Children & Families
Volume 19, Number 1 Winter 2002

Article Summaries

Editorial-Adopted into the Family by Judith Allen Shelly
Shelly compares the adoption of her Korean children with God's adoption of us as his children, with all the love and acceptance that entails. Because we are secure in that love, we are freed to reach out in love and affirmation of others. That may include sharing our material resources and our hearts in compassion. Others needs to know the warmth and love of the body of Christ, and we are able to communicate that when we cross cultural barriers to risk our status and resources to welcome a fellow human being into God's family.

In His Arms: Embracing Homeless Kids by Kim Burr Turnbull with Amy Martz George
When Turnbull met Davey, an angry, violent three year old in a clinic situation, she hoped she'd never see him again. When she next met him, his mother was pounding on him. Their eyes locked, and his look of hopelessness changed her life and mission. Because she wanted to show this scared little boy, and hundred like him who were homeless and neglected, that Jesus loved him, she "rallied the troops" and started a program of Bible clubs for homeless children in parks and near low-cost housing developments. From this humble beginning grew the In His Arms ministry that has spread across the US and the world. Turnbull has adapted and developed materials for the children and leader resources for ministry with this forgotten, needy population. She sees nurses as wonderfully suited for this ministry because God has already planted compassion within their hearts.

Anchored to a Tree by Janet Ludgar
A faculty member encouraged her nursing students in a teaching/outreach ministry with a puppet show to teach preschoolers about fire safety. Strong winds made setup at the outdoor festival difficult-until they anchored the set to a nearby tree. Ludgar draws analogies from this experience with her nursing experience and Christian life.

Transcultural Nursing Among Migrant Workers by Elaine Marshall & Jane S. Martin
Culturally competent nursing care came alive for a few faculty members and student nurses at a Christian university when they participated in a summer experiment/health project among Mexican tomato pickers in nearby Chandler Mountain, St. Clair County, Alabama. The project proved to be a valuable, life-changing experience for the five participants, and the faculty hope to continue and expand the ministry next summer.

Caring for Children of Other Faiths by Sue E. Steen & Betsy A. Anderson
Christian nurses want to give spiritual care to children and their families of other faiths and cultures but often feel they don't know enough about the beliefs and customs to sensitively and effectively do it. Here's help. Beliefs considered are: Hmong, Orthodox Jewish, American Indian and Muslim, as well as various Christian denominations. Valuable sidebars are included with questions nurses might use in a spiritual assessment for adults, and others geared to children. Another sidebar succinctly charts and compares the faiths' religious practices, attitudes toward illness and death, names of religious leaders.

Limbs of Hope: Restoring Amputees in Sierra Leone by Kimberly L. Kargbo
Kargbo experienced a peaceful, idyllic childhood in Sierra Leone, the daughter of missionaries. But on a return trip in 1998, she was horrified at the atrocities endured by the people during years of civil war. The violent severing of limbs by rebel groups, which threw the survivors into depression and hopelessness, was something she came back to the US determined to do something about. After a long, arduous, exhausting journey, the ministry Limbs of Hope was started. An Amputee Care Centre was opened in Freetown to provide prostheses and rehabilitative services to Sierra Leone's amputees. Hundreds of people have received artificial limbs that have restored their dignity because they can now care for their needs and the needs of their families.

Listening & Learning: Fostering Health Care in Bulgaria by Linda Phillips
This Wisconsin nurse, with previous experience in Africa, realized that ministering in the former-Soviet Union country of Bulgaria was a whole new ballgame. She spent months listening and asking questions before she zeroed in on providing physical and spiritual aid to the neediest people in the country. With other missionaries and her Bulgarian colleagues, a ministry to the elderly, disabled and poor in the capital, Sofia, was begun. When this was developed and running, the relief and witnessing program was extended to some of the poorest villages, with excellent reception and opportunity to share the gospel with recipients, as well as national aid workers and government officials. Needy orphanages and nursing homes next received love, attention and food and vital supplies. Phillips says: "In some ways our program may sound like a complex soup kitchen, but where people are starving, a soup kitchen is a pretty marvelous thing."

A Flash of Insight by Kristene Diggins
A critical choking incident with this missionary nurse's three-year-old son left her limp with relief and gratitude to God for sparing her son. It reminded her that God had not spared his Son when he died to save us. Diggins is praising God for giving her a new appreciation of God's love for us through this trial.

Building Bridges with Girls in Crisis by Karen M. Schmidt
Carole Haas, RN, saw that almost no assistance was available to pregnant teens in her area and said, "Somebody ought to do something!" She soon realized that somebody isn't always someone else. She has run Bridgeway, a residence for teenage girls in crisis pregnancy situations, in Lakewood, Colorado, since 1986. As many as ten girls, some with a baby plus other children, can live in the six-bedroom home at a time, for up to eighteen months. Bible classes and church attendance are offered but not required. But many girls come to a relationship with Christ or renew their faith through the love and care of the volunteer housemothers or women mentors from local churches. Bridgeway has a 100 percent rate of high school graduation for the teens, either from the local school or through passing a GED. They also have the opportunity for many mothering and life skill classes taught by volunteers at Bridgeway. Latest on-site project is a child care center, so the girls can go to school or work, knowing their children are lovingly cared for.

Perils of a Pro-life Nurse by Deborah S. Tuttle
Eager to use her nursing and counseling skills on a psychiatry unit, Tuttle was saddened to learn that a psychiatrist planned to counsel a pregnant patient that abortion was her best option, due to medications she'd been prescribed and taken. She shared her dismay with this advice with a colleague, and went to her office to pray. She was relieved when the patient refused the abortion and left treatment. Another opportunity arose in a co-teaching situation when, in Tuttle's opinion, a colleague made inappropriate pro-choice remarks. Tuttle had an opportunity to talk with her later. These incidents apparently were relayed to Tuttle's supervisor, resulting in negative employee evaluations based on a perceived "religious bias" and not on performance. Tuttle eventually left the position.

The Healing Home by Sue Stanhope
This poem describes night duty in a home where a seriously ill infant is being cared for by a home health nurse. The nurse's heart warms to the loving support of parents, siblings and surroundings, vital ingredients in the healing process.

Joshua: A Home Health Nurse's Borrowed Blessing by Melody B. Corkhill
Joshua is an infant with Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome, being cared for in his home by nurses and other loving caregivers, trying to keep him from illness and help him gain nourishment and weight. The struggle is eventually loss, but not before this beautiful child has impacted the lives of all who love him and care for him.

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