Christian Medical Distinctives

Dr. Santosh Mathew (seated right) sharing the stage with Dr. Manoj Jacob (standing)
and Dr. Lata Mathew at the Whole Person Care plenary workshop (EMFI Conf. 2010)

Dr. Santosh Mathew from Ashok Hospital, Mumbai writes:

The EMFI Conference was a blessing to me personally.

The inspiring messages from Dr Vinod Shah, Rajkumar Ramachandran, Dr. Muralidharan edified me.

Dr. Vinod Shah took a session on Christian Medical distinctives.

Here is a brief synopsis of what he said:

Christian Medical Pracctice is much more than a career or job, it is a calling, a vocation.

When we view Medicine as a Job it causes Weariness and Dehumanization

When we think it is a Career, it causes Professionalization Competition and Neurosis

When we consider it as a Vocation, it Builds knowledge of God and Deep happiness and fulfillment

Another difference lies in the Christian doctor focusing on Healing rather than merely curing. A cured person can be still hurting. Healing goes beyond the disease.

A Christian Doctor has a Patient orientation rather than a professional or a commercial orientation, and this patient orientation is of course subject to what the Christian doctor understands is God’s will. For example a patient may ask for an abortion because she feels it is the best option but the Christian Doctor knows it is against God’s will.

There are three common orientations possible in the way a Doctor looks at a patient:

1. Patient orientation: How can I best help him/her?

2. Professional orientation: How can this patient help me learn the most?

3. Commercial orientation: How can I make the most money out of him?

Christian medicine is not about great performance, rather it is about relevance!!

Christian medical career is about realizing one’s potential not competition with colleagues

Competing with oneself rather with the others.

A Christian doctor is the “master” of time rather than a “slave” of time. One redeems “time” by doing the right thing rather than always doing the “urgent” things.

Good doctoring is not about efficiency/Output. A slave of “time” can be defined as someone who focuses on “output” and forgets the “outcome or impact”.

Attitude to knowledge also differs in a Christian Doctor: Rather than using knowledge as a power tool, He is known for his willingness to share.

He or she uses knowledge to love versus Knowledge for power.

Understanding suffering

Christians believe that suffering is “redemptive”

Indian religions believe that suffering is “punitive”

The Christian God is with us in the pit sharing our pain and suffering.

Attitude to death:

Death is not a defeat for the medical fraternity.

Accepting the praise of patients: A Christian Doctor is prompt in giving the glory to God

Attitude to the unlovely/invisible and the marginalized

A civilized culture is one that looks after the “weak”

• The economically poor
• Socially powerless-women
• Old
• Jobless
• Handicapped
• HIV/AIDS, Leprosy

A civilized society is one that looks after the powerless.

The following are the Christian distinctives in medicine:

1. Having a vocation rather than just a job or a career

2. Healing rather than just curing

3. Having a “patient” rather than a professional or a commercial orientation

4. Doing relevant things rather than exotic things

5. Competing with oneself rather than with others

6. Master of time rather than slave of time.

7. Using “knowledge” as a tool to “love” rather than as a “power "tool.

8. Sees suffering as “redemptive” rather than as “punitive”.

9. Gives the glory to God rather than accepting the praise of patients.

10. Sees “invisible” people

Ranchi Welcome

Welcome to Jharkhand! The EMFI National Conference got on to an excellent start with a spirited tribal dance led using the traditional mandar drum. The dancers sang a song of welcome as the delegates were led to the opening meeting of the EMFI conference.

At the first tea break the welcomes continued! Feet were washed in the traditional way - and many smiles and hugs were shared as we participated in tribal culture - which mirrors the act of our Lord washing his friends' feet!

A new general secretary was welcomed! Dr. Manoj Jacob was welcomed into his new responsibility - along with Manju he takes up the challenge of leading the EMFI movement. It was a privilege to thank God for the work that Dr. Ashok Chacko has done during his 4 year stint - and we are so grateful for what Ashok and Vinita have brought to so many.

