Medical Relief at Chungking

We feel that the following excerpt from a letter written by Dr. Herbert Liu, of China, will be of interest to our medical group at this critical time.

"We all understand that the medical relief work in Chungking is of a temporary nature; all plans are laid with that in mind, Neverthe­less it is felt that although the work is tem­porary, the impression made on the people should be lasting, and that whatever we do should properly represent the message we pro­claim.

"The main relief hospital opened its doors on March 22 with two patients. From that small beginning the patronage has gradually grown until at present there are seventy-four patients in the hospital. The outpatient clinic has grown to sixty patients a day. There was a time when we had one hundred patients in the hospital; but that was too many to care for properly in our limited space. Many are waiting for opportunity to come in.

"The overcrowded conditions in the city, the frequent air raids, with destruction and burning of houses, have multiplied manyfold. This institution was certainly established at the right time.

"The income of the hospital is also gradually improving. During the month of March we took in about $i,000. During the present month, June, we have collected a little over $10,000. There are at present thirty-seven per­sons in our employ.

"We thank God for His blessing on the institution. He has protected us in many dangerous situations. Many times our nurses have gone out in the midst of air raids to do emergency work, and lives have been saved through their efforts. We are grateful for this opportunity to relieve human suffering and thus to serve the Master. We constantly pray that patients who come to us for physical help may receive also spiritual blessing. Remember us in your prayers."—China Division Reporter, Aug. I, 1939.

Evangelize and Medicalize

"Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people." Matt. 4:23.

"Christ's servants are to follow His example. As He went from place to place, He comforted the suffering and healed the sick. Then He placed be­fore them the great truths in regard to His kingdom. This is the work of His followers. As you relieve the, sufferings of the body, you will find ways of ministering to the wants of the soul. You can point to the uplifted Saviour, and tell of the love of the great Physician, who alone has power to restore." --"Christ's Object Lessons," pp. 233, 234.

The results of genuine medical missionary endeavors in the field are highly gratifying. The methods employed by Christ give success, and when conducted after His example, medi­cal missionary work has proved to be all that it has ever been said to be; namely, the "great entering wedge," "the pioneer work of the gospel," "the right hand of the gospel," "the gospel practiced, the compassion of Christ revealed." Specific counsel for medical work­ers, pointing out the scope of their work, is found in the book "Ministry of Healing:"

"In the ministry of healing, the physician is to be a coworker with Christ. The Saviour ministered to both the soul and the body. The gospel which He taught was a message of spiritual life and of physi­cal restoration. Deliverance from sin and the heal­ing of disease were linked together. The same min­istry is committed to the Christian physician. He is to unite with Christ in relieving both the physical and spiritual needs of his fellow men. He is to be to the sick a messenger of mercy, bringing to them a remedy for the diseased body and for the sin-sick soul."—Page 111.

"Into the medical missionary work should be brought a deep yearning for souls. To the physician equally with the gospel minister is committed the highest trust ever committed to man. Whether he realizes it or not, every physician is entrusted with the cure of souls."—Id., p. 119.

It must be clearly evident, therefore, that more is expected of the Christian physician than merely professional service per se. All of which is to say that from the example of Christ and from the counsels to the church which relate to medical work, we see that it is highly important that all our sanitarium, hospital, dispensary, and other medical en­deavors be made distinctly evangelical in char­acter.

Physicians and nurses, if following the pat­tern given for our work, will be performing a twofold service, for "the Redeemer expects our physicians to make the saving of souls their first work."---"Medical Ministry," p. 37. Often the most important service which the physician or the nurse renders to the patient has nothing to do with professional care or technique of nursing, but has to do with the influence of a strong, godly life upon a weak, ungodly one.