A SURVEY OF LITERATURE ON CHRISTIAN MEDICAL MISSIONS IN MEGHALAYA

In Christian mission history studies, health or medical work is generally treated as a part of missionary activity and not a distinct activity on its own. As such, not too many historical works dealing exclusively with Christian medical missions are available. Godfrey E. Phillips1 and Francis M. DuBose2 lay down the theological basis and Biblical foundation of Christian missions in general and explain the missionary motive and attitude. Christian missionary work is essentially spreading the Gospel across different parts of the world. While DuBose"s work makes no specific reference to medical missions, Philips speaks of education and medical mission as “second line activities” which “have no justification unless they support the first line, which is evangelism and church building.” Some Christian scholars3 however, try to show that health and healing are an integral part of the gospel, are present throughout the Bible and have always been a concern of the Church. The lectures published in a collection4 by the Edinburgh Medical Mission Society, the first established Christian medical mission organisation, also deal with the concept of health mission and the duty of the Christian health missionary. The idea of providing health care being a missionary duty is also reflected in Gillian Paterson"s work5 on the CMC Hospital, Vellore.