1. Dr.Vinod Shah Presented at CCIH Annual Conference, May 29, 2005
What Motivated the Early Christian Health Missions? Anatomy of Transformation in India
Dr.Vinod Shah
Presented at CCIH Annual Conference, May 29, 2005

2. Factors that affected
the health “caring”
Culture.

3. Women’s disempowered status I
Pregnant women were not allowed access to high caste practitioners
Had to access low caste women traditional dais
Dais were illiterate women

4. The eldest son of the family pays his last respects to his deceased father before completing the customary rituals and putting torch to the funeral pyre.

5. Erotic sculptures abound & temple prostitution was one of the results

6. Decorated Sati from a Hero-stone (Mahasati Stone)

7. TBA Donkey ride for pregnant women Massaging/kneading the abdomen
Pulling on the cord
Cow dung as lubricant
Took responsibility for female-feticide and disposal of body

8. No “caring culture” Lepers were burnt or buried alive
Sick in an “epidemic” were left to die
Female children were sold to buy food during an epidemic
Mentally retarded, handicapped were chained to trees
Sick had no recourse to help

9. Caring not role modeled: Religion sans caring-II
If I am at prayer…I will not leave my prayer and go to help someone…I don’t think it is important.
If I leave my god and my karma and help someone then my god will get angry…my karma will be lost…

10. Did god role model healing?
There is no such example of God role modeling healing

11. IMPORTANCE OF THE BODY & THE BODY SOUL DISSOCIATION-III
THE JUDEO CHRISTIAN CONTEXT
The Judeo Christian view would think of the person as one “whole”
The body had intrinsic dignity however deformed or diseased. Even in death, the body needed to be respected

12. One of the most difficult austerities a practitioner can attempt is to hold his arm upright in the air for twelve years. It is said that if successfully completed, the practice results in the attainment of supernatural powers

13. Perhaps the most well known austerity is lying on a bed of sharp nails to overcome the limitations of the physical body.

14. Offerings are made to a mediator who is buried up to the neck in sand
Offerings are made to a mediator who is buried up to the neck in sand. He suppresses the sensations of the flesh while attempting to free his mind through meditation.

15. High and low trust societies SENSE OF COMMUNITY-IV
IMPACT ON HEALTH/ ECONOMICS
ACCORDING TO FRANCIS FUKUYOMA.
Author of book on Trust

16. THE ORTHODOX INDIAN CONTEXT
LOW TRUST SOCIETIES
LESS WEALTH CREATION
SOLITARY WORSHIP
LESS SPONTANEOUS
SOCIALIBILITY
FAMILY BUSINESS ONLY
LESS SOCIAL CAPITAL

17. Cont.

18. Subjective culture vs Objective Low O/S ratio-V
We believe that each organ of the body is influenced by some deity.
When we deviate from the path of religion …the gods leave our side.
This is why we fall sick.

19. Subjective cultures versus Objective cultures
Changing standards
Absolutes
Non-shared standards
Widely shared standards
Kings/Leaders above Standards
Standards above Kings/Leaders
Oral tradition; scripture not rooted in history
Documentary tradition; rooted in history

20. Subjective cultures do not support scientific development because
Interpret reality subjectively
Access knowledge subjectively
Subjective attitudes in justice and gender

21. Indian religions…
In their fundamentals were subjective till Global influences reached them.
WASAV (Widely Accepted & Shared Absolute Values) characterize an objective culture and needed for development.
Polytheistic idolatry does not produce a WASAV culture.

