New Year Resolutions or Reflections

Happy New Year

I love New Year but I am not a great fan of New Years Resolutions. I have made to many, only to fail and then be consumed by guilt !
However, I like the idea of New Years Resolutions. I think  New Years Resolutions provide the opportunity for new beginnings. A point in time when we can make a fresh start. Clearly, you don't need to wait for New Year to do that, but it does provide a type of stimulus for thinking:
'this is my goal for this year, what I want to achieve'
or
'I am drawing a line under that and moving on'

So instead of making New Years Resolutions, I like to reflect on events of the last year, and ask God for fresh vision and inspiration for the coming year. And I would like to invite you to take a moment to do the same.

As we reflect, for some of us, last year will have been wonderful, but for others it will have been marked by sadness and grief.

If the past year has been full of happy memories then we start the new year feeling full. Reminded of Gods goodness and love, we can be expectant of more to come because we know God's intention towards us. His intention is to 'prosper us and not to harm us' .
If the last year has been marked by tragedy and loss; broken promises or pain, then the New Year provides and opportunity to draw a line under the sadnesses and start afresh. It is possible to find hope again. God's promise to us is to 'give us hope and a future'.

We read in Jeremiah 29:11-13
For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord.

We live in the present not the past. We do not have to be defined by our past. It is possible to live for today, with hope for the future. We live in a hurting world where life can be brutal on hope. But 12 days ago we celebrated Christmas. Jesus was born with a mission to restore hope to a hurting world. Emmanuel, God with us. Lets not forget this too quickly as we (for those of you who are British) take down our Christmas decorations today on the 12th day after Christmas.

Like I said, I am not a big fan of New Years Resolutions, but I have asked God for fresh vision and dreams for 2013. Some are personal. Deep desires and crys of my heart. Others are intensely practical like 'learn French'! I have written them down and asked God to breath life into them, to help me actualise the vision into my mission, to make the dreams into real plans.
Jesus was part of Gods plan to give us a new start. Jesus life was a hands-on practical, dirty, sweaty reality. Beautiful yet harsh. Life-changing but life-costing.

What are your visions and dreams for 2013? What will be your hands-on practical reality in 2013?

Isaiah 43:19 tells us
Forget the former things;
Do not dwell on the past,
See I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
And streams in the wasteland

I pray that you will know and see God making a way where he needs to, ....a way through the desert and streams in the wastelands ..... that you may have hope so you can walk in all the plans God has for you ..... to prosper you and not to harm you ...... in this coming year.

I wish you all a very Happy New Year.

Given.

What gifts are you wanting this Christmas?

Nothing is more precious than a wanted or deeply needed gift.

In my career as a paediatric anaesthetist and paediatric intensive care doctor, I have met many parents of critically ill children. Most parents would willingly give up their own life if it would save their child's life. The Christmas story is the other way around. A parent gives up the child's life. That is the extraordinary thing about Christmas. A child’s life is GIVEN for our benefit.

Jesus was born for us. His life is a gift to us. A much needed Christmas present. Let me explain why?

Isaiah 9:6 says,

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, and He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace

In this scripture, the writer is describing a vision he saw. He saw the darkness and gloom of a nation and he saw a child born who would remove the darkness, and bring hope. So we might not be ‘ruled by life’, but instead ‘rule in life’. That is the benefit of Jesus's birth.

I don't have to be 'ruled by life'. I don't have to be a victim of the stressors and pressures of my job, or the bad things that happen, like when children get sick, or when people bully me. Life can be brutal on hope, but I can learn how to triumph in these situations, to overcome and to 'rule in life'. It is possible to rule, even when life is hard. How do I know? Because i have experienced it and because the bible also says that 'He (God) prepares a table for us (ie a banquet, a feast) in the presence of our enemies'. Psalm 23 :5

So how does the birth of Jesus at Christmas make this possible?

1.    Because 'the government will be upon his shoulders'. Someone explained it like this, 'His government consists in ruling in the hearts of his people, in subduing their enemies, in protecting them, their persons and properties, rights and liberties, and in supplying them with everything necessary; and this government is delegated to him from his Father, is not of this world, but is spiritual; it is righteously administered, is peaceable, and will continue for ever'. Jesus was born to rule. And so are we, in his name.

