CHURCH
OF SOUTH INDIA HOSPITAL,
(For private circulation only)
Volume 1, No. 2 April 2003
Once more Jesus went away and prayed
“My Father if this cup of suffering cannot
be taken away unless I drink it,Your will
be done.”
Mathew: 26:42
SPECIAL PRAYERS
Pathology : Dr.Renu Agarwal, Mrs.Santhosha Srinivasan & Staff
Pharmacy : Mr.Francis & Staff
Housekeeping : Mr.Nathan & Staff
Maintenance
: Mr.Paul, Mr. Shanthakumar
& Staff
Accounts : Mr.Sudarsan & Staff
CHAPEL SERVICE
April 1 – Staff Retreat with Holy Communion - 2:30 to 4:30 pm – Rev. P.K. Samuel
April 14 – 8:30 am – Rev. Prem Mithra
April 15 – 8:30 am – Rev. Job Jayaraj
April 16 – 8:30 am – Rev. David Rajan
April 17 – 8:30 am – Rev. Jeevan Babu
April 19 – 8:30 am – Rev. Shanthi Anandaraj
April 20 – Easter Sunrise Service - Holy Communion- 5:30 am – Rev. Dr. Joshua Raja
REFLECTION FOR THE LENTEN DAYS - Rev.Shanti Anandaraj,
Chaplain.
Lenten Season is a time of self discipline shown in various ways by change in food, dress and prayer life of the people. During Lenten season we also see the change in nature – shedding of old leaves and growth of new ones, signifying new life. Thus, there should be renewal in the Christian life, which is possible by repentance.
The Bible explains the meaning of the word Repentance - “leaving the wicked way of life, change the way of thinking and turning to the Lord, our God”.( Is. 55:7). The wicked way according to the Bible is a person who does not do the good he knows he should do (James 5:17) and “undoing a good” (Ecc.9:18; Gen 4:7). Repentance is the hurt that leads to healing. Doing good is to do what is just, to show constant love and to live in humble fellowship with our God (Micah 6:8).
The way back to God begins with a broken and contrite heart, just as David repented ( Ps. 32:5). Repentance is possible only through the Cross on which Christ was wounded. We are healed by the punishment He suffered, made whole by the blows He received. He died for our sins. Christ’s death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness and for His sake we will be forgiven (Is.53). Let us understand the death of Christ on the cross for our sake through the following incident - During the building of a church in Norway, a workman fell from a scaffold which was very high. His co-workers rushed down, expecting to find him seriously injured or dead. But to their surprise and joy, he was only slightly injured and alive. When asked how he survived the fall, he said that a flock of sheep were passing beneath the scaffolding at that time, and he fell a top a lamb. The lamb was crushed to death, but he was saved. As a remembrance to his miraculous escape someone carved a lamb on the tower of the Church (Our Daily Bread – April 22, 1988).
John the Baptist described Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”(John: 1:27). Peter said that the full weight of our sins fell upon Jesus (I Pet 2:24).
Repentance is a painful step, but leads to joy. Because of Christ’s Resurrection, after a life of suffering, repentance can lead to joy of salvation - a hope for repentance, humble endurance and to be forgiven.
Jesus Christ offers eternal life to all who personally put their faith in Him (John 3:16). Jesus also reminds us that apart from our efforts of self discipline, to be His disciples, we have to deny/forget self, take up the cross every day and follow Him (Luke.9:23). Christian discipleship, according to Christ’s teaching and expectation is an every day commitment to our calling.
In conclusion let us remember the verse which encourages us, as Christ’s disciples. “Happy are you if you are insulted because you are Christ’s followers”. (I Peter.4:14)
May the good Lord Bless and help us all to be His disciples forever. Amen.
RELIGIOUS WORKS DEPARTMENT
Towards the close of 1950, a small Chapel was built at the eastern end of the Hospital which was consecrated by the late Bishop Gurushantha, the first Indian Bishop of the Mysore Diocese of the Church of South India.
The purpose of the Religious Works Department, stated in the constitution of the Hospital is an expression of the love of Christ through various forms of service made possible for the community. The task of the Department is to help those rendering service, to be nurtured and helped in a better understanding of their roles.
The programs offered through this Department are geared towards the nurture and counseling of staff, students, patients and their relatives, training of seminarians in the wholistic healing ministry of patients through visiting and involvement in programs with the community, in suicide prevention, alcoholism and mental illness.
The foundation stone for the present Chapel was laid on July 3, 1976 by Miss. Winifred Taylor. Rev. Anookulam rendered his service as a part time Chaplain and Miss. W. Taylor took over as the steward from him. She retired after 40 years of service and Rev. Millar took over from her.
