Going the extra mile

Update 2: Chris Mulryne. Today has been a positive day for Chris. At the insistence of the insurance company he was transferred from the Clinica Stella Marris to the Clinica el Golf (sounds more like a country club to me!) On arrival at the new clinic he was admitted immediately to the Intensive care unit for observation -but he's stable and doing well.

His progress owes much to the extra mile service of someone who could be described as an 'angel of mercy'. Dr Hernando Garzon is an American Doctor who normally works as a physician in the ER unit of a hospital in San Fransisco. He's the guy on the right in the picture. He deployed to the earthquake zone in Peru last week on a 2-week assignment to help those injured in the quake. It was Hernando who initially examined Chris and found the abnormality in his ECG test. Since then he's stuck to Chris like glue, travelling with him in the C130 plane back to Lima and being a constant encourager every step of the way.

He has vowed to stay with us until Chris leaves Peru bound for home shores. He's been invaluable, for the medical advice he's been giving, the translation services he's been forced into providing (as none of the medical personnel in either clinic have been able to speak with Chris in English) and the simple care and encouragement. He even smuggled a cup of tea into the ICU this mroning because he knew Chris was really missing a 'brew'.

His motto is 'we need to care for our own'.

At first glance this might sound a selfish and misplaced goal - after all, most of us involved in ministry have it drummed into us that we should be going out into the highways and byways to care for those outside. Caring for our own first is selfish - some might try to argue.

But it's been my experience that we often show far better care for those 'outside' than we do for our own. And I've seen many of our own who have become wounded on the way, or have dropped out through tiredness or discouragement, believing that no one cared for them. If I stop even for a brief moment I can fire off name after name of colleagues who used to serve alongside me but who are no longer in the fight, friends who might still be with us had someone just taken time to care.

This week Dr Garzon has been invaluable in his care and concern - but more than that, he's reminded me that perhaps it's only by protecting the valuable but vulnerable assets we already have that we can reach out with compassion to those others' who God places onto our radar.