Our God is Always Stronger

April 3, 2020 / Rick Allen /
BlogPost-NoFear

As the fight against the novel coronavirus rages on in the United States, MedSend has been checking in with our grant recipients who are serving here in the U.S. Due to their work with some of the country’s most vulnerable populations, these healthcare professionals have a true front line view of the how the virus is affecting populations in America’s larger cities.

Charles Young, a Spring 2019 grant recipient, is a family nurse practitioner at Esperanza Health Center in Philadephia, PA. He recently answered some of our questions about how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting his community:

 

MedSend: What has been your most eye-opening experience while treating patients during this crisis?

Charles Young: As the number of COVID-19 cases across the country and our clinic ramps up testing for the virus, the community I’ve been working in has been enveloped by fear. It is a fear of the unknown, fear of death, and fear of a loss of control. One of my most eye-opening interactions was after testing one of my patients for SARS-CoV-2, she had explained to me how she was afraid her illness would worsen and that her family would be affected. She had asked for prayer. We prayed together, asking that God would not only protect her and her family from the virus but that during this time of distress and darkness, that God would use the situation to bring her family closer to God, depending and trusting in him more than ever before. That visit and that interaction has stayed with me in these last few days and has served as a reminder to me that whenever I feel like things are hopeless, that I should first and foremost run towards Jesus.

M: In what ways have you seen God show up in your encounters with patients, or in your experiences in the clinic/hospital?

CY: God has been a part of our community this entire time. He has been working before, during, and will continue to work even after this pandemic resolves. One of the ways that I have seen God move in the midst of this pandemic has been within our staff at our clinic is through our staff’s flexibility to maintain social distancing practices and good infection control. We’ve had to change up a lot of our normal routines. For instance, only half of our staff work at a time while the other half of our staff work from home. In addition, rather than meeting in our normal large meeting space for a daily devotional led by a volunteer, our staff have been splitting up into smaller prayer groups, no more than 2-4 people, and praying on particular themes. Last week, we prayed with the theme of “Gratitude” and “Perseverance”. This week we have been working personal bible studies during our devotional time. It is amazing to see the way our clinic has adapted to the changing times and God has been meeting all of us in new and special ways because of it.

M: We know that this is not over, but what has been one important takeaway for you during this time?

CY: The main takeaway for me would be to remind myself that no matter how large and insurmountable the conflicts may seem, that our God is always stronger. When tasks and new restrictions seem to make it impossible for our clinic to survive and for our patients to be cared for, God always makes a way. In compliance with the shelter-in-place orders in the state of Pennsylvania, we have tried our best to reduce exposure and the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 to our patients and to do our part to flatten the curve. However, in order to continue serving our patients well, we have converted the majority of our follow up visits to telehealth visits, ensuring that our patients are cared for medically, emotionally and spiritually while also maintaining the productivity needed to continue our services.

 

Read more about Charles here.

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