Two men of faith whom I have been blessed to know contd ..

I continue my writing about Shaju brother from the earlier posting. (Link to earlier post)

As I told you Shaju brother's small family serves Jesus through their service of the destitute they pick up from the streets. At Akashaparavakal you can call them at any time of the day about a destitute that you find on the roadside needing help. Shaju brother and his companions will come with an ambulance which one of their well wishers have donated and take him in. They never say no when a brother of theirs is in need of their service. So their house is always over flowing with people they care for. Shaju brother’s family consists of him, his wife Shiji and their 4 year old son Michael. Their lives are dedicated in service of these "Makkal" that they have adopted into their lives. I have seen Michael freely playing around with these people from his infant years, loving them and treating them as members of their own family. Shaju brother, his family and his companions take care of the people God has put in their care with lots of love and care. They believe that their house belong to the "Makkal" and they are the servants, God has put in that house in service of the destitute.

When I went first to Akashaparavakal, they were in a small house of which one room was set apart as a chapel and the whole house overflowing with people. It would have been big enough for a small family to live comfortably and it had Shaju brother’s small family, two other brothers from Akashaparavakal whose lives have been dedicated to the service of the destitute and then 10 - 13 of Gods people they were taking care of. That small house was never enough. After some time, they were offered a piece of land and a small building on the outskirts of the city with another small house and soon they had two houses which were full. Seeing their plight, a person who was into construction business offered his services free to build a better house on the first plot of land, with the condition that Akashaparavakal would find the money for the building materials. The building contractor himself drew up the plan and God inspired them to build a house which could house 20 people. The estimate came up to 7 lakhs (700000) with Shaju brother having a few thousand rupees with him. Shaju brother started off the construction in faith and still he never went out soliciting money for the construction. God provided, all through different people and the house got constructed with never more than a few 1000 rupees in hand at any time. Jesus provided the right amount of money at the right times through different people, often people whom Shaju brother had never even met before. That house is now full with Gods beloved.

Then again God inspired the contractor who built this house to offer to build a bigger house on the other plot of land also on the same conditions that Akashaparavakal would provide the materials and he would provide the labor at a much reduced cost. This time God inspired them to have a house which could house 100 people with enough facilities for taking care of them. The estimate came out to be 50 lakhs (5,000,000). During this time, the Collector of the area in the suburb of Bangalore where Shaju brother was doing his service came to know about the work he was doing among the destitute and offered to do every thing in his capacity to get him all clearances for foreign funding and help him to get the funds also. Shaju brother and his companions prayed together and decided that the people whom they take care belong to this land and God would provide from his abundance through the people of this land itself. So they rejected the idea of going for foreign funds. They came to the conclusion that they would not be able to experience the faith in Gods providence that meets their every day needs and nothing more if they had the plentiful access to foreign funds. So now the construction of the new building is going on. The final cost has gone up from 50 lakhs. The construction is in crisis lots of times because of paucity of funds. But as Shaju brother says, Jesus has never allowed the construction to come to a stand still and it continues. Shaju brother still continues to depend on the abundant graces of his loving God while he on most days just has enough to feed the people through the next few days. But Gods abundance never runs out and Shaju brother’s faith also never runs out.

Recently I was there at Akashaparavakal to spend a day there. I joined with them for the prayer service that they have before lunch. It was nothing great like the beautiful praise and worship services that I go to. It didn't have any beautiful prayers. It mostly consisted of a lot of Hallelujahs’ said by the makkal thanking god while one of the brothers

thanked God for the simple things God provided for in their lives, like the food on their plates, the clothes on their back, the roof over their heads, the strength in their limbs etc. And the inmates would say hallelujah. There were a few familiar songs sung with the people joining in very off key. But I could feel the presence of Christ walking among his beloved people. I could feel the love of Christ flowing through which brought tears to my eyes. What a treasure they had, the infinite love and graces of a God who had their names engraved in his palms and provided every thing that they needed from his abundance. Jesus asked nothing back from them other than their child like love for Him. I enjoyed true praise and worship. I enjoyed the love of God flowing through. And I still learn the basics of faith from Shaju brother and the other brothers at Akashaparavakal.

