Today we took a journey to Tirupattur, where the Bethel Care Home was having their medical camp. Bethel Care is pastored by Rev. Kumar, and the compound is home to a 100+ person church and 34 orphaned boys. We traveled three hours by car with a mobile pharmacy (meaning CRATES FULL OF PILLS) in the back. We were accompanied by Rajivan (Raji for short), an IGL worker who helps oversee all the medical camps in the Tamil Nadu region. We bombarded him with questions, particularly about IGL's community development program called Adopt-a-Village. This 5-year program is a highly systematic way to provide amenities and services to villages in need, with the aim of helping them be self-sustainable both spiritually and physically in 5 years. This includes building infrastructure (roads, wells, etc), a Life Center (church building/classroom space/workshop space), affordable housing, teaching literacy, training in basic healthcare, and a number of other initiatives. The total cost over 5 years is $75k. Considering that this program enables communities to transform and sustain themselves for generations beyond the 5 year initiative, 75k seems well worth it. I was was actually surprised at how low the cost was! When Raji talked about building roads, sewers, buildings, compounds, etc. I was sure that this program was beyond expensive, but 75k it is.
I'm on a tangent...BACK TO BETHEL CARE.
Rev. Kumar was won to Christ at age 19 and has been in ministry for over 37 years. He's brought thousands of people to christ and has planted branch churches in the surrounding region averaging at 70+ members. The children's ministry has been in effect for 18 years, and has rolled out many success stories. Many of Rev. Kumar's old students have traveled abroad as far as Abu Dhabi, fueled by the education provided at Bethel Care. At the moment, around 11 of the children don't have sponsors. Now, I'm not a lover of children by any means, but I have to admit that some of these boys made me want to adopt right on the spot. I'll let the photos do the talking. :-) I might be driven to use hashtags...forgive me...!
The medical camp was very straightforward. The boys line up and take turns getting their height and weight measured and recorded. They then wait for routine check-up (given by a government funded doctor) and get a list of medication which they take to the pharmacy. We had a pharmacist travel with us, so he measured out dosages for the boys and gave them meds to the Warden (a very good warden if I might add, she had those kids in C.H.E.C.K.). When all the boys were finished, Raji would write up a report with the pastor and then we return to IGL with the medical records for data entry. I was impressed with how systematic all the programs are, there appears to be processes in place to allow for both widespread impact and flexibility. International Development can be tricky. Due to differences in culture and communities, a project might not be replicable across the board. That is to say, a program that took place in Nigeria might not exactly have the same impact if you did it in Mongolia. My inner City Planner is showing...sorry! IGL's programs allow villages and communities to have programs tailored to their surveyed needs in a setting that has been proven to be effective. The changes seen in the communities have been deep and lasting. We are visiting a village on Monday to see this in person. Can't wait!!!
Tomorrow we travel with the German's for church and another Life Center dedication, where I may or may not be teaching. I guess we'll find out when we get there. :-)
UPDATE ON OUR MOMS. Lisa fell very ill last night and has been on antibiotics all day today. Kathy and Darlene flew on to Sri Lanka to help prepare for the next conference. Carolyn stayed back at Sharon to keep Lisa company. They will hopefully continue on to Sri Lanka in the morning. Pray for quick recovery and a kick-ass conference for these women. Also pray for my (maybe) teaching at the Life Center tomorrow. Pray for the Bethel Care center with its expanding church and orphan population. They are expanding their compound but are in need of a fresh water source!!! The area wells dried up...no bueno!
I'm on a tangent...BACK TO BETHEL CARE.
Rev. Kumar was won to Christ at age 19 and has been in ministry for over 37 years. He's brought thousands of people to christ and has planted branch churches in the surrounding region averaging at 70+ members. The children's ministry has been in effect for 18 years, and has rolled out many success stories. Many of Rev. Kumar's old students have traveled abroad as far as Abu Dhabi, fueled by the education provided at Bethel Care. At the moment, around 11 of the children don't have sponsors. Now, I'm not a lover of children by any means, but I have to admit that some of these boys made me want to adopt right on the spot. I'll let the photos do the talking. :-) I might be driven to use hashtags...forgive me...!
The medical camp was very straightforward. The boys line up and take turns getting their height and weight measured and recorded. They then wait for routine check-up (given by a government funded doctor) and get a list of medication which they take to the pharmacy. We had a pharmacist travel with us, so he measured out dosages for the boys and gave them meds to the Warden (a very good warden if I might add, she had those kids in C.H.E.C.K.). When all the boys were finished, Raji would write up a report with the pastor and then we return to IGL with the medical records for data entry. I was impressed with how systematic all the programs are, there appears to be processes in place to allow for both widespread impact and flexibility. International Development can be tricky. Due to differences in culture and communities, a project might not be replicable across the board. That is to say, a program that took place in Nigeria might not exactly have the same impact if you did it in Mongolia. My inner City Planner is showing...sorry! IGL's programs allow villages and communities to have programs tailored to their surveyed needs in a setting that has been proven to be effective. The changes seen in the communities have been deep and lasting. We are visiting a village on Monday to see this in person. Can't wait!!!
Tomorrow we travel with the German's for church and another Life Center dedication, where I may or may not be teaching. I guess we'll find out when we get there. :-)
UPDATE ON OUR MOMS. Lisa fell very ill last night and has been on antibiotics all day today. Kathy and Darlene flew on to Sri Lanka to help prepare for the next conference. Carolyn stayed back at Sharon to keep Lisa company. They will hopefully continue on to Sri Lanka in the morning. Pray for quick recovery and a kick-ass conference for these women. Also pray for my (maybe) teaching at the Life Center tomorrow. Pray for the Bethel Care center with its expanding church and orphan population. They are expanding their compound but are in need of a fresh water source!!! The area wells dried up...no bueno!
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