Crosslinks In Depth: Index

June 2007

Kachhwa Christian Hospital Transformational Ministries spearheads an initiative to meet the physical, social and spiritual needs of one of the most deprived communities of Eastern UP in Northern India.

Kachhwa Hospital

The last few years have seen an unprecedented number of people from all walks of life turning to Christ in North India. There is a remarkable work of God, which shows the extraordinary openness of people at this time of great change in this part of India. The church is growing and literally thousands of house churches have been planted in the last five years. 

Kachhwa is a small town in Eastern Uttar Pradesh in the districts bordering Bihar. It is about 20 miles from Varanasi and 60 miles from Allahabad. Only 40% of the males and 25% of the females are functionally literate. 90% of the patients using the medical services of the hospital come from these villages. Kachhwa Christian Hospital (KCH) and the community health programme are the only health units for this local village population. 

Despite its long history of serving the poor in Kachhwa, the hospital had gone into decline. Local, often violent, opposition to the Gospel was among the reasons for the inability to recruit staff. Yet nearly half the population in the area are poor needing compassionate health care. Much prayer has gone up by its dedicated staff and KCH is now a small effective 20 bed hospital. The majority of the patients seen are eminently treatable by a small efficient, low cost medical service. 

Three years ago in partnership with UP Mission, Raju and Catherine Abraham undertook to lead KCH - an innovative, integrated mission programme reaching out from the 100+ years old hospital, in eastern UP State, one hour from Varanasi, the global centre of Hinduism. The hospital is strategically located among 100 villages in a rural population of 120,000 of which almost 50% are poor or very poor. 90% of the patients using the medical services of the hospital come from these villages. The hospital and the community health programme are the only health units for this local village population. They particularly target the poor and marginalised in the community.

 Kachhwa Ministries

The vision of Kachhwa Ministries is to establish and build up local churches to bring the love of Jesus Christ to that area, through the planting and growth of local churches that are healthy, reproducing and continuing to multiply. The members of these local churches are the agents of God's Kingdom - serving as salt and light to transform the communities around them in every dimension - spiritual, social, economic, educational and physical. Starting with a focus area of 100 villages, Kachhwa Ministries has accepted responsibility to lead the ministry for five co-terminate Districts with a population of nearly 10 million. The Abrahams co-ordinate and lead Kachhwa Transformational Ministries which are based in the grounds of KCH. The hospital is one of several integrated ministry activities which both contribute to the central goal and minister in their own right. They need to be servants of the local churches, facilitating their growth through their distinctive contributions (eg health, education, development, training, micro-enterprise).

Kachhwa Ministries use a two-fold vision of fulfilling the Great Commission (preaching grace) and practising the Great Commandment (practising love), and a three-fold mission rationale: Go back and report what you hear and see… the blind receive sight, the lame walk… and the good news is preached to the poor. The values are lived out through six key area of focused ministry

1. Spiritual transformation is at the core of our activities. We seek personal and local gospel change by people becoming right with God through Jesus Christ. This is the foundation of sustainable transformation in any community. Church planting is taking place targeting the five surrounding districts each with a population of 10 million people. 

Outcomes - Currently 90 church planters are being developed. In 2004 we saw 147 worship centres (pavitra sabhas) started with over 500 baptised. 

2. Essential clinical services. The goal of KCH is to provide quality care for the poor and the poorest of the poor. The hospital is a low-cost facility, with limited staff, multi-skilled and multi-tasked. 

Outcomes - We have an emergency service (treating over 100 cases of snake bite a year). With a planned approach to reduce the burden of several diseases our notable effect has been facilitating 350 cataract operations. The number of inpatients increased by 60% and the outpatients have doubled since 2003/2004. 

3. Community health. As important as the hospital is we know that we need to impact the local community which in Eastern UP is 80% rural. So we work in the villages. 

Outcomes - Doubled the community health work to include 30 villages (we are planning eventually to target 100 villages). 

4. Micro enterprise development. To help the poor we need to develop creative and innovative ways to help them increase their economic productivity. Several micro enterprise ventures have been initiated to help people improve their economic condition. Empowering women is a particular emphasis of the projects.

Outcomes - an active savings programme, adolescent training, goats, fish, chicken bred on the eight acre property, non-formal education of villagers, three sewing classes and 140 enrolled in the Technical Institute.



5. Primary School Education is now considered an essential aspect of development and is part of the major targets of the Indian government. To help the state, KCH along with Allahabad Agricultural Christian University have started primary schools.

Outcomes - expanded our educational services to 50 new primary schools for poor children, each with 30-40 children. Three are also adult literacy and community health centres. 

6. Leadership training. Training leaders is the foundation for the future - KCH has an extensive leadership development program for local Christian and other leaders. The training is to help maintain the momentum of church planting and to encourage new believers to grow into disciples and their churches to become healthy, reproducing churches that can continue to multiply. To facilitate this, the following courses are run at and from the Centre:

  • Discipleship courses for new and growing believers from the local area and for people referred from elsewhere in UP 

  • Church Planting courses for people working in five Districts around Kachhwa (population 10 million) as well as church-planters from other parts of UP

  • Courses for Itinerant Church Teachers - intensive three month courses to equip for integrated ministry - focusing on Bible teaching, biblical counselling, skills of mentoring and training, health, primary education and micro enterprise

From June 2003 the KCH and Leadership Training Centre has become an extension centre of the Allahabad Agricultural Institute - Deemed University, so that its leadership training programmes at several levels can be accredited. A range of programmes is being offered, from basic certificates to an MA in Christian Leadership in partnership with Development Associates International (Colorado Springs).

Outcomes - During 2004 and 2005 nearly 1000 marginalized community leaders went through our training programs each year. Four staff have entered for an MA in Organizational Development, with DAI and the Allahabad Agricultural University.

Summary

At Kachhwa Ministries an integrated approach has been developed and fostered, and essential Clinical Services, Community Health and Development and Spiritual Ministries work as a seamless whole. This is enabling the poorest of the poor not only to respond to the Gospel, but to begin to live in a new way that reflects the transformation that the Gospel brings.

This is a unique time for this ministry to build its infrastructure so that it can continue to empower the local churches to bring the love of Christ to the community they serve, through the provision of health and community development services to the poor in the local Kachhwa area and training church leaders for the rapidly growing church in North India. 

During 2007, any donations made to the Crosslinks Church Planting Project will be given to Kachhwa Ministries spiritual transformation activities - please quote CHP

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