We welcomed the Holy Spirit. God spoke powerfully. Through song and word. Through speakers and sharing of testimonies. Through the same thoughts coming over and over again. Intimacy with God. Hearing His call. Sharing the joy of Jesus. Reaching out. Living the abundant life. Seeing God's Kingdom come.

We welcomed new friends - and old! The conference was a time to meet and greet - and talk and fellowship. What a blessing to be with each other. What sweet communion as we shared our thoughts (and some of our sorrows), as we explored dreams and laughed, as we discussed and opened up.

How good it is when brothers live in harmony...

EMFI Ranchi Conference Theme song

EMFI Theme Song: May Thy Kingdom Come

When my heart heaves with your compassion,
When my eyes fill with your tears
When my soul moves with your emotion
They Kingdom come

When I touch the sick with your hands
When my feet run toward your mission
When my being immerses in your Spirit
Thy Kingdom come

May Thy Kingdom come
On earth as it is heaven
May Your will be done
Through me
I surrender all, before your Kingly throne
May thy Kingdom come
May thy Kingdom come

Till we see Your face in each other
Till we love each other as our brother
As our Lord, obeying His one Master
Thy Kingdom come

When we stand adorned in heavenly armour
Joining hands, upholding one another
Marching forth, soldiers for their Saviour
Thy Kingdom come


May Thy Kingdom come
On earth as it is heaven
May Your will be done
Through us
We surrender all, before your Kingly throne
May thy Kingdom come
May thy Kingdom come

(bridge)
Them who know their God
Great things they will do
To extend His Kingdom
To give Him His glory

-Dr. Suneetha Varghese

-------------------------------------------

A beautiful song written especially for the EMFI National Conference by Dr. Suneetha Varghese. We were led in this inspiring song by Dr. Suneetha and her husband Dr. Sujith Varghese.

The Vargheses are serving at Broadwell Christian Hospital in Fatehpur and report wonderful things taking place there. They will be down to only 2 doctors next month - them! Can someone join them? Lets pray and see God's Kingdom come in Fatehpur - and across our great Nation of India!

Take your candle, go light the world...

The end of an amazing experience of unity and challenge - the whole Ida Scudder Auditorium at CMC Vellore full of light and voices singing together as images of God-honouring medical work were projected... A small taste of heaven.

May your Kingdom come and may your Will be done
On Earth as it is in Heaven.

Leadership

Dr. Vinod Shah on leadership:

In the account of Namaan being cured who are the Leaders...

Administrative Power was held by:
- King of Assyria (Ben-Hadad)
- King of Israel (Joram son of Ahab)
- Commander of Assyrian Armies (Namaan)

Agents of Change:
- servant girl (nameless)
- Elisha (not thought of by the Israeli King)
- Namaan's servants and aides (nameless)

How much of the time we strive for positional leadership. If only I were .... (fill in the blanks - Director, Head of Department, my own Boss, Chief Minister, Important etc.) then I would do ....

But all through history we see that we don't need high office to affect change.

Christians who want to change the world don't have to have a high position. We can be agents of change like the servant girl - who remains nameless - but who had clearly won the trust of her mistress and master - through the weight of her character.

We can be right at what seems to be the 'bottom of the heap' and still bring about change.

Don't tell yourself 'I can't do anything'

Jesus tells us: "You are the light of the world" - we are called to enlighten a world that is in darkness.

Jesus tells us: "You are the salt of the world" - we are called to preserve that which is good - and bring taste to that which is tasteless.

Christian health care leaders need to exercise moral authority rather than aspire solely for positional authority.

Moral authority has to be earned, however.

No short cuts. Integrity. Honesty. Caring. Esteeming. Building others up. Consistency.

Indian Missional Blogs

Do you ever want to learn more about what different people in the front-line of Medical Missions in India are experiencing?

Enter the world of blogs.

Real time accounts of what is happening. Slice of life - fly on the wall - end of exhausting day write-ups... and more.

Here are a few choice links for you to chew on (in no particular order). Click on the link to get to the blog!

