Our History
My interest in India began as a child when my great aunt Mary Geegh, who was home on furlough, told stories about her life and work in India.
In 1998, when she was 100 years old, I had the privilege of bringing donations to the Geegh Nursery school she had started for Dalit and Tribal poor children. Soon after this visit I became involved with other development projects on the mission compound in Madanapalle, South India. What struck me most was the fact that there were 2,200 poor children attending the mission schools, just on this one compound.
Many of the mission institutions are over one hundred years old, and their buildings are in deteriorating condition, with leaky roofs, broken window frames, and cracked foundations. There are many such compounds in the former Arcot Mission area where thousands of the poorest of the poor children today still receive an education.
Mary served in India from 1924-1963 as a Reformed Church in America (RCA) missionary to the Arcot Mission area. She later wrote the book; God Guides that chronicled journal entries from her “listening prayer” time experiences while on the mission field in the former Arcot Mission region of South India.
In the years following my first visit to India, I volunteered as a liaison between donors in the West and in Madanapalle, South India; our goal was to rebuild the mission compound. This also included working in partnership with the Church of South India (CSI) to help develop sustainable, indigenous, income generation programs for Dalits and Tribals due to the high rate of unemployment.
MPI ministers among Dalits in the same mission field where my great aunt Mary Geegh had once worked. God is amazing!
Mission Partners India ministry began in 1998 and officially formed in 2002 focusing on work among the Dalits (Untouchables) in partnership with the Church of South India. Our focal regions are the former Arcot Mission region of South India of Vellore and Rayalaseema Dicoese.
In 2003, the Church of South India invited me to serve full-time in ministry among the Dalits with them in the Vellore and Rayalaseema Dioceses in South India. The ministry has expanded to include primary areas of work in:
- Micro-enterprise and skills training
- Training indigenous leadership
- Rebuilding mission schools
- Providing essential daily meals, education and health care for 240 poor children at Geegh Nursery School
