FINDING PEACE IN HARDSHIP
As an emergency service, oftentimes our patients are only in the hospital a short time before they are discharged and sent home for the remainder of their recovery. Our goal during this brief time is to demonstrate Christ’s love for them not only by meeting their physical needs (i.e., bringing them food, a bedsheet, soap, etc.), but also by sharing Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In contrast, other patients will be admitted for weeks or even months. Some are enduring long, painful recoveries; others are waiting in hopes of specialty services to arrive; occasionally some are offered palliative care when they are told there is nothing more that can be done to help their condition.
It is with patients like Maggie, a 50-year-old wife, mother, and grandmother who received the sobering diagnosis of terminal breast cancer, that we are privileged to have even deeper, more meaningful conversations and relationships. It didn’t take much time with Maggie and her husband Lukas to realize there was something special about them. Despite learning that she would not recover from her illness and being in constant severe pain, they both exuded a subtle peace and joy, which we later learned flowed from a relationship with Jesus Christ. Through the weeks and months of her stay we visited often, providing much needed pain medicine and other necessities, as well encouragement through the scriptures and prayer.
Recently, Maggie and Lukas returned to their home in a village near Ambunti to spend what remaining time she had with her family. She wasn’t fearful or angry but instead peaceful, thankful for the time she had here and excited about meeting her Savior face to face. For us, Maggie’s story is just as miraculous as if she had been completely healed from her cancer. Knowing that she will live for eternity with Christ is the ultimate healing we pray each of our patients receive as well. We know healing from physical ailments is only temporary, but the healing God gives is without end.
