A Prayer Amid an Epidemic

By: Kerry Weber, Executive Editor of America Magazine

Originally published in America Magazine: The Jesuit Review. Used with Permission.

Jesus Christ, you traveled through towns and villages “curing every disease and illness.” At your command, the sick were made well. Come to our aid now, in the midst of the global spread of the coronavirus, that we may experience your healing love.

Heal those who are sick with the virus. May they regain their strength and health through quality medical care.

Heal us from our fear, which prevents nations from working together and neighbors from helping one another.

Heal us from our pride, which can make us claim invulnerability to a disease that knows no borders. Jesus

Christ, healer of all, stay by our side in this time of uncertainty and sorrow. Be with those who have died from the virus. May they be at rest with you in your eternal peace.

Be with the families of those who are sick or have died. As they worry and grieve, defend them from illness and despair. May they know your peace.

Be with the doctors, nurses, researchers and all medical professionals who seek to heal and help those affected and who put themselves at risk in the process. May they know your protection and peace.

Be with the leaders of all nations. Give them the foresight to act with charity and true concern for the well-being of the people they are meant to serve. Give them the wisdom to invest in long-term solutions that will help prepare for or prevent future outbreaks. May they know your peace, as they work together to achieve it on earth.

Whether we are home or abroad, surrounded by many people suffering from this illness or only a few, Jesus Christ, stay with us as we endure and mourn, persist and prepare. In place of our anxiety, give us your peace.

Jesus Christ, heal us.

Meet Our Speakers: Steve Noblett

Steve Noblett, Director of the Christian Community Health Fellowship will speak at the upcoming virtual retreat on September 19.

In addition to several Free Methodist Chaplains, Steve Noblett has accepted our invitation as a speaker. CCHF is a fellowship of over 200 Christian community health centers. He will share with us and invite feedback and response.

During the Coronovirus crisis, he has spent hours on the phone with directors and staff of Christian Community Health Centers as they have had to deal with overwhelming stresses and also choices that they have had to make. Whereas other speakers will talk about hospital and nursing home issues, he will talk about primary care and community issues.

In addition, he will share his own vision of the crisis as it involves the church and the opportunity that the church has today. Things are falling apart with a health crisis we cannot control, the closure of schools, massive unemployment, and the protests against racism and police violence. The racism and police violence have been with us a long time, but in the midst of everything that is happening, all this is boiling up and action is demanded, yet all the issues, when taken together, are beyond a human solution.

He points to Romans 8:22, where the creation is groaning as in the pains fo childbirth, yet birth will come and God will act. He believes that what is happening is the result of massive failure of human efforts, but at such a time God can act. Christians need to show Gods love and hope. It can be a time for people to turn to God as they see how Christians have responded to all these troubles (if we are responding in the right ways.)

After his talk, we will open the virtual floor for others to comment on. How do we respond as health care professionals but also as Christians and members of our churches? People can also share their thoughts on our website.

The Great Reset

By: Dierdre L. McCool, Vice President - Butterfield Foundation

So many things have changed since the Coronavirus entered our world. At Butterfield Foundation, we experienced a COVID-19 workplace exposure on March 13. Within three hours, we scrambled to put policies and technology in place to allow our team to self-quarantine and work from home. Like many other states, Oklahoma had Shelter-in-Place legislation that launched within a few weeks of the exposure. Thankfully, we had become experts at telecommuting!

During the early days of the pandemic, responses to the unknown befuddled me. Mass hysteria seemed to be ever-present as was the lack of hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, bread, flour, and toilet paper. Businesses closed, highways were eerily empty, and masks hid smiles. Fear and anxiety were constant undercurrents. Many charitable clinics and social service organizations started to struggle financially. Securing PPE and other necessary supplies to minister to at-risk populations was proving expensive. The Butterfield Foundation acted quickly, setting aside $200,000 in Covid-19 grant funding.

In my neighborhood, I noticed some interesting ripple effects. Children began to appear on our sidewalks on bikes, scooters, roller skates, and at our pond with fishing rods. Dads and moms strolled by our house holding hands. Unruly yards morphed into garden masterpieces. My life also changed. My husband and I cooked healthier meals, walked every morning, and increased our prayer life. We had more time for family and friends. Jesus was – and still is – resetting my pace and priorities.

I recently learned Corona means “crown” in Latin. In essence, COVID-19 is the “crown virus.” Based on how things have changed, I would certainly agree it wins the prize for changing the world in 2020. However, another Person wore a crown that promises eternal change: Jesus Christ. Over 2,000 years ago, He donned a crown of thorns so we could experience redemption and complete restoration. Thankfully, His crown trumps all crowns!

It seems as if God is up to something during this pandemic. He recently brought the following Scripture to mind:

Isaiah 43:18-19 - “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

According to Christianity Today, millions of worried people who turned to the internet due to COVID-19 anxiety have ended up connecting with Christian evangelists and coming to know Jesus. They have exchanged a mutable crown of fear for an immutable crown of love. The Great Commission is resetting…it is going digital.

Many of the charitable clinics in Oklahoma – and throughout the nation - upgraded technology and implemented telehealth. The ability to reach more patients with whole person healthcare is expanding. Is He in the process of re-setting healthcare too?

I think He is offering all of us a chance to reset our lives.

In closing, I want to encourage everyone to evaluate heed the words of the Isaiah to see what – if anything - Jesus wants to “reset” in your life. The following are a few questions to help you get started:

1. What needs to be “set again?”

2. What needs to be different?

3. What specific areas of life would you like to change?

4. Where do you need to spend less time?

5. What do you need to more of?

6. Why do you want to change these things?

2020 Conference Update

Free Methodist Healthcare Fellowship Fall Conference:
September 19, 2020 - Virtual Conference

Theme: Holistic Healthcare in Times of Crisis

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Change in plans for fall conference. This year, we will be meeting virtually and instead of in-person. Our board made the decision to cancel the in-person fall conference at the Essenhaus due to Coronovirus but we want to try something new and hope you will all participate and invite others to join.