22. Family versus truth-VI
A father and a husband is like a God

23. Country Rank Country 2004 CPI Score* Confidence Range** Surveys Used***
1 Finland 9,
2 New Zealand 9,
3 Denmark 9,
Iceland 9,
5 Singapore 9,
6 Sweden 9,
7 Switzerland 9,
8 Norway 8,
9 Australia 8,
10 Netherlands 8,
11 United Kingdom 8,
12 Canada 8,
13 Austria 8,
Luxembourg 8,
15 Germany 8,
16 Hong Kong 8,

24. Family values & corruption
Scale of familism (World Values survey code book 1994 & World Bank statistics)
Correlates well with the CPI.(Regression analysis)
Tribalism- Africa and India

25. What did the Christian Medical missionaries do?
Women’s
transformation
Transformation of
Ritualistic Hinduism
& Jainism
Role
Modeling of care
Sustainability of
transformation

26. Women’s health
Women medical missionaries ushered in “caring” for women
Women in India did not access hospitals
Only home visits allowed and that only by women doctors

27. Maharani’s locket Elizabeth Bielby-1880 Maharani of Panna
Locket message to
The Queen
“The women of India
Suffer greatly”

28. SOME POINEER WOMEN MEDICAL MISSIONARIES IN INDIA
During the late 19th Century and early part of 20th Century
Name of Women Year of Affiliation to Mission Place of work
Arrival
1. Clara Swain American Methodist Mission Bareilly, UP.
2. Sara Seward American Presbyterian Allahabad, UP
Mission
3. Seeyle Women’s Missionary Calcutta, WB Society of America
4. Sarah Norriss American Board of Medical Women
5. Rose Greenfield Society for female Education
in the east, UK Ludhiana, Punjab
6. Elizebeth Bielby Zenana Bible and Medical Mission
UK Lucknow, UP

29. Name of Women Year of Affiliation to Mission Place of work
Arrival
7. Ms Hewlett England Zenana Mission Punjab
8. Ellen Mitchell American Baptist Board Burma
9. Fanny Butler Church of England Jabalpur, Mp.
10. Ida Faye American Baptist Mission Nellore, AP.
11. Anna Kugler Lutheran Mission, US Guntur, AP.
12. Elizabeth Beatty United Church of Canadian
Mission Indore, MP.
13. Mana White United Presbyterian Church
of America Siakot, (Jammu Border)
14. Jessie Carelton American Presbyterian Board Ambala, Punjab.
15. Matilda
Machphail Free Church of Scotland Madras, TN
16. Ottoman Baptist Missionary Society Ganjam, Orissa

30. Name of Women Year of Affiliation to Mission Place of work
Arrival
17. Edith Brown Society for Female Education
in the East, UK Ludhiana, Punjab
18. Alene Calkins American Friends Mission Chhatrapur, UP.
19. Pearl Chute Canadian Baptist Mission Akkividu, AP.
20. Ida S Scudder Arcot American Mission Vellore, TN.
21. Gertude Hulet Canadian Baptist Mission Vuyyuru, AP.
22. Charlotte Pring Godavari Delta Mission Narsapur, AP.
23. Catherine ? American Methodist Episc.
Board Jagadalpur, MP.
24. Annie Mackay Free Church of Scotland Lakhnadon, MP.
25. Katherine
Lehmann ? Renigunta, AP.

31. Ida Scudder
Not a medical college but the kingdom of God
(1918)

32. Catherine-Methodist church- redefined access
One Dr Catherine from the Methodist church in the US travelled by
Ship for 6 months to Bombay
To Raipur by train for a week
Horse by several days to access the mission station called Bastar
Methodist hospital built in 1892.
Largest Methodist congregation in India

33. Transformation of women
The highest number of women doctors in the world
India is a huge “nurse factory”
% of all nurses were Christian!
All traceable to the women’s medical colleges and nursing schools established by the missionaries

34. Ancient India did not have a culture of “care”
By a “caring culture” I mean formalized caring eg. Orphanages/hospitals
Religion was divorced from “loving your neighbor”
No hospitals existed except during the time of King Asoka in 2nd century BC
Arya Vaidya Shalas existed for outpatient care for the privileged

35. In what was a caring “void”
Christian Medical missionaries ushered in a culture of care
The first hospital (Royal hospital,Goa)in 1514 AD and then thousands afterwards..
Orphanages…home for widows…
Sanatoria for TB, leprosy homes and hospitals
Programs for epidemic care

36. Social work in India…
The kind of missionary work which we see in Christianity …that kind of this did not exist in India for a very long time.
Now the social work being done in India…those going out to help and serve others is all because of missionary & global influences.

