Making the Contact

The First Approach.—"When the pa­tient registers at the desk on entering the sanitarium for the treatment of the body, let a card be placed in his hands, directing him to the spiritual activities and inviting him to partici­pate." One sample card reads as fol­lows:

We welcome you to [name of insti­tution]. As you become a member of our family, we desire to do everything possible for your comfort and benefit while you are here. The chaplain wishes to offer his service in the way of spiritual consultation, Bible study, or prayer at any time to all who may desire it; and especially invites you to the daily morning worship in the parlor immediately following break­fast.

(Signed) ...................... , Chaplain

Office: Room ...........

Telephone ..........

Bedside Visitation.—"I make fre­quent calls on the patients in their rooms, with a view to bringing to them all possible cheer and courage. In making such calls, there is often opportunity to speak a word regarding the great truths which pertain to the gospel message in this day, and to refer to the extent of the work of Seventh-day Adventists."

"I do not visit patients in their rooms except by invitation. The in­vitation sometimes comes direct from the patient himself, or over the tele­phone to my desk, and sometimes the patient sends the nurse to request me to call. I find that special considera­tion must be given to the needs of the individual case. To those approaching death, the appeal is for personal prep­aration through the forgiveness of sins. If the patient has some special burden on his mind, he will likely mention it, and this then becomes the topic of consideration."

"It is my aim to follow the instruc­tion found in 'Ministry of Healing,' page 120: 'At the bedside of the sick no word of creed or controversy should be spoken. Let the sufferer be pointed to the One who is willing to save all that come to Him in faith. . . . The physician . . . can tell the story of the Redeemer's love.' "

Presenting Distinctive Truths.—"I am trying from day to day to cultivate a spirit of Christian boldness which will enable me to present more and more definitely the virtues of the Christian faith and the peculiar features of our belief. I am convinced that many of our doctrines can be presented to the patients and guests without giving offense, if we will only exercise a de­gree of tact."

Weekly Letter to Patients.—"Where the chaplain's duties do not permit of much time for visitation, and where there is no Bible worker to assist him, the Chaplain's Weekly Letter serves to good purpose. The purpose of this letter is to establish personal contact with the patients, and to give them a message of hope and cheer, together with any especially interesting items which may be available. My first thought in following this plan was to present connected lines of truth through the letters, but this proved to be impracticable, due to the fact that there are such frequent changes in the personnel of patients."

Capitalizing the Radio.—"All rooms in the institution are wired, so that patients can listen in through ear phones, which are furnished free to all desiring them. The morning and evening worship and the Sabbath serv­ices are broadcast through the micro­phone. This has proved a great bless­ing to the very sick patients, who cannot leave their rooms to attend services."

"The Radio Public Address system, installed in our institution, has proved to be a great asset. Many patients and guests who do not feel free to come to the parlor for the religious services, listen in from their rooms, and seem not only to enjoy the serv­ices, but to receive help from them. Through this means we carry to the guests the morning worship, prayer meeting, Sabbath school, and other religious services, and also the parlor entertainments. In each room is placed what is known as the 'Listen in' card, giving the daily radio pro­gram and special Sabbath and Sunday features."

"The sanitarium radio, in its con­nection with the outside world, de­mands constant and conscientious supervision. All jazz music is strictly eliminated. It is sometimes difficult to satisfy the public and at the same time deny their requests for certain kinds of radio programs, but by cau­tion and tact this can be done."

Entertainment for Patients.—"We provide entertainment for the patients each week along the lines of lectures, readings, musical concerts. The chap­lain and his committee make thorough investigation as to the character of the entertainment before it is ar­ranged for."

"School for Better Health."—"At regular intervals during the year, a School for Better Health is conducted in the parlor, for the benefit of pa­tients. This consists of demonstra­tions in preparing healthful foods, and instruction as to why and how to dis­pense with meat."

Texts for Tray Service.—"On all trays provided for patients there is placed a little slip of paper bearing a text of Scripture or an inspiring quo­tation from Mrs. White's writings or other spiritual writers. These slips also find their way to the tables in the dining room. Guests have been known to preserve every such slip, and carry them home as souvenirs of their stay at the institution."

"Upon all trays sent to patients' rooms each morning we place a card bearing a text of Scripture. These cards are also used as place cards in the dining room. Guests often send these cards to their friends, and some­times place them in scrapbooks."

(To be continued)