CMDA TODAY
Volume 52 • Number 2 • Summer 2021
CourageTHROUGH theCrisiS Stories from the Frontlines
My
CM D A
Story
I became a Lifetime Member of CMDA because I see disturbing changes taking place in American medicine that are impacting rights of conscience. I believe Christian healthcare professionals must band together as one raising a standard of righteousness and opposing the calling of evil, good. Isaiah 59:19 says, “So shall they fear The name of the Lord from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him” (NKJV). I thank God for the existence of CMDA! —Marc Chetta, MD
Become a Lifetime Member of CMDA When you join CMDA, you join Dr. Chetta and more than 20,000 healthcare professionals across the country who are part of this growing movement of “bringing the hope and healing of Christ to the world through healthcare professionals.”
Visit www.joincmda.org or call 888-230-2637 to join us today. Paid Advertisement
From the CMDA President T. Lisle Whitman, MD
Fulfilling His Call
W
riting an introduction for a publication of CMDA is not something I ever thought I would find myself doing. This is one of my first responsibilities as the new CMDA President. Me, president? Did I miss a meeting? Did everyone else step back while I daydreamed as they asked for volunteers? (Those old enough to remember Gomer Pyle might smile at that one). As I reflect on the amazing line of men and women who have served as president since I joined the board 10 years ago, I know I do not quite fit. The leader of a Christian residency, a leader in the Marriage Enrichment Commission, a former missionary physician, a state gubernatorial candidate, a writer of a devotional book, a leader of an organization dedicated to saving abused women—what a legacy of leadership we have! The good news is the standard is once again raised with Dr. George Gonzalez, our new Presidentelect. Nevertheless, you have me for two years, so here comes my first introduction. I continue to be amazed how God’s Word meets us where we are. I recently determined that I had been away from the Old Testament long enough. I resolutely opened to Genesis and began reading. Familiar stories encouraged me. Then Genesis 15:1-2 hit me like a night of trauma call. Abraham, fresh off his defeat of the raiding kings and restoring his nephew Lot, paid a tithe to Melchizedek. The story tells us he took 318 armed men of his household on his battle. He was extremely wealthy. He had all the comforts he needed. The local kings respected him. Then God spoke to him in Genesis 15: “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.’ But Abram said, ‘Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’” (Genesis 15:1-2, NASB). In spite of all his material possessions, leadership positions and the respect of his community, Abraham wanted a legacy. He realized he really had nothing without an heir to fulfill his legacy. I suspect it has to do with my age and station in life, but I identify with Abraham’s question. It is easy to get sidetracked as a healthcare professional. We gain material comfort, administrators call on us for “advice” as our hair grays and the community recognizes our name. It can cause me to lose sight of the real call God placed upon my life. While I am still working to understand what God is giving me personally, I am excited about what He is giving our organization.
CMDA’s Board of Trustees spent the last 18 months working diligently on the ministry’s next strategic plan. In these challenging times, we asked where God would have our administration focus to use this group of committed Christian healthcare professionals to bring Him glory, to effect change for Him and to reach the last, the least and the lost. Let me highlight our new strategic plan. Within our Mission and Vision Statements, four Key Result Areas have been developed. Each of these areas will receive a new focus over the next three years. 1. Community: We will focus on expanding mentorship activities and strengthening community networks across CMDA. This area remains the heartbeat of CMDA. 2. Advocacy: We will align our priorities with Jesus’ priorities. We will educate our members to speak winsomely on issues. We will promote diversity within our membership and ministries. 3. Service: We will grow our focus on serving others internationally while expanding opportunities to serve domestically. 4. Equipping: We will provide resources that enable our members to be faithful, effective and resilient ambassadors for the gospel, even in a hostile culture. Much prayer and effort has gone into this plan. Over the coming months, you will see new initiatives and resources moving in these directions. We will strengthen our focus on being the body of Christ to one another and the world. The leadership of CMDA believes this path is inspired by God. This plan will stretch our organization and drive us to expand our legacy. To do so will require God’s promise to Abraham to be true to CMDA, “I am a shield to you, and your reward shall be very great.” Join us as we strive to fulfill His call as Christians in healthcare.
T. Lisle Whitman, MD, is the 2021-2023 CMDA President. He is an orthopedic surgeon in Bristol, Tennessee, and he has practiced with Appalachian Orthopedic Associates since 2000. Lisle and his wife Lauren have three children, one daughter-in-law and three grandchildren. He loves the practice of general orthopedics. He has participated in several overseas mission trips, and he enjoys family trips, the lake and learning new things.
www.cmda.org | 3
VOLUME 52 | NUMBER 2 | SUMMER 2021
EDITOR Mandi Morrin
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Gregg Albers, MD John Crouch, MD Autumn Dawn Galbreath, MD Curtis E. Harris, MD, JD Van Haywood, DMD Rebecca Klint-Townsend, MD Robert D. Orr, MD Debby Read, RN
CMDA TODAY
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CMDA is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). CMDA Today™, registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Summer 2021, Volume LII, No. 2. Printed in the United States of America. Published four times each year by the Christian Medical & Dental Associations® at 2604 Highway 421, Bristol, TN 37620. Copyright© 2021, Christian Medical & Dental Associations®. All Rights Reserved. Distributed free to CMDA members. Non-doctors (US) are welcome to subscribe at a rate of $35 per year ($40 per year, international). Standard presort postage paid at Bristol, Tennessee. Undesignated Scripture references are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Other versions are noted in the text.
CHRISTIAN MEDICAL & DENTAL ASSOCIATIONS P.O. Box 7500, Bristol, TN 37621 888-230-2637 main@cmda.org • www.cmda.org If you are interested in submitting articles to be considered for publication, visit www.cmda.org/publications for submission guidelines and details. Articles and letters published represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations. Acceptance of paid advertising from any source does not necessarily imply the endorsement of a particular program, product or service by CMDA. Any technical information, advice or instruction provided in this publication is for the benefit of our readers, without any guarantee with respect to results they may experience with regard to the same. Implementation of the same is the decision of the reader and at his or her own risk. CMDA cannot be responsible for any untoward results experienced as a result of following or attempting to follow said information, advice or instruction.
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ON THE COVER
Mandi Morrin
Courage Through the Crisis: Stories from the Frontlines
28
But God: Finding the Silver Lining Trish Burgess, MD, and Ron Brown
Stories from CMDA members about God
working through the pandemic
20
Lessons Learned in the COVID-19 Field Hospital Christine M. Rutledge, RN
A nurse shares her experience volunteering in New York City
24
God opens doors for Global Health Outreach to begin domestic mission outreaches
32
The Dr. John Patrick Bioethics Column How do we push back on the hubris of secularism? John Patrick, MD
Exploring the importance of culture and community in healthcare
Facing the Virus Overseas Catherine Hodge, MD, and Mark Crouch, MD
See PAGE 34 for CLASSIFIED LISTINGS
How COVID-19 affected international healthcare missionaries
REGIONAL MINISTRIES
Connecting you with other Christ-followers to help better motivate, equip, disciple and serve within your community Western Region: Michael J. McLaughlin, MDiv • P.O. Box 2169 • Clackamas, OR 97015-2169 • Office: 503-522-1950 • west@cmda.org Midwest Region: Allan J. Harmer, ThM, DMin • 951 East 86th Street, Suite 200A • Indianapolis, IN 46240 • 317-407-0753 • cmdamw@cmda.org Northeast Region: Tom Grosh, DMin • 1844 Cloverleaf Road • Mount Joy, PA 17552 • 609-502-2078 • northeast@cmda.org Southern Region: Grant Hewitt, MDiv • P.O. Box 7500 • Bristol, TN 37621 • 402-677-3252 • south@cmda.org
THE CHRISTIAN MEDICAL & DENTAL ASSOCIATIONS ® Changing Hearts in Healthcare . . . since 1931.
Ministry News RESOURCES
New Ethics Statements At the spring board meeting, CMDA’s Board of Trustees and House of Representatives approved new and updated ethics statements. Those statements are: • Abortion • Homosexuality
• Immunizations
• P ersons with Acquired Cognitive Impairment
CMDA Go App Have you downloaded CMDA Go yet? Our new mobile app, CMDA Go is now available to download on Apple and Android mobile devices. Visit your device’s app store to download it today. In the new CMDA Go app, you can set up your personal CMDA profile, check out the latest news from CMDA, listen to CMDA Matters and other podcasts, renew your membership and make your dues payments, access a variety of downloadable resources, interact with other members through the discussion forms and join group chats. For more information, visit www.cmda.org/app.
CMDA Matters Are you listening to CMDA’s weekly podcast with CEO Dr. Mike Chupp? Start listening now to learn more about our new Book of the Month program. CMDA Matters is our popular weekly podcast with the latest news from CMDA and healthcare. A new episode is released each Thursday, and interview topics include bioethics, healthcare missions, financial stewardship, marriage, family, public policy updates and much more. Plus, you’ll get recommendations for new books, conferences and other resources designed to help you as a Christian in healthcare. Recent guests on the podcast have included: Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Dr. Donna Harrison, executive director of the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists; Phillip Yancey, bestselling author; and Dr. Carl Trueman, author and professor of biblical and religious studies. Listen to CMDA Matters on your smartphone, your computer, your tablet… wherever you are and whenever you want. For more information, visit www.cmda.org/cmdamatters.
• Transgender Identification These statements are designed to provide you with biblical, ethical, social and scientific understanding of these issues through concise statements articulated in a compassionate and caring manner. They are needed for the religious freedom battles we are currently facing, so we encourage you to share them with your colleagues, pastors, church leaders and others. Visit www. cmda.org/ethics for more information about CMDA’s Ethics Statements and to review these new statements.
