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Abbreviation | COCH |
---|---|
Formation | 13 April 1973[1] |
Founder | Canadian Baptist Mission |
Founded at | Pithapuram (Andhra Pradesh) |
Legal status | Body corporate under Indian Societies Registration Act |
Purpose | Healthcare provider |
Headquarters | Pithapuram, East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh |
Coordinates | 17°07′34″N 82°15′17″E / 17.12615°N 82.25469°E |
Region | Odisha and Andhra Pradesh |
Membership (2015) | 4 participating hospitals |
Official language | English |
Chairperson | Prof. P. Judson |
Secretary | Mr. R. Paul Jai Singh[2] |
Affiliations | Christian Medical Association of India, New Delhi, Christian Medical College & Hospital, Vellore, Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars |
Formerly called | Medical Board[1]/Council of Institutions[1] of Canadian Baptist Ministries |
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Christianity |
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Council of Christian Hospitals (COCH) is a not-for-profit healthcare provider in India. COCH is a body corporate under Indian Societies Registration Act and has its registered office in premises of one of its participating hospitals, that is, Christian Medical Centre, Pithapuram in East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh.
Formed on 13 April 1973,[1] COCH sets an annual agenda in line with Missionary endeavour to serve the poor and the needy. In terms of continuing education, COCH is one of the members of the Christian Medical College & Hospital, Vellore where two members office bearers of COCH comprising Chairperson and Secretary participate in Annual General Meeting of Association of Christian Medical College & Hospital in Vellore. As a sponsoring body, COCH also communicates with members of Churches founded by Canadian Baptist Mission inviting applications for possible sponsorship to eligible students to study health-related courses at Christian Medical College & Hospital in Vellore.
COCH is represented at ecumenical forums as a member of Christian Medical Association of India, an affiliated institution of National Council of Churches in India.
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Transcription
Which is the most persecuted religious group in the world today? The answer in terms of sheer numbers and sheer horror might surprise you. It’s Christians, specifically Christians living in Muslim-majority countries, countries where Christians often preceded Muslims by centuries. I’m not talking about “War on Christmas” type harassment; I’m talking about “know your place or we’re going to kill you” persecution. Astonishingly, the Western mainstream media barely acknowledge what is happening. Let’s look closer at this issue. It tells us a lot about the world we’re living in. One hundred years ago, 20% of North Africa and the Middle East, the birthplace of Christianity, was Christian. Today, Christians make up 4% of the population. Much of that decline has occurred in the last decade. In essence Muslims are rendering North Africa and the Middle East free of Christians. Take Egypt, for example, my ancestral homeland. In just the past two years, tens of thousands of Christian Copts have left Egypt. And many others want to leave, but they simply cannot afford to. Why they want to leave is no mystery. On New Year’s Day 2011, the Two Saints Church in Alexandria was bombed, leaving 23 Copts dead and 97 injured. In recent years dozens of Coptic churches have been attacked, many burned to the ground. In August 2013 alone, the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters attacked and destroyed some 80 churches. Unfortunately, Egypt is more the rule than the exception. Hundreds of Nigerian churches have been destroyed in recent years, with especially deadly attacks reserved for Christmas and Easter church services, leaving dozens dead or mutilated. Churches have been bombed or burned in Iraq, Syria, and just about every place in the Middle East where churches still exist except Israel. Christian businesses have been torched, Christian girls have been kidnapped, sold as child brides or slaves, and had acid thrown in their faces for not being veiled. Anyone born a Muslim who converts to Christianity faces jail and possibly execution. The list of fresh atrocities by Muslims against Christians grows longer almost every day. Even in Muslim countries often portrayed as “moderate” -- Morocco, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan -- Christian minorities are under legal pressure not to build churches or evangelize. The Christians in these Muslim countries are often identical to their co-citizens in race, ethnicity, national identity, culture, and language; there is no political dispute between the Christians and Muslims, no land dispute. Vastly outnumbered and politically marginalized, these Christians simply wish to worship in peace. Instead they are hounded and attacked. So, then, why is this happening? And why is the media making so little mention of it? The first question is easy to answer. Christians are being persecuted in Muslim countries because they’re Christians, or as the Quran puts it, “infidels,” that is, non-Muslims, who are regarded by many fundamentalist Muslims as inferior. As a fundamentalist interpretation of the holy books of Islam has grown in the last fifty or so years, Christians have suffered. And in recent years, they have suffered terribly. I document this in my book, Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians. If this were happening to any other group besides Christians, it would be the human rights tragedy of our time. There would be loud worldwide calls for action. But the silence in the mainstream Western media is, as they say, almost deafening. Why? Because Muslim persecution of Christians throws a wrench in the media’s narrative that “Muslim violence is a product of Muslim grievance.” That grievance is, first and foremost, portrayed as the sin of European colonialism and alleged American imperialism. In the Muslim world’s mind, those two sins are personified by the Jewish State of Israel, a nation the Muslim world believes was forced upon it by the colonial powers of Europe following World War II and is currently supported by the United States. Much of the Western world and the Western media have largely bought at least some of this narrative. Here’s how it works: Because Israel, with the backing of the United States, is stronger than its Muslim neighbors, the media, while not defending Islamic terrorism, often portray terror against Israel, America, and even Europe as the actions of understandably angry “underdogs” fighting for what they deem “justice.” But what happens to this media narrative when Islamic terror is directed against a minority weaker than them -- in this case, the millions of indigenous Christians throughout the Islamic world? The answer is that, rather than abandon this narrative, the media just don’t report Muslim persecution of Christians except for the most sensational cases. That’s why you probably don’t know that there are barely any Christians living in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, nations where Christianity once thrived. Or, that this is happening in Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and even Lebanon. So, yes, Christians are indeed the most persecuted religious group in the world today. But reporting it would violate the media’s narrative of Christians as persecutors and Muslims as victims. I’m Raymond Ibrahim, author of the Al-Qaeda Reader, for Prager University.
