Sunday 1 November 2009

Dedication prayer walk

It is finished.  Well, not quite... but close enough.  In just three days we will begin the long awaited move to the new and improved Kudjip Hospital.  What an exciting time!  But there are likely to be growing pains as well.  Your prayers are especially appreciated during these next few days and weeks of transition.

This evening we had a "prayer walk" of dedication.  The missionaries and national workers gathered in the new outpatient department and began by giving thanks to the Lord for this wonderful gift.  Our path took us through the wards, the operation theater, and the emergency room.  We prayed for patients who would occupy each bed, and for the staff who would care for them:  doctors, HEOs, nurses, community health workers, x-ray and lab techs, pharmacy, cooks, cleaners, maintenance, and chaplains.  We prayed for unity among the staff, for our supporters around the world, the chaplain ministry, and the spiritual battles that will be fought here.  Dr. Bill closed by dedicating the building and our lives to Christ and in service to His Kingdom.

In Isaiah 58, the Lord instructs the people of Israel about "true fasting."
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
To loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
The your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say:  Here am I.
'If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called the Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.'"

This is my prayer for the new hospital, and for the staff, and for me... that we will spend ourselves on behalf of the people of Papua New Guinea, that we will be the repairers of broken bodies and spirits and families, and that God will use us to restore people to Him.  Soli Deo Gloria.

1 comment:

  1. I am praying that the transition will be a smooth as possible. Daily depending upon God is essential.

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