Salt & Light
Nursing shifts can be long, and caring for patients can be exhausting. Teaching can be grueling. Nursing students struggle to keep up with classroom and clinicals. How do you stay inspired in body, mind, and spirit to serve Christ?
If you need an inspirational break, and you're an NCF member, join our monthly video chats with the leaders of Nurses Christian Fellowship, who will offer an encouraging word and a supportive community, where you can talk about your faith and nursing practice.
Don't miss the next NCF video chat. Find out more at http://ncf-jcn.org/members-only.
Manage Your NCF Membership
NCF members, here are four tips to get the most out of your membership:
1) Read your monthly newsletter, Charting the Way. You'll receive an inspirational word from the NCF Director, ministry highlights, nursing news, and updates on member benefits. You'll find your member ID and expiration date in every newsletter. You are connected to a broad network of Christian nurses devoted to serving God in healthcare.
2) Watch for your renewal alerts (via email and letter) and renew promptly so your JCN delivery and online login remain active, without interruption.
3) If you are not receiving Charting the Way or renewal alerts, check your email filter so vital member correspondence from NCF is not blocked. For unresolved problems, contact NCF at mailto:[email protected].
4) When you renew your membership, you will receive an email notification from NCF (through MailChimp) with your member letter. This letter includes your membership card with an updated expire date. Print and keep your card where you can find it. Save your membership letter to your desktop or file. Your membership card is not available online-your renewal letter is the only source if you need access to it.
If you are a JCN subscriber but not an NCF member, Join NCF and find a supportive community for your nursing practice and your faith. Join or renew NCF membership at http://ncf-jcn.org/membership.
Spotlight On...
I love my job as a nurse, but I have another passion-investing in the spiritual development of nursing students so they can love and serve God as nurses.
God changed my life in nursing school and now, when I am not at the hospital, I am a campus minister with Nurses Christian Fellowship. It is the best of both worlds.
Nursing school is a place of stress and tension, but that's what makes it spiritually formative. There is pressure to get the highest grades and perform perfectly in clinicals. Students are told that nursing school is something they "just have to survive." However, I don't think survival is how Jesus wants us to live.
I joined NCF staff because I want students to find their security and identity in Jesus, not in how well they did on a test. Rather than just surviving nursing school, students can learn to find peace and embrace the opportunities God gives them during these demanding years.
An NCF chapter can have an incredible impact, as nursing students learn about God before they graduate and go to work in hospitals and communities worldwide. It gives me much joy to walk with nursing students as they meet Jesus and follow him. That is why I am returning to campus to work with the NCF group at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).
I love seeing how God changes people. One student said, "I was taught as a child to do all the religious things to interact with God-go to church, be good, and say my prayers. But it's different now. I know I don't have to do any of that stuff, but I actually want to do them, to know God more."
I pray that the students in our NCF group will become nurses who are the hands and feet of Jesus, caring for patients and loving them because they are made in the image of God. I'm thrilled to be a part of this life-changing ministry of Nurses Christian Fellowship.
-by Bethany Eckerd, BSN, RN, NCF staff at VCU
Learn how you can be a part of NCF ministry athttp://ncf-jcn.org/about-ncf/get-involved.
From the NCF Director
As you receive this issue of JCN, we will have just celebrated Christmas and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. What a glorious time it is to celebrate how God extended his favor to us by sending his Son. God made a perfect world with people in perfect relationship with him. But when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, relationship with God was destroyed. Restoring that relationship-salvation-is only possible because God was willing to do all the work to save us (Titus 3:3-7). Jesus freely gave us a gift we could never earn. That is grace!
As you start 2018, rejoice in God's grace extended to you. Accept the miracle of relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Never forget that he delights in saving you. That is what makes for a Happy New Year!
-Kathy Schoonover-Shoffner, PhD, RN, is the NCF National Director and Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Christian Nursing.
JCN Problems?
NCF members who need help with their JCN print subscription or online account should contact LWW Member Services at 866-489-0443 or mailto:[email protected].
On Campus
This past fall, I had the privilege of traveling to the University of Virginia to meet with two nursing students, Carol and Laura. After much prayer and discernment, Carol and Laura had agreed to take the first steps toward relaunching an NCF ministry on campus. As we sat together with their InterVarsity staff representative, they shared with me what they were doing.
Laura said, "Last year, I felt like I didn't really relate to the other nursing students. When I said yes to starting NCF, my perspective shifted. This semester, I've begun intentionally building relationships with my classmates and inviting them to NCF." Carol added, "A friend and I have started praying before our clinicals, and I'm going to invite my whole clinical group to join us next week!"
Then, they began firing questions at me. How can we ensure that non-Christian nursing students feel welcomed in our group? What are the next steps we can take to prepare for an official launch this spring? As we brainstormed and planned, I was amazed by the courage that these nursing students were taking for God's kingdom. They knew that despite their invitations and efforts, the group still might fail-and let's face it, failure is a constantly nagging source of worry in nursing school. But they sensed a call from God to plant this ministry, and they were willing to follow him, no matter the outcome.
As you read this article, there is an NCF chapter relaunching at the University of Virginia! Carol's and Laura's friends are gathering regularly to look at Scripture and consider how it relates to nursing. Now, nursing students have a place to explore their faith questions and belong to a gracious, loving community.
Will you pray for Carol and Laura as they continue this endeavor? Ask that God will raise up many more students across the country, like them, who will each say yes to the Lord's invitation to start an NCF group.
-Timothy Lin, MA, NCF Student Ministries Director and Senior Area Director in Kansas with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA.