Dear Friends,

I really did NOT want to go back there.  It is very hot, very dirty, 
very filled with the poorest of the poor.  But there I was last week 
in Calcutta, India.  A reluctant missionary in a stricken landscape of 
homeless people flooding the streets and overwhelming the heart. Yes, 
"Hellcutta" would seem a more appropriate name for Mother Theresa's 
city.

I have never seen anything like this city.  First of all, it is very, 
very, very hot.  Beyond your imagination. Over 100 degrees temperature 
with 100% humidity.  Unlivable but it is where millions live, and many 
of them out on the hot pavement with only thin cardboard to protect 
them from the burning sidewalk.

There is very little water for them all.  Many get a little from a 
pitiful pipe on the street.  You see many taking a hand bath on the 
sidewalks as their only relief from the pain of the daily battling of 
the elements.

Many live by collecting and sorting garbage.  They become human 
scavengers of refuse for a little crust of bread.  There are no "Big 
Macs" or "Super-Size" me.  Nobody counts their calories here.  There 
is no hope.  There is no relief.  Day after day  the world passes by 
and they are left behind to suffer.

When most of us were growing up, some of our moms would remind us of 
all the hungry people of India and China in order that we would not 
waste our food.

"Hellcutta" still speaks today.

Don't waste your food, your opportunities, your life.


Pastor Jim Park, PhD

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