Mungpoo Village Four Years Ago
Come with me as we visit the Hindu village of Mungpoo in Northern India,
in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains. Let's see how Mungpoo used
to be four years ago.
We have just walked four miles on a winding foot path. Several 23,000
plus peaks of the Himalaya's peak out over the clouds. The land is rocky
and hilly as we pass through a large, well-tended company tea plantation.
We find out later that working as a tea picker does not pay enough to sustain
a family.
We see below us as we crest a hill about 25 run-down, poorly constructed
wood homes with tin roofs. You can see your breath, as the temperature
is about 38° F on this September morning. Barefoot children with pot
bellies run out of their houses to go to the bathroom in the bushes, as
there is no outside latrine.
Each house is on a small plot of land. The cooking is done in a separate,
little, smoky cook shack over an open fire with the pot balanced on three
stones. There are a few chickens running in and out of the houses and the
compounds are dirty.
The nearest school is 2 kms past the road from which we came. It is
too far for the children to walk daily and besides, they have work to around
the home. Therefore, most of the children do not attend it. Many adults
cannot read or write; therefore, they are always being taken advantage
by those who can, in other villages.
There are few gardens. The nearest water is two kms away. It's hard
enough to bring water for drinking and washing, let alone for watering
gardens. The pipe line from this reservoir no longer works.
Rain is sporadic except for the one growing season when there is normally
enough rain to get their main crop of rice. There's not enough room or
time to raise vegetables. They're lucky if they can harvest enough rice
to get them through until the next harvest.
The people are Hindu; therefore they worship many different gods. There
are over one million gods which Hindus must appease and worship. There
are many little grotesque statues of gods all around Mungpoo with bright
splotches of paint and garlands of flowers on them. Each time the villagers
eat they drop some food on the ground for the wandering spirits.
There is a sense of defeat and an attitude of what can they do. Maybe
in the next life they will be re-incarnated into a better situation. But
the re is also the chance that if they make the gods unhappy they could
be re-incarnated as a rat or dog. Mungpoo is pretty typical of hundreds
of thousands of villages in the third world.
Mungpoo Village Today
Today a change has taken place in Mungpoo because a Christian family,
the Lepcha's, cared enough to move to Mungpoo. The Lepcha's were trained
as Community Health Evangelists (CHEs) to help their neighbors live a healthier
physical life and learn how to come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior
and Lord.
When the Lepcha's neighbor's babies had diarrhea, Nina visited them
and shared how the baby needed to get a special mixture of salt, sugar
and clean water, or they would die. The villagers used to stop giving the
baby fluid so fluid would stop coming out of the baby.
The Lepcha's had a very clean compound with a cook house and raised
fire-place that makes cooking easier and uses less wood. They have a small
chicken coop and a vegetable garden which improves their children's nutrition.
They have an outside latrine. Their children don't have worms or diarrhea
as often as others.
The Lepcha's had made a rain collection jar to collect water from the
gutters of their tin roof when the sporadic rains come. Others have copied
this and when it rains they too have water. The Lepcha's also helped the
community to work together to lay a pipe line from the reservoir. Now there
is plenty of water, even enough to water their new vegetable gardens.
When the Lepcha's came they began to teach adults and children who wanted
to learn how to read and write. They started by teaching children and teenagers
how to read. Today Mungpoo has their own school for those up through 4th
grade.
When the people asked why the Lepcha's were doing this, they said it
was because of the love of Christ. This witness drew people to Jesus Christ,
and soon a small church was formed because there was no Christian church
in this village. The people also have a sense of accomplishment and see
that they can live a healthy life because one family cared enough to come
to share their life with others.
This same story is being told time after time in over 100 villages in
northern India and eastern Nepal. Peoples lives are changed physically.
But the villages are also being changed spiritually as 112 home fellowships
have been started.
When one Christian family, like the Lepcha's, has a vision to see their
community changed, mighty things can happen for God if they are seeking
God's will and then are willing to act on the vision that God has given
them.
Peoples lives are changed physically.
Villages are also being changed spiritually.
Note: For more information about Medical Ambassadors International
and their Community Health Evangelism program, visit their website
at http://www.med-amb.org/
or phone (209) 524-0600
