits. They were Hindu and Muslim. We looked past the things we didn’t understand or agree with, and took care of those who came to us. Judgment is left for another time and for someone greater than us.

This slum, this place called home for the many who live here, is beyond description. The pictures may help you see it. But the feeling, the closeness of living in a small 4x8 foot room with 9 other people, can’t be shown. It has to be felt by standing in that room as I did, and feel the darkness bury my senses until I had to escape. The little boy however knows no other life.

So, it is really true that all things are possible. 6 of the teachers that work in this MoM slum project and who worked with us today, were once themselves slum “dogs”. They were taken in by Pastor Koshy and Joicy, at the age of around 12 years old, and were sponsored by those who cared enough to love from a distance. They all “graduated” from this MoM project, went on to get their teaching degrees and came back to be with those who came from the same place they themselves once escaped from. And one day, maybe that little girl who was saved from being sold and is cared for here today, will be a teacher also. Caring for those who are no longer forgotten. Sometimes you’ve just got to believe all things are possible.

In all things  give thanks,

David