Ida Scudder: Healing Bodies, Touching Hearts

Ida stamped her foot. Her friends were wrong. "I will not be a missionary to India like my parents!" she retorted. "Don't any of you say I will be, because I won't -- never, ever, ever." Ida had never forgotten the faces of starving Indian children. She hated India -- it was full of horrible situations she could do nothing about.

Ida Scudder was sure she would never follow in the footsteps of her medical missionary father. But when she witnessed Indian women dying because their religious beliefs didn't allow male doctors to treat them, Ida heard herself pray, "God, if You want me to, I will spend the rest of my life in India trying to help these women."

Serving for nearly sixty years, Dr. Ida Scudder lived out the truth and compassion found in Christ. She pioneered a first-rate medical school and hospital, brought life-saving health care to rural people, and left an inspiring legacy that still touches missions of people each year with healing and hope.