Two men of faith whom I have been blessed to know

Dear Friends I wanted to write about two men of faith I have been privileged to know. I will write about them in a few posts so that this will not become one looooong post.

The first one, I came into touch with him when he was started his ministry a little while back. I met him when a very good friend of mine Fr.Varghese took me to visit Akashaparavakal (means Birds of the sky), a home for looking after the destitute picked up from streets. Fr Varghese had a mass there and I tagged along. There I met the person who started the house in Bangalore, Shaju brother. A simple man with an unkempt beard and wearing a simple kavi (saffron) attire and no sandals on his feet. Since then I have known him for almost 5 years and I have never seen him with out a pleasant heart warming smile on his face.

I was touched by his work, he had a small house and it was overflowing with people. All of them were destitute people picked from roadsides, some were sick and dying, 90% were people who were mentally ill. They had either wandered out of their homes or were left on the roads to survive for themselves. They didn't know who they were or where they had come from. Some of them had festering wounds on their bodies collected through their wanderings. He told me there were maggots in those wounds when he found some of his children (makkal), as he calls them. He and the two other brothers he had with him to help, along with his family nursed them back to good health.

I asked him how he manged the food and medicines for them all, as most of them needed psychiatric as well as other medicines. He told me "God's providence" keeps him with out lack all through. I was touched and I told him any time you are in need of money you can call me. I gave my number to him. Two or three months passed by before I again accompanied Fr. Varghese to mass at the Akashaparavakal. The first thing I asked Shaju brother was, why he had never called me, didn't have any lack of money during this time at all ? He told me that they had even come to stages where there was not even a morsel in the house but they all prayed together, including the "children", at the chapel and the food came through. He described an incident a week ago, where they had nothing to cook and in the evening they were all praying together at the chapel asking the good Lord provide them with their supper. A man they had never met walked in with 10 KG of rice and he had heard of the house from a friend of his. He thought it would be nice to take a bag of rice when he went to visit them first. I was touched but was skeptical. I asked him, why he didn't call me at all with such need. He told God does not let His beloved to beg, he will provide from his abundance. He also added if you are provided for more than your daily bread, one will not be able to exercise your faith. I took the money I had in my pocket and gave it to him. He counted it gave me a receipt for that and said, I needed this for settling the account at the provision shop and if we didn't we would not have got our provisions at all. I was a little bit amused. I still was not convinced. I kept visiting house and helped out in any way I can. There used to be brothers from near by seminaries who came to stay there and help out during their holidays and semester breaks. I happened to be there when a few of them completed and were going off. They shared their experiences while they were staying at the house. And they told me about several incidents like these where God provided at the right moment what was needed, nothing more nothing less. They all went strengthened in their faith from there. I heard numerous such incidents all though my association and have come to expect that these every day miracle will happen in their lives. I would be surprised if those little miracles did not take place.

As our friendship grew, Shaju brother told me the secret of how he prayed. Every morning he wrote down the needs of the house on a piece of paper in the chapel, gave it to God and went on with his daily chores keeping the paper in his pocket. When ever he put his hand in his pocket for taking out some thing, the piece of paper came out with it and he prayed for the needs. And unfailingly His God provided.

I will continue writing about Shaju brother in my next post. Let me stop here and thank the God who is his and mine for His generosity in our lives. I have been blessed abundantly with material riches in my life, but Shaju brother has been blessed with more, with an abundant faith which can provide for every thing else.

Musings of a missionary doctor in the land of Nagas - Part II

Part-2
psalm 119:117
May Jesus hold us up that we may be safe and have regard for His statutes continually.

Little snippets from the mission diary :) just to keep my promise in the first mail,that i'd continue..

