The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart -1 - Samuel 16 : 7b The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the Teach me your way O LORD and I will walk in your truth. Give heart The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man me an undivided heart, that I may fear your-1 name Samuel 16 : 7b looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD- Psalm looks 86 at :the 11 heart Teach me your way O LORD and I will walk in your truth. -1 Samuel 16 : 7b Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name -Psalm 86: 11 Teach me your way O LORD and I will walk in your truth. Give me an undivided heart, that1 I may fear your name -Psalm 86: 11 Edited by Dr. Vinod Shah Dr. John Martin Dr. Abraham Ninan Dr. Joyce Ponnaiya – January to June Mrs. Sarah David – July to December ISBN: 978-0-906747-64-3 Published by International Christian Medical and Dental Association No:19, Doctors Avenue, Near Sherwood, Thutthipet PO, Vellore-632011, Tamil Nadu, INDIA. Ph : 0416 - 2266686 All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the ICMDA. Not for commercial use 2 Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................... 05 2. Preface ....................................................................................... 07 3. Foreword ................................................................................... 09 4. Acknowledgements ................................................................... 11 5. JANUARY 1 .............................................................................. 13 6. January Gleanings .................................................................... 44 7. Dr. David Livingstone - Missionary Doctor. ............................ 46 8. A Blessing for Equilibrium........................................................ 48 9. FEBRUARY 1 ........................................................................... 49 10. February Gleanings .................................................................. 78 11. Amy Beatrice Carmichael – founder of Dohnavur Fellowship, India. ................................... 80 12. Prophets of a future not our own ............................................... 82 13. MARCH 1 ................................................................................. 83 14. March Gleanings ..................................................................... 114 15. Wellesley Bailey - Founder of The Leprosy Mission .............. 116 16. Anoint the wounds of my spirit ............................................... 118 17. APRIL 1 ................................................................................... 119 18. April Gleanings ...................................................................... 149 19. The Scudders: a family committed to medical mission service ... 152 20. Spirit, spirit of gentleness ........................................................ 154 21. MAY 1 ..................................................................................... 156 22. May Gleanings ....................................................................... 186 23. Peter Parker: first medical missionary to China ...................... 188 24. The Physician’s Daily Prayer .................................................. 189 25. JUNE 1 .................................................................................... 191 3 26. June Gleanings ........................................................................ 221 27. Horace Allen: First medical missionary to Korea ................... 223 28. Grace ...................................................................................... 224 29. JULY 1 ..................................................................................... 225 30. July Gleanings ........................................................................ 256 31. Dr. Paul Brand – “In awe of the Master Designer” ................ 258 32. Giving Quietly ........................................................................ 260 33. AUGUST 1 .............................................................................. 261 34. August Gleanings ................................................................... 292 35. Elizebeth Blackwell – first woman doctor ............................. 294 36. Loyola Prayer ......................................................................... 296 37. SEPTEMBER 1 ....................................................................... 297 38. September Gleanings .............................................................. 327 39. Eric Liddell ............................................................................. 329 40. Drinking from my saucer ....................................................... 330 41. OCTOBER 1 .......................................................................... 331 42. October Gleanings .................................................................. 362 43. Florence Nightingale – ‘The Lady with the Lamp’ ................ 364 44. A quiet heart ........................................................................... 366 45. NOVEMBER 1........................................................................ 367 46. November Gleanings .............................................................. 397 47. Dietrich Bonhoeffer – ‘The Man Who Stood By God’ .......... 400 48. Detours ................................................................................... 402 49. DECEMBER 1 ....................................................................... 403 50. December Gleanings .............................................................. 434 51. List of Contributors ................................................................ 436 52. ICMDA .................................................................................... 440 4 Introduction Do you want to stay tuned in to God while you’re on the run at work? Is your life so governed by the urgent that you seem to have little time to see what is important, and rearrange you priorities? This third edition of Doctor’s Life Support is specifically designed to help you. It is conveniently pocket-sized with a one page reading for each day. It has been written by Christians in Healthcare from all over the world seeking to discern how Scripture speaks to us in today’s healthcare scene. Each reading begins with a verse from Scripture and contains the author’s reflections on the theme for the day drawn from personal experience. Suggestions for daily practical application of Scripture are given. It is a good example of what John Stott called ‘Dual Listening’ – to have the Bible in one hand and a newspaper (perhaps blog post or podcast today!) in the other, so that we may listen carefully to Scripture and to the world. In this way our regular medical work can be both inspired and informed by Scripture. I warmly commend it to you. Kevin Vaughan Chairman, ICMDA 5 6 Preface Words come cheap these days and of the writing of books and devotionals there is no end. So why another? DLS has been a valuable resource for doctors over the years and it was time for another one. Many have attested to the inspiration that past volumes have been. DLS is unique in that all the articles are written by doctors. It takes one doctor to understand another. Many of the articles are from patient encounters. Some are the result of pain endured in the crucible of life while others express the joy in serving Christ and humanity. A few are the result of engaging the Bible and others deal with their personal experience of God. All are based on the Holy Bible, which provides comfort on the one hand and challenge on the other. We pray that those who read will and solace in the Shepherd of our souls, be transformed in their walk with God and be strengthened to serve others. Consistent with the digital age, the people who worked on this volume constitute a virtual team. We acknowledge Dr. Vinod Shah who constantly encouraged us. We owe a debt of gratitude to Sarah David in the ICMDA Ofice who applied herself to the task with quiet efficiency. Thanks to John Martin for his editorial assistance and to all the contributors for their time, effort and skill in helping to produce DLS 3. Finally all thanks to God who has given us the privilege of serving Him. To Him alone be glory. Abraham Ninan Saskatoon, SK., Canada 7 8 Foreword “Your Word is a lamp unto my, feet and a light unto my path.” Psalms 119:105 Lamp for the feet, sheds light for our steps; the details of our life. The light unto the path gives us the overall direction to our life. In other words, the word helps us micro-manage as well as macro- manage our lives. We were surprised by the number of people who know of ICMDA through the Doctor's life support. Sometimes, it is the only thing they know about ICMDA. We therefore decided that this was satisfying a real need and further publications along this line were needed. We have a meal and we have snacks, we need both. Even when we miss a meal, we can manage for a while with snacks. This Doctor’s life support is meant to be a snack. It is not meant to substitute for a regular and a methodical reading of the Bible. An attempt has been made in this new version of the DLS 3 to make it more “health