Bhai’s pregnant daughter-in-law needed medical care. Since the nearest hospital was hours away, he had no choice but to take her on his motorcycle via crowded, unpaved roads. Tragically, there was an accident and Bhai’s daughter-in-law was thrown from the motorcycle. She was crushed under a truck and died instantly.

Ministering to Bhai during his time of grief

Chetna, a partner of SIM India, is a community development project that had staff working in Bhai’s village, seeking to increase health awareness in the rural villages it serves, encouraging people to take advantage of routine health care—including prenatal visits for pregnant women.

When Chetna staff arrived to grieve with Bhai and his family, they found him shaking with rage.

“Never again say anything about prenatal checkups for women!” he warned. “If we hadn’t gone to that hospital, my daughter-in-law would still be alive.”

Bhai leads the charge to help establish a local hospital

Fueled by their grief, Bhai’s family led the process to get the hospital in working order. With the help of SIM in-country partners, they secured money from the government to repair the building. They also kicked out the buffalo and goats that were routinely staked outside to graze, and cleaned up the yard. Most recently, dirt was brought in to raise the ground and allow for a road up to the hospital.

Soon, basic medical supplies like a blood pressure machine, glucose monitor and prenatal vitamins will begin to arrive. A local nurse will begin offering prenatal checkups and other routine screenings to the villages in the area.

Hope, health—and the gospel—for Bhai’s rural community

Getting the hospital in working order was a big step forward for this community’s health. Scripture reminds us, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, NIV).

“Everything is according to God’s plan,” Bhai says. “If it wasn’t for God’s plan, I wouldn’t be working with Chetna. I wouldn’t have bowed down to Him.”

What’s in store for Bhai’s community? “Ten years from now,” he says, surveying the one-room mud-and-straw huts around him, “what you see will not exist. It will all be different.”

All around the world, God is working through SIM workers in the lives of people like Bhai to address the medical and healthcare needs in their communities—while drawing these men, women and children to Himself.

Please join us in prayer:

• Pray for Bhai and others who struggle to understand how God is at work in the midst of tragedy.

• Pray for health and healing for those living in the rural communities of India.

• Pray for the SIM India missionaries and in-country partners as they build relationships and establish projects and programs to address their communities’ medical and healthcare needs.

*Names and photos may have been changed for the sake of privacy and the safety of our missionaries, ministry partners and those we serve.