Church's hospitals promote healing in India
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A UMNS photo by James S. Murthy Dr. Ashok Kumar (right) counsels an AIDS patient at Chandrakal Methodist Hospital.
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Dr.
Ashok Kumar (right) counsels an AIDS patient at Chandrakal Methodist
Hospital in India, a facility that specializes in treating HIV/AIDS
patients. The Methodist Church, in partnership with evangelist Joyce
Meyers, rebuilt the once-dilapidated hospital. There are currently 15
Methodist hospitals in India, a country with 1 billion residents. A UMNS
photo by James S. Murthy. Photo #06-1265. Accompanies UMNS story #647.
10/31/06 |
Oct. 31, 2006
By James S. Murthy*
LUCKNOW, India (UMNS) -- For more than 100 years, the Methodist Church has been a source of healing to Indians.
The South Asian nation has 15 Methodist hospitals serving people irrespective of their creed, class, language and background.
They operate in a nation with 1 billion residents — the only country
besides China to have hit that benchmark. India has high rates of
HIV/AIDS, polio, leprosy, tuberculosis and malaria, and the number of
people with cardiac problems, diabetes, and physical and mental ailments
is also increasing.
Many people recall the healing they received at Methodist hospitals run by pioneer missionaries, doctors and paramedics.
The Methodist Church, jointly with U.S.-based Joyce Meyers
Ministries, has revived a hospital that now specializes in the treatment
of HIV/AIDS patients in the Chandrakal region. "Here we treat the
HIV/AIDS patients free of cost," said Dr. Ashok Kumar of Chandrakal
Methodist JMM Hospital. "We will soon have a new hospital on the same
campus to meet increasing demands."
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A UMNS photo by James S. Murthy Patients arrive by cart at the Methodist-supported Crawford Memorial Hospital Vikarabad in India.
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Patients
arrive by cart at the Methodist-supported Crawford Memorial Hospital
Vikarabad in India. There are currently 15 Methodist hospitals in the 12
regional conferences in India, a country with 1 billion residents.
Methodist hospitals have served the people of the second most populous
nation in the world for more than 100 years. A UMNS photo by James S.
Murthy. Photo #06-1266. Accompanies UMNS story #647. 10/31/06 |
Methodist-related Isabella Thoburn College in Lucknow runs an outreach
health project to create awareness of HIV/AIDS. The college uses puppets
and storytelling to tell students and faculty about how to avoid the
disease.
Clara Swain Hospital in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, is the oldest and
largest Methodist hospital in India. It was started in 1870 as the first
hospital for women and children in southern Asia. It has a wing to
identify and treat HIV/AIDS patients. "The hospital sends workers for
special training to treat the HIV/AIDS programs," says Lillian Wallace, a
staff member of the Methodist hospital.
The Nur Manzil Psychiatric Center in Lucknow monitors patients'
psychological, social and spiritual needs. "I have a master plan for the
next 10 years which will be taken up in a cycle of three years to make
Nur Manzil the best center to minister to people with mental disorders,"
said C.K. Tiwari, center director. "As its founder, Dr. E. Stanley
Jones, had deep faith in prayer, I too believe that my strength is in
prayer."
*Murthy is a freelance writer based in Lucknow, India.
News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org
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