Some Kind Of Wonderful

Three weeks ago a request came to the chaplains office that Dr. Dunn,
an attending physician at the VA, wanted a chaplain to join his medical
team. Dr. Dunn has traveled across the world doing medical missions.
Working alongside missionaries and pastors they met physical
needs and then turned to address spiritual needs. His desire and
prayer is that this holistic healing approach could be brought to the VA level.


This pilot program would involve a chaplain on
the medical team as a key component. Physical and spiritual
needs would be addressed simultaneously.


God in his wisdom allowed me to join Dr. Dunn for this awesome
opportunity.

After daily morning briefings on the patients we began making rounds on the floor.
The resident doctors, Dr. Dunn, and I would gather around the patient
and discuss treatment plans. The doctors would introduce me as the VA chaplain and with
the involvement of Dr. Dunn we would inquire about their spiritual
needs or questions.

In many cases He and I would follow up privately with patients that
showed interest in discussing spiritual matters.
After three weeks the team and I observed immeasurable results.
We witnessed countless prayers, many  re-dedications, salvation's, exalted spirits, and
even a baptism occurred.

I'm aware that very few, including clergy, have been privileged to
participate in an experience such as this. Needless to say our actions became the
buzz around the hospital. Naturally there was some slight spiritual irritation that occurred but we were all riding such a glorious high we had little time to be bothered by it.

Dr. Dunn has been a champion for spiritual things at the VA since
1971. His Godly presence and Christlikeness has sustained many. The
eruption of spiritual fruit from this program has been like pouring
living water over parched earth.

It has been an honor to have been worthy of this experience. As we
wrapped up this last day of the medical team, one by one resident
doctors began to express to me the impact this new test program has
personally had on their lives and practice.

It remains to be seen if this will develop into the creation of a new description of the
medical teams. It certainly is a prayer request for all of you.
Whatever the future holds for this, lives have been changed and God
has been glorified.

iPhone

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Keith Brake

Image
Acts 4:31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. And the place was shaken...WOW We all need these moments of transfiguration. Times when God makes an appearance leaving no doubt that you are where you're supposed to be doing exactly what is pleasing to Him. God moments...! They happen every day. All day. In big and small ways. The small moments may bring a smile. The huge bring tears. We can fathom only handfuls of the mountainous otherwise we look only for big and miss the multitude of God moments happening all around us. One of those gigantic events happened Sunday. Over 50 of us were jammed into the small hospice room of our beloved LIFE group teacher of 25 years. Cancer had left him unable to communicate. Final days of life's struggle are approaching. Lynn's request for Keith was to have his class meet by his bed, on Easter Sunday, a...
Read more

Go For It

Image
One of the most heart rendering experiences I've ever had occurred on a mission trip to the south pacific. My niece came with me along with a dozen other workers. We arrived at the airport in Manila Philippines for our return flight to America. My niece reached for her passport...and it wasn't there. One thing for certain, you're not getting on an international flight without a passport. It was lost on the bumpy ride to the city. She had everything, but not quite! Everything.. but the most important item... which gave her right of passage. At that point, nothing else mattered. I recall her weeping on my shoulder, "Uncle John, there going to keep me here forever". How God bailed us out of that jam was amazing and a great devotion for another time. What I'm reminded of from this is the story of the rich young man that came to Jesus in Matthew 19. He had everything and had kept all the law. He would have been like the Bruce Wayne of Palestine. He had money, ...
Read more

History or His Story

Image
Sitting with an old friend, catching up with lost years, I asked if he had heard from past aquaintances. His response was, "Thats in the past. I don't live in the past. I'm looking forward." I knew exactly what he meant, and so did the Apostle Paul. Philippians 3: 13-14 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus Someone said, "Dont look back, unless you plan to go that way." I appreciated my friends comment. Mistakes, failure, and regret had been pestering me all week. Presently God was doing many remarkable things all around me but an unhealthy consciousness of past history was preventing me from enjoying the present. I needed a little reminder about straining toward what was ahead. To err is human. To forgive is divine. Th...
Read more