2.    'And he will be called....'. In Hebrew, to be called and to be are the same thing. Names are important. They define who we are and what we carry. Look at who Jesus is and what he carries / comes to bring:

•  Wonderful Counsellor.

Jesus has wisdom and creative solutions, we just need to ask him. As Alan Scott says, 'there are answers in the heart of God that you cannot google'.

•  Mighty God.

Jesus is not just a sweet baby in a manger, but he is the Powerful and Mighty God. He has defeated all the schemes of the enemy.

•  Everlasting Father.

Protection, love, care, and everything you need or want a father to be, Jesus is and will be forever.

•  Prince of Peace.

Jesus is the Prince of Shalom, the Prince of Prosperity, the Giver of all Blessings.

May you know how to rule in life, because for you a child is born, for you son is given.

Happy Christmas

Africa is a continent not a country

Last month, October, I was teaching at an anesthetic meeting in Washington, DC. While I was there I attended several sessions relating to education and safety in Anesthesia. Some related to the use of simulation and checklists in western education; others related to teaching in low income settings. Most of these sessions were excellent, full of dedicated professional people, sharing ideas and desiring to see progress and equality for all in access to education and standards of healthcare that benefit all people everywhere. Much of it was hugely encouraging and inspiring.

There was also talk about standardising both training for the trainers so they were 'acreditted' before they taught overseas; as well as standardising what was taught ie the curriculum. While I unreservedly applaud these efforts, something in me is unsettled. I find myself wondering why people talk of Africa, or other 'low income countries' as all the same? Why do some people 'lump them all together under the same umbrella?' Africa, Asia, South America etc are vast continents with widely differing cultural values and expectations, resources and unmet needs. How can they, let-alone why would they, want to be treated the same? European countries have different standards of education and curricula, and these are different to the US and Canada; Australia and New Zealand etc. Standards are good, but 'standardisation' is not the same thing.

Furthermore, why should we in the West dictate what others need to learn? Western medicine has moved away from the paternalistic model of health care whereby the doctor tells the patient what is best for them and makes the decision. We now have an approach based on patient autonomy and informed choice. I find myself wondering if the doctors paternalistic approach is now manifesting in another format, dictating to Africa (or other low income countries) what they need and how they should be trained. Why not let Africa tell us how we can help?

It is easy to forget that Africa is a continent not a country. Africa is a huge place see the picture below. All the countries that make up the continent of Africa are vastly different, just like different European countries are different. I have spent time travelling in several countries in Southern African (including working in one) and have visited one country in North Africa.  With Mercy Ships I have worked in five West African countries, both the Francophone counties of Togo, Benin, and Guinea, as well as the English speaking ones of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Last month I made my first visit to Central Africa, visiting the Republic of Congo, otherwise known as Congo-Brazzaville to distinguish it from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Each one is very different. Yes, there is room to improve standards of healthcare, but I am not sure 'standardisation' is what is needed.

I was in Congo as part of a preparatory team for Mercy Ships visit in August 2013. We were doing some diplomatic and logistic work, as well as assessing their medical training needs in the areas where we have expertise, in order to see where we can best be of benefit. Mercy Ships has a lot of experience in West Africa, but one thing we were very aware of, was the culture in Central Africa is very different. Things which have not worked well in West African countries may indeed work well in Congo for a variety of reasons. The reverse is also true.

Mercy Ships and I, will need humility, courage and love to succeed in this new place. Humility to listen to what the Congolese tell us and accept when we get it wrong; courage to try different ways of working and change our existing practices where necessary; love for the people of Central Africa and especially Congo. Because if love is what motivates us, we will ultimately succeed, because 'love covers a multitude of sins'. Love overcomes the paternalistic attitude, the pride and boasting, and egotistical talk that says we know what is best.

"Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always 'me first,' Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end." 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 (Message version)

I want to help the countries where I serve to improve their standards not give them a standardised approach. I know I need humility, courage and love. And I think this probably applies not just to me in the continent of Africa, but to all our situations, wherever you are as you read this. Humility to admit our mistakes, courage to break new ground and overcome adversity, and loves that keeps going to the end.