As
Sinekamva nears the end of it's 6th year (105 days till 2014!), God continues to bless my
hospital chaplain ministry.
Training:
I had the
opportunity to facilitate a training programme at Helderberg Hospice based on "The importance of Spiritual
needs within a Medical Setting."
The Why, What and How of healthcare spirituality were addressed and the following topics were discussed: The Church and Hospital Care, Why Spirituality is Important in Healthcare?,
Definition of Spirituality & Religion, Dynamics of Physical, Emotional
& Spiritual Pain, Grief Cycle & Unmet Spiritual Need Cycle, Five essential functions of Spirituality, Spiritual Measurement Tools, The
Goals Of Spiritual Assessments, Signs of Spiritual
Pain/Suffering, Visual Cues Indicating Possible Religious or Spiritual
Beliefs and Practices, Spiritual Care at the Time of Death, and How
To Effectively Use Spiritual Resources.
This was a wonderful opportunity to expose the real
and valid need of spiritual care for patients. The 25 volunteers were enlightened with valuable information in that patients are more than just an illness in a physical and emotional body, but that
their spiritual narrative plays an important role in holistic care.
Cape
Town Baptist Seminary is looking to expand their psychology curriculum, to a
more focused pastoral care curriculum. As I have been assisting them with
lectures, this further opens the door for exposing the real need of
pastoral care as a speciality. It has been my experience that newly graduated
pastors receive a “crash-course” in pastoral care; however, anyone who is part
of a church would know that competent pastoral care is vitally important for
any church. This is exciting for both the Seminary and for myself.
The Teddy bear/wool drive
The Teddy
bear/wool drive has been a real success. As to date the following items have been handed out: Peadiatric Ward (10 Teddy
Bears, 3 Blankets, 15 Jerseys, and 20 Beanies), KMC Ward (17 Beanie and Bootie
sets, 9 Jerseys, 11 Beanies and 17 Booties.) Thank you to those who contributed to the wool
drive. It has been wonderful to have the Parel Vallei High School students, who
on a weekly basis, have given up their time to hand out the goodies to the
children. If you would like to contribute teddies, jerseys or beanies, please
drop them off at Somerset West Baptist Church, or alternatively contact me.
A Pastoral Walk
I was asked to provide counsel and pastoral support to a gentleman who had been
newly diagnosed with cancer with a very bleak prognosis. He had come down from
JHB to visit his children, when he took ill and it was then that he was diagnosed.
He was very successful in his work and was highly involved in the
reconciliation aspects of our country. As we got to know each
other, opportunities of life-reflection became evident in his life. Over the following few weeks, the time that we spent together, was enriching as I helped him explore
the relational side of his faith with Christ. A barrier of regret was still
apparent in his life, and being a divorced man we felt that he needed to make peace with his ex-wife and
his children regarding this. I encouraged him to speak the truth and seek
forgiveness for his wrong-doings. This brought a lot of peace to his
soul. The full pastoral cycle was experienced when the family asked me
to conduct his memorial
service. Although he passed on, I trust that the Lord will honour our
conversations and that he is resting in God's loving arms. This reminded me of
the importance of reconciliation with loved ones and how vital it is to die in
Christ's peace.
PhD
As I continue my walk though the
chapters, I have begun to realise that non-fatal medication overdose is a grave issue facing the Basin. I am currently designing a holistic
assessment tool that would incorporate the psychsocial-spiritual aspects of the
patient. This will not only be important for my pastoral care, but the
assessment will provide an holistic picture of the patient for the medical
team. If you feel that you would like to financially contribute towards the PhD
fees, please take note of Sinekamva's bank details and reference the donation
as PHD.
I thought you might
appreciate these real doctor’s comments from hospital forms:
1. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.2. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.3. On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.4. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.5. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.
1. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.2. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.3. On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.4. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.5. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.