ONE MORNING SIX OF US WALKED TO WAPHR VILLAGE...
We wanted to get an early start ,so we packed 6 boiled eggs and few bananas for breakfast... the previous night we had called our man at the village to give information of our arrival, but the ever-failing mobile phone range ,failed us yet again!;)The walk to Waphr was 16 km one way. Our Sr. Sismy was with us, she too had walked... this kind of humility , really impressed the baptist pastor,he said that their clergy always travel by vehicle.He offered to transport us back when we were finished with our program,but of course-we chose to walk :) Due to lack of forewarning, the women had mostly all left for their fields. We still gave health education to the 8 or 9 women folk who had stayed behind in the village due to breastfeeding babies and other little ones. We had our packed breakfast with the tea they provided. After the class, the house which had hosted us , provided us with lunch. Our cook that day was a 19 year old girl with a 5 month old baby... I remember them clearly , because while i playfully used my steth on the baby, to my utter amazement , i heard a heart sound that indicated a hole in the heart!!! In college , our profs used to try and teach us this... so taking this lead i asked this girl if her baby used to get distressed while breast feeding, and frequent chest infections.. she confirmed the text book symptoms... so there, in that village, i made my first diagnosis of a probable VSD in a baby. :) I advised her of the baby's need for good medical care.3 days later , I met that girl in the PHC in town.( Of course this PHC is quite primitive in its facilities, but its a start! This mommy must travel 3 more hours before they can reach higher centers , that are not fantastic, but may have a pediatrician. ...)
THE WALK BACK...
Going downhill ,we just need to be alert not to slip, but climbing up is quite 'the' endurance test! We stop to catch our breath only when the chest threatens to burst :) After climbing a steep hill, exhausted ,we girls stretched out on the grass while the boys ran into a house on that hilltop to fill our bottle with water.Though our throats were dry, humor never dried out, laughing and singing ,our spirits were always enjoying a high :)Praise God!

These long walks to villages through picturesque hillsides, fields and valleys, invariably welded us together.We discovered the unique beauties hidden in each of our friends, as we shared a song here, a carrybag there, and short stops to eat bananas and rest.We found out how the sister with us loved to collect ferns and pine cones for dry flower decorations for the chapel... we reached home from Waphr that evening ,with practically a 'bag-ful' of the forest!
JESUS , THE ETERNAL BOY :)
Jesus is very clever at preparing soul-stirring surprises... I felt this facet of His love through little children. An eight year old boy and later a 4 year old girl, on different occasions.. . they would unexceptionably take a fancy to me [as if on a cue from Him ;) ]come to me and make me play with them ,gift me a plum or a flower... they barely knew me, yet they trusted themselves to me, completely! Only God knows how much they comforted me unknowingly with their innocence and freely gifted love!

One evening ,on a day when i had experienced some sadness, Father took us for a babas' (father's) meeting in PWD colony. He had asked uncle Philip (our older JY member) to give the gathering a talk.As we reached the house , the above mentioned 4 year old girl, Limreila, met me for the first time.She examined my rosary, my stethoscope, and opened my umbrella, then replaced everything in my bag ,before climbing into my lap and playing with me. She let me carry her to the neighbors' house, and later nestled next to me and pretended to read a hymnal throughout the talk.By the end of the talk, she took the stick of the agarbathi that had burnt out and pretended to pierce my hand with it.I had been quietly enjoying her childish antics and friendship, it really made me forget my sadness. By then I had given her many little kisses... so as she played her game of 'nailing' my hand , i thought to myself... 'Man, this is just like us. Jesus loves us and pets us so much and after enjoying His love so long, we just playfully, hammer nails into His hands! stupid us!'.As we were leaving , Limreila made me pick her up.She had decided to come back with us to Father's house.But of course we couldn't take her along ...

"ah, she is quite a philosopher isn't she? lets pat her on the back..." from you guys is not quite the aim of this narration!;) ... what followed is what amazed me... devout catholic though i am , due to my aversion to calenders and remembrances (which, unfortunately, is so vital to social living), it totally came as a surprise when Father told us that the day's mass would be in honor of the Sacred Heart ,whose feast it was on that day. The first reading was Hosea 11:1 onwards... "when Israel was a child , I loved him....Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them...I was to them like those who LIFT INFANTS TO THEIR CHEEKS.I bent down to them and fed them." I remembered Limreila :) The gospel was about the crucifixion. .. John 19:34" instead, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear and at once blood and water came out."