37. By 1940 AD…. There were 2000 Christian hospitals in India
Close to 40% of all beds were made up of Christian hospitals
TB sanatoria and leprosy institutions were predominantly Christian

38. Dr. Alexander Duff 1806-78 Pioneer missionary educationist
English education can have a transformative effect on the Indian society
Scripture education introduced but made optional
“Downward filter theory”-working with High castes
Schools and colleges -Calcutta, Madras and Bombay

39. Christians ushered in a culture of “care”
Started many NGO’s that looked at specific needs of the poor and provided succor
Role modeled caring
Taught “caring”

40. Welfare-Social capital did not exist
The only safety net for the poor was
The joint family
Individual philanthropy and
The caste system

41. The concept of the voluntary sector….
Indian culture did not have this concept of “volunteerism”
“Activism” for change was also not a part of Indian culture. (Barring a few exceptions no activists for social change)

42. The concept of the ”voluntary” sector…..
Christian missionaries pioneered the NPO and NGO sector (Pande 1967,Terry 1983)
This time saw the emergence of major Christian voluntary sector church based and non-church based. (NGO’s)
Hospitals, Schools, Orphanages and other welfare institutions flourished.

43. As a result …1825 onwards
Many Hindu bourgeoisie who studied in English medium schools
Started social reform organizations for the purpose of “caring”
Care of widows & remarriage
Care of orphans & preventing child marriage

44. The many champions of “caring”
Some were Christians
Some liked “Christian” values but were not Christians
Most were provoked by the Christian gospel to “care” but remained Hindus

45. Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1774-1833) founder of “Brahmo Samaj”
A Hindu reformer and visionary,
Roy is considered by many
as the father of modern India.
Oil Painting by Atul Bose
Raja Ram drew inspiration from
William Carey
“The first feminist”

46. Rishi Dayanand Saraswati 1824-83
Founded Arya Samaj
Spoke against idol-worship, casteism and female subjugation
Assassinated in 1883 AD

47. The prime object of the arya samaj is to do good;
that is to promote physical, social &spiritual good
for everyone

48. Satyasodhak Samaj- Jyotirao Phule-1875
Educated in “The Scottish mission school”
Became a great educationist
Started “caring”institutions

49. Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar
From he single-handedly wedged a battle against the extremist of the Hindu society and insisted in the implementation of the Widow-Remarriage Act in 1856.

50. As a result Indian religions were challenged to reform
Vivekananda brought in a new understanding of Hinduism

51. Indian reformer Vivekananda 1863-1902
Father was given to reciting from the Bible-for amusement!
Studied in Presidency college-Calcutta
Later in Scottish church college studied English literature and western logic which brought into sharp focus the short comings of Indian society
Was influenced by Raja Ram Mohan Roy also.

52. Vivekananda
He elevated the status of the service of fellow beings to the level of real worship of God. (PS Kamanant)
Established Ramakrishna mission which began caring

53. Ramakrishna mission was a reformist reaction to the Christian “caring”
CalcuttaRamakrishna M. Institute of CultureAdvaitaAdvaita Ashram CalcuttaSRMSri Ramakrishna Math CalcuttaNarendrapurRamakrishna Mission College UdbodhanMother's HouseVidyapithRamakrishna VidyapithNew DelhiRamakrishna MissionRajkot/GujaratRamakrishna Mission AshramChennaiRamakrishna Math Mylapore ChennaiRamakrishna Mission AshramItanagarRamakrishna Mission Hospital APVidyapithRamakrishna Vidyapith ChennaiChengalpattuRamakrishna Mission Tamil NaduMaduraiRamakrishna Math CoimbatoreRamakrishna Mission Vidyalaya

54. Ramakrishna mission locale
BangaloreVivekananda AshramKochiRamakrishna Math, KeralaRanchiRamakrishna MissionKaladiRamakrishna Advaita Ashram KeralaPuneRamakrishna Math and MissionHydrabadRamakrishna MathVaranasiRamakrishna M.- Home of Service RKMRamakrishna VidyashalaKayamkulamSri Ramakrishna Ashram, KeralaJharkhandTB Sanatorium - RanchiMangaloreRamakrishna Mission Ashram

55. Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda wrote in one of his letters :
A hundred thousand men and women, will go over the length and breadth of the land, preaching the Gospel of salvation, the Gospel of help, the Gospel of social raising-up -- the Gospel of equality.