Upcoming Events Dates and locations are subject to change due to COVID-19. For a full list of upcoming CMDA events, visit www.cmda.org/events. Trophy Trout Fishing with CMDA July 22-25, 2021 • Bristol, Tennessee
Pre-field Orientation for New Healthcare Missionaries August 11-14, 2021 • Boone, North Carolina Turkey Tour August 24 – September 3, 2021 • Turkey
Women Physicians in Christ Annual Conference September 30 – October 3, 2021 • Grand Rapids, Michigan Greece Tour October 1-10, 2021 • Greece
New Zealand Tour October 12-26, 2021 • New Zealand
Marriage Enrichment Weekend November 12-24, 2021 • Palm Coast, Florida
www.cmda.org | 5
Ministry News
Bridging the Gap
CMDA Learning Center
As Christians, we are called to speak truth into ethical issues and courageously stand up for what’s morally right according to our beliefs. But in order to engage others in these discussions with grace and kindness, first we need to arm ourselves with knowledge and understanding of each of these topics. Bridging the Gap: Where Medical Science and Church Meet is a new small group study developed by expert healthcare professionals on CMDA’s Church Commission. The curriculum is designed to ask difficult, thought-provoking questions as we seek the truth found in God’s Word about the ethical issues facing Christians today. Topics include addictions, beginning of life, end of life, gender identity, right of conscience and sexuality. This free study will be available this summer. For more information, visit www.cmda.org/bridgingthegap.
The CMDA Learning Center offers complimentary continuing education courses for CMDA members. This online resource is continuing to grow with new courses to help you in your practice as a Christian healthcare professional. More than 100 hours of continuing education are now available at NO COST to CMDA members, including: • Conscience Rights, Sexuality and Gender, and the Medical Professional: Understanding the Challenge with Andre Van Mol, MD • Clinical Perspectives on the Transgender Movement presented with Paul W. Hruz, MD, PhD • Common Psychiatric Consequences of Human Trafficking on Children and Adolescents and Their Medical Management with Paul Glaser, MD, PhD, and Joyce Lo, MD, FAAP. For more information and to access the CMDA Learning Center, visit www.cmda.org/learning.
Now Offering Online Appointments with CMDA Member Dr. Thomas Maple Dr. Thomas Maple is a psychologist who provides faith-based psychotherapy online. He is licensed/legally authorized to practice psychology via telehealth in: • • • • • • •
Alabama Arizona Colorado Delaware District of Columbia Georgia Illinois
• • • • • • •
Kentucky Missouri Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Mexico North Carolina
• • • • •
Oklahoma Pennsylvania Texas Utah Virginia
Dr. Maple has been treating patients via telehealth since 2017 and accepts private insurances and Medicare. For more information, visit www.crosswalknow.com or call 334-432-8372. Paid Advertisement
Ministry News MEMBER NEWS
CMDA 2021 Member Awards
LEARN MORE The following awards were presented at this year’s National Convention. These articles are excerpted from the actual award citations which can be viewed at www.cmda.org/awards.
2021 Educator of the Year Award C. Christopher Hook, MD, FACP
Dr. Hook received his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, and he completed his training in internal medicine, hematology and medical oncology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. During his training, Dr. Hook met Jodie, and they married in 1987. Then, Dr. Hook joined the staff in the Department of Hematology/Oncology at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville in Florida. Shortly after relocating, Dr. Hook, who was in the U.S. Army Reserves, was activated to serve at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas during
Operation Desert Storm. After his service, Dr. Hook returned to Jacksonville, where he created the Hospital Ethics Committee and Consultation Service at St. Luke’s Hospital. Dr. Hook and his family moved back to Minnesota in 1994. During his time at Mayo Clinic Rochester, he founded the clinic’s Ethics Consultation Service. He has also served as the Director of Ethics Education for the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. He created the first online ethics education course and currently teaches three ethics courses for this program. Dr. Hook is also part of a team creating a master’s in bioethics program for Mayo Clinic. Since 2000, he has been a Senior Fellow of the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity in Illinois, and he has served intermittently on CMDA’s Ethics Committee since 1994.
A new curriculum from CMDA to equip Christian healthcare professionals to share the love of Christ with our patients and our colleagues. Building on the legacy of The Saline Solution and Grace Prescriptions, this new video-based teaching program is now available on the CMDA Learning Center. Addressing a broad range of issues related to how can we can better meet our patients’ spiritual needs, each 15-minute module includes group discussion questions. • • • • • • • • • •
Faith Prescriptions Introduction – Dr. William Griffin The Case For Practicing Medicine Christianly – Dr. Farr Curlin Keeping It Natural – Dr. Patti Francis Taking A Spiritual History – Dr. Andrew Wai Spiritual Interventions – Dr. Jacob Greuel Staying On Schedule – Dr. Selina Lin Praying With And For Patients – Dr. Mike Chupp Sharing The Good News – Dr. Cathie Scarbrough Will Our Patients Listen? – Dr. Francis Nuthalapaty Considerations For The Medically Underserved – Drs. David & Janet Kim
Free for CMDA Members at www.cmda.org/learning
www.cmda.org | 7 Paid Advertisement
Ministry News 2021 Missionary of the Year Award Dr. Jim and Mrs. Kathy Radcliffe
Jim and Kathy met when they were singing together in a youth choir, and they married after graduating from Mt. Vernon Nazarene University in Ohio. Kathy received her bachelor’s degree in medical dietetics from Ohio State University in 1978. Next, Jim graduated from Ohio State University Medical School in 1979 and completed a residency in general surgery at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio in 1984. They were called to missions early in life. Following his five years of surgery training and one year of surgical practice, the Radcliffes were appointed as missionaries to Papua New Guinea. They made the mission field their home, spending 32 years serving as career healthcare missionaries at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital. During their years of service, they were involved in church work, women’s ministries and family ministries, in addition to Jim’s work at the hospital. When Jim
was not in the operating room, he also was a clinical instructor for medical students and residents from the U.S., England, Australia and New Zealand who traveled to and trained at the hospital. Kathy assisted by filling various support roles with children, women, volunteers and hospital staff. In 2017, Jim and Kathy retired and are now living in Mount Vernon, Ohio.
2021 Servant of Christ Award Andrew Sanders, MD
Andy grew up in a U.S. Army family, and they lived in Washington, D.C., Japan and Brazil. When he attended undergraduate at the University of Maryland, he served in leadership for four years with Young Life, which is where he met his wife Ilene. He joined the U.S. Army in 1977. After graduating from University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1981, he completed an internal medicine residency at Walter
GOD LOVES THE WORLD “
Working with Interserve has been wonderful. I really value the structure that Interserve offers: the chance to be sent by a solid gospelcentered group that helps me think through how we do ministry in a wholistic way.
Speak it. Show it. Live it.
“
Physician, Central Asia
USA
www.interserveusa.org/doctors A SAMPLING OF CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES Obstetrician Respond to an urgent need: Train local doctors and midwives at a wellestablished rural hospital. There is opportunity for research. (South Asia)
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Specialists Join the staff of a newly opened hospital. All specialties are needed and positions are salaried. (Middle East)
Medical Students Use your fourth-year med school elective serving and receiving mentored training at a 150-bed rural hospital. (South Asia)
General Practitioner/ Pediatrician Multiple opportunities for both. Serve local people and train residents at faith-based hospitals or healthcare centers.
Otolaryngologist Provide care to an under-served population while training residents. Experience and flexibility needed. (South Asia)
Psychiatrist Empower local psychiatrists to better address needs by providing tools and training. (Central Asia)
www.interserveusa.org/doctors
Ministry News Reed Army Medical Center. In 1988, he left the U.S. Army and moved to Georgia to join an internal medicine practice. He was called back into service during Operation Desert Storm, and he served in Saudi Arabia as the director of the intensive care unit at the King Fahad National Hospital. After his service concluded, he returned to practicing internal medicine in Georgia. Andy left his full-time practice in 1998, and together Andy and Ilene began their work with CMDA’s area ministry. Around 2010, Andy formed a group that met monthly to study missions, study the nations and pray for God to open a door and send them. After meeting for a period of two years, their prayer team traveled to Bulgaria and Macedonia. While there, Macedonia’s Minister of Health asked Andy to lead a project to bring U.S. doctors of all specialties to Macedonia to help mentor their healthcare professionals. Together, Andy and Ilene lived in Macedonia for five years from 2013 to 2018, leading and building this work.
2021 President’s Heritage Award Walt Larimore, MD
Walt received his medical degree from LSU School of Medicine in 1977. He then completed a general practice teaching fellowship at Queen’s Hospital in Nottingham, England in 1978, followed by a residency in family medicine at Duke University Medical Center in 1981. From 1981 to 1985, he practiced in the small town of Bryson City in the rural Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. Walt and his family moved to Florida in 1985, where he spent more than 15 years practicing family medicine. In 2001, they moved to Colorado, where he served as Vice President and Family Physician in Residence at Focus on the Family from 2001 through 2004. He is the author of more than 40 books. During the 1990s, Walt joined forces with Dr. William Peel to co-author The Saline Solution, an evangelism curriculum course developed to train healthcare professionals to share their faith in their practice. Through live seminars, they trained thousands of healthcare professionals to discover how they can influence the spiritual health of patients and colleagues. In 2013, they joined forces again to release Grace Prescriptions, which was an update of this valuable CMDA curriculum. Today, Dr. Larimore serves as an occupational medicine physician with UC Health in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and he serves as a visiting professor at the In His Image Family Medicine Residency Program in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In Memoriam Our hearts are with the family members of the following CMDA members who have passed in recent months. We thank them for their support of CMDA and their service to Christ. obert S. Berry, MD • Greenville, Tennessee R Member since 1984
J oseph A. Bono, MD, BS – Roanoke, Virginia Member since 1963 lbert J. Brauer, MD • Florence, Oregon A Member since 1962
ill A. Buckelew, MD • Fort Walton Beach, Florida B Member since 1999 ichard E. Carlson, MD • Boise, Idaho R Member since 1963
omas Fitch, MD • San Antonio, Texas Th Member since 1987
drian L. Gendell, DDS • Dunwoody, Georgia A Member since 2000
avid Charles Kem, MD • Edmond, Oklahoma D Member since 2009 eonard Ramsey, MD • Bozeman, Montana L Member since 1978
esley H. Ryd, MD • Clarendon Hills, Illinois W Member since 1977
ichard G. Sletten, MD • North Oaks, Minnesota R Member since 1974
ee Struckmeyer, MD • West Chester, Pennsylvania L Member since 1968 J ohn M. Wayne, MD – Beaumont, Texas Member since 2005
Memoriam and Honorarium Gifts Gifts received January through March 2021 Thelma J. Wever in honor of Dr. Bob Quadro Drs. Nelson and Betsy Campany in memory of Dr. Michael Hellmann Nancy A. Sullivan in memory of Mr. Mike Louiso Dr. John C. Browning in memory of Mr. Tom Fitch For more information about honorarium and memoriam gifts, please contact stewardship@cmda.org. www.cmda.org | 9
Ministry News COMMUNITY
Campus & Community Ministries CMDA’s Campus & Community Ministries is looking to hire two associate regional directors for both the Midwest and Western regions. These positions will work in tandem with the current regional directors but will eventually assume the role of regional director upon the scheduled retirements of current Regional Directors Michael McLaughlin and Allan Harmer in late 2022. If you are interested or you perhaps know someone within your network who may be interested and qualified, please visit www.cmda.org/employment for more information about the position, the hiring timeline and a job description.