So like that the Holy Spirit had preached the word to me before the mass itself! It was mission experience par excellence ,to me :)"O taste and see, that the Lord is good!For He tastes like honey in the rock...He is my everything,He is my all...la la la"

HEART WARMERS IN THE COOL OF NAGALAND...
The clergy and religious of the diocese of Nagaland are a living witness to the fire of love that Christians everywhere are called to share. 12-hour journeys through bumpy , hair-pin-curve roads would be interspersed every 3 hours with the hospitality of priests and nuns of the parishes along the way.Their love for Fr. Francis (our priest) would make them open their hearts,houses and convents to us generously. Father only had to give them a heads-up , and there would be ready for us breakfast, lunch,tea or dinner!:) In Kohima, we were given a guided tour of the cathedral (which is the largest in Asia) by Fr.Benny, the Bishop's secretary. It was something memorable, to hold in my hand, the big toe of the 18 feet tall Jesus on the central crucifix, carved out of a single piece of wood (except for the arms) hanging on the wall,behind the altar.

Thank you Jesus , and all of you who as Jesus Youth made this mission possible.
God bless you all.
Please remember me in your sms's to heaven ;) my md entrance exam preparations and the exams themselves.. cos God hears the prayers of His saints :)
In Jesus and Mama Mary
Anna

Musings of a missionary doctor in the land of Nagas - Part I

One day in your courts O Lord, is better than thousands elsewhere... . one day as Your missionary where You send us,O Lord ,is better than thousand days in the comfort of familiar home ground.

I'm not a nun, a theologian nor a counselor, just a 24 year old , fresh out of medical college... yet young and old wanted to hear what this young lady , a doctor from so far away had to say to them...going to a mission area along with "professionals to mission" has given me the opportunity very few young doctors perhaps saviour! the opportunity to touch a lot of hurting poor people.

At the end of 10th std , i had told Jesus that the best chance for me to be a missionary of His was to be a doctor. He made me a doctor. But 7 years is a long time and i had long forgotten that teenage promise... though of course to serve Jesus wherever He might place me was my motive, a radical missionary life seemed too outlandish!

But praise the Lord! He had taken my promise quite seriously... A doctor friend of mine , spoke to me the words Jesus wanted me to hear... inspiring me to dare to give to Jesus the first fruits of my service as a doctor by serving the really poor in the mission lands.

The ostrich hides her head in the sand and thinks no one can see her. Christian Mbbs doctors hide themselves behind their books and think the Lord cant ask any mission work of them. If i became a doctor just to make money or to be a social worker then joining the rat race for a post graduate seat would be appreciable. But since He chose me to be His witness, a doctor for Him, my decision 2 bury my gold coins in the mud with the laudable excuse of preparing for pg just like my friends would be saying no to Him... so I thank Jesus for this opportunity

One month in nagaland taught me many things... one incident flashing like neon lights in my memories of nagaland that will both humble and exalt me throughout my life is what took place in a lil room filled with many daughters and sons of an old couple. The woman bed ridden with excruciating back pain following a fall. the first visit there i wrote a prescription for iv fortwin phenergan.the son promised to get it even if he had to travel 3 hours.next evening we went there so i could give the injection.however, the army medical assistant had already supplied the medicine and administered it.So after encouraging them to visit a higher centre for treatment of a possible fracture, my 3 friends n i were politely saying gbye when the old lady held my hand and motioned for me to pray over her. i had been always shying away from that, especially since a priest or nun with me would do it. this time we were only lay people and it was a baptist family. But i prayed that night.and then on whenever possible ended every consultation with prayer.

Really , Jesus is our loving elder brother.He uses us to do through us the good that He wishes to do for others .Because He loves to see our souls aglow with joy after each good deed He enables us to do.He is bowled over by even a tiny smile on our lips!He is captivated by us despite our weaknesses!!

Throughout my mission experience. He was there creating venues for me to be of service.
He put a zealous missionary priest in charge of me and the nun with me.Thanks to this happy blessing , we were welcomed in almost every house as Father escorted us around.When Father was out of station for a week, the catechists who love him and share his vision and passion took us to 3 villages,(viz Waphr, Liangkonger and Shamatoor village) arranging health education seminars wherever possible.

My days were filled with chances to proclaim to the people :"your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit." and to preach prolife sentiments . medical check ups after the seminar , dispensing the medicines Father had stockpiled for me , and medical check up in the school,patients coming to consult at home, ..