1. Views from the Mathews - Drs. Arpit and Amy Mathew share their lives and experiences in a mission hospital in Shillong.

2. What gives - Dr. Chering Tenzing's views on life. She is currently at Herbertpur Christian Hospital in Dehra Dun district.

3. Manali Hospital - Dr. Philip Alexander tells us about the happenings in the hills through the lens of the Lady Willington Hospital in Manali!

4. The Learner - Dr. Jeevan Kuruvilla shares about serving at Nav Jivan Hospital in Jharkhand.

5. Around and About - Prolific (!) writer Dr. Shantanu Dutta's wide-angle views of the world.

6. Chai Chats with the Eichers - Andi and Dr. Sheba Eicher on life and service with people with HIV in Thane, Maharashtra.

7. EMFI Mizoram blog - maintained by Dr. Chhana Ralte at the Durtlang Mission Hospital, Aizawl. Lots of inspirational stuff with a Mizo flavour!

8. Shrink's Views - Dr. Dheeraj Khattula's adventures as a missional psychiatrist.

Please contact us about other links - we would love this to be a launching point for you to taste what different folks are experiencing and sharing.

And do send a note to the different medicos serving in these challenging situations! Every prayer and encouragement helps! One way of doing so is leaving comments on what they have expressed in their blogs...

Happy reading!

Shadowing Dr. Jesus

As learners let us follow Dr. Jesus on his rounds.

At the very start of his action-packed book, the gospel writer Mark tells us how Jesus came home to Simon's house in Capernaum. What an honour and joy this must have been for Simon Peter.

But there was a problem. Simon's mother-in-law was sick. She was in bed with fever. So they told Jesus about her.

So many people around us are debiliatated by illness. Simon's mother-in-law would not have wanted to be in bed - and certainly not suffering from her fever.

Today with the advent of analgesics and antipyretics, most fevers are treated as minor events. Just 100 years ago this was hardly the case. One never knew what would happen over the course of the fever. Fevers were monitored carefully, with a dread should they 'linger.'

Jesus listened to those who told him about Simon's mother-in-law. In one short verse we hear: "So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on him." (Mark 1.31).

How much of the healing that we all want to be part of is captured in those few words. As we shadow Dr. Jesus we must carefully observe every part of his therapeutic and restorative work.

He went to her. How often we expect people in need to come to us. Jesus heard. And went. He goes to the place of the problem, rather than waiting for people to appear at his darbar, at his clinic, at his convenience.

[He] took her hand. That personal touch. The touch of love. He did not wave a magic wand, but let his own hands touch hers. How much we need to learn. How quickly we ward ourselves off from people, hiding behind our desks, hiding behind our professionalisms. How much people are hungry for the loving touch. Jesus reach out and took her hand.

[He] helped her up. Jesus gives dignity and support to help Simon's mother-in-law to regain her own stance. Instead of lying supine and in feverish pain, Jesus has helped her to stand. Oh that we would do so too. How often we neglect to help people up. How quickly we can make people dependent on us and our skill sets, rather than giving people the tools to be healthy and wise on their own.

Now we see the two twin results of Jesus' actions:

The fever left her. The disease is gone. That which troubled her and incapacitated her has now left. As Christians who are in the healing profession - we know the tremendous joy when that which has troubled our friends who are ill finally departs.

... and she began to wait on him. This is the part we usually ignore. End of disease? End of story. But the healing process is not just an absence of a pathogen or the elimination of a root etiology. Healing means wholeness - and what does the person do after the illness? In the case of Simon's mother, she was able to joyfully serve - immediately! How wonderful to see a person bursting with health - health not just enjoyed by the now-well-person, but channelled into serving others. Our work of healing is to help the dear people we serve... themselves in turn serve others! And what better person to serve - than the Master Himself?

Values for Kingdom Healthgivers

A post by Dr. Manoj Jacob:

When we as Christian Health Professionals look around us we see a different value system which seems attractive and "glamorous" but the end is heartache and trouble when God's values are compromised. The people of Israel faced the consequences when they decided to have a king like the nations around them and rejected God as King! God warned them in advance but they were not convinced.

