Our Mission Trip

My husband and I went on a mission trip to Kolkata and the Sunderban islands through Charis Seva Mandal (CSM). We had worked in these places for nearly ten years for another organisation. In the mean time life in the city of Bengaluru has made us more complacent and comfortable. But we have been propelled periodically to go to West Bengal, the place where we fell in love with first. We chose to go by a non-AC train, since summer has not shown up seriously yet. The thrill of travelling in "Duronto" (means non-stop) train was awesome!

Sunderban means beautiful forests and beautiful people. And believe me, there is no 'fat' or 'obese' people in these islands. They generally look healthy. Fish is a favourite food for the people in the islands and they get it fresh always. The beauty and un-polluted air in these islands cannot be explained unless you make a visit to these places. These islands are like three to four hours travel from the city.

Travel in the Sunderban islands is a joy if you enjoy the thrill part of it. If you get a cosy seat to sit in a travel, tell, "It's well with my soul." Otherwise a travel in the bus, boat, rickshaw-van...name it anything, it is all by sitting or standing on a log of wood. The travel time to interior places would take nearly an hour or two. The beautiful islands are geographically alienated from the main land by deep water. The water strip when narrow needs a travel by a flat "boat-like" wooden log. But some islands have greater areas of ocean water surrounding them. Travel to those islands is by "ship-like" vessels.

The geographical isolation and the risky travel restrict facilities to the islands. There is no electricity still in many of these places. Not many NGO's or government agencies compete here for the welfare of the islands.

What we did in this trip and what we want to do in the future?

1. Schools and Hospitals are a big concern in these islands. We visited two schools with nearly similar histories and operation. They exist for nearly two decades serving low-caste children. The veterans who established these schools have invested their earnings and resources into the running of these schools. Now they have run out of resources. Since the children studying in these schools come from poor families, they do not pay any fees. The schools are not able to pay salaries for teachers. They now want to give away their schools, lands and properties to an agency like CSM.
   
2. Leading mission agencies in India have generally failed in their missionary work in the Sunderbans. Some have even planted churches and many remain closed today. Our presence in West Bengal for nearly a decade earlier has taught us to prefer training local Bengalis for church planting and further discipling in these regions than cross-cultural missionaries. We have started with BTCP (Bible Training Centre for Pastors) curriculum for this purpose. One should see the curiosity of these people in learning the Bible in a systematic manner! These lay people will be the unpaid pastors who would plant churches and help in discipling the seekers to Christ.
   
   

I left the islands with the following questions: Can I be a beacon in the process of helping these schools to grow and prevent them from dying? Can I be a beacon to help churches being planted in the Sunderban islands?
You can be a part of CSM too which presently aims at fulfilling two objectives in the Sunderban islands: Save Our Schools from dying (SOS) -Education Program and Save Our Souls (SOS)- Bengali Training Program
To know more about CSM you may contact in the following e-mail id: charissevamandal@gmail.com.

Jesus said: