‘For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.’ (2 Cor 4:6-7)
As we begin our journey towards Easter this year, we are reminded by St Paul that we carry the treasure of the light of Jesus Christ in jars of clay. We are weak, frail human beings who must remember that we are dust, and to dust we shall return. This gives us a healthy perspective about ourselves, God and other people, and of our urgent need to repent and believe the good news of Jesus.
As we humble ourselves through fasting, prayer and repentance during this season of Lent, we are assured of God’s forgiving grace and presence as He shines the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ in our hearts. This gives us hope against the darkness in the world at this difficult time which is the theme of our Lent reflections this year.
May the Lord bless us with the grace of humility, patience and perseverance as we continue this journey together with Jesus on the long road to Jerusalem, the place of his suffering, death and glorious resurrection which we celebrate at Easter!
Questions:
What things do I need to repent (change my way of thinking) of as I start this journey?
How can I encourage others on this journey this week?
My name is Ginny Buckwalter, and I was born in the city of Toronto on the north shore of Lake Ontario. For 25 years, I was a caseworker at a residential maternity home for single pregnant women, where I became a lay ‘doula’, a female helper (maidservant) or a midwife assistant in various pre and postnatal medical settings.
My husband Herb and I learned about Nazareth Village through the Mennonite church mission board. In 2005 as a sabbatical placement, we volunteered at Nazareth Village. In 2006, we began volunteering at Nazareth Hospital due to Herb’s paramedic career and my maternal experience. We transitioned into the SERVE Volunteer Program in 2010. With the ongoing support of Christine Farah, Majdoleen Nawatha and the Administration, we have been welcomed back as volunteers ever since then. Herb has participated in four fundraising bike rides during this time.
Ginny (second from the right) with two nurses and two aides at the staff room next to the maternity nursery at Nazareth Hospital (c.2019)
Volunteering in the Newborn Nursery, where babies are cared for in between being in their mother’s rooms, consists of folding and storing clean baby clothing and linens, bottle feeding newborn infants, diaper changing, dressing babies for discharge, assisting nurses during doctor’s rounds and admissions from the Labour and Delivery Ward, taking babies to the X-Ray department, taking/retrieving blood specimens to the Lab and generally meeting the needs of newborn infants.
The Maternity Ward patients all share in the buffet-style meals communally in the central dining room together. Patient rooms become celebrations shared with generations of family bringing in streamers of balloons, floral arrangements, thermoses of Arabic coffee and congratulatory baklava (sweets) shared with the staff. While volunteering, my definition of hospitality has been deeply enriched. In the hospital community and the city of Nazareth, food is always a form of warmly welcoming others, especially strangers and newcomers, of giving them a place at your table before serving yourself.
In the Nursery year after year, I have observed newborns diagnosed with distressful complications at birth as their parents received consultation, thorough explanations and reassurances from a team of specialists, obstetricians and nurses in an unbelievable, deeply caring, sensitive manner. Without exception – at a level I have never seen before. The equality and respect with which the medical professionals relate to their patients is a testimony to Nazareth Hospital’s “light on the hill”.
“Our first task in approaching
Another people
Another culture
Another religion
Is to take off our shoes
For the place we are
Approaching is holy
Else we may find ourselves
Treading on another’s dream
More serious still
We may forget…
That God was there
Before we arrived. (Author unknown.)”
Herb and Ginny (first couple on the left) at a SERVE volunteer trip to the Dead Sea in 2016.
In closing, as Shaun Newton said to me in the chapel a few weeks ago, “We May Leave Nazareth, but Nazareth will never leave us.” Volunteering at Nazareth Hospital has indeed been a humbling privilege and an experience I will always be profoundly grateful for. The honourable hospital staff who give and have given of themselves throughout history deeply bless all those whom they serve.
Ginny Buckwalter
Anna Herning, originally from Chicago (USA), is volunteering in Nazareth through the Mennonite Central Committee.
Read this interview to find out all about her time with us in the hometown of Jesus.
Click here to read this interview as a pdf.
Pastoral care visits are happening daily during the week and involve visits to both staff and patients. The staff are often visited in their departments, and depending on their work routine, there are often times to stop, share a short devotion or verse and pray together. These times are arranged around the work of the department, so they are varied, and some can be longer than others. There is an opportunity for staff to decompress and bring their concerns to the Lord in prayer. Each time we meet with staff is different; sometimes we are praying for sick colleagues, the pressure at work, the patients, and other times for personal issues or professional challenges and the future. There is always something to thank the Lord for and something to ask for His help about too!
Patient visits are different and just as varied. We visit each ward at different times, checking in with the patients we know, introducing ourselves to those we don’t know and offering communion to those that would like it once a month. The visits can be just introductory, what we would call hospitality visits, welcoming and checking in with each patient to see how they are doing, or can develop differently, listening, supporting and praying for patients or with their relatives. A phrase we hear a lot is “barak Allah fikum” which means “God bless you” in Arabic, from people of all backgrounds and religions. To visit the sick is a ministry and a “good work” which is appreciated by all. The situations and the people may be varied, but the needs are the same, to feel cared for and supported.
Pastoral presence is important for two main reasons, the first one being that academic research shows that the provision of spiritual care, especially in cases of serious illness, improves health outcomes. If we want to provide the best care for our patients, then spiritual care should absolutely be a part of that; in fact, we have a duty to ensure that it is! The second reason we provide Christian pastoral presence is that we are a Christian organisation, and this is part of our identity. Since the Hospital was founded in 1861, there has always been a pastoral presence here, whether provided by the missionary doctors, nurses, midwives, and staff or by chaplains and pastors both from the staff and the community. Today we have a qualified Chaplain and a Pastoral Care Team to meet these needs, who care for our staff and patients across the organisation.
Ruth Shawe (née Burrow) arrived at The Nazareth Hospital in 1986 to be the sole primary teacher for the children of expatriate families serving on staff in the hospital. She stayed for four years and had a life-long impact on all who knew her – children, parents, and hospital staff. Apart from being an excellent teacher with outstanding musical ability, her life, faith and walk with her Saviour Jesus was an inspiration – as these tributes make very clear. Her living witness shone too through the last few years of her life as she endured a slowly progressive cancer diagnosis. As for so many others, having lived and worked in Nazareth, the hospital and town – and especially its people – were always part of her.
Ruth at the school, c. 1988.
Please join us in prayer as we remember the life of Ruth Shawe, a truly admirable lady with so much love to give.
Click here to read the tributes written by Irene Murray, Beth Hampson (Turnpenny), Ros Khalil, Miriam and Afaf (local midwives), Sue Burrow, Chloe Hutton and Alice Burrow.
May she rest in peace.