We plan to have an online program on that Saturday, September 19. We plan to have a site where people can ask questions of the speakers and we can include some online discussion rather than just a lecture. We will likely meet for 3 to 4 hours on that Saturday, although we might also try an online fellowship time Friday night.

Our theme will be Holistic Health Care in Times of Crisis. The total program is being developed, but we plan to have several chaplains from the Free Methodist Chaplains Association share their experience with the Coronavirus epidemic. We also plan to invite one or more people from the Christian Community Health Fellowship to share. More details will be forthcoming. We welcome your input at normwetterau@aol.com.

There are some advantages in this. People from the West and East can attend. People can attend without traveling. We do not have to spend a lot of money flying speakers to Indiana and we can have more speakers and panels. Yes, we would prefer to meet face to face, but we can use this situation beyond our control for the good of our society.

More information will be sent out in early July. If people encourage others to join in, more people will know about the Free Methodist Healthcare Fellowship so spread the word.

A Light in the Darkness

By: Dierdre L. McCool, Butterfield Foundation Vice President

“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” (Matthew 10:8)

Early Christians turned the world upside down when it came to fulfilling Christ’s command to care for the sick. Love so characterized the early Church that Tertullian reported Romans would exclaim, “See how they love one another!” When a devastating plague swept across the ancient world in the third century, Christians were the only ones who cared for the sick, which they did at the risk of contracting the plague themselves. Meanwhile, pagans were throwing infected members of their own families into the streets even before they died in order to protect themselves from the disease.

Today, many Christians continue to risk their lives to bring hope and healing to the sick and dying in some of the poorest countries on earth. Butterfield Memorial Foundation (BMF) actively collaborates with organizations advancing the Kingdom through funding and encouragement. In 2019, BMF staff conducted site visits to several ministries who have received funding from BMF in the past. We plan to visit others later this year.

During a visit to Burundi, Shelly Goodnight, BMF Grant Committee Chair, Dierdre McCool, BMF Vice President, and Jennifer Richardson, Director of Programs, participated in the Widow and Orphan Conference hosted by Sister Connection. We had the opportunity to visit several of the widow’s homes.

A visit to Kibuye Hospital was inspirational. The group learned how Busoma was made and had the opportunity to tour the hospital and see the community where all the missionaries live. A new pediatric wing is under construction.

A visit was made to Hope Africa University to see how the solar power project funded by BMF was coming along.

During our visit to the Van Norman Clinic in Bujumbura, we saw the ongoing need for expanded maternity services and the excellent training provided to the staff.

In January 2020, Hal Hoxie, President of BMF, and his wife, Kathy, along with Anita and Sarah Baird, traveled to India to participate in the dedication of the Eric Hostel at UMRI Hospital and participate in graduation at Immanuel University.

If you are aware of a non-profit, Christian healthcare organization that is in need of funding, just direct them to our website to complete a Letter of Inquiry at butterfieldfoundation.org.

Looking Back on 50 Years

By: Frank Ogden, M.D.

In 1970 I first arrived in Burundi to serve at Kibuye Hospital with my wife Maxine and 3 elementary school-age children. I was following several doctors who had served before me since 1946 when the hospital first opened, chiefly, Dr. Esther Kuhn, the founder, and Dr. Len Ensign. Others came for short periods. Ever since my freshman year at Seattle Pacific College (SPU) I had been preparing for this moment. That’s when God used a course in anatomy and physiology to confirm my call to missionary service.

What we found on arrival was a 42-bed hospital staffed by a handful of African nurses led by a Canadian nurse, Doris Moore. We had basic equipment with which to do medicine and surgery—a portable x-ray machine and a generator to power electric lights in the operating room. Kerosene lanterns were important for night duty in the wards. The water supply was usually good, though sometimes lacking. The pharmacy had basic medicines most of the time. We didn’t have fancy facilities and medicines; but God was with us, helping us meet the challenges.

I plugged right into building up services for the years ahead while doing my best to serve a population of 250,000. Since the road was only paved partway from the capital city of Bujumbura, our 100-mile journey to Kibuye was an all-day event, especially in rainy season. Nowadays it takes 2 ¼ hours.

Frank Ogden School of Medicine

Never could I have dreamed what was to transpire ½ century later, but here we are in 2020 and that small hospital with only one doctor most of the time has been transformed into a medical center with 229 beds and 18 doctors, half of them Africans. Also, there are 10 interns. Besides these, the hospital campus includes medical students and nurses in training in conjunction with the Frank Ogden School of Medicine, a division of Hope Africa University. Who could have imagined? The facilities’ expansion alone are amazing enough—two-story surgical ward, three-story pediatric building, two additional operating rooms, solar power, and an eye center, just to name a few. Recently Kibuye Hope Hospital has become a training facility for surgeons as part of the Pan-Africa Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS). We are so grateful for the team of Serge missionaries who have really developed Kibuye as the foremost Christian medical center of Burundi.

In the early days, there was no blood available so I had to devise a way to take it from a patient and store it until his operation 2 weeks later in order to give it back to him. Being the only surgeon I was quite busy caring for every kind of illness. Often people came from a far distance, even adjacent countries such as Tanzania and Congo. Epidemic typhus was a devastating epidemic. We had nearly 100% fatality rate until I learned that one 100 mg tablet of doxycycline would cure it. Pfizer Lab gave me the medicine for the clinical work and sent me to Czechoslovakia to present it at a medical conference. We have now eradicated typhus from Burundi. When I retired for the second time, finally hanging up my scalpel in early 2013, we left a one hundred thirty bed hospital as a referral center for 10 health centers. We knew that a team of young doctors was coming later that year to continue the work in the highlands of central Burundi. It was gratifying to me to help train the first class of medical students (from Hope Africa Univ) and attend their graduation in December 2012.

