Methodist Church

hospitals promote

healing in India

LUCKNOW (India) – For more than 100 years, the Methodist Church here has been a source of healing to Indians.

The South Asian nation has 15 Methodist hospitals serving people irrespective of their creed, class, language or background. They operate in a nation with 1 billion residents – the only country besides China to have hit that benchmark.

India has high rates of HIV/Aids, polio, leprosy, tuberculosis and malaria, and the number of people with cardiac problems, diabetes, and physical and mental ailments is also increasing.

Many people recall the healing they received at Methodist hospitals run by pioneer missionaries, doctors and paramedics.

The Methodist Church has revived a hospital that now specialises in the treatment of HIV/Aids patients in the Chandrakal region. “Here we treat the HIV/Aids patients free of charge,” said Dr Ashok Kumar of Chandrakal Methodist JMM Hospital. “We will soon have a new hospital on the same campus to meet increasing demands.”

Methodist-related Isabella Thoburn College in Lucknow runs an outreach health project to create awareness of HIV/Aids. The college uses puppets and story-telling to tell students and faculty how to avoid the disease.

Clara Swain Hospital in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, is the oldest and largest Methodist hospital in India. It was started in 1870 as the first hospital for women and children in southern Asia. It has a wing to identify and treat HIV/Aids patients.

The Nur Manzil Psychiatric Centre in Lucknow, founded by Methodist evangelist E. Stanley Jones, monitors patients’ psychological, social and spiritual needs. – United Methodist News Service.