Salvation Streams founder Ralph Mallela (standing) and Olney Baptist Pastor Brian Tubbs (seated) watch as a patient receives treatment at the Dhanasiri medical camp.
OLNEY, Md.—Brian Tubbs, senior pastor of Olney Baptist Church and church member, Ralph Mallela, ministered to needy families in the far outskirts of Hyderabad, India, Nov. 3-10. The two men worked with Salvation Streams, a non-profit Christian charity founded by Mallela over twenty years ago, to administer a medical camp and distribute food and clothing to a remote village in India. Through the medical camp and a visit to the village’s main church the following day, the team was also able to share the Gospel and pray with hundreds of villagers. The trip was funded by Salvation Streams and by contributions from members of Olney Baptist Church.
“Despite efforts by governmental and non-governmental agencies to fight deadly diseases, millions of people outside of India’s major cities are battling for survival, some losing their lives, because of insufficient medical care,” explained Mallela upon returning home.
The medical camp itself took place on Nov. 8, 2014, in Dhanasiri, a village with a population of about 4,000 people. It’s in the Indian state of Telangana, which recently split off from Andhra Pradesh. Dhanasiri is just under an hour from Zahirabad and about three hours from Hyderabad. Most of the people of Dhanasiri live in poverty and have no access to health care.
“We take so much for granted here in America,” added Tubbs. “I believe those who are blessed need to give from the abundance of those blessings, and that’s exactly what Salvation Streams is all about. I was honored to be a witness to their great work.”
This was the second time Mallela and Tubbs have visited India for humanitarian and evangelistic purposes. In December 2012, a missions team from Olney Baptist Church, which included four others in addition to Mallela and Tubbs, distributed blankets, food, and clothing to the poor and needy in the Kakinada region.