A New Flock for a Shepherdess

Dear Friends and Family,

Sundori Hasda was passionate about continuing her studies after high school, but her father, a rice farmer now too weakened by emphysema to provide for his family of nine, had a different idea: she should get married. “I broke down in tears when he said that!” Sundori told me. “After laboring in the rice fields all these years to buy my own books and pay my high school fees, I just couldn’t give it all up!” Her dream is to become a nurse.

I first met Sundori just over a year ago when she was confirmed as a communicant in the Church of Bangladesh along with 300 other newly baptized Santali believers in the northwest part of the country. She had just finished high school but had not applied to nursing school because she could not afford the $39 a month for tuition, room and board. Instead, she spent her time tutoring young children and working in the fields, saving up for her education.

"Lord, you know all things;"

Peter replied, "You know I love you.”

Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.”    John 21:17

When I heard of her desire to study nursing and saw that she had good grades, I encouraged Sundori to apply for admission to the Nursing Institute at Christian Mission Hospital in Rajshahi. I had heard that the school might be offering some scholarships this year, and I felt confident that she would qualify for one.

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She took my advice, and the next time I saw her she was walking with over a hundred fellow nursing students in an April 14th Bengali New Year’s rally on the banks of the Padma River in Rajshahi. “I sold my pig,” she told me. A pig?! “Yes, to pay for my first few months of study, I sold the gray, hairy piglet that I purchased three years ago—it was fully grown.” With the income from the sale and her limited savings, Sundori started her professional studies, trusting that God would provide.

Of the 50 students who began their studies at the Nursing Institute this January, 21 are from aboriginal tribal groups, minorities who suffer from pervasive discrimination resulting in fewer educational and employment opportunities than are available to Bengalis. Most of the tribal students’ families are landless and live on daily wages that are dependent upon planting and harvesting seasons. It is largely among these tribal peoples that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s partner, the Church of Bangladesh, is growing.

The first six months of training at the Nursing Institute is purely academic—long days in the classroom rendered extra challenging by being in English, a third language for tribal students. Students learn the practical aspects of nursing by serving in the Outpatient Department and on the wards of Christian Mission Hospital, where they also provide much needed extra hands for the compassionate care of the sick.

The Nursing Institute has been training nurses since 1973 and has a quality reputation nationwide. Their graduates now head the Obstetric Department of Square Hospital and the Outpatient Department of Apollo Hospital, two premier hospitals in the capital city, Dhaka. Others work at prestigious medical institutions such as the Bangladesh Institute of Research and Rehabilitation in Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (BIRDEM) and the National Heart Foundation. Three graduates, Laya Sarker, Sulota Drong and Marina Sardar, have been serving as medical missionaries in Zambia for the past 15 years, sponsored by the Council for World Mission.

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As a woman in the male-dominated society of Bangladesh, it has been my special calling to do all I can to edify women—to affirm and empower them to embrace and realize their God-given potential. After ministering for ten years in the slums of Dhaka and then being requested by the Church of Bangladesh to move back to Rajshahi in the northwest, I feel like a shepherdess being given a new flock. In Dhaka I was able to work with girls in the Church of Bangladesh’s adolescent development groups as well as with girls living on the streets. Now in Rajshahi, of the 127 students at the Nursing Institute, the vast majority are young women whom I look forward to befriending and encouraging on a regular basis—girls who are homesick and often overwhelmed by their studies and in need of guidance as they negotiate the challenges inherent to young adulthood.

One way I’ll help guide these young women is by offering “Healthy Choices” seminars that will invite them to take a comprehensive look at the lifestyle choices they are making, such as their sleep habits, diet and exercise practices, and interpersonal relationships. I will also lead spiritual retreats, tutor them on the hospital wards, provide occasional one-on-one counseling, and host video-discussions, such as this month’s feature on the care of newborns entitled “The Happiest Baby on the Block!”

Last week the Board of Trustees of Christian Mission Hospital approved a policy and plan to provide need-based scholarships for students applying to the Nursing Institute. Contributions already received from churches and individuals in the PC(USA) will allow the Institute to begin this program immediately, so that Sundori and other first-year students can receive the financial assistance they need to remain in the program. The Institute’s yearly goal is to give 10 new students a scholarship that will cover a third of their monthly fees for the entire three-year nursing course. The scholarships of $13 a month will provide opportunities of a lifetime for needy students. Any funds received above the current needs will be used to build an endowment that will make the scholarships available for years to come.

Your prayers and support through the various phases of our missionary journey have meant everything to us. Thank you for joining me now at the side of these young women, a sacred new flock whom God has called me to feed and nurture. Each precious lamb has followed God’s call into the nursing field. I pray that I will be able to help them grow and gain confidence to serve as Christ’s ambassadors of compassionate healing across Bangladesh and around the world.

Joyfully,

Cindy