Praise and Prayer Bulletin, March 2014

It's been quite a long time since I've put out a Praise and Prayer Bulletin. Do pass this around and encourage friends and relatives to be part of our work. 

The praise and prayer points . . . 

1. We had a blessed time of retreat couple of weeks back with Rev. Maxwell David and his wife, Mrs. Snehalatha David. We thank the Lord for all those who have dedicated/rededicate their lives to the Lord. Please pray for the ministry of Rev. Maxwell and his wife. We pray that they will continue to be a blessing to many.

2. There have been quite a lot of sick patients who got well over the last 2 months. We thank the Lord for each of them. Special praises for Munia Kumari and the umpteen high risk obstetric patients.

3. The CH team has been working overtime over the last 2 weeks. There has been couple of mass awareness programs for finger millet cultivation and usage in diet. We received invitation to be part of Agrotech, the state level agriculture fair organised by the State University for Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences. In addition, we’ve been acknowledged for our work in the field of care for the disabled.

4. We’ve received some generous gifts from our friends and well-wishers for upgrading the acute care unit. Plans have been made for the purchase of a full-fledged ventilator, few multipara monitors and syringe pumps. Please pray that we would make the right choices. We thank all those who helped. We need much more funds (only 25% of our plans can be met by the funds we have now) to make changes that we dream of.

5. The water tank construction is complete. The pipes are been now laid for the supply of water to the residences now. Supply to the hospital is partially complete. We thank the Lord and the Indian wing of Living Waters, Sampoorn Development India who were instrumental in constructing this tank in the campus. We had the dedication of the tank last week. Mr. Howard Searle, the first director of EHA visited us last month and it was such a joy to know about how Living Waters came to be associated with EHA. 

6. We thank the Lord for Dr Titus who served as Medical Officer with us for the last 2 years. Dr Titus has got selected for Diploma in ENT in the Christian Medical College, Vellore. We request prayer for Dr. Titus and his wife, Dr. Grace that they would stay in the will of God and the Lordship of Christ would be the priority in their lives. Titus' parents and brother visited us as Titus and Grace left NJH. 

In the foreground, from left to right - Dr. Grace, Dr. Titus, Titus' parents - Dr. Raju Jacob (Professor and Head of the Department of Anatomy, Medical College, Kottayam), Dr. Jaimol Zachariah (Professor, Department of Physiology, Medical College, Kottayam), Titus' brother - John Raju (Engineer with Bharat Gas, Mumbai). Also in the snap - Mr. Tapeswar (driver) on the left and Annoos, daughter of Sr. Dipti (staff nurse) and Mr. Benoy Jose. 

7. We thank the Lord for Sr. Wendy and Mr. Gerry of the Grace Babies Foundation who has visited us again this year. I'm sure that the number of babies who're going to live well because of their contribution to our hospital is quite a good number. Kindly pray for this wonderful couple as the Lord leads them for greater things. Please also pray that we would be able to get a Paediatrician who will be able to do much more. Especially training for the government, for which UNICEF has been asking us for some time. 

8. There are quite a few staff who have gone on training. Few of them are away on long periods of training. We thank the Lord that their travel and stay went off fine. Kindly pray for staff who are away on long term training. Especially, pray for their families.

9. We request specific prayers for Sr. Sushma Kujur who has a very bad Inter-Vertebral Disc Prolapse. She has been on bed rest for the last 6 weeks. Please pray for complete cure.

10. We’ve a new trainee Human Resources Manager who has joined us. Mr. Amit William. Kindly pray as he adjusts to life at NJH.

11. We thank the Lord for Sr. Bharati (Nursing Services), Mr. Sapan (Maintanence Department) and Mr. Alex (Administration - Billing Department) who has moved on after serving NJH. We request prayers for their further professional work.

12. There is quite a lot of money pending to be given from RNTCP and also from RSBY. The total amount is so high (about 1,200,000 – your read it right – more than a million Indian Rupees) that the financial situation of the hospital has taken a major hit. Please pray that the officials who are responsible would make arrangements to disburse the amounts at the earliest.

13. We had a break down of the X-Ray machine. The x-ray tube has run off steam - it had served us for almost 30 years. We need to purchase a new one. The total costs would be around 160,000. We request prayers as well as generous gifts from well-wishers to get the X-Ray back on track. 

14. General elections have been declared for the country. In Jharkhand we already had a political murder. Please pray for peace in the region and for peaceful elections. 

15. Please remember the Sarai construction in your prayers. We've almost completed it using our own funds. However, it would be extremely helpful if we could have someone to bear the costs of construction.