Telling stories to the catechism kids, teaching them action songs and explaining to them the blessings of the rosary , smudged the faint line differentiating the doctor from the missionary :) One day i was given an awesome invitation by the Father to lead the adoration for a few of us.For this blessing i give full credit to Mama Mary with whom i had prayed 3 rosaries that day... which is usually an impossibility for me!

In jakama ,st. Joseph's college, we explained Jesus Youth to the 150 hostellites. .. by a one n half hour program.i was unanimously made mc, by my loving english-shy brothers! later they rejoiced when i went to the pulpit to deliver a half an hour extempore on JY and its 6 pillars in the parish of Vishvema.

through it all, we experienced the hospitality of the catholic church in nagaland.there is more to share.. i 'll continue tomorrow dear brothers and sisters. Gnight!
your loving sister
in Jesus and Mama Mary
anna

Discovering God in Nature

Dear Friends,

I have been silent for a long time. It was a long silence and I have my favorite excuse of being too busy ... But I decided to break my silence. I have been reading the posts and it has been an experience in itself.

So I felt if I don't give back after gaining so much that would not be right. So all you friends who inspired me through their posts in the blog, this is dedicated to your wonderful sharings.

First I will write about one of the experiences in the Discover program. This happened during the session discover God in Nature.

When we were asked to go out and discover God in nature, I felt very enthused. For me I feel closest to God when I see the beauty of His creation in nature. And the session was early in the morning and my intention at first was to sit some where in the garden and have a wonderful time of being with Him. But I never knew what our wonderful Lord had in store for me that beautiful morning. That is one thing that I have experienced, when we go looking for his footsteps, or in search of his love actively seeking, He gives us Glimpses of himself and experiences of His wonderful love in unexpected and profound ways.

But alas I am too busy to seek him out in the daily rigors of life :-(. Let me stop all my ranting and get into my experience now.

But when I decided to seek Him. The first thing that I saw when I got out was the "Chethy" flowers in full bloom.


(Picture of a Chethy flower like the one I found that morning)

My first urge was to pass by and find a cozy spot in the middle of the garden where I could enjoy the nature around me and tell my lord in the silence of my heart how much I loved him that morning. But I was not able to pass by those flowers that morning. So I decided to sit by those flowers and find out if God wanted to tell me some thing. I sat on the cement ledge by the side of the Chethy plant and started looking at the flower. In no time He opened my eyes to look at the ordinary flower in a new way.

The first thing that attracted me was the redness of the flowers. Although I had looked at the chethy flower numerous times before, that morning the redness of the flowers evoked a new emotion with in me. Suddenly the redness of the chethy flower symbolized the love of my Lord.

For me the red colour represented the intense love of my Lord. It represented the love with which He poured out His blood for me on the calvary. Its the same love which prompted him to share His body and Blood in the institution of the Eucharist so that I could be one with him. The red represented His love which was passionate, intense, all consuming and self giving. It was new and fresh that morning like the bunch of that freshly bloomed flowers in the morning.His love manifested freshly in those flowers and in my life was there for me to relish and enjoy that morning.

Then I started looking at the flowers more closely. Those flowers each of them although were simple to behold, were individually beautiful and different in their own way. They seemed to me to represent the small and big instances of His love that I had experienced in my life. Each one was different in its own way and yet beautiful. And when all those instances of love combined together in my banquet of life, my life became beautiful and meaningful. Each day of my life, he was there with his bunch of fresh and intense love specially made for me. All through the day he drops a beautiful instance of his love into my day, so that at the end of the day, I am left with a bunch of his love to thank and praise him at the end of the day. I am left with a beautiful bunch which I can leave at his feet before going to sleep enfolded in His arms.

Then suddenly I started notice the gaps between the flowers. The voids which looked dark and empty. As I looked at the individual spaces, they seemed with out beauty, standing out dark and with out colours in between the beautiful red flowers. Suddenly they reminded me of those moments in my life where I could not find the love of my Lord. Moments where I needed the love of my Lord to comfort me, to uphold me, to soothe my pain. But I could not find His love, I could not feel His love. Those moments stared back at me like those voids, dark, ominous, evoking fear. Suddenly God made me take a step back and see the whole bunch of flowers again. Now those dark voids were the ones that gave definition to the individual flowers. Those dark voids added beauty to that bunch of flowers. With out those voids, those gaps, the whole bunch of flowers would have been a red sphere. Because of those voids, the beauty of those flowers were enhanced. They became more defined. It gave me a new insight into those moments of pain, rejection, sorrow, fear, etc. They enhanced the beauty of my moments enjoying the love of my Lord. They gave more meaning to those moments of love. With out those voids in my life, my reunion with the love of my Lord would not be so intense, so precious, so much to be cherished. So for a moment I bowed my head in thanks, my heart brimming with joy for the infinite love of my Lord and the beautiful life he has made much more beautiful for me tan that bunch of flowers.