56. Karsondas Mulji
Social Reformer, Educationist, Writer, Pamphleteer
While in Elphinstone college…. influenced by missionary John Wilson
The Primitive Religion of the Hindus and the Present Heterodox Opinions in his journal led to the famous Maharaja Libel
Widow remarriage-helped many

57. Micheal Madusudandas English and Bengali writer
AD- became a Christian
Both ‘The Captive Lady’ and ‘Visions of the Past’ were written under the pen name Timothy.
Editor of “The Hindu Patriot”. He composed Bengali plays such as ‘Sharmistha’, ‘Ekey Bole Savyata’, ‘Buro Shaliker Ghare Ro’, ‘Krishnakumari’ and ‘Padmabati’.
In most of his plays, he criticized the lack of “caring” present in the society.

58. Dadabhai Naoroji 1824-1917 Grand Old Man of India
Studied in Elphinstone college-influenced by Dr Wilson
Went from door to door recruiting girl students
Freedom fighter-concerned
for women
Member of the house of commons

59. Initially Jains were into hospitals for birds and animals only
Jain Bird hospital in Old Delhi
Gaushalas are “old age homes” for cows

60. Jains now have many hospitals
Bombay- Nanavati hospital, Sarvoday hospital, Matunga hospital, Lilavati hospital, Cardiac hospital in Matunga are all Jain.
Surat Mahavir hospital is Jain
Ahmedabad Vadilal Sarabhai hospital is Jain.
Sri AmarJain hospital- Jaipur
Bhagwan MahavirJain Hospital-Bangalore

61. In personal conversation with Jains
We (Jains) will not survive as a religion unless we begin to care like the missionaries..
Now Jains go abroad and raise money from the US and the UK for their hospitals and projects

62. Emergence of Gandhian NGO’s
From 1947 to 1960 onwards many new Gandhian NGO’s were started Hindu Kusht Nivaran Sangh was started at the behest of Gandhi.
“Shame on us…why should missionaries… (Gandhi)

63. Mushrooming of NGO’s…
Church related and Christian voluntary organizations led the way for the mushrooming of NGO’s
Though not all the NGO’s are into welfare more than 100,000 NGO’s are into some form of caring

64. Ripple effect Other caring NGO’s Non-Xian hospitals Advocacy
Doctors & Nurses
Man power for
mission

65. Disaster 1947 onwards.. 700 Protestant hospitals in India
Many Indian trained D & N
No visionary leaders!!
400 Xian hospitals closed in 40 years

66. Missionary failure- Developed programs but not people
Paradigm shift
Missionary failure- Developed programs but not people 1
RUNNING PROGRAMS
PEOPLE BUILDING 2
Programs produces visible quick impact
Harder and longer process involving several years 3
Anyone with skill can run programs
Requires rapport with people and will not happen unless you are a authentic human being 4
Requires lot of capital for infrastructure specially in the healing ministry
Does not require large capital for infrastructure 5
Not sustainable after the pioneer has retired
Long term – very sustainable & greater impact 6
All about performing tasks or a task
All about creating a visionary

67. Programme Development to People Development - 2
Paradigm shift
Programme Development to People Development - 2
Jesus – “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”.
Development of people more strategic than programs.
Budgets do not reflect this – more used for programs.
Learning from history – Disaster in India

68. Medical Missions - Custodians of the Culture of Care
3 Types of Caring
Commercial caring
Professional caring
Christian caring

69. Either way Christian caring is an endangered phenomenon
India
West
Christian caring
Professional
Commercial
Christian Caring
Commercial
Professional
Either way Christian caring is an endangered phenomenon