Lewis Helfand

Mother Teresa: Saint of the Slums Lewis Helfand

In the 1940's, Calcutta had become decimated by famine, poverty, war and unemployment. Slums began to surface throughout the city and thousands were homeless, dying of disease or starvation. Alone and forgotten, these poorest of the poor were desperate for someone, anyone, to recognize their plight and help them. That help arrived in the form of Mother Teresa.

Albanian-born, Mother Teresa knew from a young age that she wanted to become a nun and devote her life to God. What she could not envision, however, was exactly where that service to God would take her. Sent to Calcutta to teach history and geography from within the safe confines of a convent, Mother Teresa could not ignore the plight of the homeless and the dying. So she chose to give up everything in her life to serve those most in need.

With nothing but her faith to guide her, she took to the slums with the hope that she could make a difference in the lives of at least a few lost souls. And with her pure heart and beautiful spirit, she wound up touching millions.