After Rev. Millar the following Presbyters from Karnataka Central Diocese were posted as part time Chaplain of the Hospital till 1999. They are:- Rev. Jessie Ranjan; Rev.D.M.Bhaskaran; Rev. Rajarathinam; Rev. F.S. Macwana. Rev. J.R. Henry was the first full time Chaplain followed by Rev.Prem Mithra . Rev. Job Jayaraj was the first residential Chaplain of the Hospital in the year 2000. Simultaneously he was also the Presbyter in charge of Christ of Calvary Church. The present Chaplain Rev. Mrs. Shanthi Anandaraj took over from him in May 2002 and is also the presbyter of Christ of Calvary Church.
The Religious Works Department Committee plan and execute the programs pertaining to the religious works of the Hospital. Regular programs of the Department are as follows:-
Monday to Friday : 6.45 am
Saturdays : 8.30 am
Sundays : 6.00 pm
Every II Sunday : Holy Communion
Every Wednesday – for all the students, in the Chapel between 5.30 to 6.30 pm by
Youth for Christ;
Alternate Thursday – for the Nursing Students in the Chapel between 5.30 to 6.30 pm
by Rev. Shanthi Anandaraj.
Health Camp at different Churches after the Worship Services every second Sunday of the month. A total of 38 Churches have been covered to date.
Youth Fellowship from various churches under the Karnataka Central Diocese visit the Hospital between 4:00 pm & 7:00 pm for introduction to the hospital, ministry to the sick, visiting the patients, information on career options for them in the Healing Ministry and to participate in the Sunday evening worship service every 4th Sunday in the month. To date 27 Youth Fellowships have visited the Hospital.
CONGRATULATIONS
Allied Health Professional (AHP)
The Best outgoing Students Award – Batch 2000-2002
DMLT DMXT DMRT
Sr. Elsy K. John – I Geetha - I B.Nagalakshmi - I
M. Suresh - II Arun Mozhi Thevan – I
DMLT DMXT DMRT
M. Poomathi – I Christal Stella – I V. Sarala - I
R. Manohar – II Arun Deepak - II M. Sasikala - II
DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY
The following staff completed their bond period on March 1st 2003. We wish them the very best for the future.
Mr. B. Govindaswamy; Mr. Victor Anthony Raj; Ms. S. Selvi
Please pray for the following students who are appearing for their examination in April 2003:- Sr. Navy Jose; Mr. Manohar; Ms. Stella; Ms. Suganthi; Ms. Deepa; Mr. Alamkeer; Ms. Roslin; Mr. Hussain.
We welcome Ms. S.Selvi who has joined as staff on March 17, 2003.
DEPARTMENT OF DERMATOLOGY
Do you Know?
What is green hair?
It occurs in persons swimming regularly, due
to absorption of copper by the hairs.
Who needs Pulse Polio Immunization?
There is an erroneous belief
among many that Pulse Polio Immunization (PPI) that is given twice every year to
children below five years of age during the months of January and February is
meant only for those children who have not completed their regular immunization.
Nothing could be further from the truth! PPI is meant for all children under the
age of five years whether previously immunized or not. This is because the
purpose of PPI is the Eradication of
Poliomyelitis.
It works like this. The normal dwelling place
of the poliovirus is the human gut (particularly that of young children). The
virus cannot survive outside the human body for more than two weeks. The Polio
Vaccine is nothing but the live poliovirus that has been rendered harmless – we
shall call it the “vaccine virus”. Now when all children in the country are
given the polio vaccine at the same time, the intestines of these children gets
colonized by the vaccine virus leaving no place for the wild polio virus to grow
and survive. Hence the wild poliovirus would die leading to eradication of the
disease.
Therefore next time when the government
announces the dates for PPI let us all administer the polio drops to all our
children and make the dream of eradicating this dreaded disease a reality.
VISITORS
We welcome the following visitors from the Diocese of Gloucester to our Institution on March 7, 2003:- Rev. Geoffrey Sidaway; Rev. Margaret Edwards; Rev. Michael Parsons; Ms. Christian Rose; Rev. Jonathan Philpott
EVENTS
In celebration of Women’s Day which was on March 8, 2003, a free Bone Mineral Density Camp was organized by the Departments of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Orthopaedics on March 17, 2003. This was in aid of screening and detecting for signs of Osteoporosis (weak/fragile bones) in women. Over a hundred and eighty people benefited from this camp. The women who showed signs of this disease were advised by the doctors on prevention and treatment.
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