India 2012

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Lessons Learned

Six weeks. Nine hospitals. And now 16 blog posts.

It's been a significant journey in many ways. I've traveled all around Northern India, and I've been stretched both mentally and spiritually. While there are several lessons/takeaways from the trip, there are three especially important ones for me. First, the incredible level of spiritual maturity that many of the hospital staff demonstrated was both encouraging as well as humbling. It was clear in my interactions that they trust God for everything, and the stories they have of God's faithfulness are pretty mind-blowing! Their absolute trust in God (proven many times over) encourages me to strive for the same.

Second, as a life lesson, a trip to India teaches anyone that being flexible is important. Even the best-laid plans can't always be relied upon for various reasons. Therefore, it hit me again on this trip that it's important to be available to do whatever's most pressing in the moment- even if it means my future plans have to be put on hold. When I learned to simply be available to help (without worrying about what's coming/supposed to come next), I found I really enjoyed the trip more. I found I was also much more helpful when I was open to do whatever was needed, rather than what I thought was needed.

My last big takeaway is really the reminder that God is real, and He works in powerful ways. Put simply, India is a hostile place for Christianity. It is therefore clear that God has His hand in whatever successes we can produce. Seeing God work firsthand through the hospitals is extremely encouraging!

Overall, it was a fantastic trip! I really enjoyed my time in India, and felt like I was able to make a difference. Thank you all for your prayers!

More Pictures! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.241610675918590.57392.100002089786762&type=3&l=4d83cb2951

Thursday, March 8, 2012

More pictures!

Hey everyone! I got my picture issue sorted out- I've put some of the most recent ones + explanations below! As always, check the link at the bottom for even more pictures.

The director of a slum improvement project in Delhi. This project does some pretty amazing work improving the life quality of slum dwellers!

Workers from the Palliative care project at Lalitpur hospital helping a man with advanced tongue cancer. Palliative care is care for the terminally ill and dying. Care for the dying is really uncommon here in India, so it's a huge ministry of the hospital!

Government and hospital workers running a health clinic in a rural village.

I visited a school to watch the hospital workers teach the kids about health. The kids love being in pictures :)

Lots of people in a rural village gathering for a health clinic run by Lalitpur hospital.

A typical rural village house

Another typical rural village house.

More pictures here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.241610675918590.57392.100002089786762&type=1&l=4d83cb2951

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The Last Leg

It's really hard for me to believe that I'm on the very last leg of my trip. Tonight my family arrives in Delhi. I really can't wait to see them! I haven't been able to think about much else for the last few days :).

As I look back on the last 5+ weeks, it's pretty amazing to think back to all the places I've been. Nine hospitals total. Seven of those in the first 3 weeks alone. It's really been a wonderful trip. This last part of the trip, I will go visit one more hospital with my family before I fly out on Monday. It's hard to believe that the end of my time here is coming so soon- wow!

I'm currently working on some pictures from the last couple weeks. I'll get those up when I have some time! Also, as I compile some general thoughts/lessons/experiences from the trip, I'll put them up too. In the meantime, make sure to check out my pictures if you haven't already!

Pictures! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.241610675918590.57392.100002089786762&type=3&l=4d83cb2951

Thursday, March 1, 2012

5

I'm counting down.

Just. Five. More. Days. until I see my family :D. Needless to say, I'm super excited!

I'll be in India for a while longer. But, my family will be coming out and I can't wait to see them. We'll spend a few days together at one hospital (Landour- the very first one I visited. Near the Himalaya mountains) and go see the Taj Mahal together before I fly home.

In the meantime, I'm here at Lalitpur hospital. Lalitpur is unique from all other EHA hospitals since it has a Palliative Care program. Basically, palliative care is care for the terminally ill and dying. It's a really neat program since it is virtually unheard of in most of India. Unfortunately, the cultural mentality is to abandon the old and dying, since they have nothing left to offer. Since care for the dying is so counter-cultural, the workers have lots of opportunities to share the Gospel. First, many of the villagers wonder why someone cares enough to serve the dying. Great opportunities there to share Christ's love for everyone. Also, since the patients are dying, they often start thinking about eternity for the first time. Again, some pretty great opportunities to talk about heaven & redemption.

I got pictures of my visit into the community a few days ago. Unfortunately I left my memory card at the last hospital (rrgh), so I don't have those pictures for you now. However, I do have very similar pictures from last year!

Villagers looking on as hospital workers look at a patient in the community

Women in the village gathered to watch as hospital workers cared for a dying patient.

An awareness drive conducted by the hospital workers with schoolchildren to prevent malaria.

Link for more pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.241610675918590.57392.100002089786762&type=3&l=4d83cb2951

Sunday, February 26, 2012

The next stage

Heyyo everyone! I know it's been a few days. But, as promised, I wanted to let you know how my trip is going to be a little bit different in the next week and a half.

Yesterday I arrived at Chhatarpur hospital, roughly 420 miles southeast of Delhi. This is another hospital visit, but what's different about this visit is that I'm going to be here for 4 whole days. After this hospital, I'll go to another one (Lalitpur hospital) for 5 days. The significance of longer visits is huge- it means I can spend time with people, rather than just seeing buildings and hearing about what's done. Being able to build relationships and talk with people is awesome- you get to hear great stories of what God's doing and it makes the visit all the more meaningful. It also means I can immerse myself a little more in the work that the hospital is doing. I'm excited that tomorrow (Monday), I'll be going into a village with the Community Health team! I'll get pictures and put them up when I can.

On a side note, I wanted to ask you to pray for my health. I have a cold right now, and while it's not bad it certainly doesn't help anything. So, please pray that I would get over this quickly and get healthy again! Thanks!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Change of Pace

It's hard to believe it's already been three and a half weeks. It's been a continual whirl of traveling, meeting people, and trying to help as much as possible with only 2 days at any given hospital. In case you lost count, I was at seven hospitals total all over the country. While visiting hospitals is great, I'm ready for a change of pace in the next 2 weeks.

The last few days I've spent in Delhi staying with a family I know pretty well here. It's been a great opportunity to relax and get ready. Yesterday I visited a friend who runs a slum improvement project here in the city. It's called the Sahyog project, and it's been very successful in enabling slum inhabitants to improve their own situation. It was great to catch up with him.

Tomorrow I'll be helping a little differently. As EHA prepares to launch a major program that affects healthcare for the poor and marginalized, the official meeting is tomorrow. Officials from the U.N. will be present, and as I understand this sounds like a pretty big deal. I'm not quite sure, because I was only told earlier today :P. Anyway, I'm supposed to video and edit the whole thing so they have an official record. I understand this is a big help to them, so I'm happy to do it!

In a couple days I'll be leaving again for two more hospitals. It'll be a little different than the first visits though- I'll tell you about it next post!