Fifty years ago, on June 5, 1971, Doc came to the United States with $50 in his pocket. His mom borrowed the airfare and pocket money from their neighbors to come.

Twenty years ago this year, in 2001, Menno Clinic opened. It is amazing to see God work through the perseverance and generosity of neighbors and community that work together to serve the village of Chiluvuru.

No one knew that in this year, 2021, there would be a pandemic ravaging the world, and India. Through the recent rise in devastating cases in India, Menno clinic has remained open to treat those with symptoms of COVID and other basic medical needs. Our staff have followed strict procedures in caring for our clients. Dr. Titus and our nurses and staff have been adamant in caring for themselves and clients so they receive the safest, and best of care.

Continue to pray for India. If you’d like to be a part of our newsletter that will come out sharing more of the details of the recent surge in cases in India and how we are managing it, email us at yoderbl@gmail.com.

If you’d like to partner with us financially to support the critical work of Menno Clinic, click here!

Watch this video for how the clinic functions with COVID regulations.

He recently married a fellow doctor. We are grateful for this blessing in his life. Below is a photo of Dr. Titus, his wife, and our staff at his wedding.

You’re in for a treat! For the first time you will see video of the clinic, what it really looks like if you were there! Join us below for a complete program that we would similarly provide if we gathered in person at Emma Church as we usually do in October. In this video, you’ll hear

• a devotional from Pastor Gene Harman
• a welcome from board president, John C. Murray
• a 2020 update from Doc Yarlagadda
• video of client services at the clinic from Dr. Ernest Titus
• a personal thank you from each board member.

You can also watch smaller clips of the video to share with others on our YouTube channel! Join our Facebook page as we’ll share short snippets each day this week!

We have a big ask of you. The Curry Bash is our largest fundraiser. Not having it in person could hinder the services at the clinic. Would you consider donating? Click here for complete information, or mail a check made out to Menno Clinic India to Emma Church, 1900 S 600 W, Topeka, IN 46571. Thank you!

The Curry Bash is our largest fundraising event. Canceling it puts a dent in our funding. If you have been a contributor during the Curry Bash each year, please still contribute even though we are not able to meet in person. Your giving is personal to each person we help at Menno Clinic.

Recipes From Olga

Since we all can’t meet and eat at the Curry Bash together, I thought why not all of us make the same dish and celebrate! I hope all of you are safe and sound.

There are so many YouTube tutorials on how to make just about any kind of food. This is my version of Mint rice. My mom is a vegetarian and such a picky eater. On one of my trips to India, I made this dish and she loved it. So from then on, every time I am in India I make this for my mom and for the staff at the clinic.

I’m sharing the mint rice recipe, along with two others that I hope you’ll make during Curry Bash week while you watch the videos we’ll be sharing!

Mint Rice

2 cups Basmati Rice (or any white rice )

3 cups water

1/2. Teaspoon salt (adjust as per your taste)

1 Hot Pepper cut in into half

1 Teaspoon grated zinger

1 Teaspoon grated garlic

1 cup fine chopped Cilantro

1 cup fine chopped Mint

1 medium Onion sliced thin

1 lemon or lime juice

4 Tablespoons oil

2 Tablespoons butter

2 small sticks of Cinnamon

10 cloves (skip if you don’t have them)

1/2 cup raw Peanuts or raw Cashews (skip if you don’t have)

• Rinse rice 3 times 
• Add 3 cups water 
• Set aside at least 30 min
• Choose a pan that has tight lid to cook rice.
• Let the rice come to a boil and turn the stove to the lowest temp. Cover with the lid and cook for 15 minutes. The rice should come fluffy.
• Add oil to a large fry pan on medium heat and fry the cashews (or peanuts) Be careful with them as they burn easy. Take the nuts out and set aside.
• To the same pan, add butter, cinnamon, cloves, onions, and sliced hot peppers and fry until the onions start to get a light golden color.
• At this point you canremove the cloves and discard
• Add chopped cilantro, mint, salt, ginger, and garlic and fry them for 30 sec.
• Add cooked rice. Fry it for a minute.
• Drizzle lemon juice and nuts. Fry it one more minute, and you are done with mint rice!

Yogurt Dressing

I think some people like the dressing more than the rice itself. But I think it’s a great combination and they go together well, like milk and cookies!

1 cup sour cream

1 cup store bought plain yogurt

1 small thinly sliced sweet onion

½ cup tomato chopped

½ cup diced cucumber

Salt to taste

Few leaves of diced cilantro

Mix sour cream, salt, and yogurt together. Either you add all the reminder ingredients together and mix or layer them on top of yogurt mixer in a serving bowl.

3. Tandoori Chicken

6 to 8 pieces of boneless skinless chicken thighs

¾ cup sour cream

¼ cup Olive or Canola oil

1 Teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

½ teas turmeric

¼ cup lemon or lime juice

1 teaspoon each ginger and garlic grated

• Mix all the ingredients except chicken in a covered dish
• Remove extra fat off meat and make 2 to 3 slits in each thigh
• Add chicken to the dish and mix well
• Make sure all the meat prices are coated with the marinade
• Put a tight lid and refrigerate 24 hours or at least overnight
• Heat oven to the highest temp
• Line the baking dish with foil and arrange chicken in single layer and loosely cover with foil and bake 40 minutes
• Careful when taking the meat out. There will be lot of juices
• At this point, dump the liquid and it’s ready to serve
• If you like the grilled flavor, you can put it in broiler and cook for 5 min. Or, heat the large fry pan with 2 Tablespoons oil and pan fry quick. Serve with lemon wedges.

I hope you try these recipes and share the pictures with us. May God bless the hands who prepared the food!