Leadership & Church Relations CMDA is excited to welcome back Rev. Bert Jones as the Director of Leadership & Church Relations. In this role, Bert oversees the Center for Well-being and church ministries. He also serves as the chaplain of CMDA. Since 1988, Bert has led multiple mission teams across the street and around the world. Bert has traveled on five different continents and to more than 30 different countries to teach and preach the gospel. He has engaged in leadership development nationally and internationally throughout his ministry. Together with CEO Emeritus Dr. David Stevens, Bert co-authored both Leadership Proverbs and Servant Leadership Proverbs. He is also the author of Practical Youth Ministry. Bert holds his ordination through the Missionary Church USA. The Missionary Church is an evangelical denomination committed to church planting and world missions, and Bert is under special appointment from the Missionary Church to CMDA. Prior to rejoining the staff of CMDA, Bert served as the Senior Pastor of Woodburn Missionary Church (from 2014 2021) and as the President & CEO of GO InterNational. Bert previously served on the CMDA staff as Chaplain and Director of Leadership & Church Ministries. He graduated from Asbury University in 1989 with a degree in Bible, and then he completed two years of seminary at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Bert and his wife Cheryl have been married since
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1989 and have three children: Joshua, Allyson and Aaron. Cheryl is a teacher and is very active in their ministry. With Bert’s new role at CMDA, we look forward to the expansion of CMDA’s well-being and leadership efforts, as well as increasing the organization’s focus on church ministries. To contact Bert, email pbj@cmda.org.
Women Physicians and Dentists in Christ At this year’s Virtual National Convention, Women Physicians in Christ officially announced its name change to Women Physicians and Dentists in Christ (WPDC). With an ever-increasing number of dental students and dentists becoming involved with their ministry, they unanimously decided to change the name. As a commission of CMDA, WPDC gives our members the opportunity to tackle in-depth the issues we find especially relevant to women physicians and dentists. WPDC was founded more than 27 years ago to assist, support, encourage and equip female physicians and dentists with their specific and unique needs. For more information about WPDC and to get involved, visit www.cmda.org/wpdc.
New President-Elect Every two years, the CMDA membership elects a new President-Elect. Now serving two years as incoming President-Elect, Dr. George Gonzalez will begin his term as CMDA President in 2023 and will continue his service for an additional year as PastPresident. The President-Elect announcement came as the passing of the gavel from President Gloria Halverson, MD, to incoming President T. Lisle Whitman, MD, took place at the CMDA National Convention in Bristol, Tennessee.
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CourageTHROUGH theCrisiS Stories from the Frontlines Mandi Morrin
M
ore than a year ago, we watched as New York City and the surrounding area became the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis when the pandemic initially broke out in the United States. At this year’s CMDA Virtual National Convention, we shared stories from several CMDA members from the area whose lives and work in healthcare were impacted by the virus. As we consider how COVID-19 has changed our world and our profession in healthcare, these stories share how God has worked in and through our members during this crisis.
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Seeing the Purpose Behind the Virus featuring Drs. Greg and Ali Tsai
room to be tested. “Everyone’s experience is different, mine was characterized by high fevers for about two weeks and body aches. No matter what position I was in in bed, it was very uncomfortable,” he said. After about a week, Greg’s symptoms decreased, and he started to feel a little better. But the very next day, the fever came back with a vengeance. “When the fever went away after a week, I thought I was finished with it,” he remembered. “So when the second round came, I was starting to get anxious. Although I was never short of breath, I knew that it didn’t feel comfortable when I took a deep breath. Even walking around the bedroom, my chest felt tight and I was worried my lungs were going to go. During that second week, I started to feel very desperate. Because of that desperation, my prayers become more fervent.” Despite Greg’s growing concern, Ali felt an overwhelming sense of peace.
D
rs. Greg and Ali Tsai live and practice medicine in Manhattan. Greg is an ENT physician, while Ali is an OB/Gyn who works part-time with a homeless shelter.
In late February 2020, Greg and his co-workers at Mt. Sinai Hospital started hearing about the fast-spreading virus. They knew it was going to impact them, but they had no idea the extent their everyday lives and practices would be changed. “In our specialty, we see a lot of people with ear, nose and throat problems, and we knew this was a respiratory problem,” Greg said. “In our line of work, it was a high risk to contract the virus.” On March 15, they made the decision to close down the office. “On March 16, I was calling patients to let them know their appointments were cancelled,” Greg said. “When I came back the next day, around noon my office manager said we were closing and doing everything virtually. When I headed home, I was feeling a little warm. That night, my temperature rose to 102, and I realized I had a fever. That’s when I got a little nervous.”
“I can’t explain it, but I had this peace that he would be fine,” Ali said. “We grew a lot together spiritually in that we prayed with a fervency we hadn’t before. On day eight, when he started getting worried, I started reaching out to friends. We had this cadre of people through the CMDA network who we met through ministry circles, and we’re so grateful for this community of believers who guided us. People prayed in ways that we hadn’t prayed before, and they taught us how to pray differently.” After nearly three weeks of quarantine, Greg was feeling better and excited to return to “normal” life, but healthcare was still anything but normal. Patients in the hospital needed tracheostomies in order to be taken off the ventilator, but it was a risky procedure that could infect the physician performing the procedure.
During that second week, I
started to feel very desperate.
Because of that desperation, my prayers become more fervent.
“At that point, it was very concerning,” said Ali. “He was put in isolation and he stayed in a bedroom of his own, and my son and I tried to minimize contact with him.” At that time, only hospitals were equipped to perform any testing for the virus. When Greg’s fever didn’t go away, and he developed body aches and fatigue, he went to the emergency
For Greg, the procedure was far less risky, because he had developed antibodies to the virus: “I teamed up with a couple of residents who had also tested positive for antibodies, and we ended up doing all the tracheostomies on COVID patients throughout the hospital.” After nearly a month of treating patients on the COVID wards, the number of cases decreased, and New York was finally seeing relief from the virus. Now, more than a year since the original outbreak, Greg and www.cmda.org | 13
Ali have forgotten some of the details of his illness, but they haven’t forgotten how God led them through the crisis. “God was showing me how faithful He is, and I think that’s why I had this peace that Greg would be ok,” remembered Ali. “It reinforced that God is behind everything that is good. There is a spiritual battle going on. How do we fight this spiritually, not just physically and not just with medication? I am so grateful that God has allowed us to have medical training, but it was really the faith part that made a difference. Only our faith in the Lord was allowing us to see any purpose behind this virus.”
Living and Serving in the Moment featuring Tom Theocharides, MD
adequate protection. In the labor and delivery situation, we were having to make it up as we went along. It was literally a learnas-you-go situation, and it was quite challenging to protect ourselves, as well as those patients that needed attention.”
D
r. Tom Theocharides is an OB/Gyn and cosmetics surgeon who practices in Central New Jersey. He also loves teaching, so he spends time teaching residents some of the skills he’s learned in his three decades of practice. When the Coronavirus hit, the cosmetic part of his practice shut down completely for three months, but the obstetrics continued. During that time, he was doing quite a bit of on-call coverage at one of the local hospitals. It was a big learning curve for everyone, and as time progressed, it became obvious they were being exposed to COVID patients because they didn’t have the capacity to test all of the patients. “What we learned later, was that we had patients coming in who were potentially infectious,” he remembered. “They didn’t know it, and we didn’t know it, and we didn’t have 14 | CMDA TODAY | SUMMER 2021
For Tom, his faith was the rock that helped him deal with the stress and the fear of the unknown while treating patients. “I reminded myself that I really have little control over anything,” he said. “When I looked at the virus and the potential threat, it was certainly something I needed to respect. Since I know where I’m ultimately spending eternity, which is with Christ, which is far better than this earth, I was never really afraid of the virus per se. Cautious, yes. Some days had more stress than others, absolutely, but I was doing my part and casting my cares on Him because He cares for me.”
it’s so easy for us as healthcare professionals to forget about ourselves. And that includes encouraging one another, leaning on one another and admitting when we need help, most importantly.
Tom took advantage of the OASIS, which is a spiritual respite meeting FOR healthcare professionals BY healthcare professionals organized by the CMDA chapter in New York City. “That was an excellent opportunity to have us as healthcare givers share our struggles, share our struggles, share our hurts, share our fears and pray for one another. It reminded me that we all need each other. It’s so easy in this technological age to isolate ourselves, but OASIS was a very positive atmosphere that helped us connect and pray for one another.” In this time of stress and struggle and fear, he would often text his Christian colleagues and tell them, “Be healthy, be safe.” And as he did this, the Holy Spirit impressed upon him that it’s not about safety, but it’s about being in the Lord’s perfect will.
The peace Tom experienced because of his faith in Christ added a sense of calmness to the hospital environment, and it gave him opportunities to talk about his faith with his colleagues and with his patients. “When people ask how I’m doing, one of my answers is to say, ‘Better than I deserve.’ That statement gave me the opportunity to bring in my perspective that we serve an amazing God who pours out His grace and mercy,” he said.
