January 2018 Church loans out medical supplies I n Jonathan Fay’s experience, people in need of medical supplies often wait weeks or even months for insurance to pay for them. Fay knows that world well: he spent his career in the medical distribution industry. Now, in retirement, he serves as director of the Anne Hartwell MedEquip Loan Closet, a ministry of the Reformed Church of Poughkeepsie, New York, that lends medical equipment to community members. “To me, it really is a calling,” says Fay. “I know people are hurting.” Anne Hartwell, a member of the church, also knew people were hurting when she started the loan closet more than two decades ago. She recognized a need and began loaning out everything from walkers to wheelchairs, from canes to commodes—all free of charge. The loan closet is open on Wednesday mornings, and Fay says anywhere from a couple of people to 15 may show up. He has even seen the line stretch out the door. Even on days like that, he says, “we haven’t had to turn anybody away.” (Continued on inside right panel) TODAY RCA Gail Kennedy, Jonathan Fay, and Terry Kulakowski run the Anne Hartwell MedEquip Loan Closet at Reformed Church of Poughkeepsie.
Transcript
January 2018
Church loans out medical supplies
In Jonathan Fay’s experience, people in need of medical supplies often wait weeks or even months for insurance to pay for them.
Fay knows that world well: he spent his career in the medical distribution industry. Now, in retirement, he serves as director of the Anne Hartwell MedEquip Loan Closet, a ministry of the Reformed Church of Poughkeepsie, New York, that lends medical equipment to community members.
“To me, it really is a calling,” says Fay. “I know people are hurting.”
Anne Hartwell, a member of the church, also knew people were hurting when she started the loan closet more than two decades ago. She recognized a need and began loaning out everything from walkers to wheelchairs, from canes to commodes—all free of charge.
The loan closet is open on Wednesday mornings, and Fay says anywhere from a couple of people to 15 may show up. He has even seen the line stretch out the door. Even on days like that, he says, “we haven’t had to turn anybody away.”
(Continued on inside right panel)
TODAYRCA
Gail Kennedy, Jonathan Fay, and Terry Kulakowski run the
Anne Hartwell MedEquip Loan Closet at Reformed Church
of Poughkeepsie.
THIS MONTH’S FOCUS: COMPASSION MINISTRIES
When is the last time you walked to the sink and filled up a glass of water? If the event was so unmemorable that you don’t know,
that’s the point. Most of us don’t have to give a second thought to our water source. A sink or a drinking fountain is usually just steps away.
But that’s not the case for everyone. After massive earthquakes hit Mexico in September, residents of Oaxaca were left to live in tent cities, sometimes even right outside their ruined homes. This led to contaminated water sources and a rampant bacterial outbreak.
That’s when RCA mission partner Aqua Clara and local Presbyterian churches in Oaxaca stepped in to provide simple five-gallon bucket filters to people living in the tent cities. Now clean water is right at their fingertips.
And that’s not the only place RCA Global Mission is partnering to bring basic necessities, like nourishing food, clean water, and medical care, to people around the world.
In Kenya, Pokot women living in fertile farming regions are learning how to generate income through the church and community mobilization program. John Lokeno, one of our newest missionaries, is coaching them in how to make the most of their crops. Not only do the women sell vegetables at the market as a source of income, but they are also able to help others who live in less fertile areas.
In Ethiopia, at the end of each year, the Daasanech people endure a long season of drought. With no crops, they eat primarily roots and berries during those months. Huge areas that were once fertile and covered in crops are now hot, dusty plains. But through the windmill project that RCA missionaries Dick and Donna Swart oversee, the Daasanech are able to effectively irrigate their fields, grind grain, and sharpen their gardening tools, all of which eases the difficulty of the dry season.
In eastern Honduras, the geography has isolated the indigenous Miskito people. They are as far as 12 hours away from the nearest hospital—by canoe. But thanks to RCA mission partners Alas de Socorro (Wings of Mercy), an aviation ministry, and Ahuas Clinic,
UPPER LEFT A tent city in Oaxaca, Mexico.
ABOVE A Pokot woman sells spinach at a market in Kenya.
You can help meet basic needs
To donate online to compassion ministries, visit www.rca.org/give/compassion.
By phone (U.S. only): Call Terri Boven at 616-541-0835.
By mail: Please send your check, made out to “Reformed Church in America” and designated “Compassion,” to Reformed Church in America, Attn: Finance Dept., 4500 60th St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49512, or, in Canada, to 201 Paradise Rd. N., Hamilton, ON L8S 3T3.
a medical clinic, emergency medical care is much more accessible. Now the Miskito people are able to be transported safely and quickly to excellent outpatient medical care.
In Egypt, the RCA partners with Evangelical Mission Hospital to help provide stipends for the Christian-based family practice doctors who are working with a large Muslim population. Not only does this allow doctors to practice good medicine, but it also allows them to show God’s love.
These are just a few of the ways that RCA Global Mission is helping to make a difference in the most basic parts of people’s lives.
(Continued from front page)
From January through October of last year, the ministry lent 147 wheelchairs to people with a need, and 87 were still being used by people from the previous year. Although there’s an official six-month limit on borrowing an item, Fay says he often tells people to keep walkers and commodes because so many are donated to the loan closet.
“Whatever we have is yours,” he says.
Church loans out medical supplies
Reflections on a leadership collaborative, part II
Over the past few years, dozens of RCA members and pastors have participated in leadership collaboratives, which bring together
a small group of leaders to hone their personal and organizational leadership skills. This is the second installment in a series following Jenna Zirbel through her 18-month women’s leadership collaborative. Zirbel is a member of Peace Reformed Church in Eagan, Minnesota. For more information about upcoming leadership collaborative offerings, email [email protected].
I’ve endured an abundance of change in my work life and in my personal life since I began the women’s leadership collaborative process. In a short time, this experience has transformed my thinking, changed my outlook, built my confidence in myself as a leader, helped me to see that I am capable, and encouraged me to lead by the example of Jesus through my words and my actions.
At work, I have learned to look past “ranks” and beyond “titles” to see myself as a capable leader with God-given skills and an ability to daily lead by example. The childcare program that I work for has been in existence for more than 30 years, and many of the other supervisors have been working there for most of that time, while I have barely been alive that long! It was difficult for me to come in as a new person with less immediate experience and feel confident as a leader under these circumstances. I’ve learned to lead by example through the relationships I have with my students, parents, and coworkers to incorporate my voice and skills into the preexisting situation.
A downloadable PDF of this issue of RCA Today is posted at www.rca.org/today.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITYServe people experiencing poverty in NYC
Project Hospitality is an interfaith organization committed to caring for people experiencing poverty and homelessness. When your team serves at the largest nonprofit on Staten Island, you will build relationships with people from the community as you serve in soup kitchens, food pantries, and local churches. Volunteer opportunities also include helping in a family shelter, working in a drop-in center for people experiencing homelessness, and serving at other sites. Come with an open heart and an eagerness to learn as you embrace the community of Staten Island and experience God in a unique way.
For more information about this opportunity and other ways to volunteer as an individual or group, visit www.rca.org/volunteer, email [email protected], or call 616-541-0895.
