SVCHA Newsletter - Winter 2009 | www.svcha.org | 2360 McLaughlin Avenue, San Jose, CA 95112 1

Your Love Endures Forever

by Helita Dewitt - September 6, 2008

How could you love me?After all I’ve done wrongI’ve tuned you out so many timesAnd yet, you still guide me along

When I’m faced with challengesAnd life’s at its paceIt’s always YOU that comes… To help me run this race

How could such love as yours?Still remain the same Especially in times of stubbornnessWhen I should have called your name

I’m intrigued by your timelessnessAnd your tender-loving touchI think, of all the people in this worldHow could you possibly love ME, this much?

Did I ever tell you?That you make my heart smileAnd that I take comfort in knowingThat I am YOUR beloved child?

When I think of you…Seated on the right hand of the throneI know there’s no way in this worldThat I could ever be alone

Lord, I’m humbled by the beauty of your holinessIt brings me great pleasureTo know that a love such as yoursWill always endure forever

When Cheryl and I started Silicon Valley Christian Health Alliance (SVCHA) five years ago, we could hardly conceive what the organization would look like at this time. We were setting out on this road with the knowledge that God had given us both a desire to use the blessings of our medical knowledge to reach out to the less fortunate and to spread God’s Kingdom in the San Jose area. We had already seen His faithfulness in providing volunteers and resources to help us with the incorporation process, a lot of which we had not anticipated or known about when we first started.

As we move forward, questions about whether we can even stay in opera-tion may have been answered, but there still remain unseen challenges and hurdles ahead. God does not want us to rush blindly or without preparation into the future, but unfortunately we cannot plan for all possible contingencies along the way. I think life’s unexpected bumps help us to understand our limits and grow our faith in Him.

Earlier this year, God used an incident in my life to teach me what it means to trust Him. On Valentine’s Day, I found myself driving my wife, Marie, to the emergency department when she felt ill. We were very scared because we were not sure exactly what was going on. Despite our hopes and the prayers of friends and family, Marie did not recover immediately. She spent a month in the hospital before finally being discharged home to continue her rehabilitation.

As events turned from bad to worse, I was in a daze and wondering why this was happening to us. Intellectually, I knew that bad things could and did happen to good people. Still, it was hard to accept. After all, we were try-ing to follow God and were not inten-

tionally disobeying Him. We were involved in good works like volunteering at SVCHA and had just started a small group at our church. Friends and family were praying for Marie to recover and be healed.

In His time, God showed me and Marie that He was in control. Though He did

Winter 2009 Newsletter - What’s Inside?Page 1 “Your Love Endures Forever” - poem by • Helita Dewitt Page 1 Celebrating 5th Year of SVCHA - God is • Faithful! by Andrew HwangPage 2 The Problem of Pain by Lorri• TsaiPage 3 Volunteering and Giving Opportunities•Page 4 Giving Catalog •

Celebrating 5th Year of SVCHA — God is Faithful!by Andrew Hwang

Andrew and his wife, Marie

“Though He did not heal Marie all at once, He did grant us two miracles...”

SVCHA Newsletter - Winter 2009 | www.svcha.org | 2360 McLaughlin Avenue, San Jose, CA 951122

There is something mysterious about pain in the eyes of a child of God. At Silicon Valley Christian Health Alliance (SVCHA) in San Jose, physical pain brings people to see doctors; while emotional pain and spiritual emptiness brings them to visit us, the prayer volunteers at the clinic. Along with free medical care, patients are offered prayer as part of their healing. As a prayer volunteer at the clinic on Saturdays, just thinking

about the overwhelming needs of the patients can intimidate me. However, the thought of God’s activities in His broken people transforms my fear into confidence. He works through the brokenness of the prayer volunteers. He has already ac-complished the work for us to claim His promises on behalf of those who cannot or do not know how to pray for themselves.

