The Ohio Independent Baptist, April 1972

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The mi ion with ,, hich I erve in Bangl ade h compri es the large t ingle group of American in thi country. We have all come through un cathed, for which we thank God . There were tense days, ho\.\·ever. When the upri ing was ushered in on March 25 we were busily oper– ating a jungle ho pital 65 miles sou th of the eaport town of Chittagong. We ee over 100 patient every morning in the out-patient bed , most of which are urgical beds. Full Program, Too In addition, there is a full program of teaching preaching administering the hospital , helping the nationals to better their own lot in farming etc. It is a busy, immensely reward ing life. We have worked amongst the Bengali people now si nce 1963 and have gro\\ n to love them, know them, re– spect them and sympathize with them. In the midst of this busy life dropped the bombshell of full-blown national catastrophe. When the Pakistan Army started to move our way, the U.S. government told us to move out our nonessential personnel . We ,vere loath to do so, but. on April 21, v.,e sent out 34 men, women and children by open boat across the af River into Burma. From there the)t went by open truck ancient launch and airplane to Bang– kok. All these people returned to Bangladesh within one month of that time. During the time they were gone, there remained only two of us at the hospital. Dr . V. B. Ol sen and myself. 4 APRIL, 1972 Each day wa a challenge. We even– tually evacuated all our national per– sonnel to a jungle station 15 miles away, which left ju t the two of us to cope with bandits (we slept with shot– gun at our ide every night), and local bands of people who were intent 011 looting Hindu homes, plus hiding men from would be killers, taking in refugees, keeping bands of marauders from burning down nearby homes chasing out looters from those same homes having our names put on the list of people to be "done in' by a local hoodlum, etc. Before the army got to us, we went to them and pleaded the cause of our local people and got their promise that they would not molest anyone in our area. In an area reaching from 7 miles to the north to 20 miles to the outh, none was killed by the military. Thi is the only area like this we know of in all this land . By a miracle of God, we were not only able to see the lives of these people spared, but we were able to mount a relief operation to them even while the military was here. We talked recently with the con– sul general af a European nation. He reported that Gen. A. K. Niazi, the commander of the West Pakistani troops complained to him that we at Memorial Christian Hospital ( Asso– ciation of Baptists) were a real hindr– ance to his work. That suits me just fine ! Operations for All The medical work was going on all this while. We operated on fleeing freedom fighters smuggling them across the border before the arrival of the West Pakistan military. We operated on the victims of the free– dom fighters as well. The saddest of all were the women and children who came in. I've removed the eye of a 5-year-old girl who was shot by the military, given relief to a woman whose husband was shot before her I Dr. Donn W. Ketcham eyes, repaired the shattered bowel of a 5-year-old boy shot by the military, re– paired the slivered bones of numerous people shot by the military, heard children weep for their parents and parent for their children. J As the military were driven back by the freedom fighters and the Indian Army, a new type of work came our \.vay. We then saw the masses of people returning from their exile in the jungle and "over the border" areas. The pathetic plight of these people tear your heart. It becomes an emotionally traumatic experience just to go to the hospital. There will be . literally scores of people who will fall down before you, grab your feet, dust your shoes with their hair and plead, beg, weep, whimper for just a hand– ful of rice, just one blanket, just a bit of medicine, just a roof for their heads, just a little help and love. We've done our best. We give regu– larly, each week an assortment of rice, wheat, high-protein supplement milk powder, blankets, clothing and baby food to well over 1,500 people. We've been fortunate in obtaining many of these supplies from estab– lished social agencies as well a donations from many individuals in the U.S. In the midst of all this medical and relief work, we have not forgotten the spiritual needs of the people. Muslims are disillusioned with Islam ...... since they were set upon by their own Muslim brothers. Hindus are more in– terested in Christianity than ever after the oppression they underwent . We have simply preached to these people that there is One who cares for them. We tell them of God who loved each of them so much that He made special provision for the forgiveness of their sins at the cost of His only Son. Many are finding that in this new land, they can now have new spiritual ]ife as well. THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPT IST