Charles Knotbrite came to our first garage sale and introduced himself as a Christian who was interested in our mission work. For everyone's reference, we consider ourselves on a mission from God to bring quality health care to underserved areas of the world. Our primary purpose is to serve, not necessarily to "convert." This runs counter to what many in evangelical circles consider "mission work." Our drive comes straight out of Matthew 25 (NIV):
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Asides aside, Charles wanted to know where our mission work was taking us. "Well, Nicaragua for starters" I replied. "Nicaragua? Good luck with that. Ortega is a crazy man." Which was a conversation-stopper.
Unlike Jenny Wai, at least Charles Knotbrite knew where Nicaragua is. I worry though that he is not only making political judgments based on listening to radio commentators but also making medical diagnoses without enough real information. Part of my training was in psychiatry and the two top diagnoses during my clinic years were psychiatric diagnoses. Yet I would not dare make a diagnosis of Ortega's mental status based on what I read in newspapers or hear on the radio. Mountain-making out of molehills? Maybe a little but I really resent having my dreams belittled by people who have never even left their home states. At some post in the future, I will go over psychiatric diagnoses and the importance of the neurological basis for psychiatric disorders. For now, I want to take the bible quote above and show you how we tried to follow Christ's commandments when it was easier to donate money than it was to physically serve.
1. Feed the hungry: local food pantries; Hunger Task Force (http://www.hungertaskforce.org/)
2. Give clean water to the thirsty: Water Missions International (http://www.watermissions.org/)
3. House the homeless: Habitat for Humanity (http://www.habitat.org/)
4. Clothe the naked: Salvation Army (http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf)
5. Visit prisoners: Voice of the Martyrs (http://www.persecution.com/)
Although not listed in this part of Matthew, Jesus also commanded us to take care of orphans and widows which has also been a significant part of Judaism since Moses' time. Today I would like to give a shout out to Ark of Hope in Florida which has done one of the best jobs of taking care of neglected and (sadly) rejected kids that I have ever seen. Visit them at www.arkofhopeforchildren.org when you can.
I am a retired ER physician and father of many. After graduating from Chicago Medical School in 1990, I embarked on a 23-year career in Emergency Medicine. Medical interests include wilderness medicine, addictionology, and trauma psychology. I currently teach health and medicine online. DISCLAIMER: Accept all medical advice with a jaundiced eye. Before following my suggestions, do your own research and consult with your physician first. Enjoy & Learn!
What I Am All About
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
THE UNBEARABLE BEING OF LIGHTNESS
I cannot understate the importance of lighting after dark in what the good people at mpowerd call "energy impoverished" areas of the world (https://www.mpowerd.com/luci-different). From the GravityLight (http://deciwatt.org) site:
"There are currently over 1.5 billion people in the World who have no reliable access to electricity. These people rely, instead, on biomass fuels (mostly kerosene) for lighting once the sun goes down.
The World Bank estimates that, as a result, 780 million women and children inhale smoke which is equivalent to smoking 2 packets of cigarettes every day. 60% of adult, female lung-cancer victims in developing nations are non-smokers. The fumes also cause eye infections and cataracts, but burning kerosene is also more immediately dangerous: 2.5 million people a year, in India alone, suffer severe burns from overturned kerosene lamps. Burning Kerosene also comes with a financial burden: kerosene for lighting ALONE can consume 10 to 20% of a household's income. This burden traps people in a permanent state of subsistence living, buying cupful’s of fuel for their daily needs, as and when they can.
The burning of Kerosene for lighting also produces 244 million tons of Carbon Dioxide annually."
Decent lighting impacts several areas of the SCANCAPS model of human needs: safe housing, clean air, and reliable means of power production. It also affects medical care, in some cases very dramatically. After witnessing births in Nigeria by "any light source available" (including cellphones) Laura Stachel and her husband Hal Aronson developed the "solar suitcase" to make lights available at all hours of the night. Their mission can be found at http://wecaresolar.org/.
This is just the beginning of my own mission to fill those human needs. Please visits these sites (and www.nokero.com) and do what you can to help. At the very least, spread the word that there are unmet needs and we have the resources to meet them. Thanks for any help you can give.
"There are currently over 1.5 billion people in the World who have no reliable access to electricity. These people rely, instead, on biomass fuels (mostly kerosene) for lighting once the sun goes down.
The World Bank estimates that, as a result, 780 million women and children inhale smoke which is equivalent to smoking 2 packets of cigarettes every day. 60% of adult, female lung-cancer victims in developing nations are non-smokers. The fumes also cause eye infections and cataracts, but burning kerosene is also more immediately dangerous: 2.5 million people a year, in India alone, suffer severe burns from overturned kerosene lamps. Burning Kerosene also comes with a financial burden: kerosene for lighting ALONE can consume 10 to 20% of a household's income. This burden traps people in a permanent state of subsistence living, buying cupful’s of fuel for their daily needs, as and when they can.
The burning of Kerosene for lighting also produces 244 million tons of Carbon Dioxide annually."
Decent lighting impacts several areas of the SCANCAPS model of human needs: safe housing, clean air, and reliable means of power production. It also affects medical care, in some cases very dramatically. After witnessing births in Nigeria by "any light source available" (including cellphones) Laura Stachel and her husband Hal Aronson developed the "solar suitcase" to make lights available at all hours of the night. Their mission can be found at http://wecaresolar.org/.
This is just the beginning of my own mission to fill those human needs. Please visits these sites (and www.nokero.com) and do what you can to help. At the very least, spread the word that there are unmet needs and we have the resources to meet them. Thanks for any help you can give.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
LET THERE BE LIGHT
This post will be brief because of time-constraints (yes, even Minimalist Sojourners are pressured for time at times). I'll delve into this deeper later when I talk about basic human needs and SCANCAPS, but for now I'd like to introduce you to two companies that are working to bring light to what the good people at mpowerd call "energy impoverished" areas of the world. Their contribution is the Luci Light. We ran across it at an outfitter's in Boone, NC and fell in love with it immediately (https://www.mpowerd.com/). The other company is Nokero (www.nokero.com). We ran across them at the Global Health Initiative at Yale last year when they were just starting-up. We still have the solar-powered light they sold us then. We gave it to the Young Padawan and it has held up well under very strenuous conditions. I'm afraid growth or success may have gone to their heads, though: the responses to our last emails to them were stock "go to our website to make your online purchase" replies. Oh well.
I encourage everyone to do what they can to shine the light. Patients die in the dark; women give birth in the dark; horrendous crimes are committed in the dark.
I encourage everyone to do what they can to shine the light. Patients die in the dark; women give birth in the dark; horrendous crimes are committed in the dark.
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