There were some setbacks in the progress to becoming the medical center it is today. A civil war came in 1972 that caused many of the hospital staff to be killed or flee. Then again in 1993, a second genocide caused chaos in the country and devastation to the hospital. Nevertheless, God continued to bless Kibuye through the troubled times, enabling faithful staff to offer healthcare and hope to many. Though I was absent for some years Dr. Dave Crandall, a general surgeon, began building the new hospital at Kibuye in 1973. When I returned three years later I completed the construction and appreciated working in this much larger facility with two operating rooms, maternity, wards, lab, and pharmacy. In 1990 I started the feeding program (Busoma) to prevent the malnutrition of children which has since grown into a major nutrition program with the help of Free Methodist International Childcare Ministry (ICCM) and other donors.

In 1993, while on home assignment in the US Maxine was found to have colon cancer. After a 3-year battle, the cancer recurred and I lost my wife of 39 years. In June 1997 the Lord gave me a new helpmate in order to continue working for Him in Central Africa. Carol Watson had been an evangelistic missionary of the Free Methodist Mission for 10 years in Rwanda prior to the genocide of that country. She had no trouble adapting to life in Burundi due to the similarities in language and culture. We served the hospital and the church full time until 2005 when I retired just short of age 70.

After that we went as volunteers, going for 3 months each year to help, often with the assistance of other short term doctors - especially Dr. Jerry Rusher and Dr. Patricia Rees. There were also three African doctors in residence. We built a 16-bed dormitory for medical students coming for clinical training, a new maternity, and a quadruplex for the expected arrival of the Serge Medical Team coming in 2014 with 6 new doctors. Thus, I could fully retire at age 78.

Now two of the graduates from our medical school have returned to serve at Kibuye after their specialty training in surgery and ophthalmology. Another graduate, a Ugandan, having trained in surgery in his home country, is now establishing a Christian hospital in his home area. We thank God for these first fruits of the new medical school.

It is very gratifying to look back on 50 years to see the phenomenal growth of Kibuye--- from a 42-bed, one-doctor mission hospital, to an important Christian medical center, Kibuye Hope Hospital (soon to be 300-beds) with multiple medical staff, including many specialists. All glory to God for His provision and protection for a half-century of service.

Experiencing Divine Compassion - A Response

By: Tim Kratzer, M.D.

A response to The Gifts of Healing by Pastor Colleen Dick from our December 2019 newsletter.

Pastor Colleen Dick’s sermon got me to thinking. What has divine compassion looked like in my own life and how can I experience and offer that compassion, me with my limited resources and weak faith? So again, what does this divine compassion look like? When I see the hungry I offer food. When I see the thirsty I give water. When I visit the sick I offer hope for a cure. When I encounter the stranger I invite him in. When I see the naked I give covering. What is my resource for these ministries of compassion? How can I offer hope when I see no hope?

My resources are never sufficient, but I am blessed. Peter and John at the temple had no money to offer the cripple, but they offered what they had. They had faith that in the name of Jesus he could rise up and walk. What is the motivation? In the name of Jesus…does the world know about Jesus? Sadly the majority of God’s created ones go on as if they will live forever. Those who are well supplied live as if they can take care of themselves, even to the point of not caring about their eternal souls. They are occupied with collecting riches here on earth, not thinking about their life beyond. Those who are impoverished or embattled are so beaten down that they see no hope. But I have encountered the Divine and know that there is life beyond, that there is hope. I am changed as divine compassion, the very Spirit of God, changes me and flows from me?

Divine compassion has stepped into my life and gives me power over sin and death. I say, “Yes”, to God, and the Spirit of God changes me in ways I could not imagine. What did the Holy Spirit do in the life of the early church? Those who were taught that they had to fulfill the law, were freed from the condemnation they had experienced under the law. Those who were serving the gods of their own creation, found the God who had created them and their world. Slaves were set free. The sick were healed. Sight was given to the blind. Hope was given to a world that was ruled by earthly, self- serving powers.

What is the Holy Spirit empowering me to do in today’s world? How can I experience divine compassion? I recall the question I began with, how can I experience and offer divine compassion, me with my limited resources and weak faith? I have eyes to see, keep them open. I have ears to hear, listen to the world around. I have a heart created to experience the Divine, feel with those who are seeking for meaning in the confusion of this broken world. Consider the many ways in which I have been blessed, share those blessings with others. Give witness to God’s transforming presence in my life, and thereby share that power which makes miracles possible. Divine compassion is Spirit directed, knowing no limits. Divine compassion is transforming, enabling me to live knowing that what I see now is but the beginning of life everlasting. Divine compassion gives me hope, even as I experience the weakness of my flesh. It suffers with those in need, but not without hope.

What is my hope?

“So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.” (I Cor 15:21-22)

What a blessing to know that in the journey we call life I have experienced divine compassion, and in experiencing divine compassion I have been introduced to the author of eternal life. As I am infilled and empowered by the very presence of God, the Holy Spirit, I am indeed experiencing and offering divine compassion. I belong to God and his power is present in all that I am and all that I do.

I am drawn back to Paul’s words of instruction in I Cor 15:3-4.

“I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day.”

Then Paul goes on to give his testimony of God at work in his life.