“I reflect on the times, especially in the beginning when there was so much uncertainty, that I looked at my schedule and said, ‘Oh, I’ve got two 24-hour calls this week. I really would rather not do it. I’d rather be home.’ But someone had to do it, and it’s not about my comfort zone,” he said. “It’s about serving and doing my part, protecting myself and being cautious. It’s not about being careless. God doesn’t call us to be careless, but he calls us to live care free, because we cast our cares on Him. After all, this life is temporary. I’m not living for this moment, for this life, we are called to live in the moment and serve Him.”
Sharing Masks and Sharing Jesus featuring Linda Huang, DDS
As Tom reflected on those weeks and months of uncertainty when the virus first appeared, he said it was a fresh reminder to appreciate every day and have more empathy for the hurting, the suffering and the grieving. He said, “I’d like to think this has made me a better doctor. I have to regularly remind myself to let His love shine through to my patients and be sensitive to what they say, and particularly what they don’t say, in terms of making an emotional connection.” One of the most important lessons he learned through his work serving on the frontlines was that it is so easy for healthcare professionals to neglect their own needs. “We’re trained to help others and think of others, put ourselves next. We don’t eat because there’s a need. We put off sleep. It’s so easy to neglect ourselves and forget that we are human, and we need care. It reminded me how important it is to take care of myself. I think of the Scripture that says, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ not at the cost of yourself. And yet it’s so easy for us as healthcare professionals to forget about ourselves. And that includes encouraging one another, leaning on one another and admitting when we need help, most importantly.”
D
r. Linda Huang is an oral maxillofacial surgeon who has a private practice in Flushing, New York. On a normal, day-today basis, her patients are all mostly outpatient.
Like most healthcare professionals, she wasn’t prepared for the shutdown that hit in March 2020. They could still open once a week to see emergency patients, but all non-essential www.cmda.org | 15
services had to be cancelled. However, while the office was open that one day each week to see emergencies, they didn’t have any N95 masks to protect their staff members. “I was so naïve. I just thought, ‘Oh, supplies are always going to be there. We just have to call if we run out,’” Linda remembered. “By the time I started ordering, there was nothing left. And we were still seeing emergency patients. And at that time, we were hearing more and more about COVID cases on the rise, and we realized how contagious it was.”
So even if I do catch COVID, I
know that the Lord is with me,
and that He is going to help me get through this.
It became an urgent search for masks, and that search led Linda to pray for the Lord’s guidance in finding the masks so she could keep treating patients safely. Thanks to the efforts of the CMDA New York area leadership, Linda received 10 entire boxes of masks just a short time later. It was far more masks than she needed, and she knew immediately that she wasn’t going to hide them away and keep them all for herself. “I knew other dentists who were working,” she said, “so I started calling my dental colleagues. I wanted to share the love of Jesus with them. That began the small project of distributing N95s to my dental colleagues. One office manager was waiting at the curbside for me to drop them off. After I parked my car 16 | CMDA TODAY | SUMMER 2021
nearby on the street, I asked how things were going, and she said, ‘We don’t know when it’s ever going to get better, I can only pray that it gets better.’ I said, ‘Who do you pray to?’ And she said, ‘Oh, I don’t know, whoever answers.’ And I said, ‘Really? Can I tell you about my God who listens to prayers?’ She told me I could, and I began to talk to her from Genesis and how God created man and woman, to the fall of man, to God sending a redeemer to bear our sins and to be hung on a cross so we could have eternal life. I asked if she wanted to accept Jesus, and I led her into a repentance prayer to accept Jesus. And she is now a sister in Christ, all because of some N95 masks.” As a business owner, wife and mom, she was still incredibly busy during the shutdown, but it also meant she spent more time with her family, more time in prayer and more time with God. “As I’m drawing closer to the Lord, and I’m reading Scripture, I’m understanding that we are His people. God has made a covenant with His people, and no matter what, He is with us,” she said. “I’m not promising people that they will not get
COVID, but I do know the promises of God. So even if I do catch COVID, I know that the Lord is with me, and that He is going to help me get through this. I’m still working and seeing patients, so the potential of bringing something home is there. But we pray Psalm 91, every day, the whole family. We pray and we hold onto the promises of God. We cannot live in fear, because fear cannot have that control over us. We are going to have the promises of God, and we are going to live in confidence and live in God’s victory.”
Being a Beacon in the Community featuring Drs. David and Janet Kim
D
rs. David and Janet Kim are the co-founders of Beacon Christian Community Health Center in Staten Island, New York, where they practice internal medicine and pediatrics. As a federally qualified health center, Beacon provides whole person care, which is care directed toward the physical, mental, emotional, relational and spiritual aspects of health.
versy among their colleagues. “We’re the only ones that really have the ability to meet it head on and fight it, and we felt that this was where we needed to be,” said David. “We needed to show the community that we weren’t afraid, and we weren’t going to run away from this thing. And that we were going to stay and fight it alongside them.” “When patients heard that we were still open, not only were they grateful, but it was also an assurance to them that we were still there,” said Janet. “We really believe that was our way of demonstrating that Jesus hasn’t left them. If we stay open, we are here to show them that God’s given us the ability to do this.” In the midst of treating COVID patients, Beacon also committed to offering testing, and they became the only outpatient facility to do walk-in tests of any kind of large scale on Staten Island. In fact, there were very few places people could get tested in general, since much of the population don’t have cars and had no way of traveling to other testing locations. “I’ve never experienced a sense of hopelessness until then,” said Janet. “I’ve always heard of [missionaries] seeing people die in front of you and knowing there’s nothing you can do to stop that. It was the first time where I felt I was having third-world problems while being in a first-world country. I remember saying, ‘Something’s got to be done. There’s got to be something we can do. I can’t just sit here and do nothing.’” So, in coordination with several colleagues and staff, plus a great deal of research, Janet developed a treatment protocol that allowed them to test, treat, track and teach patients on an outpatient basis, without requiring them to visit the hospital. As a result of that protocol, they prevented more than 100 patients who were asymptomatic from going to the hospital, and not a single one of their patients under the protocol ever ended up going to the hospital at all.
An extremely ethnic and economically diverse community, Staten Island is actually a medical underserved area. The nearest hospital is five miles away, and it’s difficult for many of their patients to travel that distance. So when COVID-19 first appeared in Manhattan in February 2020, the Kims started making preparations for the inevitable onslaught in their community. “We went into this knowing we wanted to do whatever we could to stay open and to continue to serve our patients as long as we would be able to do so,” Janet remembered. That decision to stay open when other healthcare facilities were closing caused a great deal of controwww.cmda.org | 17
In the months since it first appeared, COVID hasn’t gone away. And day by day, they have been living out Psalm 91 in real ways. “When the Bible says, ‘We are under the shadow of the Almighty,’ we have really felt like we are under the shadow of the Almighty,” said David. “Because God has been very real to us, and because His Word has proven to be true over and over again, I feel like we have seen people around us develop a greater resiliency toward handling COVID and life in general. For us to see how God has been protecting us throughout has been an incredibly humbling experience.” Throughout the last year while their community faced a long period of isolation due to the virus, David and Janet saw how people were feeling the loss of relationship with others, something normally so prevalent in their community.
For us to see how God has been protecting us throughout has been an incredibly humbling experience. “One of the Bible passages that became our battle cry was Psalm 91,” said Janet. “The chaplain on our staff printed off copies of Psalm 91 and posted that in each of our exam rooms. Knowing that was there as a resource for patients to be able to read and to take comfort in was an amazing opportunity and tool to share that word with them.” As they continued treating patients, they were able to see firsthand the impact of prayer and God’s Word on their patients. “I tell people that I liken this to being in the valley of the shadow of death, because there’s about a three- to five-day period where it really is that,” said Janet. “Part of the pathology of this disease isn’t just the physical, but it is the emotional and the spiritual. It really does help them in the recovery, and it’s been amazing to see that.”
18 | CMDA TODAY | SUMMER 2021
“One of the first patients we saw about three or four weeks in needed to renew his blood pressure medicine,” said David. “At the end of the visit, I said to him, ‘You’re wearing gloves, I’m wearing gloves. Let me shake your hand.’ In the safest way possible, I shook his hand, and he broke down in tears. He said, ‘Doc, you’re the first person to touch me in three and a half weeks.’ He was so overcome with the emotion of feeling that human touch again. That was when I realized we had made the right decision in staying open and just being there. Trying to live up to our name of being a beacon in the community. We were going to respect the disease, we were going to follow whatever precautions we needed to follow, but we were not going to fear the disease. That in and of itself was the biggest point of ministry we were able to provide to the community, just the fact that we were there, and we didn’t leave.” Mandi Morrin is CMDA’s Director of Communications and the editor of CMDA Today. She has served with CMDA for more than 10 years, where her responsibilities include magazine editing and publication, graphic design, coordinating the ministry’s communication initiatives, media relations and more. She received her bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis in journalism from Milligan College in Tennessee in 2006. Prior to joining CMDA, she worked in retail marketing and administration. Despite having lived in Tennessee for nearly 20 years, Mandi is an avid Kentucky Wildcats basketball fan. Mandi and her husband Chad reside in Bristol, Tennessee.
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LESSONS
LEARNED in the COVID-19 Field Hospital Christine M. Rutledge, RN
Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse.
20 | CMDA TODAY | SUMMER 2021
W
hen 2020 started, I had a plan. A plan to follow God’s leading to serve on a mission trip in Southeast Cambodia. Like everyone else, those plans were completely changed when the pandemic hit. But God had a different plan for me. A plan for me to serve His people as a registered nurse in a field hospital in Central Park in New York City during the COVID-19 outbreak. It’s been more than a year since I was tasked to serve on the frontlines of this strange war, and I’ve taken time to reflect on what I learned during that experience. There was so much loss of life, so much loss of love from the ones who died, so much loss of income, loss of hope, loss of dreams and on and on. More loss than we can begin to comprehend. And because of that loss, I am humbled by what I have learned, what I have gained and what I can now celebrate. This article is a compilation of the lessons I learned on the mission field of New York City. I gained a sense of purpose and the importance of serving others. I renewed my love of bedside nursing. I gained a recognition that it’s ok to stay put and to love being home. I learned to simply pass the hours of the day praying and worshipping my Lord. It is a story of sadness, glory and a deep burden, both physically and emotionally. But more importantly, it is a story of His provision and His providence as He led me to serve on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis.