The prophet Jeremiah reminds the people of God.. that “God's plans for them are for good and not for evil…..to give them a future and a hope" (29:11)

Isaiah echoes a similar promise by saying, "He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure" (33:6)

All that we need for our lives and profession is available if we use the right key!

Compromising on godly principles may bring temporary "benefit" but the long term consequences are disastrous.

As Christian health care professionals what an opportunity we have to bring comfort and healing to a hurting world! Only Jesus can give hope and meaning to the lives of people who are desperate. .

I like what Dr Varghese Philip once said: "unless Christians be the salt and light, society will disintegrate!"

May we be His channels of blessing to the many people we meet each day and be the 'salt and light'. May God give us the courage and strength to persevere!

Cleaning the spring

Water is so vital to life. We all know that. Many of us work in situations where access to clean drinking water is far from ideal. We see the suffering of disease which springs out lack of clean water for drinking, bathing and washing.

Spare a thought for a startling report on the BBC website which reports that 77 million people in Bangladesh are being poisoned with arsenic - from the water that they drink.

image by Kameehan - [IMG]http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad94/kameehan/bhatiary0003.jpg[/IMG]

The study quoted estimates that 1 in 5 deaths were attributable to aresenic poisoning - caused from drinking water which has been pumped up using the simple hand-pumps that we are so familiar with in rural India. The aresenic occurs naturally it seems - but large scale use of hand-pumps has now exposed most of the population to this poisoning.

How ironic that access to water has brought with it a poison. Unseen, undetected it was being drunk along with the water for years before the effects started showing up in the population.

We face similar situations both literally and figuratively in so much of our practice.

Many things seem good - but bring hidden costs. The consumer lifestyle which so many of our aspirational countrymen have embraced - with its luxuries and comforts - has also brought some of the highest rates of heart disease.

We also face hidden poisons in a spiritual sense. How many times do our relationships seem to be flourishing, when all along we are drinking small doses of bitterness and resentment. The little doses add up to major damage.

Likewise, what goes in the mind may be small thoughts - but they allow bitter roots to dig deep into us - and surprise us later with bitter fruit.

When the prophet Elisha had just begun his public ministry, he was faced with a challenge:

The men of the city said to Elisha, "Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive."

"Bring me a new bowl," he said, "and put salt in it." So they brought it to him.

Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This is what the LORD says: 'I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.' "

And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken. (2 Kings 2.19-22 NIV)

Notice the situation and its parallels with so much of what we deal with today. A city which was in a good location. So many of our cities and places of habitation are just that - places which offer many advantages.

But a silent and horrible poison which caused damage to humans and the land. We face so many of these - don't we? Polluting effluents, various levels of chemicals from agriculture and pest-control, the massive byeproducts of vehicles and power plants, human and animal wastes - all in levels far beyond the 'normal'.

As mentioned before, we can also see this at a spiritual level. Broken relationships, greed that runs out of hand, ethical standards that are broken with impunity, pollution of the mind and heart.

So what is to be done?

Elisha speaks the word of the Lord into the situation. He uses a new bowl and salt - presumably obeying what God had told him to do - and cleanses the foul spring.

Is it too much to look forward to the person of Jesus and his command for us to be salt and light in this world? He is after all the one who gives living water!

Could we see humble followers of Christ offering themselves as clean vessels and speaking the Good News into situations that seem hopelessly befouled?

I think we can. And that is at least partly why you and I are alive today.

Let us let our Master use us for His healing work!

Tuberculosis

Its World TB day today. Our country continues to have the largest number of people living - and dying of tuberculosis.

The BBC website has a powerful set of photos about TB in Mumbai, which can be seen by clicking: here.

We are blessed with a government health system that does provide free TB medications. We have the skills to control this disease. The love of God compels us to love our neighbours - even those with TB - as ourselves. We as Christ-followers are the very body of our Lord - His hands and feet in our nation.

What is stopping us from reaching out more?