“But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me-and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.” (I Cor 15:10)

So I come back to Pastor Dick’s sermon on the “Gifts of Healing” and the question, “Divine compassion. Have you ever experienced divine compassion? Divine meaning ‘of or belonging to God’ or ‘proceeding from God.’ ” I would suggest that the compassion that arises from within me is of the Holy Spirit and gives witness to the power of God which has power over sin and death. What a blessing is mine to live in that spirit-filled reality. Thank you Pastor Dick for reminding me that God is at work demonstrating divine compassion in today’s world.

Special Newsletter: Coronavirus Pandemic

(Our regular spring issue is ready to go but will be sent out in May)

BY: NORMAN WETTERAU, M.D. - FMHF PRESIDENT

An issue of Wholeperson Health Care was ready to go out in March but as the epidemic spread, I waited. We will send the issue out soon and it will include information on our retreat planned for Sept 18-20, plus an article by Frank Ogdon, and one by Tim Kratzer.

What can we say about this epidemic? What do we say to our family, our friends, and our church? I have been asking God. For me, I have had a pretty easy life. I was drafted but not sent to Vietnam. I have had the same job in the same community and good health. I have had good Christian Friends and seen God work in our community and many lives.

On the other hand, I have been aware of disaster overseas, especially in Congo and problems in the US among the poor in our own community. My neighbor lost two children last year: one age 15 to a car accident and 6 months later his older brother who no longer lived at home, to a drug overdose. I visited my neighbor, prayed for many of these situations and contributed money, but was never in such a painful situation.

Some of you have been in even worse situations: riots, civil war, and overwhelming disease with little to do for the disease. Now we are not on a mission station that lacks supplies and treatment but in the US. We have no treatment except respirators but not enough. We do not have enough gowns. Some of our mission hospitals are chronically in that position.

Now everything has stopped. I am not sure what is more frightening, the disease, or the collapsing economy. Will people have food? Where will governments get the money for the relief that is needed? How long will this last?

We read Bible verses telling us that God is in control but still have anxiety. People look to us for treatment and assurance but we are also looking for assurance.

I am asking those who read this to send their thoughts to me so we can post them. I am asking us to pray for each other. Any crisis brings out the best and worst. Some drug addicts in treatment are relapsing but others from the streets now are coming in for help. Those in good marriages end up stronger but for others, the marriage will become worse. Email me your thoughts: normwetterau@aol.com and we might post some of them.

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Christian Community Health Centers

This site has excellent summaries of how some of the urban health centers are addressing the coronavirus epidemic. Much of this is not in the regular press and is worth reading and praying about.

Lamenting and Rejoicing at the Same Time

Many of us receive Word and Deed e-mails from the medical group in Burundi. Eric McLaughlin, who spoke at our retreat in 2018 (see our Dec 2018 newsletter), wrote a recent post which I felt was very appropriate for this time in our nation. He has granted permission to reprint it here.

In addition, the book which he talked about publishing is now available at Amazon: Promises in the Dark: Walking with Those in Need Without Losing Heart

Those of us who attended the 2018 retreat will want to read more about the subject and those who were not able to attend should even more order it. This short piece from Word and Deed is a sample of the wisdom and vision God has given him. As we pray for our own country in this epidemic, pray also for Burundi, and the rest of Africa. This virus could be even more devastating there.

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By: Eric McLaughlin, M.D.
Original Post

We are living in a time of loss.  And so are you, fellow inhabitant of planet Earth.  This season is not what anyone predicted.  We cannot go where we thought we could go.  We cannot do what we thought we were doing.  We cannot be with those whom we thought to spend time.  We do not know when things will change, which makes any significant planning nearly impossible.  Early February has this amazing nostalgia.  The glory of that ordinary life - we knew it not.  May we know it better when it returns.

Watching people all over the world grapple with this time of loss has shown me two seemingly contradictory responses:

First, there is an increased call for the importance of lament.  Articles such as NT Wright’s and different books (including my own) have been sources of resonance for a lot of people.  Lament is indeed a gift to us in times like our own.  We don’t have answers, and we don’t know yet when answers will be forthcoming.  Our normal means of decision-making and anxiety-mitigation have been stripped from us by the utterly unprecedented nature of the global COVID- 19 pandemic.  We don’t know what to do.

Here, lament gives us the words and even the emotional stance that we need.  We cry out to God.  We pour out our complaint.  We ask “How long?” as more than a rhetorical question.  We don’t understand, but can at least know to whom our complaint is rightly addressed.  We do better to take the ugliest thought to God than the most cleaned-up thought anywhere else.  “We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”  (2 Chronicles 20:12)

The second response is one of celebration and beauty.  As our normal life becomes restricted, and in many places slows down, there is a need to find some form of celebration.  People write notes to each other.  You may have seen more longtime friends on Zoom in the past couple of weeks than you have in years.  Yesterday, my wife walked through our house loudly singing Les Miserables tunes (“One day more!”) and the kids joined in.  The joy and the beauty are a defiance of the fear and the darkness, and this is as it should be.

I have loved watching the art and the music that Covid sequestration has already birthed.  My med school classmates are posting brilliant dual-piano pieces that they are playing together despite being a time zone apart.  Our team intern’s watercolors of a beautiful JRR Tolkien quote are circulating on social media.  I can’t remember when the beauty of American spring was so celebrated in photos.  The human creative spirit inside all of us, which is part of humanity’s role as image bearers of a creative God, has hardly ever been so evident.  We need this.

So we find that we need to lament this loss.  And we find that we need to fill the void of this loss with a celebration of beauty.  And it feels impossible to do both of these together.  Give me one or the other, and some kind of path is laid before me.  But both?  I can feel my feet sticking to the ground.

God's Eternal Plan

By: Tim Kratzer, M.D.

