Nazarene Hospital, Kujip, Papua New Guinea: Recently, missionary Karla Deuel found herself headed into a village as part of a very special house call…
As part of patient follow up, Karla along with Chaplain Moses, Chaplain Lucy, and Dr. Jim and Kathy Radcliffe, ventured out to follow up with a family that had visited the hospital earlier in the week.
The wife had given birth and when the husband had come to collect them from the hospital, he had collapsed and been taken to the Emergency Room. It was there that Chaplain Moses had met the man, prayed for him, and offered to visit him at home, an offer the man accepted.
The Highlands of Papua New Guinea. “House Calls” can be challenging!
The team made their way off the highway and onto a small road. Arriving in a village community, they asked for directions and made their way to a home where immediately the man came out to greet them. Entering the home, the team was introduced to the man’s wife, 3-year-old son and newborn baby girl.
Karla and Kathy had brought along songbooks so they led in singing and worship. Chaplain Moses gave his testimony, Dr. Jim words of wisdom, and Kathy a word of encouragement.
“We read Isaiah 6,” said Karla. “As the man read the scripture, he was clearly identifying with Isaiah’s words, ‘I am a man of unclean lips and I live amidst a people of unclean lips.'”
The couple testified that at one time they had been Christians. They now felt drawn back to the saving power of God, but did not know how.
“As we listened and prayed with this family to receive Christ, God found them and ministered to them,” said Karla. “We had such joy and loved on them and their children, telling them it was all because of God that we could come together and worship Him. I asked the man if he had any Christian music on his computer. He jumped up and immediately turned on the computer, playing the Christian songs that he had been listening to the day before. Each song he played was about preparing a way for sinners to come back to God. So, we were the messengers, used by God, for what His Holy Spirit was already doing in the life of this man!”
Returning to the hospital, Karla was eager to share the story with one of the volunteer Physician Assistants (PA) from Trevecca Nazarene University. The PA shared that she was actually the one who had triaged the man when he collapsed the week before. She remembered telling Dr. Susan (the attending physician) that she couldn’t find anything wrong with the man. Dr. Susan had replied, “Yes, but we all know there can be things wrong with a person that are not physical.”
God is truly at work through Nazarene Health Ministries. Thank you for your prayers for the medical teams, chaplains, and staff, as daily, whether in the hospital, rural clinics, or making special house calls, they are bringing the light and healing of our Lord and Savior to those in need.
–—- Submitted: Karla Deuel, Missionary Lab Technician.
