The Strength of Weakness By Monica Jayakumari Benjamin Editor: Ingrid Albuquerque-Solomon Berean Bay Media House Private Ltd. Publishers: First Edition: Indian Evangelical Mission, Bangalore Second Edition: CreateSpace, Amazon.co.uk ISBN 978-81-909506-7-12000 1 This book is dedicated to the memory of my Father and Mother Augustine and Kunjalia Salins 2 CONTENTS PROLOGUE ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 From the Shadows of Saints ............................................................................................................................... 5 FOREWORD ..................................................................................................................................................... 8 The Call for Stark Honesty .................................................................................................................................. 8 CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................................................ 11 “What will we do with Augustine? He is useless…” ......................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................................................... 23 Child of the King welcomed into Maharaja College ......................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................................................. 35 “You shall receive power…” –and he did! ........................................................................................................ 35 CHAPTER FOUR .............................................................................................................................................. 44 The Parallel Track: ‘Little Elizabeth’ grows to bloom ....................................................................................... 44 CHAPTER FIVE ................................................................................................................................................ 64 The Love Story: “Will I see you again?” ............................................................................................................ 64 A Selection of family Photographs ................................................................................................................. 84 CHAPTER SIX .................................................................................................................................................. 86 Serving India .................................................................................................................................................... 86 CHAPTER SEVEN ........................................................................................................................................... 105 Journeys: Seven for Salins .............................................................................................................................. 105 CHAPTER EIGHT ........................................................................................................................................... 117 The Strength of Weakness – portrait of an ambassador for Christ................................................................ 117 CHAPTER NINE ............................................................................................................................................. 124 The Acid Test .................................................................................................................................................. 124 CHAPTER TEN ............................................................................................................................................... 139 Public Opinion ................................................................................................................................................ 139 CHAPTER ELEVEN ......................................................................................................................................... 145 Holy homes raise godly children .................................................................................................................... 145 Memoirs of Eileen Kaundinya (nee Salins ) ............................................................................................... 145 3 EPILOGUE .................................................................................................................................................... 157 Mother of the Second Mile ............................................................................................................................ 157 MORE PRECIOUS GEMS ............................................................................................................................... 163 Life is for blessing ........................................................................................................................................... 163 4 PROLOGUE FROM THE SHADOWS OF SAINTS “Words cannot describe the feelings that tugged at the heartstrings as I took in what the familiar handwriting had to convey. My mother had always been what today’s women call “a woman of substance”, a working professional, a medical practitioner of great repute – how did she adjust to the demanding, unfathomable role of meeting the needs of a servant of Christ who had devoted his every breath to the service of God?” Augustine Salins has been called the ‘weeping prophet of India.’ In The Strength of Weakness, his daughter Monica Jayakumari Benjamin, etches out a rare document of uncommon passion and determination, the dramatically intertwined story of the prophet and his wife, that was inexorably tied to the nation’s spiritual history. Here is the author’s pre- embarkation note. The godly lives of my parents, Augustine and Kunjalia Salins, have left their indelible mark and impression in the hearts and minds of those they left behind. Children are strongly influenced by the information that is released around them during their formative years. The Bible has exhorted parents eons ago to “train a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6 “How can a young man keep his way pure? “By living according to your word”, said the Psalmist in Psalm 119:9. I was born and brought up in Udupi, South India and I studied Medicine at KMC, Manipal/ Mangalore. At a later stage, I followed as the Lord led, to Jiwan Jyothi Christian Hospital, Robertsganj, Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh along with my husband Christopher Benjamin. My father went to be with the Lord in 1985 and my mother 15 years later in November 1999. During one of my visits to Udupi in December 2011, my Father's sister, Eileen Kaundinya (nee Salins) had a surprise gift for me – a notebook with my mother's handwritten autobiography. Aunt Eileen had been the one who had inspired my mother to write and then for some incomprehensible reason – maybe she waited for the right God ordained moment - she kept the document all these years. Words cannot describe the feelings that tugged at the heartstrings as I took in what the familiar handwriting had to convey. My mother had always been what today’s women call “a woman of substance”, a working professional, a medical practitioner of great repute – how did she adjust to the demanding, unfathomable role of meeting the needs of a servant of Christ who had devoted his every breath to the service of God? How did she learn humility and submission? How did she learn about the strength of weakness? 5 It is a story that needs to especially be told to the contemporary Indian woman, who stands at the crossroads today, because of the turbulence that erupted following the heart-rending violence against women. Not every cry in the land of India is ridden by anguish, but every single life has its own cry and has heard the cry of another who is struggling and searching for meaning - a heart consuming battle. For one, it may be the daunting and haunting spectre of guilt. For another, it may be loneliness or singleness. For yet another, it may be a question - “When I have done all that I know to be right, why do I not feel God to be near?” And for still another, it could be the question of all questions - “Who are you God?” Kunjalia, my mother’s inspiring and sacrificial story will encourage, motivate and bless everyone and the network of blessings will flow on to generations as we pass it on. On one hand Kyunjalia wanted to break out from the centuries of oppression that have suppressed women through the ages; yet she did not really want to forsake tradition and things she had held sacred. What could she do? There seemed so few alternatives. There seem to be so few role models for today’s women. A seed of thought – that of producing a book, the proceeds from which would go to support Indian Christian Missionaries serving the Lord in remote villages of India, was planted. Although we live in the UK at present, my heart is very much in India. I have all the doors and windows to the past that I need in my Bible and in “The Strength of Weakness”, it is with great enthusiasm that I have traced the network of blessings which run