Good morning. I bring greetings from the Asha Kiran Society. We are a small NGO located in the Koraput district of Orissa. Koraput is a hidden gem. It’s a breathtakingly beautiful rural part of Orissa, but it is also a land where time seems to have moved very slowly. A whole different country from the south of India where I grew up. So how did I end up here? I would like to answer in one word — grace. And if there’s one idea I want to convey to all of you, it is this — that God’s grace is sufficient for my life and for yours, just as he has promised.
To begin at the beginning, I gave my life to Christ very early. Acknowledging Jesus’s lordship so early in my life was an advantage because whenever it came time to make crucial decisions in my life, some things were very clear to me. For example, for entrance into MBBS in Christian Medical College Vellore, we used to have to write a statement to answer this question — why do you want to become a doctor? To me it was very clear. Becoming a doctor was a means to serve God by serving others. Later I heard that this statement is almost a joke there because just about everybody says it. But what can I say? I really did mean what I said.
Similarly, when it came to decisions about my future and marriage, I prayed that God would bring a man with similar views to mine. And God brought Ravi to CMC. Someone who was just as committed as I was to serve the Lord. I’m talking about these things because we meet so many young believers who are agonising over these decisions — what should I study, where should I go, what should I do? And I wonder, are those really the questions, or are we seeking clarity on questions like these — whom do I serve? Who do I belong to? What is in charge of my life? For me, if I’m clear about the questions on the right, the ones on the left are so much easier to answer. Anyway, I completed my MBBS and my bond. Ravi completed his post-graduation in Family Medicine in CMC, and then we went on to the UK for further studies Paediatrics for me, surgery for Ravi.
We don't expect life to be easy and comfortable just because we think we're doing God's will. What we do expect is that through it all God will be with us. — Dr. Shobha George Share on XAnd then, just as we planned, Ravi, I, and our four-year-old son Nikhil came back, ready to offer our services in an area of need. But where to go? The need everywhere is so great. We travelled all around India visiting hospitals. But so few doctors are willing to go to these areas that the need was great everywhere. We were confused. We moved to a mission hospital in Oddanchatram, Tamil Nadu, where we waited for God’s guidance. We waited, we worked, we prayed. But no clear guidance seemed forthcoming. Our one year of waiting began to expand into two. Were we not discerning his will? Our son was now six years old, and I was praying that God would also send us a daughter to expand our family. But God had other plans. and there was a purpose to our waiting.
In May of the second year, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was 34 years of age, waiting for God to send me somewhere to do his work, and this was his answer? My friends and my colleagues were growing from strength to strength, growing in their careers, earning money, and having families. I said I was willing to give it all up for my Lord, and this is how he replies? With cancer? But wait. Did I not say that my life was his to do with as he wills? In which case, wasn’t my body, my health, my living, dying all included in the package that I was willing to give him? Or was I only handing over one part of my life — my career — and then just expecting him to bless the rest of me? I do not know the reason for that season of my life. But I know that I can rest, knowing that he will use it for good because this is his story that he’s writing in my life.
During this period of waiting, we began to feel led to one particular hospital in Orissa, called the Asha Kiran Society. The doctor in charge there wanted a break; we were asked to go and take charge. So, after completing my surgery, my chemotherapy, and as my hair began to grow back, we moved bag and baggage with one young son to Orissa. In Asha Kiran we found a young hospital with a lot of community work running. We also found to our horror, that as doctors, we were expected to know how to run it all. The hospital, the farming, education, everything. Difficult enough that it was so isolated and distant from any city. No senior doctors to help, no senior Christians to advise us. Eighteen years ago, there were no telephone or internet connections for quick consultations. We had to go outside the hospital campus if we wanted to, which is a little scary during jackfruit season because of the bears. And under one particular post, if we were lucky, we would get a cellphone signal. This was so far removed from our comfort zone.
We learned that God will remove all the supports we lean on until we are leaning only on him. These are tough lessons. But once learned, it becomes so much easier to walk in God’s ways.
But then again, we don’t expect life to be easy and comfortable just because we think we’re doing God’s will. What we do expect is that through it all God will be with us. And so we continued. We learned, we made mistakes, we learned again, and a core team began to build up around us. So what did we learn? We learned the basics of farming and education, of course. We learned to run a hospital with minimal resources. All these are things that were not included in the CMC syllabus. We learned that God will remove all the supports we lean on until we are leaning only on him. These are tough lessons. But once learned, it becomes so much easier to walk in God’s ways.
In the meantime, my health challenges continued. I had frequent unexplainable bouts of pneumonia. Ten years after joining I contracted pulmonary TB. I decreased my hospital hours and took up more office responsibilities because I was catching infections so easily. A few years later I had a life-threatening attack of pneumonia that put me in hospital for two weeks with oxygen support. And at this point it became clear that clinical work would have to take a rest. But why? Did all that hard work, the sleepless nights, the struggle to become a paediatrician count for nothing? Again, I don’t know the answer. I just keep moving ahead in faith. I moved completely into management, and since then, I have found in myself a love and a talent for administration. God keeps opening doors when others are closing. We just need to move on in faith because this is his story, not ours.
Remember how I wanted to expand our family? In 2010, we adopted a little girl from Orissa. And then, three years later, God sent us another biological daughter as a bonus. Remember how I had asked God for a little girl? Well, now we have two. God is no man’s debtor. I said that I want to convey through my story that God is sufficient if we just give ourselves into his hands. So I just want to quickly tell you the story of Asha Kiran as proof.
