Community Health Education

This morning while we visited the IJM office in Bangalore, the OM leaders taught the pastors a segment from their curriculum entitled "Community Health Education." We got back in time to hear the last part of it which reminded me of why I enjoy partnering with OM.

Nataraj, one of the leaders, told a story about a man who had a mental illness. He came to his pastor to help him with it. The pastor was convinced that it was demon possession. So he prayed for this man. Which didn't work. So he prayed harder. Which still didn't work. This pastor was getting frustrated with the tenacity of this demon. So he concluded that the only way to get rid of it was by using the Bible. He thought the Bible could knock the demon out of this man. Literally. Nataraj was careful to point out that in those days, the Bibles were big, thick books. So this pastor proceeded to try to beat the demon out of this man with a Bible.

He told this story to emphasize that these pastors, as spiritual leaders in rural communities, need to be sensitive to the whole person. Sometimes, pastors just want to preach, no matter what the problem. But OM is teaching these pastors to minister to the spiritual and physical aspects of their communities. They are training them to be leaders in community development. These pastors learn about the signs of Dengue Fever. They learn about nutrition. About sanitation. Diarrhea. Mental illness. Micro-Finance.

As Scott teaches them from Isaiah that their role is to take part in bringing God's justice to the world, OM is training to do just that. Not to beat a mentally ill man with a Bible. Not to preach at a child with diarrhea. But to care for the whole person. In fact, to care for the whole community.