paul of tarsus by rembrandt (1635)
last week the pastor encouraged each of us to have a paul, a barnabas & a timothy in our christian lives.
very simply, a paul to lead & inspire us, a barnabas to walk with & encourage, & a timothy to mentor to. right away, i knew who my paul would be. SL is a very dedicated doctor & faithful disciple of God. he has been doing missionary work for as long as i can remember. after coming out from med school, he went thru the mandatory postings at the various public hospitals before going on to medical missions. when i 1st met him a decade ago, he was on a break from a stint in nepal, as a surgeon in a missionary hospital. that was when he encouraged me to join him because the hospital lacked the essential skilled expertise due to poor management. when things were really bad, he was the surgeon, the anaesthetist & scrub nurse rolled into one. i passed.
before i knew it, he was already in east africa, again doing God's work. & again he asked me to join him. amidst tales of cerebral malaria, contaminated river water supply & poachers with firearms, i backed off. again.
he's in india now & he was back here on vacation when i met him again last week. his dad had a fall & has been admitted to the hospital where i work, which provided ample opportunities for us to catch up. he'd regale me with his experiences trying to treat patients with limited resources & against stubborn bureaucracy, occasionally hinting but most times overtly trying to convince me to join him. but it did not escape my observation that he truly cared for his dad. he's number 7 (reinforcing my belief that if there ever was an ordained number, it would be 7) of 11 siblings, & being a medic himself, he must have taken upon himself to feed, clean, turn & be with dad. but that was not enough for him. dad, although he attends church, has never confessed that Christ is Lord & it has been SL's prayer for years that dad accepts Christ before time ran out. one morning, dad woke SL up (who spent nites by dad's bedside on a easy chair) & told him he is ready to embrace christianity. apparently, in his dreams, an elderly bearded man came by his bedside & repeatedly said "amen" to him, as if prayers have been said for him. just like that. truly a day of double blessing - that one more soul has been saved & that there still exist a filial son who loves his earthly dad as much as he worships the Heavenly Father.
solomon, in his wisdom, sang praises to the children of God:
"sons are a heritage from the Lord,
children a reward from him.
like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.
blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them."
psalms 127 : 3-5
SL is such a child of God & he will always be paul to me.
12 comments:
SL is indeed a Paul! Does he have a helpmate?
I am number 7 in my family,being 2nd youngest!
SL is indeed a good son,tending to dad at bedside( so he has no sisters?)
It is always so touching to read about people like SL. To read about the strength and faith that they have that sometimes we can't even dream about.
just me,
if SL had a helpmate, he wouldn't be asking me to join him all this time. he has a few elder sisters but he has always led by example. as he is single, he has given full attention to doing God's work above all else.
you should consider your special position in your family. you are #7 for a reason.
God bless!
anastasia,
SL cannot but inspire all who know him. he is truly blessed because he has allowed God to use him for His purpose.
i count myself fortunate that he even considered asking me to share with him in God's work.
God bless you as you seek to do His will, too.
The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few? So you doc, need not go far away to be a missionary but I am reminding myself also that one's lifestyle is the best witness and the mission field is where we are, at the marketplace where we work?
I know, as the 7th, was the first to be saved ?
just me,
that's true, we can be a witness anywhere we are & our lifestyle is often one big statement to the world.
what SL does is not preach the message at the pulpit, but with his healing hands at missionary hospitals. in that respect, we share a similar vision.
Upon refelection, I can be a good Barnabas.Being an "encourager" is what I do best
just me,
not a simple responsibilty to shoulder. if not for barnabas, john mark might not have been an effective witness for Christ, & we might not have the gospel that bears that name.
that was perhaps one of paul's glaring shortcoming - he didn't give mark a 2nd chance.
may you be blessed abundantly as you encourage those you come in touch with.
You are quite a religious person ya.
Well the beauty of it, all religions want people to do good toward others :)
frapps,
we may embrace different religions but we are brothers, in more ways than one.
I've read that 7 plays a significant number in magic. There must be some magic in this number... think David Beckham and others?
SL reminds me of Mother Teresa. Coincidentally, I just posted a tribute to her in a post yesterday.
happysurfer,
7 is indeed unique, notwithstanding beckham's jersey number. some believe it's a complete number in itself.
eg. the world was created in 6 days, & God rested on the 7th.
eg. complete forgiveness is achieved if forgiven 70 x 7 times
eg. there are 7 notes in-between octaves
eg. 7 colours in a rainbow, a sign that this world will never be completely flooded again.
there is a similarity between SL & MT, but it ends there. SL is unlikely to make to the front cover of Time magazine & neither is he likely to win the Nobel prize but he is ok with that - because his reward in heaven is immense.
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