LESSON 1
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait for the Lord.” —Psalm 27:14, HCSB My story is one of plans that changed and morphed and became. They became His plans and His alone. I had to learn to listen to the Lord’s direction, pay close attention to His leading, move out of the way and let Him lead. It started with my retirement from a managerial position in November 2017. I am a registered nurse with a master’s degree in nursing administration. The majority of my nursing career, I led a busy inpatient unit and a small clinic. I developed leadership and administrative skills that kept me in charge of many things. I reflect, though, that this career left me with an exaggerated sense of being in charge, having my own agenda and going about things “my way.” When I retired to pursue medical missions, I naturally thought I would begin by intricately planning everything out. I may have thought I was praying and ask-
Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse.
ing for His direction, but in all seriousness, I would say quick prayers like, “Lord, direct my path.” Then I would take over and plan things out myself. I started my mission service in Bolivia on a riverboat that traveled down the Amazon River Basin in 2018. I felt fulfilled, used by Him and determined to serve again. I was blessed to return to the Amazon in 2019, followed by a trip to Kenya with CMDA’s Global Health Outreach (GHO) in August 2019. Having three trips under my belt, I was eager to serve again. I applied and was accepted by a GHO team heading to Southeast Asia. I prayed, planned and packed. I read about Buddhism, raised support and got my visa. I even had a seat on the plane! Those plans were dashed by the swiftly spreading Coronavirus. The fear of bringing this strange virus to rural Southeast Asia was too great, so the trip was cancelled. I wept many tears and then tried to wait on the Lord. Psalm 27 speaks about David’s “wait.” Verse 14 says, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait for the Lord” (HCSB). I “waited” a short time, then I quickly joined a team headed to Eastern Europe. This time I prayed, planned and changed my wardrobe from summer to fall/winter. Despite my efforts, this plan was short-lived when it fell through as well. The virus was waging war against our world. Again, I wept and asked, “Lord, where do you want me to go?” I spent the next two weeks wondering and waiting while the world changed dramatically. I started praying fervently about where the Lord wanted me to serve. He was preparing me, and I was finally allowing Him to prepare me. I remember it vividly. I was wiping the counter in my kitchen, something that www.cmda.org | 21
is so mundane and so routine. Nevertheless, I am convinced that some of the best places and best ways to pray is when I don’t have to concentrate on anything but Him. My phone rang. I answered and spoke with a representative from the Disaster Assistance Relief Team (DART) from Samaritan’s Purse. The question was, “Are you available to deploy to Italy and serve in the field hospital?” I felt that this was a direct and instant answer to prayer. “Yes, I am ready to serve!” I heard again, “Wait,” and we will call you. There was that word again, “WAIT.”
etc. These sirens made me sure of 1 Thessalonians 5:17 when it says, “Pray without ceasing.” The sirens were without ceasing.
LESSON 3
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” —Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV
On Sunday, March 29, 2020, the plans for a deployment to Italy suddenly became, “Can you deploy to New York City?” Once again, I confused my plans with the Lord’s plans. My husband clearly said, “It’s New York where you are to serve, Chris.” I remember thinking, “I thought I was going to Italy?” Then a day and a half later, I was on a plane headed for the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis in our country. People have asked me, “How did God open this door to serve?” He opened it by shutting countless other doors and making me aware of His sovereign plan for His people and for my life. He opened it by making me wait.
As I mentioned earlier, I am a registered nurse with management and leadership experience. My career has spanned 38 years, and 30 of those years have been in management. On this deployment, I was tasked with being a ward nurse in the field hospital. I prayed that the Lord would not have me work the night shift, that we would not work 12-hour shifts and that my “days off ” between shifts would be restful. He answered that prayer by having me work 12-hour night shifts with NO days off for 21 days. It was only through His supernatural power that this 59-year-old former nurse manager was able to do this. And it was only by His sovereign power and in His strength that I was able to physically serve Him in this way.
LESSON 2
LESSON 4
—1 Thessalonians 5:17, ESV Arriving in New York on March 31, my first impression was how quiet this loud city had become. I had been there on three previous occasions and, to be honest, I was never enamored with the hustle and bustle and the amount of people everywhere. In an eerie way, the city was really quiet except for the sirens. The sirens were relentless and continuous. I’ve learned over the course of my prayer life that when you hear a siren, to pray for the person, their family, the EMTs, the doctors, the nurses,
—Exodus 3:14, NIV While serving in New York City, I have never felt His presence more palpable in ALL my life. It was a supernatural presence. When I was afraid of making a mistake because I was so exhausted, He whispered, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). When my patients were so short of breath and so anxious about the symptoms of worsening COVID-19, He brought to my mind His character—He is our provider, He is our sustainer, He is our help in time of trouble, He is the author of life, He is the creator of the universe and nothing can escape His grasp. And on and on.
“Pray without ceasing.”
“God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’”
LESSON 5
“Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” —Philippians 4:6, CSB
Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse.
I have always prayed for my patients, for my staff and for the operations of the unit I managed for so many years. These were silent prayers to an Almighty God, and those prayers were answered in His way over the years. In the hospital tent, these prayers became audible and purposeful and so simple, like praying for the very breath we need to live. The patients would cough and gasp for air and become so anxious. I would just drop to my knees and start praying over them. I learned that God hears our prayers, and what a privilege it is to go to Him in complete and utter dependence. 22 | CMDA TODAY | SUMMER 2021
LESSON 6
“We love because he first loved us.” —1 John 4:19, CSB The tent I worked in was a 14-bed ward with both male and female patients. They were all suffering the effects of COVID-19 in differing degrees of the disease. These patients were New York City. They were such a diverse group of ethnic groups. They were what America was founded on—people of all different races, religions, young, old, poor, educated, uneducated. It was a joy to learn about their families and their lives, and it was a joy to share their struggles. It is true that as healthcare professionals, we became their families. It reminded me that God created people to live in community and to love one another. When their families were absent, we loved. When they had no one by their sides, we loved. When they took their last breaths, we loved.
LESSON 7
“As for me, I vow that I will not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. I will teach you the good and right way.” —1 Samuel 12:23, CSB
He taught me in the wee hours of the morning to rely on Him, on His strength, on His provision, on His working all things for His purpose. I developed a rhythm of work, of rest and of a peace that passes all understanding. I developed a reliance on Him and on His people. He works through His people. He worked through me to provide care for His people. He worked through the people of His flock to encourage me and lift me up, to pray for me and to bring me things I needed. I wasn’t hesitant to ask for things I needed. I never felt alone or on my own while I was in New York. I always felt the prayers, love and support of the people I referred to as my “rope holders.” They held the rope as I climbed down into the pit.
LESSON 8
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name.” —Psalm 100:4, CSB
I also had to relinquish my pride and do some unglamorous things. I needed to surrender all and help people attend to their bodily needs. That meant making several trips to the porta-potty outside the tent. This is when the song “I Surrender All” would enter my mind. I felt so weary I could not even muster a thought of Scripture, but the Lord led me to sing His praises even in the mundane and personal parts of caring for His people.
LESSON 9
“Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” —Ephesians 3:20-21, CSB
He was with me in my weariness, in my physical and emotional exhaustion. He was with me and provided His glorious presence at all times. He never left me; I was never forsaken. He worked all things for His good through Christ Jesus.
LESSON 10
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.” —Psalm 23:1-3a, ESV
As a person who served on the frontlines, I received a lot of attention when I arrived back home. If you are reading this and responding as some did and thinking I was some sort of hero or special person for going, I would respond as I did then—I am a nurse who loves Jesus. He called me to this work. I can’t explain it other than to say it was one of the best nursing assignments I have ever had. I wasn’t afraid of the virus. I felt protected and provided for, and I am never more protected than when I am in God’s will. New York City was undeniably an assignment from the Lord. Going forward, I pray I get out of His way and let Him lead, as He leads me to serve Him well. Again, and again, and again. Christine M. Rutledge, RN, has been a registered nurse for 39 years. She has worked in a variety of roles, primarily in nursing administration. She retired in 2017 with an expressed desire to serve doing Christian medical missionary work. Her past mission experiences have been on the Amazon River Basin in Bolivia, with GHO serving in Kenya with her son and most recently in New York City and Lenoir, North Carolina in Samaritan’s Purse’s Emergency Field Hospital caring for COVID-19 patients. Chris leads Bible studies, volunteers at a local free clinic and is currently serving giving the COVID-19 vaccinations in nearby communities. She lives in Lisbon, Iowa with the love of her life, her husband Dale. She has three grown children and six grandchildren, and she spends time with the ultimate love of her life, Jesus. www.cmda.org | 23
▼W orkers at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital screen coughing patients in the COVID-19 tent clinic.
▼ The entrance to Nkhoma Mission Hospital in Malawi.
FACING THE VIRUS OVERSEAS Catherine Hodge, MD, and Mark Crouch, MD
▲ Patients line up according to social distance markers at the entrance to Nkhoma Mission Hospital’s triage unit during the first surge of COVID-19.
24 | CMDA TODAY | SUMMER 2021
▲ Dr. Catherine Hodge and the Nkhoma triage team stand in the hospital entrance in their PPE during the first surge of COVID-19.
W
hen COVID-19 began sweeping around the globe in early 2020, career healthcare missionaries were faced with the option of staying in their countries of service to weather the storm or evacuating back to the United States before the borders closed. Without sufficient quantities of protective equipment for staff members, would rural mission hospitals be able to survive the pandemic? In countries where the medical infrastructure is limited at best, would there be enough resources? What about food and other supplies to help to meet the day-to-day needs if the airports closed? It was a challenging decision in the midst of such uncertainty, amplified for many overseas healthcare workers by the remoteness of their service locations. While some were required to leave, others stayed and began preparing for the worst. These are the stories of two healthcare missionaries who made the difficult decision to stay in their countries of service to face the virus and rely on God’s faithfulness and protection to see them through the pandemic.