We live so much of our lives as those driven by circumstances and victims of misfortune. We have entered into that reality as we find ourselves dealing with this COVID-19 pandemic. We’re confined to our homes. Friends and loved ones have been hospitalized, and some have lost the battle with this unseen enemy. Our economy has been turned upside down. Jobs have been lost. Accumulated wealth is disappearing.

Early on during this period of social isolation, Connie and I were reading from John 2:13-22 where the cleansing of the temple is described. In other Gospels, this event is placed just before the week of the Passion of Christ. Here we see Jesus beginning his ministry as he sets matters straight with the spiritual leaders by cleansing the temple. So also Jesus steps into our lives, setting our priorities right.

Jesus came, the Word become flesh. Now he steps into the temple, to give witness to God’s eternal plan. The Jewish center for worship, prayer, instruction, and sacrifice had become a place of commerce. The sacred had been reduced to the secular. What did Jesus see? Money changers and the selling of livestock were crowding out those who had come to be in the presence of God.

What did Jesus do?

“Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased (the merchants) out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and the cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, ‘Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace! ‘”
(John 2:15-16)

So what was God’s plan? The Jewish leaders questioned Jesus. “What are you doing? If God gave you authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.” (John 2:18) Jesus replied by saying that if this temple were destroyed, he would raise it up in three days. The Pharisees did not understand as many people do not understand today, even our so-called spiritual leaders. He was speaking of his sacrificial death, resurrection, and eternal purpose.

But there was one Pharisee named Nicodemus who was beginning to understand. “’Rabbi,’ he said, ‘we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.’” (John 3:2) John in his Gospel reports that many began to believe and trust. (John 2:23) They were being introduced to a God of love. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

In this time of suffering and uncertainly, we put our faith in God who promises us eternal life. We die to self and are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. What a blessing to be reminded of our eternal hope.

Will the Corona Virus Change America?

By: NORMAN WETTERAU, M.D. - FMHF PRESIDENT

At this point, everything seems negative: staying at home, worried that we or a family member might die from the virus, and the economic collapse that our nation seems to be entering into. This epidemic is uncovering some weaknesses and unaddressed problems in our land. Will we decide to address these? So far it appears we might. Both political parties are suddenly concerned with the uninsured, even those who were previously opposed to any expansion in our government health programs. We do not want the uninsured to stay at home, infect others, and then die, leaving children without parents or grandparents. Suddenly some who had opposed the expansion of government-subsidized health care are concerned.

Children are going to school at home, but many had no home computers or internet access at home. Suddenly large school districts are finding ways to correct this situation. This problem is no longer pushed under the rug.

Then there is the problem of the marginally employed, the waitresses, taxi drivers, and part-time store clerks who are out of work. Both political parties came together to provide money for some of these people. We are all concerned that they have shelter and food. More problematic are the homeless and undocumented workers who are now unemployed. The virus can easily spread through homeless shelters. When we are to shelter at home, what happens if we have no home? Every unsheltered person is a risk to others but these people are unsheltered due to the economic status and lack of a home. Some of these problems might be harder to address than the issue of health insurance or computer-based education for all, but still need to be addressed.

Another issue in our basic economic system is fine in good times but not for a crisis such as this one. Dr Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia University and 2001 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics wrote an opinion piece in the April Time magazine: Vol 195, No 14. He points out that markets can be shortsighted and risk-averse. Of course, the markets seemed to work wonderfully in the past few years, but their efficiency does not prepare us for a crisis. We needed to produce and store gowns and masks but how can one expect a company to produce things that they are not paid for and then store them for some emergency that may never come. There are things that a free economy is good for and things that the government needs to do. A totally free enterprise healthcare system has not prepared us for this and by itself, it cannot solve the problem. It appears that now people recognize this, but what about the next time? He compared what we have done to buying a car and saving money by leaving out a spare tire. Everything is fine and we have more room in the trunk until a flat tire occurs. Dr. Stiglitz writes: “We have been running our entire society without spare tires and proud of the seeming efficiency we’ve gained, and never prouder than in the health care sector.”

So we are responding to many of these challenges. It has been surprising how both political parties can agree. Let’s pray that this can continue. The real question is, once this epidemic is over will we remain concerned for those without insurance, the unemployed, the homeless, and the small businesses? Will we return to a very efficient private health care system that running without any spare tires?

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For continued discussion, check out this article from the University of Michigan.

How to Protect People who are Homeless During Covid-19

2019 Retreat Summary

BY: NORMAN WETTERAU, M.D. - FMHF PRESIDENT

Serving God Through the Stages of our Lives
Stay plugged into the Powersource

Around 45 of us joined together with our speaker, Dr. Bill Morehouse, as we examined this topic by examining ourselves. One thinks of young people making important decisions and seeking God’s guidance but as long as God has left us on this earth, we need to continue to examine what we are doing and what God’s calling for us is. Our calling is also not just as a physician or nurse but as a Christian. We need to stay connected to God daily. Dr. Morehouse kept reminding us, not to just seek God's guidance and help but to stay plugged into the powersource through regular prayer. He kept repeating: “stay plugged in” and this requires regular times of prayer.

He provided specific advice for prayer taken from Bob Sorge’s Reset: 20 Ways to a Consistent Prayer Life. A handout on 20 ways to a consistent prayer life and additional materials and notes can be found on Dr. Morehouse’s website (scroll down to Free Methodist Healthcare Fellowship.) This list includes ways to escape distraction, the need to repent, cleanse, praying the scripture, and taking time to listen to God. He encouraged us to journal during our quiet time. The notes from the conference are posted on his website as well.

One of the best parts was dividing into groups that looked at medical practice as a mission, serving the poor, community outreach, mentoring students, and preparing for retirement. Small groups kept lists of ideas that were shared with the larger group. What was interesting was that many of the listed things did not just apply to our profession. We can serve the poor in many ways. We can mentor medical students but also youth in our church and family members.

