Serampore College and the Mother House

This morning ( Wednesday) Pastor Asis accompanied us to Serampore College which lies about an hour an a half's drive north of Kolkata. We crossed the Hooghly River ( also known as the Ganges) however on approaching our destination unfortunately due to a temporary diversion the drive ended up taking over two hours and meant driving through the town of Serampore and in the process getting caught up in an awful traffic jam.

Crossing the Hooghly River ( Ganges)

On the way to Serampore

 Once we arrived at Serampore College which is situated on the bank of the Hooghly river, we were taken to Carey's house which was in the campus grounds and was where the current principal, Prof Laitluanliana Khiangte lives.

Carey House

 He met with us briefly but had an engagement in Bangalore and so we soon found ourselves in the company of the Vice Pincipal, Rev Dr Pratap C Gine who gave us a tour of the grounds including showing us Carey's pulpit and the Carey Archive.

Bust of William Carey

Me in front of Carey's pulpit

Carey archives

William Carey's desk

We then were offered coffee in Rev Dr Gine's office and he regaled us with stories of William Carey. He was obviously a Carey enthusiast! It was a very interesting visit and a beautiful location for the students to study.

Pastor Asis took us to the Serampore Baptist Church where his cousin is currently the minister. This is the church where William Carey preached.

Interior of Serampore Baptist Church

We were then taken on a short drive to the graveyard where William Carey and several members of his family are buried.

Carey's grave

 We then had the drive back to Kolkata where we were dropped at La Bon Pain where we had a lovely western style lunch! Then back to the guest house on foot via The Mother House which is situated a two minute walk away from the guest house.

It was very humbling to be here and seeing the room she had slept in and the exhibition I felt a fresh admiration for this remarkable woman who put Jesus at the centre of everything she did.

I spent a little time in the room where her tomb is and the only room where photography is allowed and noted that whilst Mother Teresa was respected for all she had accomplished Jesus was still the most important aspect of her work and there were scriptures everywhere echoing the great love she had for Him.

In contrast,  Serampore College whilst remarkable in itself and a testament to William Carey's accomplishments appeared to hold William Carey in the highest esteem but not once was the name of Jesus mentioned by any of the people we came into contact with. William Carey was mentioned constantly and I thought this rather strange and a little sad.

I was however pleased to have had the opportunity to visit the college but I think the visit to the Mother House had the greatest impact on me today.

Tomb of Mother Teresa