Wednesday, January 11, 2006

This week's key word is "hospital".

I don't have any photos of the last week's escapades, but I will do my best to paint a word picture for you. It all started last Wednesday when my young (25) American neighbor called me saying "I don't know what to do! I have pain in my abdomen and pain in my back. Do you think I should see a Dr.?" After questions about the intensity of the pain, etc. I told her I would take her to the Dr. that afternoon. The result of our visit to the Dr. was that she was admitted. I was impressed with the way the hospital staff worked with her and over the course of time diagnosed three separate conditions that all required attention. She is now at home on bedrest for another week due to a ruptured disk in her back, but she is doing well under the circumstances. This whole experience made me realize how thankful I ought to be, that in the 26 years I have lived in Taiwan, I have never required hospitalization.....so going through the admittance process was a new experience for me.

Today I went to see the doctor for myself. I have had a little bump on my neck for several months and it just recently became inflamed and painful to touch. It turns out that it is just an infected sebaceous cyst and really is nothing to worry about. What was so neat, though, was how God used that visit to the doctor to renew a contact with a neighbor we rarely see. She was seeing the same doctor I saw, and was very worried about impending surgery. We assured her that we would go through it with her. We are praying that God will continue to open doors for us to share His love with her. Pray for Ms. Tsai when God brings her to your mind.

Sunday night, Rev. and Mrs. Cheng, missionaries to China, stayed at my home. They were preparing for complete physicals the next day.....I delivered them to the hospital at 7:30 Monday morning and picked them up at 4:00 p.m.

Then, yesterday, a co-worker was admitted to a hospital in Taipei for preliminary testing before undergoing a lumpectomy today for breast cancer. She was blessed with a smooth procedure and seems to be doing very well (just visited her tonight).

So, you can see, I have spent more time in hospitals in the last week, than any other place. Dai and I were wondering if God might be leading us to focus a little more on hospital as a place of ministry. We are certainly open to His leading.