Retirement is not the end but the beginning of another stage of our life. We do not finish but graduate into retirement. There are tasks to retirement including mentorship, passing the baton, investing in the extended family, and focusing on building His kingdom.

At the end of the weekend, some of us felt that we were just beginning. If we stay plugged into the powersource, God can do great things in our lives and we will not burn out or become exhausted.

FMHF Expands Its Vision

Serving God through Our Professional Lives

We had a wonderful retreat as we examined how we serve God throughout our professional lives. Our board also spent a half day looking at how our organization can give service to God by helping our churches minister more effectively to those who attend our churches. In addition to our newsletter and annual retreat, we discussed the possibility of putting on half or all day meetings at local churches or at our Free Methodist colleges. Subjects could include medical missions, ministering to the sick, Christian understanding of suffering and addictions. We thought that a church could sponsor this and invite other churches to join them, or a conference. The half or whole day could have one theme or several issues addressed although our organization would provide at least one speaker, local speakers could also be involved. For example: if the theme was addiction, Dr Wetterau might be a featured speaker but local substance abuse providers, school officials, and others might be involved. A day could also be set up with more than one theme and people might attend all or choose which ones that interested them. A lot is happening in our mission hospitals and this subject might interest people including Ebola, violence against women, and prevention of violence.

Colleges could sponsor similar meetings but some might want something on how to get into medical school, or do you really want to become a health professional? We did have representation from the Chaplain’s association and would like to have a closer relationship with medical chaplains. We are seeking a medical chaplain to join our board.

Anyone who has an interest in any of these areas can email normwetterau@aol.com with your interest and phone number. Organizing a conference may require more contact than a few emails.

Lament for Congo

By: NORMAN WETTERAU, M.D. - FMHF PRESIDENT

Missions, medical care, church growth, a Nobel peace prize, and now lament as there is renewed civil war. Several of our members including board member Tim Kratzer and former board member Linda Stryker were involved in the medical work in Congo in the 1980s.

Deaconess Nundu Hospital was established in the South Kivu Province of Eastern Congo and a system of rural health centers was developed. A nursing school was established to staff these clinics. Along with these medical facilities, numerous churches were planted and schools established.  It was a time to praise the Lord for the work there. Members of the Free Methodist Medical Fellowship, as it was known then, were involved in this medical work in the Congo as well as work in Rwanda, Burundi, Haiti, and other countries.

Now our time of praise has turned to mourning. In several of these countries civil war broke out. The war in Congo appears to be the longest and most deadly with over 5 million people dying since 1995. This is more people than in other well-known wars including Cambodia, Syria, and Rwanda. What is worse is that this war seems to go on and on, over 25 years now. Hundreds of thousands have also fled as refugees and some have been resettled in the US. Free Methodist Churches of Congolese refugees dot our nation and add vitality to the United States Free Methodist Church, but the praise and vitality of these churches belie the fact that war and conflict continue in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Civil unrest has persisted and accelerated in intensity over the past year on the plateau region west of Deaconess Nundu Hospital. This situation is very critical and the Free Methodist Church has been severely impacted. More than 80% of the villages where the FMC has churches have been destroyed. Hundreds of people have lost their lives. The conflict is ongoing with fighting reported around Minembwe, the principle town in the area. More than 35,000 have fled the area for Uvira to the north and Baraka to the south and even to neighboring countries. It is reported that 40,000 people are concentrated in Minembwe, posing a humanitarian crisis with lack of shelter, food and clothing. The Bishops Famine and Relief Fund has assisted these internally displaced people, but has not yet gotten to those who have fled to Minembwe. More assistance is needed.  

In November, several congregations in the Rochester, NY area gathered in a Lament for Congo Service. As doctors, we try to fix things and so we have been attempting to help through support of Deaconess Nundu Hospital.  Those that gathered in Rochester are encouraged by these efforts. Susan Uwiringiyimana, a Free Methodist who fled this region of the DRC almost twenty years ago, was also at that service. She works with displaced women in the Congo.  Dr. Wetterau represented Champions for Congo and the Free Methodist Healthcare Fellowship. But the service was about lament. We need to start with prayer and call on God to act. The various plans for peace, whether brokered by the UN, the government or even the Free Methodist Church have not worked. We need to cry out and this service was a time to do that. The service began with songs of praise to God by everyone and then by an African refugee choir. Following the singing there was a time of remembering the good things of the Congo, the establishment of the church in 1963 and the tremendous growth of the church. God has been and still is working there. God will do more.

There was then confession. One person from the Congo began to recite portions of Romans. I do what I do not want to do. I am against what is happening but then I do it. He went over and over that as a confessional and helping all to realize that there are Christians from different tribes who feel what is happing is terrible yet end up participating in it. How is that possible? Paul made it clear in Romans that it is possible and we need to confess and repent. We need to beg God to help us change and help the whole country to change. This confession then moved to general confession, repentance, and lament

Scriptures of lament were read including Psalm 90. The service ended with communion. Jesus died at the hands of men, but unlike the refugees who have lost their lives, he died for the sins of humankind, people from every nation. And he was resurrected as clear evidence that God has overcome evil. We ask God to come and walk with us but in communion we join with Jesus at the table of death, forgiveness, and healing.

Many of us have been trying to solve the problem through our giving of financial resources to provide medical care or to help refugees. We need to continue to give, but let us also fall on our knees, weep, and repent. As we join with the refugees in lament, God will guide us in the ways that we can join in assisting those who are suffering with both our prayers and gifts. Can those of us who are not from the Congo and are not refugees really appreciate how good our own situation is? Can we join with those who weep? As we do that God will visit us and walk with us.

