STIRRING EDITORIAL

I was moved while reading your editorial, "The Heart of Healing" (summer 2005), in which you shared your disappointing circumstance where you hoped and expected God to work in the way you wanted. Over time, you got the revelation that Jesus was the complete answer to all your needs.

I, too, wanted a quick fix and healing from, as you stated, the "bread-maker, vending-machine God." That wasn't to be. I have struggled for many years with homosexuality. I came to the Lord from a non Christian background in my college days and I'm Jewish. I struggled and ultimately abandoned my faith. Years later, I realized my faith was misplaced.

At fifty, the Lord amazingly restored me, and I have been walking with him for fifteen, head-scratching months. The revelation I received was simply this-Jesus is real, he is truth, and he loves me. That is all I needed to know, all I ever needed to know at a gut level. The point is, there is no life situation in which God cannot make himself known and use for redemption.

Thank you for imparting hope!!

Joel Hindin

Port Jefferson, NY

MYSTERY OF HEALING

The JCN summer issue on healing was very timely. On the same day that my father died, I received the results of a biopsy (malignant melanoma). The combined news was devastating.

A week after the funeral, I felt tied in knots. Then I picked up JCN, and I read "The Mystery of Healing," The words leapt off the page and became words of healing and peace. "Incredible peace" and "cancer free" have become the basis of my prayers and my hope.

In the article "Close Calls in Iraq" Battey quotes Jeremiah 29:11. When fear and despair attempt to overwhelm me, I speak out this verse and the tension and darkness lifts.

Linda Riesberry

Orangeville, Ontario, Canada

IN THE WAKE OF KATRINA

Mercy Ships: The Caribbean Mercy, a Mercy Ship usually serving the poor and needy in Central America and the Caribbean, was docked in Mobile, Alabama, when the hurricane struck. The Mercy Ship is now serving as a command center and housing location for relief teams.

REPORTS FROM NCF:

Nassau Bay, TX: "To assist with health care needs and relieve the strain on two area hospitals, a clinic with volunteer RNs and others was opened up at a church in our area. The faith community has come together like never before."

Lubbock, TX: A nursing student reports, "Classes were put on hold, and we took shifts at a center where there are 300 people from New Orleans."

San Antonio, TX: "An airplane brought 350 patients to San Antonio hospitals. An additional 400 family members were sent to local churches. We are getting ready to house up to 70. God has provided a way for so many to help."

Baton Rouge, LA: A recent graduate says, "Thank you for your prayers!! Our city has doubled in size, and the hospitals are full. Churches are rising to the challenge of meeting the needs of the hurting-both physically and spiritually."

ETHICAL QUESTIONS?

Do you have an ethical question in nursing you would like addressed from a Christian, biblical perspective? Send it to JCN and look for a response in a new column, Christian Ethics. Write us at jcn.me@intervarsity. org or PO Box 7895, Madison, WI, 53707.

looking ahead

Spring 2006: Men's Issues

[white square] Men in Nursing

[white square] Living with Prostate Cancer

[white square] A father for the Fatherless

Summer 2006: caring in Nursing

[white square] Christian Caring

[white square] Grief Work and Parish Nursing

[white square] Must We Care?