Author: Dr. Forrest C Eggleston
Read by Fredrick Dreyer
When surgeon Forrest Eggleston and his wife, Barbara, arrived in India in 1953, their two children in tow, the impoverished country had only been independent for six and half years. The family’s destination as Presbyterian medical missionaries was the Lady Irwin Tuberculosis Sanatorium in he tiny village of Jubar high in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. There, surrounded by breathtaking views, cultural mores often inimical to healing, and mind numbing primitive conditions, Eggleston served as the medical superintendent with skill and compassion. During this period of time, he also developed a general surgical residency program at the Christian Medical College in Ludhiana, on he plains of the state of Punjab, which allowed him the particularly satisfying activity of teaching.
In a voice still filled with a sense of wonder and gratitude for the incredible adventure in which he and his family took part, Eggleston reflects on his medical mission. Although as he describes it, “We wept for the poor of India and felt helpless,” he and his dedicated staff made a vast difference in the quality of health care available on the plains and in the mountains of North India. They offered all their patients loving Christian care, curing those who could be cured and not being afraid to be with the incurable as they died.
Eggleston recalls the story behind the simple but profound words that sustained his faith–“Where is God not?”–spoken by Rev. John Lowrie the first Presbyterian missionary to India, in response to a Sikh ruler’ challenging question, “Where is God?” Through vignettes of village life and individuals, he gives a human face to India’s epic political, religious, and social upheavals as it struggled to to become a self-sufficient and peaceful democracy.
Providence House Publishers, 1999 (All profits were used to benefit medical missions in the developing world)
We are thankful to Frederick Dreyer for taking the time to help us digitize Dr. Eggleston’s book so that all might listen to it. Rick is a mechanical engineer working for companies specializing in crushing equipment for mines, power plants and industrial minerals. For the last sixteen years he has served out of St. Louis as Director of International Sales which has taken him to 35 different countries.
Part One — Jubar, India
Read by Frederick Dreyer
The Road to India
Part Two – Ludhiana, India
Part Two – Ludhiana, India