Dear BMDF,
I am on the plane now, heading back to the United States from India. It’s hard to believe that the 6 weeks have passed. The experience was amazing. I greatly appreciate your support in prayers and in finances.
One of my goals while in India was to learn more about Hinduism in order to understand the background of many of my colleagues. Weeks went by and this religion was still a mystery to me. Then the week I left, someone pointed me to a book,The Death of a Guru. It is the testimony a man brought up in the highest Hindu caste—essentially considered a god. Though deeply tied to his religion, he wrestled with its inconsistencies. When he learned of “the Jesus God”, he was astonished to find a God of forgiveness. He worshipped millions of gods and lived in a constant state of fear. Forgiveness was not in his vocabulary.
His testimony of living the Hindu life made everything make sense that I had seen—idols at temples, worship of animals, bindu , offering of gifts to idols, etc. He described his emptiness and confusion of the religion. He was a Hindu leader yet looking for Someone to follow. A series of events leads this very lost man to Jesus. Reading his testimony along with seeing the religious practices in India gave me a completely new outlook and burden for those following Hinduism.
In addition to learning about Hinduism, I also learned a great amount about medicine. I primarily worked in a clinic for HIV-infected persons. In India, HIV is still kept very quiet and those patients are truly the modern-day lepers. It was an honor to work with them in the clinic. I also had the privilege of creating a 3-week course for native staff working with HIV patients--HIV healthcare. What a blessing that class was and a life-altering experience as I learned the benefit of teaching the native staff so they can teach the patients, reaching many more than if I were to attempt to go to each patient. I submitted an abstract for an upcoming conference hoping to share with others how to increase efficacy of international healthcare education. I have no doubt that God has called me to public health. Now it’s just a point of finding where
As you can see, I struggle to share just one or two highlights, as there were so many. Working alongside my brothers and sisters in Christ in India was true joy. Seeing the millions of lost Hindus was a true burden. I pray that God will open doors with my Hindu friends as I return to work.
Thank you again for your support.
Elizabeth
Posted on
Fri, April 22, 2011
by vaughan