{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 141,
  "chapterName": "1900. Clough on Famine Relief Work at Ongole",
  "pageFrom": 279,
  "pageTo": 280,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 279,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n279\n141. CLOUGH ON FAMINE RELIEF WORK\nAT ONGOLE (1900 A.D.)\nDuring the 1876-1878 famine J. E. Clough had provided relief\nfor the Christians, who as labourers of the depressed classes were\nespecially hard hit, by taking a contract to construct a portion of the\nBuckingham Canal near Ongole. Baptisms were discontinued during\nthat time in order that people would not become Christian simply to\nget work. During the famine of 1900, as reported here, a similar\napproach to relief work was adopted by Clough, with the difference that\nhe worked through the Indian municipal municipal authorities auth and provided\nrelief work to members of all religious communities. This is taken\nfrom Clough's report to the American Baptist Missionary Union for\nthe year 1900, and was published in The Baptist Missionary Magazine,\nJuly 1901, pp. 107-109.\nAt the close of the year 1899 we were able to make a very fair\nreport for Ongole and the work which we here are trying to do.\nHealth had been, in a good measure, granted to us, and God had\nblessed his own words, and 1,160 had been baptized upon profes-\nsion of faith in Jesus Christ, and we hoped that the hard times,\nreally semi-famine, with which we had been contending for three\nor four years, had passed away, and we were glad and thankful.\nIn fulfilment of a promise given to my youngest daughter, Gracia,\nthat I would go home with her and see her set up in life if she would\ncome out and spend two or three years with me as my personal\nassistant, I fully intended to return to America early in the present\nyear. Man may propose, but God disposes. The way for me to\nreturn seemed to be very plain. The Ecumenical Conference\nCommittee of New York sent me a very kind invitation to be\npresent in New York at their meetings in March, and the executive\nofficers of the Missionary Union also gave me as kind an invitation\nas ever a missionary need to have to come home and to attend the\nEcumenical Conference at New York and to be present at the anni-\nversaries in Detroit. I intended to go and my passage home was\ntentatively engaged, yet for several weeks the signs of the continua-\ntion of the semi-famine became more imminent day by day, and I\nwas ill at ease. But the time came when I must decide whether\nI would go or not. There were anxious days for me, and during\nthe night before the final decision had to be made I tried to sleep,\nbut sleep would not come. The 10th chapter of John and parts of\nthe 50th chapter of Isaiah came to mind and would not go away.\nThe result was that before morning I had decided to remain with\nmy people and help them all I could during the famine which was so\nimminent. My daughter when I made my decision known to her\nbore it gracefully, but not without tears, and later she returned to",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 280,
      "ocrText": "280\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nthe homeland with her sister and Professor Martin, and the good\nLord has evidently recognized her sacrifice and given her many\nblessings.\nAs anticipated, the famine came on, and by the first of April\nthousands of the poorer classes were without work and in a starv-\ning condition. Friends in America had now taken in the situa-\ntion and had begun to forward money for relief. The 'Christian\nHerald of New York had also inaugurated, on behalf of India, a\nmost magnanimous charity. Personal friends were not slow in\nsending contributions. But the question was how to utilize these:\nvarious charities. Government in this section had not established\nrelief work, and on account of the already fearful condition exist--\ning in Central and northern India there was no probability that.\nany relief work on a large scale would be started here. But I\nknew, unless something was done, thousands of the depressed\nclasses, great numbers of whom were Christians, would inevitably\ndie of starvation, or of disease brought on by hunger. After\ntalking the situation over with the chairman of the Ongole Munici-\npality and the sub-collector of Ongole, and others, we decided\nthat it would be best to put all those who asked aid on some public\nwork, The The municipal counsellors of Ongole assigned to me for\nthis purpose several streets which were to be made either entirely\nnew or should be repaired. Also they recommended that several\nwells be dug and one or two tanks deepened. The chairman of\nthe municipality, V. Ananda Rao Puntulu Garu, kindly offered\nto take charge of any relief work that I might inaugurate in person\nand to aid me in any way in his power. To make quite a long story\nshort, the work was started early in April and continued until\nSeptember. The number of coolies was from 1,000 to 6,000 daily.\nThe aggregate number of coolies engaged for a longer or shorter\ntime was probably not less than 40,000, and this meant that relief\nwent into as many homes. A relief-kitchen for those who were\nwholly unable to work was also started and continued until the\nlast of December; the total number dieted in this kitchen was\nabout 600.\nBesides large sums of money, in the aggregate, sent to me\nthrough the executive officers of the Mission Rooms, and by per-\nsonal friends, and by the 'Christian Herald' India Famine Relief\nCommittee, 2,000 bags of American corn, sent to India by the\n'Christian Herald', were allotted to me, and were faithfully\ndistributed.\nThe result of all this work has been to me most gratifying.\nOur God makes no mistakes, and I do not and will not complain,\nbut oh! I would rejoice to know that the good Lord would now\nsave us from further famines.",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}