Gladys Staines – nee Weatherhead – was born in 1951. She grew up at Peaks Crossing, just outside of Ipswich, in South East Queensland. Gladys was brought up in Brethren circles and became a devout Christian. After school, Gladys studied nursing in Ipswich and completed her midwifery in Launceston.

Gladys met her husband Graham on a visit to India in 1981. Graham, a fellow Aussie, had gone to India to work with the poor – particularly people with leprosy. Gladys says that she was really im-pressed by his love for the people and felt that, in Graham, she had found the life-partner she was looking for. They were married in 1983, and had three children – one daughter, Esther, and two sons, Philip and Timothy.

In the same year they were married, Graham and Gladys moved to Baripada, in Mayurbhanj, Orissa and took over the care of the Leprosy Home. The Home not only provided treatment to leprosy patients but also rehabilitation training in hand weaving and in making sabai grass products. It also had its own dairy farm. Gladys says that the Home had a good relationship with the people in the town of Baripada, because whenever they fell sick, or were bitten by snakes, the townspeople used to come to their house for treatment.

Graham was fluent in the Oriya, Santhali and Ho languages – assisting in the translation of the Bible into the Ho language. When the children were born, Gladys made sure they learnt to speak the local language and played with the local kids – including the children of leprosy patients at the Baripada Leprosy Home.

Swami Agnivesh, a famous Arya Samaj Hindu leader, says: ‘It is a mark of the Staines family’s total identi-fication with the local people that they could speak Santhali. What a refreshing contrast to the ways of our elite who are eager to leave this country. Unlike the Staines family, they disdain to speak local languages. And it is anybody’s guess if they would allow their children to play with the children of leprosy patients!’1

Graham used to organize ‘jungle’ camps for Christians in remote areas (‘jungli’ is Hindi for‘wild’). On these camps, Graham would give bible studies and his colleagues would take sessions on health and hygiene. And, it was at the 14th annual jungle Bible camp in the village of Monoharpur, just after midnight, on January 23, 1999, while Graham, Philip and Timothy were sleeping in their station wag-on, that their car was attacked, petrol was poured over the vehicle and set on fire, and Graham and the boys were burnt alive.

In January 2000, Dara Singh, a local Hindu militant, who was said to be furious about Staines evangelistic activities, was arrested hiding out with in a forest in Mayurbhanj and charged with their gruesome murder. In April 2003, the case went to trail, and in September 2003, the court convicted Dara Singh and 12 others of the Staines’ murder. Dara Singh was sentenced to death and the others were given life imprisonment.

From the instant Gladys got news of the deaths, through to the moment Dara Singh and his cronies were found guilty of killing her husband and her two sons, Gladys publicly offered the killers her forgiveness.

Gladys says, ‘It wasn’t something I had thought about. But when I heard that the family was dead, I told Esther, my daughter: “We’ll forgive those who killed them, won’t we?” And she said: “Yes, Mummy, we will.”

Two weeks later someone approached me at her school and said: “I can’t understand how you can forgive.” My daughter later told me: “Mummy, I can’t understand how they can’t under-stand why we have forgiven.” That was when I understood how deeply the teachings of Christ had penetrated within my daughter. Forgiveness brings healing. It allows the other person a chance to start life afresh. If I have some-thing against you and I forgive you, the bitterness leaves me. It also allows you to accept the forgiveness and move on. Forgiveness liberates both the forgiver and the forgiven.’2 ‘I have no hatred for anyone’.3

During the trial Gladys and Esther stayed on in India. ‘Graham would not have wanted me to pack my bags and just go off to Australia. What is necessary is to keep working for the welfare of the down-trodden’.4 So Esther completed her studies at Hebron at Ooty, while Gladys continued her work at the Leprosy Home. Recently, Gladys returned to Australia with Esther, who is studying medicine.

Swami Agnivesh, says ‘people all over the country, cutting across barriers, recognised this as the finest moment of true spirituality. Mrs Gladys Staines’ spiritual stature as revealed through her response. Though wounded in her soul by the barbarity inflicted on her dear husband and darling children, she refused to allow her mind to be tainted by hate. She was quick to forgive her husband’s killers. Her prayer was that the love of God that inspired her husband may touch their hearts also. She had the spiritual magnanimity to recognise that those who become mad with hate are also children of God, and that they too deserve forgive-ness. Her 13-year old daughter, Esther, thanked God for her father’s love for the people he treated – people afflicted with leprosy – and for finding him worthy to die for Christ. Can responses such as these fail to melt even the most hardened hearts?’5

The response of people in India to Gladys and Esther’s inspirational example has been remarkable. People all over the country have rallied around them. Thousands have written letters of support. And well-known Hindu leaders have led unity marches demonstrating their solidarity with Gladys and Esther as Christians. In 2002, peace activists gave Gladys the prestigious Gandhi Community Harm-ony Award. And in 2005, the President of India, Abdul Kalam – who is a Muslim – presented Gladys with the illustrious Padmashri Award, the highest civilian honour in the republic, in recognition of her distinguished service to the nation.

Swami Agnivesh says, ‘It is through people like Mrs Staines that religion finds its true expression. To the Staines family, this spirituality was exemplified in the life and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But to others, the same spirit is integral to the spiritual core of their own religious traditions Those of us who respect our religions will not fail to derive inspiration from this challenging example. But that is not enough. We also need to exert moral pressure on the retailers of our religions. This country is sick and tired of the fraud and violence practised in the name of religion. No religious establishment in the Indian context is blameless in this respect. From a national perspective, the most immediate and important need is not to convert people from one religion to another, but to challenge all religious communities to be true to the essence of their faiths. Reforming and transforming one’s faith is the need of the hour. The spiritual destiny of India will be fulfilled only when we realise that God is not an idol of our vested interests, but a cry of truth and justice breaking out of a heart of sacrificial love’.6

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1 ‘Healing The Spirit Of Gladys Staines’ Swami Agnivesh www.swamiagnivesh.com

2 ‘Forgiveness Brings Healing’ www.lifepositive.com

3 ‘I am overwhelmed: Gladys Staines’ The Hindu March 28 2006 New Delhi www.hinduonthenet.com

4 ‘Once You Forgive, There Will Be Healing’ Christianity Today February 2003 S. David and Manpreet Singh

5 ‘Healing The Spirit Of Gladys Staines’ Swami Agnivesh www.swamiagnivesh.com

6 ‘Healing The Spirit Of Gladys Staines’ Swami Agnivesh www.swamiagnivesh.com