From "THE UPPER ROOM UP THE HILL"

The 1987 Gideonites Meet did have a life changing  impact on very many in the small town of Chengalpattu (50 Kms from Chennai, capital city of Tamil Nadu, India). I , although raised in a family of praying women - my grandmother who has since passed on and my mother who is now 90 yrs old prays at least 4 times a day remembering a wide circle in regular order - was personally introduced to the power of prayer through one most unassuming  Mr. Sundarsingh (pictured right). Praying with friends and often alone, he sincerely cried out to God for lives to be changed. Lives indeed did change, including our own!

He organised amongst many other activities, regular group prayers on Wednesdays around 9 PM in a small thatched shed in the terrace of their  house in Bashit Street, Chengalpattu. Moses Jayakumar of that group is now a senior Missionary with FMPB. Chandramohan and Robin (whose brother Irwin is now a pillar of support and strength - his latest contribution is a Tata Safari, a luxury SUV for the use of visiting consultants) turned out to be effective youth leaders. We as a family will always remember their family and are so grateful to God for bringing them into our lives.

Prompted by a suggestion from Dr. Kameleson that there ought be a seed for any venture, we sold a small piece of land in Chengalpattu and with the money bought 2 acres of land in Kamagiri (a reserve forest range) with the help of Bro. Sampath  (FMPB) in order to start a mini health centre. Bro. John Kirubakaran helped us register as an organisation. We are since called Samaritan Medical Aid and Research Trust.

The Christian Doctors Forum of Nagercoil, affiliated with Friends Missionary Prayer Band spearheaded by Dr. Benjamin was one of the early groups to be involved in SMART's work. This group of doctors energetically organised initial fundraising. We later felt uncomfortable to proceed with any form of fundraising.

So we were naturally considered to be anything but 'smart'! According to the world's standards we were very very slow, with no clear planning and no clear vision etc. etc. All these accusations were absolutely true but we had no other way as we never knew where will we get the help for the completion of the building! Our vision indeed appeared blurred until we used His Word as the salve everyday to get a clarity at least for the time being!  It could be termed foolish, rash and it indeed may have been so, but we were assured by the word of God (Matthew 6:33) and reassured by our patron Dr. Kamaleson that once we start with what we had the provisions will some how be made! And indeed they were!

The first building

In addition to the doctors of Nagercoil, former students of the Chengapattu Medical College Prayer Fellowship, prayer groups from Chengalpattu, doctors and paramedics from various mission hospitals (Rainey, Kalyani, S.M.H. Ranipet & Govt. Stanley Medical College) provided much encouragement. God worked miraculously and perhaps mysteriously through many close members of our family who opened their purses for us to pursue the work far more than our expectations. All of them have requested that their names should not be publicised.

This facilitated us to equip our theater and complete the second building to the present status thus paving the way for more exciting work ahead. The first building (pictured right) that was started with Rs. 50, 000 in hand was completed at a cost of 6.5 lakhs!!The "Singh" family of  Chengalpattu (Jayasingh, Rajasingh and Sundarsingh) furnished plumbing, and electrical fittings whereas Selwyn brothers  & Mr. Nirmal provided us with furniture etc.

The second (In-patient) building

Similar to the first building we started the construction of the second building (pictured right) with the 50, 000 rupees donated by Mrs. Mercy David, the mother of Dr. Nelson from her retirement benefits.  We planned only for a thatched shed, but my brother-in-law Mr.Anand David, my cousin Mr.Thangaraj and a few others made sure we had a real 'concrete' building! The final cost of the second building was a little over 5 lakh rupees. Though I never made any serious appeal to any of our family members apart from my son, to our surprise more than 12 lakh rupees came from our family members!

God's provision of angelic help through people can never be forgotten. In addition to the unfailing prayer support of many senior members of our family and other dear ones affiliated to Friends Missionary Prayer Band (Bro. Navaneethar, Bro.John Kirubakaran, Bro. Ashok Vedanayagam and many more), people like Bro. James Viswanathan (pictured right) and his wife Jemima need special mention.

 Bro. James was the missionary who was waiting to take us to his mission field (Kodakarai) during our very first visit in 1987. He was there again when we started the construction from the very early stage. He and his co-worker Bro. Mainraj were very enthusiastic and their enthusiasm and commitment helped and motivated me immensely. Both of them so willingly drove me up the hills on their motorcycles week after week for 2 full years. I also enjoyed the hospitality of Mrs. Jemima James during each of our stopovers at the base area, Denkanikottai. James continued his unflinching and enthusiastic support while facing extremely difficult personal issues in his own life. Each member of the visiting team of consultants know him as the source behind all remedies as he will be there when O₂ cylinders fail, generators malfunction, wells run dry, or our cars break down! We are ever grateful to our dear God for people like James.

We continue to work. As building constructions go on, equipments arrive, volunteers increase we are an ongoing story of...........God meeting His people through His people!

Back to Brief History