The Bible addresses many issues of the human heart. But I cannot fully understand the issues until I boldly confront the vacuum within my own heart. Whenever I seek to quench my heart with others besides God Himself, I realize that I need His healing. As C.S. Lewis wrote in The Problem of Pain, “God uses pain like a megaphone to speak to us.” The Bible addresses many issues of pain as a need that drives people

not heal Marie all at once, He did grant us two miracles that greatly sped up her healing and strengthened our faith. Our family rallied around us to support us in our trial. Marie and I thanked God for their giving hearts and their love. Our church prayer team was encouraged by reports of Marie’s progress and witnessed her recovery with their own eyes. Although Marie is not back to one hundred percent, she is continuing to progress and we both rest in the knowledge that God can and will bring complete healing to her.

One of the unique hopes that we have as followers of Christ is that we know that God can take the bad things in our lives and turn them into good. This was the case with Jesus on the cross. Satan had hoped it would bring about God’s ultimate defeat. Instead, the cross and Jesus’ resurrection assure us that God and good will triumph in the end. Similarly, with Ma-rie’s illness, we have seen how God used the bad events that happened to work some good things in our lives. Certainly, we may still wonder why these things happened, but God reminds us that he loves us and is ultimately sovereign.

After our return from the hospital, I learned of another de-velopment which further demonstrated how God can take

the bad things of life and bring good out of them. One of the emergency department doctors at Kaiser who took care of Marie was expecting his first child, but at 38 weeks he and his wife found out that the baby had died in the womb. To avoid complications to the mother, the baby’s birth was induced and “Peanut,” as the couple had named him, was delivered still-born. The emergency department has a tradition of donating to an organization whenever a doctor’s family member passes away. The doctor recalled that Marie and I had recently gone through troubles of our own, so he and his wife, who are both Christians, chose to donate money to SVCHA in Peanut’s honor after learning that I had founded SVCHA and hearing about SVCHA’s mission. Thus, a few months ago, SVCHA re-ceived a generous donation from them and from some of their colleagues. He and his wife wanted Peanut’s and Marie’s sto-ries to be testimonies of God’s faithfulness and love through whatever may happen.

As we move into an uncertain future, it is all of your support that keeps each one of us at SVCHA moving forward. Thanks again for being with us for these past five years. We appreci-ate your financial and spiritual support for the days, months, and years ahead. God bless!

to God. And our needs are opportunities for God’s lesson of obedience.

In the book of 2 Kings (Chapter 5), the Bible depicts Naaman as a highly respected commander of the king of Aram, who had the Lord’s favor. He was a valiant soldier who had leprosy. Elisha sent Naaman a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be re-stored and you will be cleansed.” God designed this lesson of obedience to bring Naaman’s healing. However, Naaman was initially upset with this instruction and refused to follow. He ex-pected the great prophet to come out and perform a miracle. Only later did Naaman’s servants persuade him with these words: “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed!’” The result was complete restoration!

True healing comes from repentance. It is simply a sincere admission that whatever we’re depending on for life will let us down. We shift our attention away from using our own resources to vulnerably trusting God. That shift is the recognition to change. God’s purpose in our lives is restoration. It starts with

The Problem of Painby Lorri Tsai

“True healing comes from repentance.”

SVCHA Newsletter - Winter 2009 | www.svcha.org | 2360 McLaughlin Avenue, San Jose, CA 95112 3

our salvation as we are reconciled with God. Then, it pro-gresses to reconciliation with others, forgiveness of ourselves and others who have wronged us. This restoration process permeates throughout our physical and emotional being, from the day of salvation until we see Him face to face.

The act of obedience is not without the promised reward. After all, His name is the Redeemer. As Tim Keller has written in The Reason for God, “The Biblical view of things is resurrec-tion – not a future that is just consolation for the life we never had, but a restoration of the life you always wanted. This means that every horrible thing that ever happened will not be undone and repaired, but will in some way make the eternal glory and joy even greater.” Restoration is His part. Our part is simple obedience – to trust and obey Him.

