Fantastic Finish!

Today was our final day of medical clinics for the Joy India 2008 mission. We still have a few service projects to complete before our trip comes to a close but today was a terrific finish. In an effort to broaden our mission to new locations within India the trip to Chandigarh has been a huge success. We have worked with several groups here which are like-minded in their faith and we were also given the opportunity to work with a local Hindu doctor. This represents an open door that we were pleased to pursue on our final medical clinic day. This strategy has been most successful in Orissa.

It was a delight to work in the rural clinic location with Dr Vijay Kumar Sharma, an ENT specialist at the Chandigarh Government Hospital. His love and concern for this village was apparent as he thoughtfully spent time with every patient who approached him. As a newly qualified doctor, Sharma rode his bicycle 14 kms each direction to the remote Sikh village of Tarapur in the foothills of the Himalayas to serve the medical needs of this remote farming & ranching community. It was here where we held our final clinic.

Once we left the city limits, the road to Tarapur was unpaved and quite a bumpy ride. The only disappointment we experienced was our inability to view the Himalayas being so close. The morning was chilly and thick with fog. Even though the sun peeked out in the afternoon our view of the famous mountain range was still obstructed. The temperature was much cooler than we have experienced elsewhere in India but this land is lush and green.

We finished strong and are quite hopeful to make this a permanent stop on future Joy India medical trips.

Praise the Lord! The total number of patients seen over the entire mission was 5203. We are gratified and thankful for your prayers, they were felt by the entire team.

Tomorrow we break into groups to attention and serve in local churches in Chandigarh.


Click on the link below to see a picture archive of today:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rougetete/sets/72157603750003226

The link below goes to a few short videos from the trip:
http://www.youtube.com/dundermiffed