Why do we (mission hospitals) exist?
I am a worker in a mission hospital which has existed for more than 50 years.Like many other mission hospitals our hospital was born out of need and compassion of missionaries who were moved by the felt need of the community and the people whom they served.It was a divine providence which led to the establishment of hospitals in places like ours.Since then many have toiled with blood and sweat to make it what it is today.From this platform we are forced to ask ourselves what does it mean to exist today in this changing contexts of health care around us?
The following are some of the reasons (though there are many) i found which i feel are important to me.
1.JUSTICE LEADING TO EQUITABLE HEALTH CARE.- Though we have an ever increasing no of medical colleges and booming health care professionals we are left with an ever increasing gap between the poor and the rich, in terms of service delivery.The poor and the downtrodden remain trampled under the heavy feet of the affluent in socioeconomic strata leading to inaccessible or inadequate access to healthcare.In this scenario mission hospitals serve as an alternative to the poor in reaching out and in delivering the essential health care who could have otherwise perished under the burden of unaffordable health care.This gives a vantage point to the mission hospitals acquiring a unique position of providing justice to the poor in restoring a balance to the skewed health care system of the country.This also provides opportunity for the hospitals to be in a unique place where health care remains a costly commodity as compared to the well accessible places.(North India vs south India).Ethics and evidence based care which is practised only by the elite medical institutions become very much accessible to the poor and marginalised through the service of mission hospitals.Is ethics and evidence a domain of only the rich and the affluent?I have been enquired many times why i need to serve in North India when there has been ample opportunities in south India where there are known inequalities in health care.Probably this is one of the reason for me to come to north India for serving in the health care sector.Mission hospital are symbols of Justice in the region they serve and act as promoters of equitable care acting as reminders of gods concern and care towards the people whose justice has been denied.
2.COMMUNAL LIVING LEADING TO ENRICHING COMMUNITY - The problem for mankind since the inception of ages has been the cardinal question of how to live together?More often than not we have never really lived a successful communal life.In this age of selfish individualistic world living,an alternate lifestyle where a community of people coming together for a common cause is rare to see.Though secular movements bring people together for common good(maoism,communism,cults)they lack the moral ingredient to sustain the momentum and their frame work for living collapses due to lack of love and compassion.We cannot subscribe just to an ideal and sustain a community.We need the supernatural presence of god himself to gather and transform a community.Its easy to love one another from a distance.But its different story to love our neigbour.The more closer we are , more the friction is.Essentially living in mission hospital is a training house where our character is tested and tried in relationships and people.Amidst these brokenness we endure, still we remain a salt to the community through the mysterious act of Christ who himself acts though our brokenness.May be mission hospital offer any christian a unique location where he can see for himself what does it take to "live together"?I am sure he will come out with many a scar but purified!
3.FOR PURPOSEFUL LIVING TOWARDS PARTAKERS OF THE NEW CREATION - Christian health care is more than just wishful philanthropy.We believe in a God who has resurrected from the dead and who is actively involved in a process of restoring his creation ,humans and the material world alike.One day there will be world recreated by god where there is no suffering illness or death.The process of this new creation has already been initiated by the resurrection of Christ and will be consummated with his second coming.We as christians through the health care and development involve in the process of restoration through caring for the fellow human beings.This big picture involves development also where health plays a catalyst component.This also gives our life a purpose that we are partakers of a grand restorative process initiated by God himself and we can be rest assured that this will have a successful ending though we may falter from the ideal climax (there is no suffering/death) in our time.We can be satisfied that we are not alone in this endeavor and we will be able to rejoice in the day of consummation along with fellow Christians who had shed their blood and sweat for this cause of healthcare.This gives Christian health care a unique viewpoint which is not shared by other philanthropic movements.
Having said this its really humbling to see how far we are from these purposes which gives meaning to our existence.I do sincerely hope that we may strive towards the same in fulfilling the mandate given to our hospitals and institutions.
The following are some of the reasons (though there are many) i found which i feel are important to me.
1.JUSTICE LEADING TO EQUITABLE HEALTH CARE.- Though we have an ever increasing no of medical colleges and booming health care professionals we are left with an ever increasing gap between the poor and the rich, in terms of service delivery.The poor and the downtrodden remain trampled under the heavy feet of the affluent in socioeconomic strata leading to inaccessible or inadequate access to healthcare.In this scenario mission hospitals serve as an alternative to the poor in reaching out and in delivering the essential health care who could have otherwise perished under the burden of unaffordable health care.This gives a vantage point to the mission hospitals acquiring a unique position of providing justice to the poor in restoring a balance to the skewed health care system of the country.This also provides opportunity for the hospitals to be in a unique place where health care remains a costly commodity as compared to the well accessible places.(North India vs south India).Ethics and evidence based care which is practised only by the elite medical institutions become very much accessible to the poor and marginalised through the service of mission hospitals.Is ethics and evidence a domain of only the rich and the affluent?I have been enquired many times why i need to serve in North India when there has been ample opportunities in south India where there are known inequalities in health care.Probably this is one of the reason for me to come to north India for serving in the health care sector.Mission hospital are symbols of Justice in the region they serve and act as promoters of equitable care acting as reminders of gods concern and care towards the people whose justice has been denied.
2.COMMUNAL LIVING LEADING TO ENRICHING COMMUNITY - The problem for mankind since the inception of ages has been the cardinal question of how to live together?More often than not we have never really lived a successful communal life.In this age of selfish individualistic world living,an alternate lifestyle where a community of people coming together for a common cause is rare to see.Though secular movements bring people together for common good(maoism,communism,cults)they lack the moral ingredient to sustain the momentum and their frame work for living collapses due to lack of love and compassion.We cannot subscribe just to an ideal and sustain a community.We need the supernatural presence of god himself to gather and transform a community.Its easy to love one another from a distance.But its different story to love our neigbour.The more closer we are , more the friction is.Essentially living in mission hospital is a training house where our character is tested and tried in relationships and people.Amidst these brokenness we endure, still we remain a salt to the community through the mysterious act of Christ who himself acts though our brokenness.May be mission hospital offer any christian a unique location where he can see for himself what does it take to "live together"?I am sure he will come out with many a scar but purified!
3.FOR PURPOSEFUL LIVING TOWARDS PARTAKERS OF THE NEW CREATION - Christian health care is more than just wishful philanthropy.We believe in a God who has resurrected from the dead and who is actively involved in a process of restoring his creation ,humans and the material world alike.One day there will be world recreated by god where there is no suffering illness or death.The process of this new creation has already been initiated by the resurrection of Christ and will be consummated with his second coming.We as christians through the health care and development involve in the process of restoration through caring for the fellow human beings.This big picture involves development also where health plays a catalyst component.This also gives our life a purpose that we are partakers of a grand restorative process initiated by God himself and we can be rest assured that this will have a successful ending though we may falter from the ideal climax (there is no suffering/death) in our time.We can be satisfied that we are not alone in this endeavor and we will be able to rejoice in the day of consummation along with fellow Christians who had shed their blood and sweat for this cause of healthcare.This gives Christian health care a unique viewpoint which is not shared by other philanthropic movements.
Having said this its really humbling to see how far we are from these purposes which gives meaning to our existence.I do sincerely hope that we may strive towards the same in fulfilling the mandate given to our hospitals and institutions.
Thanks for these thoughts. It is really important to keep asking ourselves these questions, so that we do not miss the purpose God has for us.
ReplyDeleteYou might like an article I wrote some time ago after asking myself some similar questions:
Deletehttp://pradeepninan.blogspot.in/2013/01/what-is-mission-hospital.html