Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. – 3 John 2 (KJV)
Over the past year I have been involved in a number of activities or should I say ministries that have changed my perspective on life, living and my overall world view and my concept of God. Two areas that I have found very humbling have been visiting the sick in the QEH and sharing the gospel of salvation.
My life as a teacher has always kept me very near to the need for greater care and concern for my fellowman and my recent restoration of my relationship with my God has created a renewed thirst, not just to be altruistic but to reach out to the spiritual needs of those around me.
Visiting the QEH over the years has always brought me face to face with the constant image of sickness, pain and the frailty of the human flesh and condition. It was not a place I wanted to be. This was made even worse when I saw instances when it appeared that pain, suffering and death were so commonplace to the health care professionals that in some instances an attitude of callousness that I have seen has been heart-rending.
Is there a sense in which nurses, paramedics, doctors and other related professions are so close to human suffering that their attitude smacks of insensitivity? Is there a sense in which their own sanity and survival rest on the adoption of an attitude of distancing themselves from the maladies whose remedies they are trained to deliver? Haven’t we detected a change in the attitude of nurses, whose profile once spoke of a caring that went beyond duty to include an empathy whose balm brought release no matter how minimal or slight? Let me say, however, that though the attitude of a younger generation of nurses is different, there still remains a cadre of health professionals who care deeply for their patients.
Recently, as part the Restoration Ministries hospital ministry team, I have been looking at human sickness through different eyes and altered lenses. As we visit Sunday after Sunday, we see the ravages of the violence and bloodshed that have overtaken our society. We come face to face with the trauma and we sometimes shudder of evidence of man’s inhumanity to man. On another level, we also see the impact of certain lifestyle practices on the human body and the painful sight of patients grasping to hold on to the last dregs of life.
Of course we know that we are not alone in this respect. For there are millions around the world who share the same concern for those whose illness has separated them from the comfort of their homes and their loved ones. The hospital ministry is committed to ministering the love and compassion of Jesus Christ. Our dedicated volunteers bring encouragement, prayers of faith and the healing touch of Christ to those who are hospitalised (www.serenityim.org). Our leader, who visits on other days, understands the healing power of Jesus Christ and while we don’t assume a doctrinal posture we never fail to let those to whom we minister know that God created us and it is He who has the manual and who can bring our bodies into alignment. Also on our team is a young man whom God healed and raised miraculously after he was robbed and shot in the head. His is a soul-winning testimony that speaks to the amazing healing power of God to use any circumstance to bring us closer to Him.
What we encounter, in the main on our visits, are people who eagerly receive our petition on their behalf, whose faith in God is their best medication. We see patients young and old who affirm their belief in the God of Moses, the God of Abraham, the God of Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego and of course, now that we are the dispensation of grace, the risen Christ of Easter who gave the ultimate sacrifice to bring mankind back to Him.
I personally find ministering to those who God has placed on their backs a very humbling experience. Not that doing it will necessarily get me a place in the Kingdom, but the Bible does remind us in Matthew 25:37-40 (KJV) that “verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
The team and I had the rare pleasure of ministering to a man, who incidentally was one of my students 38 years ago and to a 94-year-old man, both of whom we brought to Christ. Sickness such as we encounter brings us as well as those to whom we minister to the realisation that God is in control and whose report really matters. These humbling experiences also remind us that it is not over until God says so. Call me and perhaps you can join us as we bring comfort, hope and healing to body, soul and spirit.
• Matthew Farley is a secondary school principal, chairman of the National Forum on Education and a social commentator.