Padre Sahib

A drama of life in the Indian Punjab. The drama concerns a Christian missionary and his wife, a doctor. He is known to the Indians as Padre Sahib. One day a boy, Isa Dass (servant of Jesus) tells the missionary he has learned carpentry in the mission school and if he can buy some tools, he can earn the rest of his way through school and theological seminary. From his slender purse, the missionary buys the tools for the boy. A few days later in a nearby village, a Moslem woman rebels when her husband brings home a new wife. Taking her small daughter, Zebada, whose eyes had been healed by the doctor, she seeks refuge with the missionaries. They place the child in the mission school and find a home and work for the mother. Some years later, Isa Dass finishes theological seminary and returns to the missionary, asking to be appointed pastor of a church. Zebada has become a nurse at the mission school. It does not take Isa Dass long to discover that he wants to marry Zebada and, following the Indian custom, he puts the question through a third party—in this case, Padre Sahib. When Padre Sahib asks the girl's mother if Zebada may marry Isa Dass he learns that when Zebada was a child her father betrothed her to Karam Bege in return for 500 rupees and that he cannot now return the money. Because of the great loyalty in Indian families, Zebada plans to marry Karam Bege to save her father from debtors' prison. When Isa Dass hears this he pays the debt in return for the privilege of marrying Zebada and together they take up the task of building a Christian church in an Indian village. Isa Dass soon wins a great many converts and asks Padre Sahib to come to the village to baptize them. Returning home from the baptism, Padre Sahib finds a letter from home which tells him that because of a shrinkage of funds in America, he may be recalled from his chosen work at any time. Padre Sahib and his wife sit with their heads bowed in prayer. As they pray, a vision of their unfinished work comes to them. Silhouetted against the sky is a procession of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the upright young men and women of India. They kneel before Padre Sahib who rises to offer a benediction. Note: All of the incidents in the film have been taken from actual happenings in the work of missionaries in India.