Velemegna Good News Society Hospital

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VELEMEGNA History

"Velemegna" Good News Society Hospital is located in Bidar, a city of some 150,000 people, in the northern part of Karnataka State, 150 kilometers northwest of Hyderabad and 650 kms east of India's largest city, Mumbai (Bombay). Although small in relation to India’s one billion population, its mix of Hindus (comprising 50 % of its residents), Muslims (50% in the town and 10-20% in the villages) and Christians (2-4%) mirrors India's diverse population. Bidar is an appealing place for urban retirees seeking a quieter lifestyle in a safe and environmentally clean community but offers few employment opportunities for its youth.

Dr.& Mrs. Salins (founders of velemegna)

In the late 1960s, Bidar was a backward, drought-ridden district, with only a government hospital and a Methodist mission hospital serving the population’s medical needs. A century earlier, however, pioneering missionary work brought a great number of people to Christ, from the mostly Muslim population." Churches, hospitals and schools were built in nearby villages, but with only a few pastors to shepherd new flocks of believers, a great hunger for the Word of God remained. Over time, gospel work, Christian fellowship and prayer meetings dwindled, while bigamy, drunkenness, gambling, theft, begging, and general laziness — coupled with widespread sickness and leprosy — rendered the population poor and backward.

It was to this community that Dr. A. C. Salins and his new bride, Dr. Sushila Salins, came to serve the Lord on July 1, 1966. "Christy" and "Suzy" had each accepted Christ as Savior during their teen years, and after meeting as students in the Christian Medical College in Vellore, they had fallen in love, married and shared a passion to help leprosy sufferers in Nepal. While still in their twenties, they were considered "too young" to face the difficulties in Nepal and were encouraged to serve the Methodist Mission that had sponsored them during college. "You can go anywhere in the world," a doctor who had just returned from Bidar remarked, adding ominously, "but don't go to Bidar."

That is precisely where Christy and Suzy (pregnant with their first child) did go. They were welcomed warmly and were quickly swept up into the activity of the busy hospital, performing major surgery within three months of their arrival. In their "spare time" the couple learned to speak the five languages in daily use by staff and patients.

When the Senior Medical Superintendent was replaced by private practitioners, the Salins soon discovered that their knowledge of new and beneficial medical procedures and techniques would not be implemented and felt called once again by the Lord to step out in faith and start their own hospital. In this new and overwhelming undertaking, they were encouraged by the words in Haggai 2:9: "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former."

They acquired a building nearby with many rooms and together with baby Sybil, grandmother, one female nurse, one male nurse and two servants moved into one of the rooms, sleeping that night on the floor and eaten alive by mosquitoes. Again with help from the Lord (and visiting Operation Mobilization workers) they moved their few, meager belongings into the new facility, and gave thanks to the Lord: "Except the Lord build the house they labor in vain." (Psalm 127:1) One hundred patients needing treatment awaited them as they rose from their knees. That day, Christy amputated the arm of a boy who had received a severe electric shock and that night he slept beside the frightened thirteen-year old. With a blank check from a Christian brother in Hyderabad, the Salins were able to purchase equipment and supplies, plus a second-hand vehicle in which they traveled up to 45 kms to treat patients. Three times a week, they conducted village prayer meetings — reaching out to help and heal spiritually as well as physically.

Days were seldom uneventful. A woman in labor, suffering from an ante-partum hemorrhage and left to die, was collected by Christy in the jeep and given a pint of his blood while Suzy prepared for surgery that would save her life.

Ten days after the delivery of their second child, with the hospital was in full swing, Christy was called upon to operate on his own wife.

When monsoons failed to provide water for crops, a three-year famine struck Bidar. People with no money left withered and dying livestock in payment for hospital bills. Christy and Suzy sold their sewing machine...and then their wedding rings...to maintain themselves, their two children and a staff of fifteen.

After five years of labor and financial investment, the Salins were asked to leave by their landlord. Turning again to the Lord for guidance, they were able to purchase a small plot of land, but had no money for construction. A former patient, who was also a contractor, offered to build them rooms and wait for payment as long as needed. Within six months, the Salins had three rooms for living quarters and three rooms to operate as a hospital. What a wonderful God!

God had never promised them a trouble-free life — only to go with them as they ventured forth in faith to serve Him. Their new location failed to generate the income needed to meet the mounting interest on their bank loan. If God, through His people and the government, did not come to their rescue, the Salins would have to sell all and leave. After hearing Christy’s presentation at a national conference, a World Health Organization consultant visited Velemegna and promised WHO support. An interim grant arrived unexpectedly, and the Salins presented their bank manager with 1,50,000 rupees. God had again answered their prayers and provided for them...abundantly.

Community health workers, surveying the villages around Bidar, reported a variety of health problems, including leprosy, tuberculosis, blindness and malnutrition among children and pregnant women. If a rural hospital could be constructed in Baridabad village (20 kms from Bidar) it could serve the medical needs in thirty-nine villages After acquiring ten acres for a hospital in Baridabad, the Salins purchased additional land in other villages for agricultural development. Jawar, sugar cane, maize and grass for fodder were cultivated. And the poorest, most needy people were given a chance to support themselves and provide for their families from their own labors.