I see many SVCHA patients struggle with having true inner peace. The elemental peace that we experience as children of God is often missing. Biblical “shalom” (Isaiah 53:5) encompasses healing. The desired circumstance may or may not change. However, the patients’ pain connects them with the volunteers. That pain also links them with God. Pain reminds us of His good prom-ises to restore us. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding

as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:18).”

Yes, loss can diminish us. Yet, somehow, when we place our spiritual and emotional pain into His hands, we are made more whole by it. In our pain lies the potential desire to know God more intimately.

Volunteering and Giving Opportunities

Receiving prayer from SVCHA volunteer

To volunteer contact: Linh Ly at linh.ly@svcha.org Dental Ministry:• Open every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the monthMedical Ministry:• Open every 3rd Saturday of the month

Donate to SVCHA

Thank you for your support of Silicon Valley Christian Health Alliance! Your gift is helping to show and share the love of Jesus Christ by helping to provide accessible health and dental care oriented to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the underserved community. Silicon Valley Chris-tian Health Alliance, Inc. (SVCHA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Your gift is tax-deductible.

Option 1 - Donate online at www.svcha.org• Option 2 - Donate via the Giving Catalog • (see page 4)

Thank you for your support!

Special Thanks!Special thanks goes to the

Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara • Community Benefit ProgramSan Jose Christian Alliance Church• The River Church Community• Grace Community Covenant Church• Individual donors•

for their financial support this year in the midst of an economic downturn.

We invite your small groups to help through these ideas:Make hygiene kits (toiletries, socks, etc.)• Hang out at CityTeam• Witness for Christ and pray in the courtyard, waiting • room and basketball court

“In our pain lies the potential desire to know God more intimately.”

Gift Cards

Share the blessings of giving! You may request a Gift Card for each donation you give on behalf of a friend, family member or colleague.

Each Gift Card will indicate the gift of love you have given in their honor.

If you would like to contribute towards the ministry needs of SVCHA, please indicate the area of need you

would like your donation to be applied towards. You may request a Gift Card if donating on behalf of some-

one you love. Gift cards & receipts will be sent to the address on your check, unless otherwise indicated.

Thank you for partnering with us!

Tax deductible checks payable to SVCHA can be sent with this form to:

Silicon Valley Christian Health Alliance,

2360 McLaughlin Ave, San Jose, CA 95122

Medical / Dental Ministry: $25 $50 $100 Other________

Spiritual / Felt Needs Ministry: $25 $50 $100 Other____

Paid Internship Program: $50 $100 $200 Other_____

Where most needed: $___________________

Please send Gift Card(s) for my donations.

Please note that if the needs of any particular area are met, funds donated will be applied towards the next

greatest need in the SVCHA ministry. Contact: cheryl.thieu@svcha.org

Our mission is to show and share the love of Christ

by providing accessible health care oriented to the

physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the un-

derserved community. We currently provide medi-

cal and dental care to patients at the CityTeam Res-

cue Mission and Recovery Center in San Jose. See

our website svcha.org for more information.

G ift #1: Medical and Dental Ministry

Silicon Valley

Christian Health Alliance

Giving Opportunities A Faith-Based Clinic for the Underserved

Provides medical and dental care to our patients in need. Your dona-

tion of $50 sponsors one dental crown, $100 – one bridge, and $200 – a

set of upper or lower dentures. This gift also goes towards purchasing

needed prescription medications for patients.

G ift #2: Spiritual and Felt Needs Ministry

Provides spiritual materials like Bibles for follow up, and spiritual training

& equipping of our volunteer workers.

We also provide socks and hygiene supplies for our patients in need.

G This gift goes towards funding a paid internship program for CityTeam

Recovery graduates working as part-time staff with SVCHA.

ift #3: Paid Internship Program