MALAWI: A DIRECT HIT by Catherine Hodge, MD
I
remember years ago standing in the tiny museum, staring up at the pictures of the first missionary settlers of Nkhoma, Malawi, the small rural mission station I have lived in for more than six years. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach as I read the same epithet over and over again. “…. J. F. du Toit … Died of blackwater fever.” They were all lined up, young faces full of adventure and hope for being a part of God’s work in advancing His kingdom. Bright faces that left behind lovers and babies, just as they left behind Bible translations and literacy schools and rudimentary health clinics. They are buried in a small plot in the heart of our village, and to this day the cemetery is surrounded by a small beautiful forest. I murmured softly to myself, “Malaria prophylaxis. Medivac insurance. Antibiotics. I have all these things now. I will never be tested in my faith the way my forefathers were tested.” I felt small and almost embarrassed that I even shared the title of missionary with those who sacrificed their lives one after the other, knowing the risks.
Of course, I knew I was carrying my family into a more dangerous territory than our comparatively safe home in the U.S. No emergency rooms, no ambulances and no road regulations, plus venomous snakes in our yard. There are real voids in our access to care here in Malawi, and that’s not a small thing. More than one American had eyed the 1-year old baby on my hip and my growing belly with our second daughter and asked me if I really thought it was right to expose them to such dangers. I thought of the millions of babies in Malawi whose mothers don’t have that choice. I thought of the missionaries on the museum wall. I answered them with confidence. Our risk was relatively nothing. That all changed in March 2020. Borders closed for months, including our airport. Suddenly, our health insurance no longer applied. If I wanted to expose myself and my family to the Coronavirus to help others, my health insurance would not cover anything related to the illness. We were told we would not be evacuated out for any reason, certainly not for Coronavirus complications. If one of our daughters fell from a tree and had a brain bleed, we were on our own, in Malawi, without the guarantee of finding a working CT scanner. Expatriate specialized doctors fled Malawi when their countries called them home, so a neurosurgeon would probably have been impossible to find anyway. We banned tree climbing. We thought of our parents, and what would happen if they got Coronavirus complications, and we wouldn’t be able to fly home to them. We banished the thought from our minds. My family often refers to the remark, “Children are the great equalizer.” Except now, we comment how it is COVID-19 which has put a common denominator in almost every nation. But in spite of all the fear, for the first time since I began working in Africa, I felt that we had the upper hand. My Ma-
▲ Principal Hospital Administrator at Nkhoma Mission Hospital awaiting the first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on March
18, 2021. Of the 300 staff members, 160 were vaccinated that day and more followed the next week.
www.cmda.org | 25
from the virus. Thankfully, COVID-19 isn’t the only equalizer. Christ is the Brother and Savior of all. It is by His mercy that we wake up each day, and He gives us the strength we need to face the work He gives us. Great is His faithfulness—to my missionary ancestors—and to me.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: THE LAST BATTLE by Mark Crouch, MD
O ▲D r. Catherine Hodge trains the first set of COVID volunteer staff.
lawian colleagues at the hospital were afraid, yes, but they had been watching the international stage for months. They were equipped with facts to counter the uneducated villager who was resisting masks or social distancing. They laughed at the radio stations announcing that the virus could spread through the 5G network. They knew how to wear proper personal protective equipment (PPE). And then our surge came. It’s here now in full force. We aren’t sure we caused the delays, but we are thankful for the time we had to prepare. We have protocols, we have oxygen concentrators and we have PPE. It has been surreal to have some of the same challenges as that of our Western donors. Sure, the West is in a better position on just about every front. But when was the last time I asked a donor if they’re taking their malaria prophylaxis, or if they got exposed to TB last year, or how much malnutrition they’re seeing now that the last planting season had poor rains? But with COVID-19, we are all speaking the same language. Many donors are anxious to help us now that they personally know a bit of what we are actually facing. For many of them, their surge is passing, and they have renewed time and attention to look in our direction. A couple of months ago, before the surge hit Malawi, a woman at a store in the capital asked me which country I was from. When I shared that I was an American, she soothingly patted my arm and said how sorry she was to see what was happening in America. “We Malawians shouldn’t just be looking the other direction while Americans are getting killed daily by the thousands from this virus—just because the color of their skin is not all black,” she said to me. “No matter their skin color, we should be praying for them. We are all God’s children.” Now COVID-19 is here in Malawi and killing our precious families. Just about everyone I know in Malawi already knows someone dead 26 | CMDA TODAY | SUMMER 2021
n a typical clinic afternoon, I looked at the man in front of me with a fairly heavy heart. Months earlier I had diagnosed him with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) based on a rapid test conducted at our highlands hospital in Papua New Guinea. He now experienced a significant hearing loss from one of the medicines used to treat it. Not only that, but his young son was suffering from weakness in the legs that gradually stole his ability to walk. The boy had TB in his spine, and it was likely resistant to the typical first line medicines, just as his father’s TB was. But the culture I had requested from the central public health laboratory was not processed. Just about the time it hit the benches there, a staff member at the facility tested positive for COVID-19. All laboratory staff were placed in quarantine, and we received a notification: no cultures would be performed for a month. Without a cultured specimen, I would be firing “shotgun” at this infection for the long and difficult months ahead. I prayed and chose a regimen I thought could give them a reasonable shot at recovery from this disease, which carries a 40 percent mortality rate.1
At the conclusion of 2020, there were 81,475,053 confirmed cases of n-SARS-COV2 reported to the World Health Organization (WHO).2 This represents about 1 percent of the approximately 7.7 billion people in the world at the time.3 There were 1,798,050 confirmed deaths, which means that COVID-19 killed about 0.02 percent of the world’s population in 2020.2,3 Yet, the pandemic has affected every person on the globe. The deadly effects of the virus played out most dramatically in earlyhit places with older populations more susceptible to severe and fatal disease. But the effects of lockdowns, travel restrictions, diverted resources and the “infodemic” created in social media touched every corner of the world. At first, high-income nations worried this infection would tear its way through places with weak health systems already grappling with major challenges. When this didn’t appear to happen, the focus turned inward: how to enforce public health measures and the unprecedented race for a vaccine? But what did happen in places with historically weak health systems? What was it like to work there during the pandemic? At the conclusion of 2020, the WHO Africa region had confirmed only about 1.8 million cases and about 42,000 deaths.
tribal violence wounds and difficult obstetric cases. Now I do so with a mask and eye protection dutifully worn throughout the day while working through our dwindling supply of already stretched inventory, wondering when the logistics apparatus will bring us IV tubing, casting tape, anti-retroviral medicines and (at some point) a COVID-19 vaccine to administer to our staff.
▲ A local worker in Papua New Guinea teaches villagers about COVID-19 awareness, with the solar-powered
isolation unit in the background.
The island nation of Papua New Guinea where I live and work confirmed 780 cases and nine deaths.2 In the early control efforts, I was asked to join the provincial government’s response committee. Our institution partnered with the government’s health authorities to create surveillance mechanisms, establish cough triage zones at clinics, set up solar-powered oxygen-capable isolation units and communicate with the national control center on the status of the outbreak in our catchment area of about half a million people. And we waited for the cascade of cough illnesses to flood in. The initially low case numbers in places like Papua New Guinea may be down to a significant under-reporting due to inadequate surveillance systems. Nevertheless, the devastating effects of COVID-19 were likely mitigated by the younger populations in much of the developing world and the more rural nature of those areas. The COVID storm was delayed. In Papua New Guinea, it arrived after the heavy travel season around Christmas 2020 when residents of the capital, where cases were concentrated, spread throughout the country. This was shortly followed by unrestricted mass gatherings and state funerals to honor former politicians. Though COVID-19 eventually arrived in full, the collateral damage has also been significant. In our facility, travel restrictions kept the usual supply of volunteer physicians (or furloughing career missionaries) from coming to our hospital, and the dwindling physician staff shouldered heavier and heavier burdens. National health systems the world over struggle to maintain essential services like HIV, TB, Malaria, antenatal and vaccination programs because they are busy using their scant resources to chase COVID-19. In 2021, my typical shift involves seeing a sprinkling of COVID-19 in the clinic and emergency room—alongside the usual difficulties of children dying of vaccine-preventable diseases, diarrhea, malnutrition, TB, HIV,
After sending my two patients back to our TB isolation ward, I was summoned to the maternity unit for a mom in distress. Her baby was stuck in transverse lie and stressed from a prolonged labor. I asked if she had attended antenatal clinics where this condition might have been detected and she be referred to our facility to address it before labor. She replied that the usual health center staff were conducting COVID surveillance and had temporarily shut the antenatal clinic. I performed a C-section and, thankfully, she and her baby did well.
