Pearls of Great Price

Jim Gordon, long-time supporter of Calcutta Mercy, recounts his recent visit to Calcutta, India:

It was January 2015, and I found myself in Calcutta, India visiting Calcutta Mercy's ministries. I got to see the city church, hospital, Teacher's Training College, and rural Mercy Schools. 

I learned many things, but perhaps the most impactful lesson came from India's children, who blessed me in more ways than I thought possible.  I met the sweetest kids who are so smart, inquisitive, eager to learn, and hungry for love.

These weren't your typical neighborhood children. Many came from backgrounds where they have not been shown the love of God, nor taught how important they are in His eyes. Some were orphans and others cast away by their community and families because of an eye or lip deformity. 

When I spent time with and cared for these children, I learned why God puts His Spirit within us. Not only does it birth us as sons of God; it also shines brightly in us to change the world for Jesus. As I stepped forth in the grace and power of the Spirit, the children could see and experience the wondrous love of Jesus.

I video recorded my entire trip and have watched it over and over again. Each time my heart breaks for those children. And each time I am blessed by them. A visit to Calcutta, India will change anybody's life. India's children are Jesus' "pearls of great price." I encourage you to go visit and be blessed by all their pretty, smiling faces.

Give Differently

June 2015 Newsletter

June 2015 Newsletter

STRAPPED FOR CASH?

GIVE DIFFERENTLY

Now you can support Calcutta Mercy by giving any non-cash items, such as your car, phone, stocks, jewelry, and more. We partner with iDonate to pick up your donated items and turn them into cash to feed, educate, and medically assist the poor of Calcutta.

Giving Is Easy:

1. Determine the items you would like to donate

2. Donate your items at: www.calcuttamercy.org/donate-now

3. iDonate will pick up, receipt, and turn your items into cash for Calcutta Mercy

 

In Her Eyes

May 2015 Newsletter

May 2015 Newsletter

IN HER EYES

Calcutta Mercy provides free care through 14 Mercy Clinics and a general hospital.

We have a dispensary at Shishu Bhavan, a Calcutta suburb, where patients line up and we provide
medication.  We see children with scarring skin rashes and fathers weary with hunger and disease.  We see three-years-olds no bigger than six-month-olds, whose mothers could not get enough food or vitamins when pregnant.  Diagnosis: severe malnutrition.  Clinical treatment: vitamins and milk.

Animals and trash line the streets surrounding Shishu Bhavan.  The smell of rotting garbage and human waste hits your face so strong you have to hold your breath.  The people living amid the heaps are called the Untouchables.  Of the four levels of India’s caste system, the Untouchables are ranked so low, they do not have a level.  They are considered nothing. Zero.

Today, outside the clinic, there is a woman sitting upon broken concrete with her two children.  She has bright blue eyes that look stunning against her dark skin.  She smiles at volunteers and motions to her children’s stomachs.  She is in need of love, help, and hope. 

Can you see yourself in her eyes?

When you dare to see yourself in the eyes of someone considered the lowest of the low, you dare to let God pull the platform of your status and wealth out from under your feet.  Pride evaporates.  The ground is made level.  Any walls between you and the other crumble, and love rises in its place.

To see yourself in her eyes is Christ’s daring call to be a servant - to touch an untouchable and let love conquer all inhibitions and fears.  It is to see more similarities than differences, knowing you both are in equal need of the same Savior. What a privilege to be his hands and feet to the least of these in India.

 

Beautiful: A Volunteer's Story

April 2015 Newsletter

April 2015 Newsletter

BEAUTIFUL

A VOLUNTEER'S STORY

“When the chaplain spoke of pain, I saw beauty.”

It was early in the morning at Mercy Hospital in Calcutta.  Barbra, a Calcutta Mercy volunteer, listened in on the staff devotional as the chaplain began a detailed description of the wounds Jesus endured at the cross.  The Scriptures say he was marred beyond human semblance. There was no beauty in his face, and his friends and family could hardly recognize him.  “But to those who knew the truth about Jesus and the meaning behind His wounds, his place there on the cross would have been the most beautiful sight,” the chaplain advocated.  Behold, this was the Son of God.  In his pain, we see compassion and love.  At the cross, we see redemption.

The following day, Barbra was invited to watch a cleft palate surgery.  Dressed head to toe in mask and scrubs, nurses led her into the Operating Theatre where a six-month-old girl with a gaping cleft lip lay sedated on a table.  A nurse squeezed an Ambu bag to maintain the baby’s breathing, while a doctor began his delicate task.  Barbra watched as tissue was cut, separated, moved, and stitched back together.  She could utter only one response,

"Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful."

Barbra beheld the blood and torn flesh and saw beauty. “I understood I was witnessing a miracle.  Where there was disfigurement, there was redemption.  Hope saturated every tear and mend.  The presence of Jesus was all around,” she described.  

Jesus died, was buried, and rose again.  How beautiful the wounds the Savior of the world endured for us. How beautiful the love poured out at the cross, our debt paid in full.  What joy this Easter to know his wounds mean our healing and his resurrection, our eternal life.

Handicaps and disfigurements like cleft lips are considered a curse in India. Calcutta Mercy surgeons perform two to four surgeries of this kind every day, made possible by donations given to Calcutta Mercy and Smile Train. $500 a month pays for one surgery, inclusive of follow-up care. To mend a child’s smile, complete and return the form below or go to: www.calcuttamercy.org/donate

 

 

Strategic 3

March 2015 Newsletter

March 2015 Newsletter

STRATEGIC 3

EMPOWERING WOMEN, EMPOWERING INDIA
International Women's Day

March 8th is International Women’s Day when we honor the contributions of women worldwide and bring awareness to their struggles where there exists inequality and oppression. Calcutta Mercy empowers women in India through our School of Nursing and College of Nursing.

OUR STRATEGY

#1 Women are generally not afforded equal rights in India. Many are denied an education by their families and receive unequal treatment in the home and work place. We are fighting discrimination by educating women and raising their status in society.

#2 We enroll young women from disadvantaged backgrounds so that they can rise above poverty, enjoy a rewarding career in health care, and support their families with a lucrative wage.

#3 There is a current shortage of one million nurses in India. Our College of Nursing helps meet this shortage by preparing women for more advanced and specialized roles in hospitals.

$250 a month supports one nursing student. To become a monthly sponsor, complete and return the form below or go to www.calcuttamercy.org/donate