It was a typical Sabbath morning. We were busy getting ready to go to church when my husband was urgently called to the hospital. A desperate father had brought his son, who’d had an epileptic seizure and fallen into an open cooking fire. His eyelids were gone, his eyeballs were burned, and his entire face was completely disfigured with burns that had traveled down his neck and chest. This child had a history with seizures and flames. Both arms had tight contractures from a previous burn, bending at the elbows with his palms facing inward. The back of both hands and arms were now also burned, providing further evidence that he had fallen headfirst into the flames. Either the seizure medication prescribed had not been taken, or when the first prescription had run out, no one had refilled it to continue preventing the seizures. And now this boy’s life was forever altered.
After a brief examination, my husband, Stephen, started writing in his “fiche opératoire” orders for lab work to be taken, a nasogastric tube to be placed, fluids to be given, as well as antibiotics and pain medication. Stephen then turned to the father to explain all that his child would need, informing him that he would need to go to the operating room for debridement of his third-degree burns. Before Stephen could finish his instructions, the father interrupted him, declaring, “I don’t have any money for this!”
If the sick are too afraid to come, how can they be helped?
This is not an isolated scenario. In fact, most patients who come to our hospital cannot fully pay their hospital bill. Some patients do pay part of the money they owe; many do not. Last quarter we covered about US$7,000 worth of hospital bills for patients who could not pay but still needed medical care. In the United States most people have some plan to cover large expenses, whether it’s a health savings account or health insurance. Here there are no banks, no savings accounts, no insurance for possible future predicaments. And so we donate our own money, or money from a fund of donations, to cover patients when needed.
But sometimes desperation and exhaustion from continual cultural clashes can cause one to quietly question, “If you have no money, why did you come here at all? Why would you come to the hospital, knowing your child would need help, and not have any plan to pay for this? What exactly were your expectations?”
Does this story sound familiar to many stories of Jesus in the Gospels? Countless sick and destitute individuals, desperate for healing, having nothing to offer Jesus in return for His healing, but coming anyway? Does Jesus turn them away? Is He too busy? Is He too important? Is He worried about the bottom line? No. In fact, Ellen G. White states, “God rejoices to bestow His grace upon us, not because we are worthy, but because we are so utterly unworthy. Our only claim to His mercy is our great need.”[*] Praise God for His endless mercy and grace, which are always available to us!
At the time of this writing, the little boy in the story continues to receive treatment at our hospital. To survive this long with such severe burns is nothing short of a miracle. For every person who, like this father bringing his son, comes to our hospital although they have no money, there are infinitely more that do not come to the hospital because they have no money. Or they wait until their loved one is on the very threshold of death before they come to the hospital. Often it is too late. The purpose of a hospital is to heal the sick. But if the sick are too afraid to come, how can they be helped? Likewise, God waits for us with open arms. Do not hesitate to turn to Him; don’t wait! He is ready to receive all who come to Him for help.
Katie Waterbrook is serving abroad with her family as a nurse and mom to three.
[*] Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1905), p. 161.
