2 November, 1942: The first workers of Sihora Ashram start from Kottarakkara.
Founders of the Sihora Ashram with Most Rev. Alexander Mar Thoma Metropolitan.
On the morning of 2 November 1942 a huge crowd under the leadership of the Bishop Juhanon Mar Timotheos gathered under a tree on the eastern side of the Kottarakkara railway Station and gave a sensational send off to Rev. K.T. Thomas, Karimparampil.Anaprampal), Mr. John Varghese (Valethu Thoppil, Puthencauv), and Mr. M. P. Mathew (Mavelil, Kaviyoor), the founder members of the Christa Panthi Ashram.
After visiting various north Indian cities, they finally reached Sihora on 13 September 1943 and started the Ashram. Our bishop The Late Rt. Rev .Easow Mar Timotheos was a memberof this ashram for 22 years.
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Pages from History: 19 June 1986. Death of Mariamma Joseph – Co-founder of Hoskote Mission
Mrs. Mariamma Joseph and Mr. M.T. Joseph (Co-founders of Hoskote Mission)
18 June 1986: Death of Mrs. Mariamma (Pennamma) Joseph (b.31 March 1917), Co-founder of the Hoskote Mission, Bangalore District, Karnataka, India. Mariamma was the daughter of Mammen Mammen and Mariamma of Manalukalayil, Kumbanad. She did her Teacher’s Training Course (TTC) from Peringara School near Tiruvalla, after which she taught in many schools including Arrangatu School, Pullad, Perumbara (Kuriannoor) School near Charal Mount; Kanjeettukara and Nedumprayar (Maramon).
She was trained by the CMS Missionary, Miss Kellaway (Australia) of Vanitha Mandiram, Tiruvalla. Pennamma was greatly influenced through her life and testimony of this missionary. She had an earnest desire to go for mission work in Karnataka but her parents did not allow it (according to the then prevalent customs/ norms, Syrian Christian parents were not willing to send their unmarried daughters to unknown ‘foreign’ lands) until her marriage.
However, her marriage with Mr. M.T. Joseph, (Manon House, Maramon) was a definite fulfillment of God’s call at the Maramon Convention (1947). who had a similar call and vision to Karnataka. In obedience to this heavenly call, she resigned her Government teacher’s job, that had a permanent income, to an uncertain and unknown future. This journey led to the humble beginnings of the Hoskote Mission. She was called home on 18 June 1986 and buried in the Mission Cemetery in Ghonakhanahally, 7 km away from the Hoskote mission field.
Mariamma has finished her race and now she is with the Lord. The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. We need more and more persons like Mariamma to work for the Lord. Millions of villagers are there who have never heard about our Saviour even once in their lives. Who will go???
To read a more detailed biography of Mr. & Mrs. M.T.Joseph Please click.
Rare 1986 Documentary on the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church
A Must Watch Special Documentary with rare footage on the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church – (English/Malayalam) produced in 1986. It offers a peek into the history, rich culture and heritage of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church.
A Malaysian presentation in conjunction with the 150th Anniversary of the REFORMATION in the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church. (Please watch and share).
1921 -1970: World renowned missionary Dr. E. Stanley Jones at Maramon Convention ( See Rare Photos)
E.Stanley Jones (right) with Alexander Mar Thoma Metropolitan (middle) with an unidentified friend at Sat Tal Ashram, India. (Photos from E. Stanley Jones FB page)
Dr. Eli Stanley Jones was born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA on 3rd Jan 1884. He was a faculty at Asbury College, Kentucky, USA when he was called to missionary service in India in 1907 under the Board of Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
He was one of the main speakers of the Maramon Convention from 1921-1970. His messages combined evangelistic challenges with social concerns.
“For more than half a century Dr E Stanley Jones proclaimed the Gospel of Christ and applied it to people’s personal, social, national, and international problems. He moved among statesmen and among leaders without portfolios as counselor, friend and worker for peace and goodwill.
Dr Jones became a friend of Mahatma Gandhi and wrote an appreciative biography of Gandhi.In 1950 Dr Jones provided funds for India’s first Christian psychiatric center, and clinic currently known as Nur Manzil Psychiatric Center and Medical Unit at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
~ http://www.facebook.com/SattalAshram”
In 1946, with the help of friends in USA, he donated the first loud speaker setup to the Maramon Convention. He is also the founder of the Sat Tal Christian Ashram movement, Nainital, Uttarakhand,. He died January 25, 1973 in his beloved India.
In the 1920s, India began to develop greater appreciation for its own history and culture and greater pride in its own unique contributions to world civilization. Stanley Jones was one of the very first to realize the possibilities that this change in India’s intellectual and spiritual culture created for Christianity and especially for Western Christian missionaries. But he could not fully understand the astounding scope and depth of the possibilities without experiencing the history and culture of his adopted country for himself. So, what better way to immerse himself in the ethos of India than to visit Indian ashrams?
