PAST AND PRESENT

On a humid September morning we sent Seema off with a kiss and a hug to begin nurse's training. We have had many farewells over the years but this was especially poignant as Seema is the last baby we took into the Home. Like many babies given to us over a span of 41 years a loving member of the family brought her. In this case it was her father who knew he was losing his fight for her to live and had to seek help. Seema was 13 months old with the orange thin hair that comes with malnutrition. We could not know looking at this pathetic little girl that she would become a fine intelligent girl who loves the Lord.

Dolly Chitwood and Leah Moshier came to India in 1946 just before India announced her independence from British rule which had oppressed her people for decades. They were learning the Hindi language in the foothills of the Himalayas when they witnessed the Indian flag hoisted for the first time.

Rearing children or even working with children was not in their plans when they came to India. They had planned to work with adults and for only a short term but an incident in February 1948 was to change their plans and their lives forever. A woman brought a tiny opium-fed baby girl and begged them to take her. They were later to find out the woman was the mother. Dolly and Leah walked the floor with her day and night coaxing her to suck a piece of cotton soaked with milk until her addiction was over. They named her Sosun which is a lily. By the end of that year they had five babies and thus the Kulpahar Kids' Home was born.

The 28 acres of land, which is registered with the Indian government as the Church of Christ Mission, was purchased from another mission closing their work. A group of widows and unfortunates came with the sales deed. Some of those women had children and thus the Kulpahar Christian School was begun almost simultaneously with the Home.

By 1955 there were close to 100 children living in the new red brick two storied building that had been built under the supervision of Leah and Dolly. As school enrollment increased the old adobe buildings were replaced with new brick buildings for elementary and junior high sections. The school now includes classes kindergarten through twelfth with almost 400 students.

The children continued to come. By 1964 out of the original 8 missionaries only Dolly and Leah remained. Leah wrote at that time "Only our complete trust kept us from being overwhelmed by the financial burden of maintaining the property and the expense of running the Home, School and Clinic. Never once did we doubt the mercies and provisions of the Lord, but worked continually seeking to save souls and bring them into God's marvelous light".

After several years of being alone and not taking furlough as one of them would be left alone Linda Stanton arrived in 1967 to help for 6 months. She had no idea that the Holy Spirit was already leading her to the eventual decision to join in the work in 1978. Just to insure that she knew this was the right decision the Lord sent 5 newborn babies within 4 months after her arrival.

A missionary nurse and then a doctor and his wife came before and after Linda. The original clinic became an outpatient clinic with maternity ward. They eventually went to serve in other fields. Then in 1993 Sharon Cunningham found her way to Kulpahar through a string of events which could only have been orchestrated by God. The most amazing of these events was that in 1951 Sharon actually met Sosun, who was age 3 when Leah and Dolly took her with them on their first furlough, and she has the picture to prove it. She is now manager of the School. The same day Sharon received her visa to come and work with us Dolly went to be with the Lord.

Why was Seema the last baby we took? You may ask. In 1988 and 1989 the government made several decisions against us. That along with the advancing ages of Dolly and Leah and not knowing what the future might hold we three made the very difficult decision not to take anymore children since we could not be sure that any of us would be here to see them to adulthood.

After several years of praying and wondering what we could do for children since we had all the facilities the Lord showed us another path to take. In 2001 we took the first batch of little girls into what we call "boarding" though most of them are too poor to pay any fees. Most of them come from poor farming areas in two other states that border our state of U. P. They are of Christian parentage and tribals. They have been sent to us through another missionary. Our goals are still the same to give them a good Christian education so they can know and love the Lord and be leaders in their community and the church in the future. We now have 55 boys and girls and so enjoy having younger ones around again.

This story began with a farewell to a grown Kulpahar Kid. That same morning in our small hospital Linda witnessed the birth of a grandson born to a Kulpahar Kid, Roshni and her husband. We have lost count of the number of grandchildren we have. Leah even has great grandchildren. After 60 years and by God's grace and might we are still in the kid's business.

Leah with first baby Sosun

KCS spelled out with students

All the Kulpahar missionaries in the 1950s

New hospital built in 1976