The Gifts of Healing

By: Pastor Colleen Dick, Dansville Free Methodist Church

This is a sermon recently given by Pastor Colleen Dick at the Dansville Free Methodist Church. It was part of a series on the gifts of the spirit. It was powerful and has some emphasis that I am not used to hearing. Feel free to e mail responses to the editor: normwetterau@aol.com . Used with permission.

The Gifts of Healing
Acts 28:7-9

Divine compassion. Have you ever experienced divine compassion? Divine meaning “of or belonging to God” or “proceeding from God.” It is very different from the natural compassion or concern we may feel towards a person or group of people who are suffering. There are many organizations that strive to tug on our heartstrings in hopes that we will contribute money to those who are in dire need. Of course, we have all seen the commercials of the starving children in Africa whose bellies are swollen, and flies are buzzing around their heads. Some of you may be supporting a child in need in a poor foreign country. Our own Free Methodist Denomination offers this ministry through our International Child Care Ministry. This is a tremendous ministry to children all over the world, and there are a number of other Christian and secular organizations trying to help children in need as well. In America, we are very detached from the poor living conditions in which other human beings are trying to survive. So, to tug at our heartstrings, we are shown video images of starving and malnourished children. If these images don’t rouse compassion within us then something must be wrong with our hearts. I know that many of our parents and grandparents convinced us to finish our dinners with these images in mind.

But this compassion that we feel for starving children around the world is not the same as divine compassion. Now there are certainly people who have divine compassion for the malnourished children, and these same people are working tirelessly to change their horrific living conditions and holding their governments accountable for allowing their people to live in this manner. But most of us do not feel divine compassion for these children. We often are able to ease our conscience when we send them a $50 donation once a year.

But divine compassion is different. As I said before, it is compassion proceeding from God. It causes one to act. Divine compassion is the reason that God the Father was able to send his Son Jesus to die on the cross. Divine compassion is the reason why many of us are here in this church today. Divine compassion is being so moved by something that you feel it deep in your stomach. Now I ask you again, “Have you ever experienced divine compassion?”

Over the last four weeks, we have been studying the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit found in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. I want to remind you that these gifts are available to all believers of Jesus Christ because once we confess our sins and ask Jesus to be our Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit moves into our bodies and sets up residence there. This is the same Holy Spirit with the exact same power that raised Jesus from the dead. These gifts that he distributes are one of the benefits we have as believers, but they are not meant to benefit us as individuals. They are for the common good of all, for the whole church. Their purpose is to point people to Jesus and to fulfill God’s plans and purposes.

The gift of the Spirit that we are looking at this morning is the gifts of healing. As I was studying for this sermon, these two words “divine compassion” really spoke to me. And I realized that when we see Jesus operating in these gifts of the Spirit, he was moved by love and divine compassion. The suffering of others caused a stirring within him deep down in his gut, and it was this feeling of divine compassion that triggered these supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. As a result, Jesus was moved to act on their behalf by allowing the power of God to work through him in the workings of miracles, the casting out of demons, and healing the diseases and infirmities of those who were suffering. Matthew 9:35-36 says,

“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

He had compassion on them, and when that happened, people were healed. When the four friends carried their paralyzed buddy up onto the roof so that they could lower him into the crowded room where Jesus was, Jesus could’ve yelled at them and told them they were out of order for interrupting him. But no! He was moved with divine compassion and said to the paralyzed man,

“I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” “Immediately,” the Bible says, “he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.” (Luke 5:24b-25)

I am beginning to see that the more love we have for others, the more our insides are stirred with gut-wrenching compassion, the more likely it will be that these supernatural gifts will begin operating in our lives. But if you are someone who looks down on others who aren’t like you, or if you are someone who is constantly offended and mad at people, or if you are someone who can only tolerate sinners in small doses, then it is very unlikely that these gifts will manifest themselves through you because love and divine compassion spark them into action. Why? Because when divine compassion comes into play, we are willing to spend countless hours on our knees for the plight of the other. We are willing to do spiritual warfare for those who are suffering from sickness and disease, or other external circumstances because we want them whole. Divine compassion will take our prayers for people to a whole new level, and divine compassion will cause a righteous anger that will make the devil quake in his proverbial boots.

I am convinced that those who have the gifts of healing feel deep compassion for the sick and spend copious amounts of time in prayer for them. I am convinced that those who have the gifts of healing believe the Bible when it says that we will lay hands on the sick and see them healed. They believe Jesus when he said,

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for ANYTHING in my name, and I will do it.”

People with the gifts of healing actually believe that Jesus meant what he said!

The gifts of healing are one of the power gifts. We said last week that the power gifts, which are the gift of faith, the workings of miracles, and the gifts of healing, are the gifts that get things done and get people’s attention. In our Scripture reading this morning, Paul and some other prisoners and men who were on his ship, ended up on the island of Malta because they were shipwrecked. The islanders showed the men great kindness and took good care of them. While staying at the home of Publius, the chief official of the island, Paul learned that Publius’ father was fatally ill. I imagine that Paul was filled with divine compassion, which leads us to the second part of verse 8, into vs. 9 says,

“Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. 9 When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured.”

The manifestation of one of the power gifts, the gifts of healing, operated through Paul and got the attention of the whole island. The healing of Publius’ father increased the faith of everyone who heard about it, so all who were sick were healed.

Now think about what I am saying this morning in relationship to these power gifts…divine compassion plus divine power will blow the roof off of a church. It will cause every demon and evil spirit within ten feet of the place to run and hide. It will cause such a stirring in this community that we will need to hold services every night of the week. Divine compassion will trigger the power gifts.