With that let me finish and say to my Lord I love him and to you my friends you are the visible signs of His love, flowers in the bunch of my life He has given.

Love and Prayers ....

Smile worth a 'Kachori'

Hi all Thomachan here ! Hehe ..just kidding ! I had a similar experience as mathachen was narrating,once but ya on a scale lower if you could say so.

The incident is as follows, as usual after my day's work at office I was walking with a colleague of mine to the place where my office bus/shuttle was waiting to pick us. Since we left office pretty early I told my friend on having some chats on the way. wow! thinking of chats ..mouth waters ! On the way we saw Hot-Chips (a famous chat/snacks out-let). I was all eager to hog some. I ordered for a 'Kachori' a favourite snack of mine from north India. As I was digging into it I saw suddenly a poor child standing in front of me stretching His hands. He might have been some 8-10 years old I guess,well I don't know whats special about Him stretching I have seen many doing that but something told me to help Him. Something pushed me to do something for that kid (what it is I can't say,have no previous behavioral history of sacrificing food).I went into the shop asked for another plate;took that plate gave to that kid standing outside the shop and broke my 'kochari' into two and gave Him one half. I wish I could have given Him the entire stuff but He was happy getting something to eat & frankly me too.I donno how much it can fill his hungry stomach but a lot to fill His & mine hungry Souls!

The colleague of mine standing by said in Hindi: "bahut acchi baat hai...aise e karna chaayehai"(its good what you did,one should do it).

Actually I was wondering ,is that small act one of genuine generosity or did it slighlty involve an unconcsious attempt from my side to show off my generosity (to my colleague who was watching me). Would I have done the same thing if no one was watching me? I donno I am wondering ! But whether I was genuine or not I am not sure but what I am sure is that the hungry kid must have been happy for few minutes ! Puttin a smile on His face was worth it !

Imagine next time something similar happens, will I be able to give my entire food/snack ? Hopefully Yes !

My Poor GOD !

Discover means to obtain knowledge or awareness of something not known before, as through observation or study.(To make visible; bring to view).

Thats exactly what I experienced from this program. I was always aware that we could discover God in the poor,in my friends,in my family/others but actually made no effort to discover God in them. But after coming here, I have been challenged to put my foot forward and actually make an effort to find my God in others.

I have an experience with regard to this :

Everytime I walk on the road in front of Yuva Vikas on my way to college/ office, I see an old poor man, strecthing His hands. Everytime I look at him I have a stong urge to help Him, an urge I have never experienced before or with others.

Whenever I see Him the words of our Lord echoes across my mind , "when i was hungry,u never fed me........when i was thirsty........"; I have been seeing Him on that street for past so many years, but have not been able to do anything concrete to help Him, although I want to. I sometimes say an hail mary as I pass in front of Him. I wished I could live out my faith in a more practical manner. As the WORD says "FAITH without Works is Dead ". I know that i have Faith but also know that my works fail to justify the same.

After hearing Dr.Joe's incident with the poor sick chap He saw when He accidently met Him on the street was touching. I was able to relate to it very much.I know thats easier said than done in my case, but what this program has given me is living examples who have 'working faith'. I always wonder what is it that drives people like Naveen lobo, Sr.Prabha...and others to sacrifice their life, to make themselves all time available to the poor and thereby to 'God'. Well I have been challenged to Discover the answer on a personal front.

I have always ignored the sixth JY constant-option for the poor (rather never thought much about it). We must start Looking at it more than a constant ;It must be our way of living or simply a prominent JY lifestyle. I HOPE !!

I HAVE DISCOVERED !!

"Remember an Archer is known by His Aim not by His arrows" !