This is exactly what he did. In 1923 he spent two months at Santiniketan, the ashram of the world-famous poet, Rabindranath Tagore. Three years later in 1926 he visited Gandhi’s ashram at Sabarmati.
It is no exaggeration to say that Jones’ visits to these ashrams changed the course of his life. In fact, in 1930, he established his own ashram as a spiritual retreat for Christians modeled on his experience with Ashrams in India. But this was only the first of hundreds of Christian ashrams that would eventually be established throughout the world. These ashrams are truly the work of the Holy Spirit as they continue to inspire, refresh, and renew thousands of Christians in many nations today.
~ From “Ordinary Man, Extraordinary Mission: The Life and Work fo E. Stanley Jones” by Stephen A. Graham
Rev. E. Stanley Jones giving one of his sermons at Sat Tal Ashram, India. (Photo from E. Stanley Jones FB Page)
Bishop T. S. Joseph speaking at the Maramon Convention while Bishop Alexander Mar Theophilus (Metropolitan Alexander Mar Thoma), E. Stanley Jones and Mr. Ramenpillar listen. (Photo from E. Stanley Jones FB page)
Rev. Stanley Jones with Mar Thoma Church members in Kerala, India. (Photo from E. Stanley Jones FB page)
Dr. Stanley Jones with Dr. Rajendra Prasad, first President of India 1950 (Photo from E. Stanley Jones FB page)
E. Stanley Jones (right) at the Maramon Convention with Bishop Abraham Mar Thoma Metropolitan (middle) and an unidentified friend. (Photo from E. Stanley Jones FB page)
Pages from History: 9 November, 1917: Birth of Dr. Sosamma Philip – Medical Missionary
Late Dr. Sosamma Philip, Medical Missionary.
9th November, 1917: Birth of Dr.Sosamma Philip, Medical Missionary. Dr. Sosamma was the daughter of Late Rev. M.C. George Kasseesa (17 April 1874 – 23 October 1923) of Maliyekkal House, Kuriannoor.
The Late Most Rev. Dr. Alexander Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan (10 April 1913 – 11 January 2000) was her elder brother. Dr. Sosamma passed her final school examination in 1933, but she couldn’t afford a college education. She joined the undergraduate teacher’s training course in Tiruvalla and then became a teacher in Kuriannoor Middle School. The family had to sell a portion of their ancestral property to pay for her dowry.
In 1940, she married Dr. P.V. Philip (Palathinkkal, Kottayam), who was working with the Mission Hospital in Karappuram, Cherthala. But unfortunately, Dr. Philip died after nine months of their marriage. She also lost her mother, three months later. Dr. Sosamma had an earnest desire to continue the medical work of her departed husband. She joined Alwaye U.C. College and passed her intermediate examinations and applied for a seat in Christian Medical College, Vellore. As she did not get admission at CMC Vellore, she joined the American College in Madurai and finished her B.A. and then joined the Nicholson School, Tiruvalla, as a teacher.
But the desire for a medical education was burning in her heart, so she applied again and this time she secured an admission in Christian Medical College, Vellore. Immediately after getting her Medical degree, she joined the Karapuram, Cherthala Mission, where her husband had worked. After further passing her specialization courses in Chicago, she worked with the Kumbanad and Kattanam hospitals for many years.
In 1967, she joined the Sihora Ashram Hospital in Madhya Pradesh and remained there till her retirement, 30 years later in 1997. As recognition of her work and social service, the Church awarded her the “Manava Seva Award”.
After her retirement, she returned to stay with her relatives in Kuriannoor. She was called to her eternal home on 4 May 2008 and was buried beside her parents at the St.Thomas Mar Thoma Church Cemetery in Kuriannoor.
Late Rev. M.C. George Kasseesa (Father of Dr. Sosamma Philip)
Late Alexander Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan (Elder brother of Dr. Sosamma Philip)
Pages from History: Birth of Alexander Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan (1913)
10 April, 1913: Birth of Alexander Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan. Alexander Mar Thoma was born in 1913 as the son of Rev. M. C. George (17 Apr.1874-23 Oct.1923), Maliyekkal, Kuriannoor.
Before his ordination, he was a teacher at Kottayam C M S High School for 12 years. He took his Ph.D. on the Bhagavad-Gita (Holy Book of the Hindus) from the Kennedy School of Mission of the Hartford Seminary Foundation, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.
He was ordained in 1945 and became bishop on 23 May, 1953. He became the Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church in 1976 and passed away on 11 January 2000.
Alexander Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan
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