Service marks San Joaquin's anniversary
| Saturday, Aug 21 2010 09:38 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Aug 21 2010 09:38 PM
As part of San Joaquin Community Hospital's ongoing celebration of its 100-year anniversary, singers, speakers and a well-traveled storyteller reminded about 4,000 worshippers at Rabobank Arena that caring for the sick was part of Jesus' mission.
Saturday's Sacred Work Sabbath featured The Heritage Singers, The Adventist University of the Philippines Choir and videotaped messages from San Joaquin staff explaining how they try to fuse the hospital's mantra of "compassion, competence and love" into their work.
All 14 of the region's Seventh-day Adventist churches converged at Rabobank for a joint worship service that was open to the public, followed by a complementary community luncheon.
The highlight of the service was Dick Duerksen, a storyteller and the assistant to the president of Maranatha Volunteers International, a charitable Christian missionary group.
Duerksen, who regularly travels on mission trips all over the world, told how he believed God works through people to improve the lives of patients.
One tale was about a destitute giant of a man named Big Bill. Big Bill was discharged after a two-week hospital stay, but afterward lingered in the hospital lobby. Max, an E.R. nurse who had treated Big Bill when he was admitted, came over to wish him well and learned that Big Bill hadn't left yet because it was against hospital policy to release someone without shoes if they were walking. Big Bill didn't own shoes, or a car.
Hearing this, Max got permission from his boss to take his lunch break early so he could dash to a store where, after some searching, he found shoes in Big Bill's unusually large size. When the cashier who was checking the nurse out learned why he was buying the shoes, she volunteered her personal monthly employee voucher to pay for them.
Big Bill wept "huge floods of tears" when Max presented him with the shoes, Duerksen said.
"Now, how is that sacred work?" he added. "Let's look at what had to happen to accomplish all that.
"Max remembered him from two weeks earlier. He went over to talk to him and asked what was wrong. His boss said do whatever you have to do when he asked to take lunch early. And the cashier had to give up her voucher.
"Hospitals normally are in the business of avoiding or eliminating infection, but when you're doing sacred work, it infects the whole community."
Duerksen also told of an American doctor who had committed to spend five years treating patients in the East African country of Malawi. He could hardly get a word in with her for all the people she stopped to talk to as she meandered through her clinic. Everywhere she went, people came up to her to chat.
"Finally I asked her, 'How do you get anything done around here?' " Duerksen said. "She replied, 'I'm getting work done every time I touch a person for Jesus.' "
That, too, is sacred work, Duerksen concluded.
At the luncheon after the service, teacher Susan Graf, 58, praised Duerksen's strategy of using anecdotes and stories to convey life lessons.
"People learn so much better that way," she said. "I have to learn how to do that with my students."
Babe Cisneros, 54, called the whole service deeply moving.
"It was spirit-filled and a blessing," she said.
Jarrod McNaughton, San Joaquin's vice president for marketing and development, said the hospital was glad to show the public what it does.
"This was a great opportunity to share this special day with our community," he said.