History
Baptist missionaries from Canada first came to Ramayapatnam in 1868[1] in southern Andhra Pradesh working along with American Baptist missionaries. On invitation extended by Indian Missionary, Thomas Gabriel who was involved in propagating Gospel in parts of East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna districts along northern coastal line of Andhra Pradesh.[3] Canadian Baptist Mission began sending Missionaries to India in 1874 to partner with Thomas Gabriel. Apart from Church-related ministries of evangelism and leadership training, there was also development ministries that included aiding people in agricultural, health and educational development.[4]
In addition to intervention among Telugus in Andhra Pradesh, the missionaries also covered southern Odisha working among Soura, Kui and Odiya and later in 1922,[5] Serango Christian Hospital was opened in Gajapati District, Odisha.
William Gordon Carder, formerly Professor of Church History at Andhra Christian Theological College, Hyderabad wrote that it was Dr. E. G. Smith who could be termed as first Medical Missionary from Canadian Baptist Mission who was sent to India in 1894.[1] During the ensuing years', a total of eight[6][7] hospitals were founded by Canadian Baptist Mission.
Legal status
During latter half of nineteenth century, Missionaries entrusted leadership to their co-partners, the Indians, resulting in formation of Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars (CBCNC) which had also Educational, Theological, and Medical Committees. However, it was felt that Medical Committee be made autonomous[1] and all medical institutions needed to be safeguarded and continued to be managed without any hindrances. Therefore, Canadian Baptist Ministries, with bona fide motives entrusted properties of medical institutions founded by it to the custody of Evangelical Trust Association of South India (ETASI),[8] Bangalore (Karnataka). Further, on 13 April 1973,[1] COCH was formed as an autonomous body to manage medical ministries of Canadian Baptist Ministries.[8]
Members
Founding year |
Name of Institution | Location | District | State |
---|---|---|---|---|
1898 | Star of Hope Hospital | Akiveedu | West Godavari District | Andhra Pradesh |
1904 | Christian Medical Centre | Pithapuram | East Godavari District | Andhra Pradesh |
1906 | Bethel Hospital | Vuyyuru | Krishna District | Andhra Pradesh |
1928[5] | Serango Christian Hospital | Serango | Gajapati district | Odisha |
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h W. Gordon Carder (1976). Hand to the Indian Plow: Volume One. Hyderabad: Christian Book Depot. pp. 143–147.
- ^ Income Tax, Hyderabad DDO's training, Hyderabad 2017.
- ^ Martin Senftleben, Influences of Hinduism on Christianity in Andhra Pradesh. Unpublished PhD thesis, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, 1992. [1] Archived 9 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Manorama Fritschi, op. cit.
- ^ a b Kenneth Knight; Shirley Knight (November 2009). The Seed Holds the Tree: A Story of India and the Kingdom of God. Lulu dot com. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-9864766-0-0.
- ^ Indian Church History Review, Volume 3, Church History Association of India, 1969, p.148.[2]
- ^ J. Gordon Melton (Edited), Encyclopedia of American Religions, Gale, 2003, p.560. [3]
- ^ a b ETASI, health
Further reading
- Prabhakara Rao, S., Rev. (March 1971). "The Medical Ministry of the Canadian Baptist Mission (Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars) 1890–1950". A thesis submitted to the History Department of the Ramapatnam Baptist Theological College in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Divinity of the Senate of Serampore College (University), Serampore.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - G.Beaulah Pearl Sunanda (1990). "An Insight into the History of the Canadian Baptist Mission in Andhra Pradesh (1874–1924)". Unpublished M.Phil. (History) Thesis, Madras Christian College, Madras.
- John Craig (1908). Forty years among the Telugus : a history of the mission of the Baptists of Ontario and Quebec, Canada, to the Telegus, South India 1867–1907. Self-publishing.
- M. L. Orchard (2008). Canadian Baptists at work in India. Missionary Education Department of the Foreign Mission Board. ISBN 978-1-4086-7832-9.
- John Craig, J. R. Stillwell (Eds.) (1924). Telugu Trophies: The Jubilee story cf some of the principal Telugu converts in the Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission in India from 1874 to 1924. Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission Board.
- Sanna Morrison Barlow (1956). Light Is Sown – Chapter 4: Sheaves. Moody Press.
- J. B. McLaurin (1945). "Healing Hands : Dr. Jessie M. Allyn of Pithapuram, South India". The Centenary Committee of the Canadian Churches.
- Martin Senftleben (1992). "Influences of Hinduism on Christianity in Andhra Pradesh." (PDF). Unpublished PhD thesis, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. I. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2006.
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