1978 proved another turning point. The Christoffel Blinden Mission (CBM) from Germany made available a modest monthly grant, which enabled the Society to perform cataract surgery on the elderly. ‘Efficor’ of Great Britain gave a tempo ambulance for village work, and Germany's New Apostolic Church donated a Land Rover ambulance for transporting patients. Sericulture, horticulture and agriculture programs were implemented. ICCO of Netherlands started a dairy farm in Baridabad with Velemegna supervising the management of the cooperative milk program, which benefited twenty local farmers. A silk reeling unit was purchased and a training program implemented for the production and sale of silk. The following year, World Vision partnered with Velemegna and sponsored a family-to-family program, with volunteers and employed workers providing education, nutrition, recreation, medical treatment and spiritual nurture to 300 poor children in eight villages.

In 1980, there were 7-8 leprosy patients per 1000 inhabitants, all living in dreadful conditions. Four Velemegna volunteers were sent on 6-month training programs as para-medical workers. When they returned, school health for early detection of leprosy was performed and a multi-drug therapy treatment begun. An allotment was requested from the government of Karnataka and in 1983, 63 "ostracized" leprosy families were relocated from the slums of Bidar to Chatnally New Life Centre, 20 kms away, and given lodging, food, clothing, medical treatment and spiritual nurture. In time, the government provided them with low cost houses, and ten acres of agricultural land was tilled to grow wheat, rice, jowar and sugar cane to feed their families and provide cash income. ADRA of Canada and SIMAVI, Netherlands helped with this important work.

In January, 2002, with Christy being treated for pancreatic cancer and Suzy suffering from ovarian cancer, their children reached the difficult decision to close the hospital. But God had other plans. In March 2002, their eldest child, Dr. Sybil Meshramkar, and her husband, Deepak (a pediatrician), decided to stay on. But necessary changes had to be made. Velemegna scaled down to concentrate on maternity and eye care, with clinics at the rural hospital in Baridabad and regular eye surgical "camps" in villages of Bidar district. A supervisor and manager were appointed to oversee administration. Morning and evening devotionals were instituted at the start of both shifts.

2003 was another momentous year, with the inaugural edition of the bi-monthly Velemegna News Letter (containing Salins family news, medical news and highlights of Velemegna’s ongoing evangelical and community work) being sent out, Sunday school classes being regularly conducted for orphanage children and spiritual support provided for Velemegna staff members and their families. In April, Sybil spent one month on the Mercy Ship, M/V Anastasia, performing eye surgery on some 150 people from Togo, West Africa. In Bidar, a new optical shop was opened at Velemegna, and both the pharmacy and lab were upgraded. Many patients were touched by the life of Christ when shown the movie Jesus and given Bibles.

With the "home-going" of Suzy Salins, their children resolved to carry on their work with the same vision. Their daughter Sybil's efforts to learn farming and transform unproductive into productive land began to pay off with a good harvest of sunflowers, wheat, and sugar cane at Baridabad and Chatnalli. Fulfilling Christy's dream, the church at Chatnalli Leprosy centre was dedicated and ten pastors were commissioned and – with training in primary health care and medical first aid kits in hand – were sent out to serve in Bidar district and a neighboring district.

In 2004, Sybil was able to attend an eye conference and orientation seminar at Hyderabad, also a partners meeting with leprosy mission at Nagpur. The purchase of new eye equipment enabled Velemegna’s medical staff to better care for patients, and in addition to conducting a mega eye camp, the hospital conducted a cleft lip/palate camp, performing free corrective surgery on twenty people, mainly children. In summer, CBC clubs (similar to vacation Bible school) brought the gospel to children during a ten-day program. In 2005, a 3-day Haggai Institute seminar on leadership and evangelism was conducted at Velemegna, and later Sybil began a weekly eye clinic in Zaheerabad, some 30 kms from Bidar. The departure of medical staff (for marriage, further studies, positions elsewhere) remained an ongoing problem, but God met needs as they arose. Improvements in equipment, and the growing reputation of Velemegna as a fine health care provider continued to bring in more paying patients to offset the cost of providing free surgeries. By the third anniversary of its founder A.C. Salins "homegoing," Sybil had come to make many friends amongst her growing patient population and was blessed by visits from overseas volunteers, assisting with eye care, evangelism, lab work, nurse training, and offering prayer, friendship and wise counsel. By year’s end, and some thirty-eight years after its opening, Velemegna "Good News Society Hospital" not only continued its founders' dream of providing eye and other health care needs for patients from India's poorest, most under-privileged backgrounds but supported ten students, ten pastors and ten evangelists to share the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Velemegna is a glowing tribute to the vision, commitment and endurance of Suzy and Christy Salins and brings glory to the God they lovingly served. They ran their race, finished their course and kept the Faith. Their torch, now carried by their daughter, Dr. Sybil, and supported by her siblings, remains high and bright as Velemegna continues to reach out to the sick and needy, both physically and spiritually, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Contact:
info@velemegna.org