Wednesday 31 March 2010

A trip to the Leprosy Mission Hospital

Yesterday the Leprosy Mission hospital sent a jeep to take us
across the Yamuna(Jamuna) River to its campus.
Our Pastor was invited to speak at their Holy Week
evening service and I went along with his wife.

Here we are crossing over on the New Yamuna
suspension bridge.


Its the best bridge of our city.
Just down river (left)
is the famous Sangam-the confluence of
rivers Ganga and Yamuna and mythical Saraswati,
regarded sacred by the Hindus.

On the right you can see the
British built old Yamuna bridge.

The old bridge has railway tracks on the top.
It makes such a roar when a train is passing on it.
The pictures were taken from a very fast moving jeep
that' s why they are blurry.


You have to pay a toll tax to use the bridge,
at least the 4 wheelers do.
But you can have a monthly pass made.


This is the mission Chapel.

A church elder told us that it is a 100 years old .
Probably as old as the hospital when it was established
by American doctors and missionaries.
It has served the people of North India very well
all these years.
Now leprosy cases are on the decline,
Praise God ,due to early detection , treatment and living conditions.
so they are more involved in General Medicine and surgery.
We had 3 doctor friends here
(one was my cousin 's wife)
but now they all have moved away.
The chapel is a lovely peaceful place
for quiet contemplation and corporate worship.
It was a warm evening.
You can see the fans going at full speed.
There were about 60 people present.
I took this picture at the beginning of the service.

This is our Pastor sharing the Word.


Take a look at the clock on the right.
There is another on facing the speaker
(picture above)
Most churches have at least one clock.
But this one has two.
I found this quite amusing.
The clocks ticking both for the Pastor and congregation.
My Pastor took permission to extend his message by 10 minutes.
I am wondering if churches in other
countries also have clocks on their walls???

On the way back we took
the old Yamuna Bridge.
And I took these blurry photos
of the New bridge.
We had a very pleasant evening.
-------------
PS . Sometimes people gift their church
a wall clock.
No double meaning behind it hopefully. LOL
Now you know what to do if
you find church long and boring!

11 Fertilize my soul:

Gerry said...

I am sure a lot of people sneak a look at the clock, but politely I hope! Ha. I was always so fascinated with leprosy as I was with the Black Plague and would read any book I found that would tell me more about them. I was horrified as well. My grandfather who wanted to be a doctor and ended up delivering babies in rural communities thought I should be a doctor like his son became, but I knew I did not have the stamina. My sister Margie became a nurse. So I sought to read and write about what I saw as you are doing. I am so glad the numbers who contact leprosy have declined. What a scourge. When I saw your headline I thought I must go check that out!

Kimmie said...

Thank you for the visit.

We do have a large clock on the wall. We have 3 services (so we can fit everyone in that wants to worship) ...so the clock helps to keep our Pastor within time frames of the services. The parking lot is a huge problem...but hopefully we will expand to hold more people in the next few years...maybe then the clock can go?
We are over 1,000 people at our church now. The sanctuary only holds about 350 each service.



Kimmie
mama to 8
one homemade and 6 3/4 adopted

monsoon dreams said...

amrita,
do they still have leprosy patients as inmates there?
i work in leprosy hospital and it is a wonderful experience.

Sita said...

What a beautiful chapel. I misunderstood you on FB. Thought you were speaking as well.
Where I come from, no one bothers with clocks (:...
As for here in TO, we must be the 'promptest' church in the area...and we have an Indian pastor..must be his highly structured persona as a scientist!..Looks like a fruitful time for all! Have a blessed Easter.
Sita

Simply Debbie said...

DEAR AMRITA,
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL POST. LEPROSY HAS LONG BEEN A SUBJECT I LIKED TO RESEARCH SINCE IT WAS IN THE BIBLE.
DO YOU GET TO VISIT AND PRAY WITH THE PATIENTS OR ARE THEY IN ISOLATION.
AT OUR CHURCH THE CLOCK IS POSTED ON THE BACK WALL WHERE ONLY THE PREACHER CAN SEE HOW MUCH TIME HE HAS LEFT TO PREACH, THEY HAVE A CLOCK IN VISITOR'S HALL, A CLOCK IN THE NURSERY AND IN CHILDREN'S SUNDAY SCHOOL AND CHILDREN'S CHURCH PLUS CLOCKS IN THE OFFICES OF COURSE. MOST PEOPLE JUST SILENTLY TAKE A PEEK AT THEIR WATCH. I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE CLOCKS UNTIL NOW.
BLESSINGS TO YOU
HUGS
SIMPLY DEBBIE

Holly, the Old Western Gal said...

I don't know about the clocks, Amrita. I've never been in a church.

[Amrita faints.]

I would think if they put a clock up, then the people would get really restless!

Tee hee.

Amrita said...

Dear MD (Nina)I find out from Dr Paulson and tell you

Julia Dutta said...

Hi Amrita,

This post captured my heart with the pictures. The toll bridge ones were out of the world.

The good news is, The Lord is taking me back to Delhi post April 30. I have had enough of Bhopal....my lonely days and I look forward to being in a city I have begun to identify myself with.

I have also been shown by the Lord that the best service I can do to Him, is to do it to all those who visit my home, the mali, the cleaner, whoever.And that the Lords home is always where I live remembering his presence.

But this trip for a year was needed for I had lost faith in Him and He so kindly put me among non-believers and made me see what the experience can be. Naturally, my faith returned to Him.

Love,
Julia

Amrita said...

Thank you dear friends for your comments.

Debbie , I would like to go the visit patients but the hospital is across the river, very far, so transportis a problem. I 've been over occasionally and also visited an orphange where the children of leprosy patients are looked after and educated.

Dear Julia, I am so happy you are going back to Delhi. Bhopal isn 't very appealing to me too. Wish you all the best for the future.

John M Cowart said...

Good day lovely lady, I see no place on your site to send money.

I find that greatly admirable for one, and in a way saddens me a wee bit.

Please let me know how I may be of help.

Same add just with @ comcast at the end.

Amrita said...

God bless you dear John M Cowart