Now the gifts of healing are a supernatural manifestation of God’s healing power. Derek Prince explains that these gifts “supernaturally restore people to physical wholeness.” Healings can be miraculous, but this gift is different from the workings of miracles. Prince also explains that “a healing relieves the body of disease or injury.” We often cannot perceive it with our senses. It can be dramatic, but it is often gradual, meaning someone may pray over you for an issue that you are having in your body, but you might walk away not feeling any different. But just because you don’t experience the healing instantaneously doesn’t mean that God isn’t at work healing your ailment. Sometimes it is a gradual process. My mother had back issues for a couple of years. She prayed often for herself, we prayed for her, and I believe a minister prayed for her as well. She wasn’t instantly healed, but one day some time later, she noticed that she no longer had back pain. She was healed through a gradual process and through that time of waiting, she regularly thanked God for her healing.

A miracle, on the other hand, can be perceived by the senses and is almost always instantaneous. For example, Brett and I went to hear a minister by the name of Bobby Conner speak at a conference. He shared this story about a time he was ministering in Mexico City: “As I prayed for people during the ministry time, a dear man cradling a baby girl began walking down the aisle toward me. I looked into the father’s tender eyes and could see his desperate heart’s cry. When I focused on his precious little girl, I understood his pain. With her raven black hair and her sparkling, dark eyes, the baby girl was beautiful—but when she turned the side of her face toward me, what I saw took my breath away. One side of her face was missing. I could see into her mouth, her jaw and tongue were exposed, and saliva was flowing down her dress. Oh, Lord! I gasped. What will you do?” Well at that moment, to stir within him even more compassion, the Lord gave him a vision of how this girl’s life would end up if she wasn’t prayed for. He went on to say, “I asked the Lord, What do you want me to do? His response was soft and gentle, Take your thumb and rub it across the side of her missing face. I did just that, extending my thumb and rubbing it across the huge hole in her face. As I slowly moved my thumb, God grew the little girl a brand new, lovely face! The miracle happened in a split second.” Yes, this girl was healed, but what she experienced was a creative or restorative miracle. But what triggered this miracle was divine compassion and a word of wisdom from the Lord.

The gifts of healing are the only gifts spoken of in the plural. This implies that there are a variety of gifts of healing, and some believe it is because there are numerous types of sicknesses and infirmities. Therefore, one could never say they have the gift of healing; instead they would say, they have a gift of healing. One may find that every time they pray for someone with arthritis, that person gets healed. But when they pray for another ailment, such as heart disease, they don’t see the same results. One evangelist that my husband and I like, named Ted Shuttlesworth, has a gift of healing for the deaf. We have witnessed the Holy Spirit’s power manifest through him to open people’s ears, and he often does it by sticking his fingers in their ears and then moving his fingers around until he hears a “popping” sound in his spirit. We witnessed with our very own eyes deaf ears opened. It was incredible, and I can tell you that this evangelist has great compassion for people.

We see this in the New Testament as well. In Acts 8, Philip goes to a city in Samaria to preach the Gospel and proclaim the Messiah. Verse 6 says,

“When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city.”

It would appear that Philip had a special anointing to heal those who were paralyzed or lame, and the Bible felt it was important enough to point that out. But remember, it is God who heals. He just chooses the channel he will use to bring about the healing; in this case, it was Philip. It is also crucial to remember that “everyone with the spiritual gifts of healing in the New Testament ministered in the name of Jesus Christ and promoted the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

If you are sick, I believe the first thing you need to do is pray to God for yourself to be healed. You have the same ability to go before God as I do. He listens to you just as much as he listens to me. Find Scriptures in the Bible about healing and allow them to help increase your faith. The next thing you can do is enlist the prayers of others. But be sure not to ask people who will make you feel worse than you already do. You know who I’m talking about “Negative Nelson” and “Doubting Delores.” Never ask these types of people to pray for you! Don’t even tell them you’re sick! They will suck out every ounce of faith you have left with their negativity and doubt. The third thing you can do is call on the elders or the ministers of the church, as is written in James 5,

“Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.”

This “prayer of faith” is not a supernatural gift of healing. But is instead a prayer being offered up by spiritually mature men and women of faith who love you and want to see you made well. Then the fourth thing you can do is seek prayer from a person who has one of the gifts of healing, but don’t allow this to become your obsession. There are many people who go to every healing service looking to be healed. When we get to this point, we are putting more faith in the human beings than we are in the One who actually does the healing, GOD!

Now let me add this disclaimer because someone will scold me if I don’t. Not everyone we pray for gets healed, and we don’t know why this is so. There could be a number of reasons, but we have to trust that God knows what he is doing. But there are also different types of healing besides physical healing. Sometimes the spiritual or emotional healing we experience can be more beneficial or important than the physical healing. There are stories of people who accepted their physical ailment, allowed God to heal them spiritually or emotionally, and then went on to do great things for the kingdom of God. One of those people is Joni Erickson Tada, who became a quadriplegic after a tragic diving accident. In an article she wrote, she said, “God’s goal is not to make us comfortable…For the last 50 years in my wheelchair, I’ve been daily dying to self and rising with Jesus, dying to self and rising with Jesus, dying to self and rising with Jesus.” Those are some pretty humbling words right there.

But once again, I leave you with this question, “Have you ever experienced divine compassion?” If you are desiring the gifts of the Holy Spirit to operate in your life, then I want to encourage you to begin to ask the Lord to give you love and divine compassion for others. Then read the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and imagine yourself walking with Jesus and experiencing the same compassion he felt for the people who crossed his path every day. I believe that if this is our heart attitude, then we will begin to see the gifts of the Spirit in operation in our lives and in each other’s lives.

2019 General Conference (FMCUSA) Presentation

Here is the presentation given by our President, Norm Wetterau, at the 2019 General Conference of the Free Methodist Church USA.