The year 2020 will likely be remembered as the year the world stood still in the wake of a deadly pandemic. For those blessed to live in places with robust health systems, 2021 may be remembered as the year they beat back the tide. Tragically, many others will, instead, add a new infection to the already significant health ailments they struggle to control. While the global pandemic may recede, for the majority world we are likely seeing the birth of a new endemic. Endnotes 1h ttps://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6811a3.htm 2 https://covid19.who.int/ 3 https://www.census.gov/popclock/
Catherine Hodge, MD, is a family medicine physician and missionary with In His Image International. She graduated medical school from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida. She and her husband Dave and their three young daughters have lived in Nkhoma, Malawi since 2014. Catherine is the Site Director for the Nkhoma Family Medicine Residency Training Program, and she also focuses on chairing the COVID Response team and serving in pediatrics and neonatal care. Mark Crouch, MD, and his family have served at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in Papua New Guinea since 2014. “Dokta Mark” practices full-spectrum tropical family medicine with an emphasis on public health and medical education. After receiving his medical doctorate from the University of Oklahoma, he completed his family medicine residency at In His Image in Tulsa, Oklahoma and currently studies with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
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But GOD Finding the Silver Lining Trish Burgess, MD, and Ron Brown
I
remember early on hearing in the news about a virus causing problems in China. It wasn’t long before we heard news of it spreading. As it began to spread, we were busy planning for March, our busiest month of mission trips. We send the most teams in the month of March, which gives mission opportunities for various schools during the annual spring break period. We sent our first two teams out before countries began closing their borders. While these two teams were still out of the country, we began cancelling our remaining trips. First it was for the month, then it became two and on through the summer. Before we knew it, we had cancelled every single remaining mission trip scheduled throughout the remainder of 2020—all as a result of COVID-19. For Global Health Outreach (GHO), the arrival of the pandemic and the ensuing global shutdown in March 2020 brought us to a complete standstill. As one of CMDA’s short-term mission programs, the vast majority of our ministry efforts are dependent on our ability to travel, to go out to the nations and to use our healthcare skills to meet the needs of the least, the lost and the last around the world. The shutdown was heartbreaking. Heartbreaking for our ministry, heartbreaking for our staff members, heartbreaking for our team members, heartbreaking for the national partners we work with all across the world. As more and more trips were cancelled, we grew more and more disappointed and disheartened. It felt as though we were being told we could no longer follow the call God has placed on our hearts to serve Him through healthcare missions. How could this be happening?
But God. How many times do we see those two words in Scripture? It’s all throughout the Bible, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20). 28 | CMDA TODAY | SUMMER 2021
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead” (Acts 13:29-30).
But God. How many times do we see God take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it into good throughout Scripture? And how many times have we seen God work like this in our own lives? Even if we can’t see it, God is always working behind the scenes. And in the midst of shutdowns and social distancing and masks and so many deaths…and all the rest that impacted our world through COVID-19, we searched for His will. “Where are you in all of this?” we asked. While the eyes of our country were on epicenters like New York and New Jersey, the Navajo Nation was quickly and quietly becoming the third highest hotspot in the United States for the virus. The Navajo Nation is an American Indian territory covering approximately 17 million acres, occupying portions of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. It is the largest land area retained by an indigenous tribe in the U.S. That’s when Ron received a phone call from Dr. Charles Bruerd, a physician who has served with GHO on several mission trips. He wanted to know if GHO could help by sending team members to assist our “First Americans” in the Navajo Nation. For Ron, it was an eye-opening phone call. Ron and his wife Becky served for 10 years from 1975 to 1985 at Southwest Indian School (SIS), a boarding school in Phoenix, Arizona, as teachers, dorm parents, coach and cheerleading sponsor, among other responsibilities. They still keep up with many of their graduates, and they return every four to five years for an annual missions conference in Arizona. As the numbers continued to rise on the Navajo reservation, Ron started making phone calls, including reaching out to Tim, his younger brother, who is still a missionary working with Native tribes in both the U.S. and Central America. Thanks in part to Tim’s strategic connections, Ron finally connected with Indian Health Services in the Navajo area, only to discover that the director was one of his former biology students and a former cheerleader on Becky’s squad.
But God. Those providential connections helped us quickly work out the logistics of sending individual team members to the Navajo area for two-week segments (instead of full teams like we normally send overseas). One of the obstacles in the beginning was finances, but God worked that out as well. COPE, a non-profit organization, offered to help pay costs for volunteers to the Navajo Nawww.cmda.org | 29
tion during this crisis. They arranged for and paid airline tickets, rental cars and lodging expenses. So, our volunteers only had to pay for their food and meals. What a wonderful gift! As GHO Director, I was able to go in and “test the waters” early, so to speak, by being the first volunteer to serve in the Navajo Nation. As an emergency medicine physician, I served in the emergency department in Shiprock, New Mexico for a two-week assignment. Quickly after this, GHO sent in physicians, pharmacists, nurses and even social workers, some who served back-to-back segments, totaling a month of volunteer service. The staff at the hospitals in the Navajo area were doing a good job of treating COVID-19 patients, but they were simply overwhelmed with the sheer volume of patients. The Navajo people were kind and gracious to volunteers, and they organized and distributed volunteers around the needed hospitals, with GHO sending team members to Shiprock, Gallup and Chinle within the Indian Health Services. Our GHO volunteers provided relief for their staff and filled in holes in the staffing schedule. Seeing the fear in the people and watching them struggle to breathe as they fight this virus is a tremendous strain on healthcare workers. We were just one of many organizations helping to provide relief, and it was nice to meet volunteers from other organizations. I know I wasn’t the only one who arrived with no idea about the real plight of the Navajo. The area was so barren, the conditions often poor and the needs so great. I kept having to remind myself that I was in the U.S. and not a developing country. They struggle to find water, often having to drive miles to fill up their tanks. As you can imagine, this made frequent handwashing and sanitation difficult. They often do without electricity and rely on generators. They commonly live multiple generations in one dwelling, making quarantining the elderly difficult. Regardless of the circumstances, they needed help, and they needed hope. They need Jesus. And as always, it was a privilege to serve as His hands and feet to a hurting world. It was a good reminder that you don’t have to travel far to help someone in need, here in the U.S. or anywhere else. My first shift in the emergency department started with an amazing experience. A medicine man walked in to visit the emergency department. He wished to thank those who were working tirelessly to help his people. He had a plate much like a fajita plate with a cast iron hot plate held in a wooden tray. On this he was sprinkling herbs that would start smoking. He used a large feather to wave the smoke toward us as we circled around him. Many did a waving motion as if to draw the smoke toward themselves. He did a traditional Navajo chant and prayer over us and then spoke in English thanking us for the work we were doing for his people. He was humble, kind and so very gracious. I found out that another respected medicine man had recently passed from COVID. The culture is so different—the older people don’t like modern medicine. In many ways, they 30 | CMDA TODAY | SUMMER 2021
live in fear. So, the medicine man had set up his own “practice” in the hospital facility, trying to encourage the elders among his people to come for help. I was really touched by his compassion and commitment to the people he loved. Somehow, seeing that gave me an even stronger love for them, too. In the midst of treating so many patients, we had the opportunity to learn some of the cultural differences of the Navajo people. Some, typically the elderly, preferred the traditional Navajo medicine while others preferred modern medicine. Simple things such as direct eye-to-eye contact with others is not common among them, or a handshake is typically a touching of the hands instead of a firm handshake. We learned that conversational courtesies so common to us, such as please or thank you, are infrequently shown by their people. Nevertheless, they certainly know how to express their appreciation in other ways, which we saw as we served alongside them and cared for the Navajo each day. The staff members in the emergency department were a mixture of Native American and others. The challenge is that those who are not Native American are not able to buy homes on the reservation, which means they typically commute to work from just off the reservation. I had opportunity to ask some of the physicians, “Why do you do this?” Their answers: they have a heart for these people and enjoy caring for them.
States—and with our First Americans. It’s a silver lining we never expected to find in the middle of a global pandemic. Most importantly, our work with the Navajo Nation was a historical moment, as we saw God guide us to come full circle from the uttermost back to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. Truly, He is a good God who desires that representatives from every tribe, tongue, nation and people be worshiping the Lamb of God around the throne for all eternity.
But God.
GET INVOLVED As global restrictions ease amid the vaccine rollout, Global Health Outreach is preparing to send medical, dental and surgical mission teams both domestically in the U.S. and overseas internationally to share the gospel and provide care to the poor. To learn more and find a trip that fits your schedule, visit www.cmda.org/gho.
And after my short two-week volunteer stint, I could see what they meant. My overall impression of them was that they were gentle, kind and gracious to visitors. They have serious health issues and were profoundly impacted by the ravages of the virus, although much the same can be said of many areas in our country and world.
But God. In early 2021, we received word about another surge that was hitting the Navajo Nation, so we started working to send more GHO volunteers to help. This work was an amazing opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus—domestically. By caring, loving, supporting and praying in a quiet manner, we have been able to point the Navajo patients to Christ. Perhaps not with our words, but with a humble spirit, kindness and love. There are many wonderful churches, pastors and believers on the reservation, so finding spiritual guidance from a fellow Navajo who knows their language and culture is not difficult. Our goal has been to be a bridge from the patients in the hospitals to a network of Navajo believers, so they can be discipled by their own people. For the first time in its 25-year history, GHO was able to serve on a domestic mission outreach right here in the United
Trish Burgess, MD, is the Director of Global Health Outreach (GHO), a short-term missions ministry of CMDA. She went to the University of Georgia and completed a bachelor’s of science degree in chemistry. She worked as a firefighter in Athens, Georgia for two years before going to medical school at the Medical College of Georgia. Her residency was done in emergency medicine at University of Missouri in Kansas City. She worked as an emergency medicine physician primarily in Athens, Georgia for 23 years and traveled on shortterm mission trips with GHO for 10 years before leaving her clinical practice to become the Director of GHO. She has written and published several articles and speaks about her experiences on mission trips and work in human trafficking. She has traveled all over the world on short-term mission teams with GHO. Her heart and passion is to serve Jesus through healthcare missions and mentor the next generation of healthcare professionals. Ron Brown was born to missionary parents who served on the Texas/Mexico border and Honduras. He developed a burden for missionary kids and majored in biology and secondary education at Asbury College. Ron completed a master’s degree in guidance and counseling at Eastern Kentucky University and has done graduate study at Fuller Seminary’s School of World Mission in Pasadena, California. He has been married to his lovely wife Becky for 47 years. Together they served 10 years with Native Americans in Arizona, six years in Spain and six years doing recruitment for World Gospel Mission on the campus of Asbury College and Seminary. They have four married children and seven grandkids. Since joining CMDA in 1999, Ron assumed responsibility with the GHO department for the Latin American outreaches, with a special focus on Honduras and the mobile medical unit ministry. In 2007, the focus moved from Honduras to Nicaragua where 10 out of the 50+ teams GHO sends each year will go. He has led GHO teams to Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and the Far East. Ron continues to train future team leaders, as well as recruit and organize for the other teams, with the GHO support staff. Teaching, administration, counseling, mentoring and recruiting have been Ron’s heart in ministry. Ron has traveled to more than 40 countries on mission trips with World Gospel Mission and GHO.
