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Issue No. 7 - March 2013

Nazareth Hospice CareDr. Mary, pictured below reading an X-ray, is a physician at Nazareth Hospital. This is the story of why she felt compelled to spearhead the recently instituted Hospice Center at Nazareth.

Several years ago, back in India, my father died of liver cancer. I witnessed his suffering, pain and discomfort as he was dying. The doctors who treated him refused to give him sedatives or strong analgesics. When I asked why, they told me that with a liver disorder, it is not good to give such drugs. I felt helpless because I was a medical professional, but I was unable to ease my father’s pain.After returning to Kenya, I had the opportunity to attend a seminar regarding palliative care in 2010. That encouraged me to look into instituting hospice care at Nazareth Hospital. There are so many patients in our wards who are terminally ill and the mortality rate is highest in medical wards. We tell the relatives of our dying patients that nothing can be done in these last stages of a disease. I wanted to do something to change that.I approached Sister Clara about starting a hospice center such as the ones I learned about in my

seminar. Once I got her approval, I invited KEHPCA - Kenya Hospice and Palliative Care Association - to our hospital. They came, they trained our staff, we registered with them and now we are accredited to provide hospice care to our terminally ill patients.Currently we have two six-bed rooms set aside for hospice treatment at Nazareth - one for men and one for women. This department is in its infancy and in need of medical equipment, drugs and supplies, such as pulse-oximeters, oxygen concentrator, suction machine, beds, ripple mattresses, diapers, gloves, BP machines. We are seeking donations and sponsorships by individuals, groups and drug companies and would be grateful for any help we can get.

If you would like to make a donation to the Hospice Center at Nazareth Hospital, contact Jim Wood, jim@fpcnorfolk.org.

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Call of Kenya 2013

Do You Want to Be Made Well?by Morgan Burrows  June 29, 2011

Do you want to be made well?  Jim Wood asked the team to contemplate this question in our after-dinner devotion. 

By today most of our team has experienced the deep privilege of home visits.  As we trek in small groups across Kenya, entering into homes of dirt floors, tin and potato sack walls, we can’t help but think to ourselves: can anyone be made well?  There are times, I’m sure, where the mission-hearted ones of us contemplate living in Africa.  I think ultimately that would be the easy route as far as creating a comfort zone. 

The real challenge for us is going to and returning from Kenya and figuring out how to move from one life to the next.  How do we cope with the crisis situations we sit next to on a plastic stool or lace-covered cushion in each home visit?  How do we love with our entire selves and not bring a child home with us? 

Today we all learned about an American trance we are lured into, a trance that causes us not to be ready at the moment Jesus wants us to do something we don’t think we can do or “get up and walk.”  We learned how to heal ourselves from this trance through the story of Jesus healing the paralytic beginning in John 5:1.  We have to want to be made well.  We have to tell Jesus “I want to be made well” and as a group member pointed out this evening, one thing we have in common with each African, each starving child, is that we want to be made well.

Do you want to be a tourist or do you want to be a pilgrim? A tourist sets out seeking a glimpse into another place, another culture, another lifestyle. A tourist soon returns to “real life” with a few souvenirs, some photographs, maybe a t-shirt, as a reminder of the adventure.A pilgrim sets out seeking Christ. A pilgrim goes seeking immersion into the hearts and spirits, the struggles and joys, of those he encounters. A pilgrim returns home with his soul forever changed by the living God. The Call of Kenya is a pilgrimage. If you would like to know what it is like to spend two weeks serving God’s people in Kenya, visit the Tree of Lives website. And then contact Becky Lyle Pinkard, who would be happy to talk with you about all of the details of these two trips.

June 22-July 6October 26-November 9

Editor’s Note: Below is an excerpt from the blogs of the 2011 Summer Kenya Pilgrimage. It is included here as a window into a day in the life of a pilgrim in Kenya, and the challenges and the joys that will brand you forever should you hear the call.