Olga

Our medicine sales in 2019 were 1,900,000 Rupees ($25,333). We make a profit of 600,000 Rupees ($8,000). A small part of this profit covers inventory losses if any and also covers the free medicines we may give to the poor.

The most intriguing thing is that same medicines here are available there with the same names but cost a fraction of what they cost here. The top medicines and their costs follow.

Your donation helps fund the pharmacy so our clients can have affordable care! Thank you for your support. If you’d like to make a donation to Menno Clinic today, you find out more here.

A Shamiyana (tent) was built outside the building to seat the patients and a certain distance is maintained between the patients and they are required to wear a mask. After some Covid 19 cases were reported in Chiluvuru, alot stricter social  distancing rules have been in place. There are about 8 known cases in Chiluvuru currently and the report is that it is contained. These cases were in one section of the village and people, including our employees, that come from that area are quarantined. 

Continue praying for our staff as they serve the most vulnerable during this time!

Indian Government has developed a different and unique rating system

Red zones need to have focused attention in these areas as the number of positive CoVID-19 cases and its growth rates are high

Orange Zones are areas with limited number of cases in the past and no surge in positive cases in recent times.

Green Zones are districts that have not reported positive cases of COVID-19.

COVID-19 Status in Andhra Pradesh

Guntur District, where Menno Clinic is located, is in the Red Zone. However, there is a catch here. Duggirala Mandalam is in Green Zone. It’s like saying North East Indiana is in Red Zone, but LaGrange County is in Green Zone.

Kurnool, Guntur District (where Menno Clinic is located), Krishna, Nellore, & Chittoor are all in Red Zone.

East Godavari, West Godavari,  Kadapa, Anantapur, Srikakulam, Prakasam,  & Visakhapatnam are in Orange Zone.

Vizianagaram is in a Green Zone.

Our staff are making preparations for new protocol for reopening. Please pray for them as they will be serving clients in Chiluvuru with a new system of care to keep each person safe.

The cross was made by the late Pastor Harvey Chupp from Shipshewana, Indiana, while in India. The wood was taken from Olga’s original home that was on the site where Menno Clinic stands.

The wood is the ancient teak wood. Olga’s grandfather brought it from Burma. The wood has Hindu carvings in it. Harvey chiseled the wood on site, creating this beautiful cross representing the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It blesses the church members who meets at the chapel.

This Easter, we wish the peace of Christ to everyone touched by Menno Clinic throughout the world as we celebrate this holiday in unprecedented times.

Please keep the clinic staff in your prayers. Thank you!

One of our board members, Neal Frey, shared the title of a sermon he heard this Sunday Morning March 22, 2020, (Vineyardcolumbus.org) called “ A Mighty Fortress is our God”.

For those of us that believe in God, God is strength, God is courage, God is our rock. God is a fortress, God is reassuring, God is comfort, God is hope beyond all hopes, and God is a shoulder on which to rest. The best response for this Covid 19 crisis is God. Of course, the governments have to play their roles. Individuals have to play their roles. Doctors and medical professionals have to make sacrifices. God uses them in situations like this.

Covid 19 is in India and particularly in Chiluvuru, where Menno-Clinic is located. A person in the village came from Australia recently and brought Covid 19 with him. Now that there is a reported case of Covid 19 in Chiluvuru, it is close to home. We are thankful that Olga returned home this week before flight travel was restricted.

Let’s suppose this person traveled from the nearest airport which is located in Vijayawada. By the time he gets to Chiluvuru he is in close proximity with hundreds of people if he traveled during the rush hour. In Vijayawada, every hour is a rush hour. India has been very good so far in regards to Covid-19, but it may change soon as the population density is high and hygiene is generally low.  Poor people cannot afford hand sanitizers. I have learned from many sources that Indian Government has put out the best effort in the world to contain Covid 19.

The state of Andhra Pradesh has shut down everything just like in the United States. It pains us to say that we had to shut down Menno Clinic in Chiluvuru until April 1^st. This decision was made by the staff and the administrators unanimously. We will reevaluate on April 1, 2020. 

Realistically, we think we may be shutting down for the entire month of April. Almost half of the patients that come to the clinic are in advanced stages of diabetes. The other half have what are called viral fevers, and some have underlying health conditions. As we understand, diabetics and people with underlying health conditions are the most vulnerable to Covid 19 virus.

If one patient unknowingly is positive to the virus comes to the clinic and sits in close quarters with others, we may have a real problem. We neither have the resources nor the sophistication that big hospitals have, and we may only contribute to the problem. Dalai Lama once said, “Our primary responsibility is to help other people. If we can’t help them, please don’t hurt them.” We don’t want to hurt them.

Keeping up with the Christian principles of kindness, compassion, and generosity, we are taking care of all our employees and our regular vendors that depend on us for their livelihood. When we shut down the clinic and sent them home, we gave our employees the rest of their salary for the month. If we have to close the place longer, we will cover them again. We will make every effort to attend to their financial needs during this crisis. 

Meanwhile trust God and keep safe. This too shall pass.

This week, we request that you think of and pray for the many people connected to Menno Clinic who are experiencing things which bind us together, but also cause hardship or miracles. Life and death, health and destruction.

Pray for the caregivers, the doctors, and nurses who are caring for clients in the shadow of a worldwide epidemic. Pray protection over them, our clients, and the clinic. Pray for Olga as she is there yet his month, for her health and that of her mother, Anne.

Pray for board members. We particularly ask prayer for the Murray family as they support their father whose health is declining.

Prayer and praise for board member Kathy Taylor, whose home was one of the only homes untouched in her neighborhood that was hit by the Nashville tornado last week. Pray for their neighborhood to rebuild, and for her to be able to support her neighbors as possible.

Thank you for your prayers, for your support, and for you connection and love for the Menno Clinic community.