Asha Kiran was started in 1991 by three young couples. They came together to live in what was then a difficult-to-access tribal area. They had ₹8,000 in their pockets, and their faith. Let me show you what we do now. Asha Kiran has gone from being a makeshift clinic to a 30-bed secondary-level hospital. We used to do primary health in 206 villages but as government care slowly improves, we’ve now moved into a more neglected area of work — home-based palliative care for the terminally ill, for those with chronic diseases, disabilities, and the mentally ill. One of our roles as a Christian mission is to stand in the gaps, and we must keep trying to identify these gaps as times change.
God keeps opening doors when others are closing. We just need to move on in faith because this is his story, not ours.
Tribal illiteracy is a big problem. Asha Kiran started multilingual education. We adopted this philosophy that believes that children learn concepts best in the language they’re most familiar with, their mother tongue. We run 14 primary schools in two tribal languages, and we’re hoping to start one in the third. Beyond primary education, we run three tuition centres, where children studying in state schools are given additional input. Graduates from these centres have become teachers, nurses, and very recently, the very first doctor in our area. You should see the background these children come from to understand what they have gone through. Our youths straddle two different worlds — the old world of their parents, where farming is the only occupation, and the newer world that educational opportunities open out for them.
But not everything in this new world is good or safe for our children. So we run youth groups and life skill classes — safe spaces where the youth discuss the art of making decisions, leadership skills, and their dreams for the future. Not all children can go into higher education. We’ve begun a training unit where local youth are trained to make beautiful eco-friendly bamboo toys. We also began an English-medium school for our staff — both our girls go here — for local government officers, for villagers who dream of a better education for their children. All our tribals are farmers, small holders with hilly fields, no irrigation, total dependence on the monsoon. This means a very precarious existence. Distress migration remains a big issue. We work with agriculture consultants and the farmers to teach them about soil conservation, water conservation, organic farming, and multi cropping.
Bonda and Didayis are two particularly vulnerable tribal groups, or PVTGs, that we also work with. We’ve been working with the Bondos for 25 years. We have a nurse-led clinic in the Bondo Hills which are manned primarily by the Bondo women, whom we have been training in primary health. I may be the one speaking here, but there is an entire team of which we are a part, working hard to make this dream come true. This is us — 206 staff — working in all these areas.
Does my life and what I do glorify God? Because that is my purpose in life.
So why am I telling you this? To show you that this is what God did with the dream, the faith, and the ₹8,000. So make no mistake. He still takes five loaves and two fish, and he can feed the 10,000. All he needs from us is a little bit of faith because he is sufficient. People may tell you that running on faith alone is impossible. So I want to tell you this — we are a pro-poor hospital. What does that mean? It means we never turn anyone away because of a lack of money. It means we write off a lot of our bills. It means we pay low salaries, especially to the professional class. The world tells us, “Impossible. You’ll never get anyone to come work for you.” But we’ve been running for 30-odd years. Sometimes our community projects run out of funding and our auditors tell us, “Running a project without funding? Impossible.” But money comes in. In drips and drops sometimes it comes in. It turns our hair grey sometimes. But it comes.
“You cannot run an institution without paying a bribe in India,” we were told. “Impossible.” But Asha Kiran has never paid one. In fact, the word has gone out locally: “Don’t bother asking them for one.” Was it easy? No. It involves a lot of running around. Was it possible? Yes. God is sufficient. So I’m now going to move on to the crux, or the essence, of LeadTalks.
Purpose. I ask myself this question: Does my life and what I do glorify God? Because that is my purpose in life. What has become abundantly clear to me over the years is that God does not call us because we are strong or bright or intelligent. He calls us because we are faithful. We must believe that God’s strength is made perfect in our weaknesses.
What about integrity? This is what integrity means to me: My life as a whole; not divided into one type of person on Sunday in church and another type of person at work on the other days. Because of where we are located in Asha Kiran, we live together as a community, we work together as an organisation, and we worship together as a church. Do you know how difficult that is? If I do not get along with my brother or sister from Monday to Saturday, how do I worship with that same person in church on Sunday? Back home we’re learning not to wear different hats according to the days of the week. We learn that the kingdom of God is in us and around us and with us, whether it’s Monday in a busy OPD, or Tuesday in the operating theatre, or Thursday when we’re discussing salaries or money in the office. We are the church every day of the week in all that we do. That is integrity.
God does not call us because we are strong or bright or intelligent. He calls us because we are faithful. We must believe that God's strength is made perfect in our weaknesses. — Dr. Shobha George Share on XWhat about excellence? Coming from the kind of work we do, it’s a little difficult to define excellence. Yes, we can look at numbers as social instruments to measure impact. For example, I could show you a study that puts Lamtaput, the block in which we work, ahead of our surrounding blocks in numerous socioeconomic indicators. But the change we long to see is in the hearts of people. And how do we measure that? I believe my definition of success will tell you a great deal about the true state of my heart. So I’m just going to say this: Excellence, I think, is a side effect of being true and being passionate. Passionate about what? This is why we have the Bible. Where does my heart align most with the heart of God? Which verses sing to me from the Bible? Let me read one of the most powerful verses that speaks to me. Isaiah 58:5-8. God is talking to Israel. “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen? Only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not the kind of fasting I have chosen: to lose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”
Tell me, is it just that a woman can die in childbirth merely because of where she lives? Is it just that farmers work so hard and see so little of the fruit of their toil? Is it just that children go out for manual labour to cities because they have no choice? I hope in Asha Kiran we are working to break the chains of injustice because we need to be God’s love in action. We need to be the gospel — the word become flesh again — practically showing the world the goodness and love of our great God. So it does not remain biblical theory alone. It is only by building up the least of these that our country of India can truly shine, like the government wants it to. This may seem a huge task, but my part is to be faithful in what I do. The rest is up to God because it is his story, not mine. And that is sufficient for me. In fact, it is more than enough. Thank you.