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Bioethics The Dr. John Patrick Bioethics Column
HOW DO WE PUSH BACK ON THE HUBRIS OF John Patrick, MD
Y
ou have never seen and will never see a multi-cultural patient. Every patient inhabits a cultural story of meaning, even though they are often unaware of this fact. The blue-collar neighborhood where I grew up lived by Judeo-Christian ethics. Though almost no one went to church, they did send their children to Sunday school as a kind of visceral acknowledgement of needing something more. Many of you remember when a blue-collar argument on morals would end when someone said, “The Bible says….” That doesn’t happen anymore, and that is the triumph of secular power. A culture cannot be founded on differences but only on commonalities. Caliph Uthman (son-in-law and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) realized this when he understood that different parts of his empire had different memories of what Muhammad had said and were fighting over those differences. His most trusted scholar suggested he gather together all the written memories and select the best (i.e. conducive to
32 | CMDA TODAY | SUMMER 2021
political peace and promoting unity), whilst destroying the rest. It was a politically astute move. Modern secularists want to do something similar, but their preferred story does not satisfy the spiritual depths of the “ignorant masses.” Today, there is only limited agreement among the great religions that clearly serve a spiritual longing. A culture that values a woman’s witness in court half as much as a man’s cannot be reconciled with modern Judeo-Christian Western concepts. If we try to hold onto the idea that all moral concepts are equally valuable, we may end up with groups of people living in the same country for solely economic reasons. No altruism can emerge. Trust will be minimal, and that trust will be exacerbated by the exploitation of influence by the group currently in power. As healthcare professionals, it is increasingly important to understand the often-unspoken commitments and culture of the patient, especially in immigrant groups. A case history starkly illustrates this reality. Many years ago, I saw a little girl with a
neglected septic knee; she was septicemic with osteomyelitis of the tibia and femur and a destroyed knee joint. The only hope in the remote mission hospital setting was to remove the leg and fill her with whatever antibiotics were available. When her parents were told that this course of action was the only hope of saving her life, they were understandably unable to handle the decision and decided to take her home. The nurses were not appalled, as I was, but when I asked whether the parents would have done the same with a boy, the answer was no. “Why the difference?” I asked. The answer was a moment of truth for me. “Because,” they said, “in our culture it is a woman’s job is to till the fields, fetch the water, cook the food and bear the children. A woman with one leg cannot do those things. Her life is not worth living.” A modern secularist has no way of responding to these ideas and, at the same time, holding on to the myth of multi-culturalism. What does culture mean? It is not defined by race or ethnicity but, rather, it is better thought of as “tribal” wisdom. Until the Industrial Revolution, most people did not travel more than 25 miles from their birthplace; indeed, a good philologist in England can place a person within 25 miles of the birthplace simply by listening to their form of speech. In older times, we knew far more local people than we do today, not direct knowledge but familial knowledge and understanding: “You are the cousin of so-and-so who lives in the village of Ham. Everyone knows them.” That kind of knowledge allows assumptions about behavior and cultures to form around common practices, beliefs, taboos and a shared book, such as the Old Testament, the New Testament or the Koran. American philosopher Allan Bloom defined a community as something which invites high and low into a common story of meaning. In America, that common story was the Bible until the 1950s. All societies need ideas of truth, loyalty and honor, but they are not all the same. The ordering of the virtues makes a huge difference. If truth trumps loyalty, a job is secured by competence, but if loyalty trumps truth, a job is obtained by who you know (i.e. nepotism). A society dominated by truth will be more effective in every way. Then again, honor has different interpretations. In the United Kingdom, 5,000 honor crimes are reported to the police every year. At the extreme end of the spectrum, an unknown number of women are murdered in Islamic families because they are deemed to have dishonored the family. The crimes are unsolved because the Muslim commitment to loyalty and family will not allow cooperation with the police. The point about this is that although moral codes are present in every culture, they are not ordered similarly, and that makes all the difference. British historian and philosopher Arthur J. Toynbee maintained that the first evidence of a decaying culture is the loss of moral consensus. When the Bible was removed from schools by moral intimidation, thereby putting tolerance as the only guide, it began the slide. For example, it is quite apparent in our own post-Christian culture that abortion and euthanasia, which were unthinkable before World War II, are now both normalized.
What we believe, as both healthcare professionals and patients, really does matter. Healthcare professionals will have to find sensitive ways to find out what patients believe, and in many cases, they will have to gently suggest another clinician. I think we need, right now, to start pushing for practices and hospitals to declare their positions on these issues. We must demand that the distribution of belief in the community is represented in the medical services we provide. We cannot medicalize killing and not expect it to change the entire ethos of our institutions. American author Wendell Berry has been writing on these issues within the context of changing agriculture for many years. There is much to be learned from him about the dangers of applied science without a human context, as it has many unwanted and unpredicted outcomes. The brilliance of Wendell Berry is that in the Port William novels he writes, he simply tells the story of how a thriving community was dismantled in the span of a century by the results of applied science and big government, without any malice, just ignorance of local customs. In the same way, when the role Joseph played in saving Egypt from famine was forgotten, the children of Israel became slaves! For those who love the Scriptures, it is amazing to realize that the law which defined the children of Israel was given as an act of grace to make the flourishing of Israel possible. This law is introduced with grace, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (Exodus 20:2). That is grace. It was given so they would flourish when they obeyed God’s law. No rational explanation is given. God simply speaks— things you must do, and things you must not do, and when the stranger enters your gates, you must give him hospitality and he must respect your laws. Moral tolerance does not feature as a good thing, although its necessity in human society is recognized. Good citizens are not made good by laws imposed on them by government, but by rational obedience to a history they love. We learn to judge between good and evil things and good and evil people because by their fruit we shall know them. Ethics lectures may make us more sophisticated as amateur ethicists, but they do not make us good people. C.S. Lewis, as so often, sums it up with a sentence. He says that he would rather play cards with a man who believes that gentlemen do not cheat than with a moral philosopher brought up among card sharpers! John Patrick, MD, studied medicine at Kings College, London and St. George’s Hospital, London in the United Kingdom. He has held appointments in Britain, the West Indies and Canada. At the University of Ottawa, Dr. Patrick was Associate Professor in Clinical Nutrition in the Department of Biochemistry and Pediatrics for 20 years. Today he speaks to Christian and secular groups around the world, communicating effectively on medical ethics, culture, public policy and the integration of faith and science.
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Classifieds To place a classified advertisement, contact communications@cmda.org.
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owned practice in Huntsville, Alabama, the fastest growing metropolitan area in our state and ranked 15th on the best cities to live list by U.S. News & World Report. We are a certified PCMH and member of an Aledade sponsored, physicianled ACO. Our model is an advanced care team model where physicians will be responsible for direct patient care as well as co-visits with CRNPs, allowing physicians increased flexibility with their own schedule. We are seeking a physician that shares our vision of “Mending People and Mending Standards” in healthcare. Contact David or Brooke at 256-8821510 or email brookemd@myinnovacare. com. www.innovaprimarycare.com
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Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Associate — A Christian-based oral and maxillofacial surgery associate is being sought for an early partnership, transitioning to sole ownership at Southern Indiana Oral Surgery. The current practice will easily support two surgeons. It is located in Jeffersonville, Indiana, just across the river from Louisville, Kentucky. Jeffersonville, one of the fastest growing economic hubs in the U.S., is a very attractive river town. The practice was established in the 1960s. The present surgeon and owner purchased the practice in 2001. The office moved in 2017 to a completely renovated 2,800 square foot free-standing building, one-half block from Clark Memorial Hospital. The practice accommodates four enclosed operatories for surgical privacy and displays digital panorex and I Cat radiology. It is blessed with a stable, knowledgeable and supportive staff. The surgeon and staff as a team have provided a stellar and consistent service in the community. This is a prime opportunity for a career in a well-established professional practice. For more information, please email stephenmanecke@me.com.
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Physician Assistant Faculty — Have you ever considered joining your Christian faith and medical practice to educate the next generation of healthcare providers?
Here’s your chance! The George Fox University physician assistant program is looking to add faculty to its dynamic team. This is a great opportunity to join a faithbased university that’s shaping the next generation of physician assistants. We are looking for physicians and physician assistants who have a heart for service, a passion to teach and a desire to contribute to a budding program. Part-time or full-time assistant professor positions are available to start this summer and fall. George Fox University is a Christcentered community located in picturesque Newberg, Oregon. We are close to the ocean and the mountains, offering endless recreation, culture and scenery that makes Oregon’s Willamette Valley a destination for many. Visit our website at www. georgefox.edu/pa/index.html to learn more. Apply via “Jobs at George Fox” at www. georgefox.edu/offices/hr/hiring.html, and feel free to reach out to Program Director Curt Stilp at cstilp@georgefox.edu with questions or inquiries. Practice Manager — Aloha Kona Urgent Care (AKUC) of Kailua Kona, Hawaii (Big Island of Hawaii) is seeking a Practice Manager (Executive Director). AKUC is a division of Transformation Health Network (THN). The Practice Manager will oversee the business, administrative and operational side of AKUC, in addition to the strategic planning and expansion of clinic services. He will report to the CEO and Board of THN working with the CFO and Medical Director. The clinic has been in operation five plus years executing the vision of Christian Whole Person Medicine as set forth by THN. For more information and formal job description, contact admin@alohakonaurgentcare.org.
CMDA PLACEMENT SERVICES Bringing together healthcare professionals to further God’s kingdom
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We exist to glorify God by placing healthcare professionals and assisting them in finding God’s will for their careers. Our goal is to place healthcare professionals in an environment that will encourage ministry and also be pleasing to God. We make connections across the U.S. for healthcare professionals and practices. We have an established network consisting of hundreds of opportunities in various specialties. You will benefit from our experience and guidance. Every single placement carries its own set of challenges. We help find the perfect fit for you and your practice.
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