By Sr. Prema Chowallur SCC –
It certainly is an inspiring story of how a certain Martin who is blind and working in Delhi, with a single call, effected a series of ecumenical actions across Delhi, Dimapur in Nagaland, Diphu, Guwahati and Langhenpi in Assam in the North Eastern region. These ecumenical actions led to saving his family from abject poverty and starvation. An excellent example of cumulative ecumenical action from Catholic Nuns, Pastors, Priests and the Laity!
(Photo: Pastor Kameleswar Baglary and Mr. Bahadur Kherketary at Guwahati Airport with Martin and family.)
“Please give us some food ration, we have nothing to eat,” was Martin’s plea. His pregnant wife who was the sole bread-winner of the family had lost her job due to COVID-19 lockdown. Besides, the couple had an added responsibility of taking care of their son and daughter, all of whom had landed in Delhi just before the lockdown.
Amrat Talitha Kum India, a network of women religious against human trafficking in India, contacted Martin’s family in Delhi which led to a chain of events just like the story of Mother Mary who went to visit her cousin Elizabeth.
Chethanalaya, the social service society of the Archdiocese of Delhi led by Fr. John Britto, Holy Cross Social Service Centre Delhi and other Church personnel like Fr. Christopher Gnanaprakasam, Sr. Preeti BS, Fr. Felix SVD, Fr. Arunmozhi SJ, Sr. Babitha Kumari from Medical Mission Sisters, Sr. Asha from Holy Family and many others in Delhi reached out to the family with sacrifices and prayers.
“When I visited the family of Martin, my eyes were filled with tears. A blind man seeking help to feed his pregnant wife and others,” said Sr. Dhanam SCSC. “Our team worked to help this family with food ration and room rent for five months. The travel expenses were raised through online platforms with contribution ranging from just Rs.50 onwards!” she added.
On August 1, 2020, the family of Mr. Martin reached Guwahati on flight from Delhi, to the relief of many.
Pastor Kamaleswar Baglary and his friend Bahadur Kherketary from Guwahati arranged two vehicles with necessary permissions and reached Martin and family from Guwahati airport to Langhenpi one of the remotest village of Karbi Anglong district of Assam. The journey was long and they reached at 3 am in the morning of August 2.
On reaching the village Sr. Dhanam had a message for all the team mates of this rescue mission, “Praise God! Friends take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God. God has done wonders through all of us. May God bless you and may his spirit continue to give his power to continue the mission wish you all the best”.
Fr. Dominic Teron, the parish priest of Mr. Martin, who prepared the native village of Langhenpi with quarantine facilities with the parish and government medical teams said, “Dear Rescue mission team of Delhi, Dimapur, Diphu and Guwahati, l salute you all. Thank you very much for your good works done for Martin’s family. May Our Lord Jesus Bless you all with hundreds folds”.
On 28th July 2020, there came another call for medical help from Bangalore through a contact of Madam Rini Ralte. A woman travelling with her family from Bangalore to Guwahati by train needed urgent medical help as she beginning to having labour pains.
The call was from New Japaiguri. “Help us. We do not know where to go and what to do?” the man said. The cry for help spirited volunteers to action. The family with two girl children was made to alight from the train as the lady went through birth pangs. Sr. Theresa Dorjee SCSC says, “We reached out to the family just in time although COVID-19 fears were there. We also transferred some money to her husband Jehirul Islam’s account on seeing the emergency condition of the family”.
Like Sr. Theresa, there were committed Christians who came forward help this family. On the second day, the woman gave birth to an angelic baby girl. They were reinstated later with their family at Naogaon in Assam, safe and sound.
Rev. Abel Jacob, the founder and director of Hope Charitable Foundation, who had opened the helpline services for the people of North East India in collaboration with North East India Regional Bishops council commission for ecumenism (NEIRBC) stated, “Most of us might not ever meet these families in person but what our collaborators have done shows the compassion and a powerful proof of ecumenism lived!”.
Pope Francis on July 28, 2013 upholding Mother Mary as the model for the life of Christians said, ‘Mary is a model for the life of Christians, because of her desire to bring Jesus, her son, to the world. On receiving the grace of being the Mother of the Incarnate Word, she did not keep that gift to herself’.
This is also evident in the Bible, “Now in those days Mary arose and went in haste into the hill country, to a town of Juda. And she entered the house of Zachary and saluted Elizabeth” (Luke 1:39-40). In this context the word haste is not in the sense of desperately acting or rushing, but in the sense of being focused on what she was needed to be done, to visit Elizabeth, to minister her in her time of need. Mother Mary humble and filled with compassion went in haste. It was a long journey, nearly a hundred miles from Nazareth to Judea.
It is true COVID-19 continues to dominate humanity with fear. However, if we fail to help Martins and Jehiruls of our society, we fail as humans.
Sr. Prema Chowallur SCC is the vice president of Amrat Talitha Kum India