Tuesday - the hospital

We visited the hospital today. Opportunities for prayer were offered and many people were eager to be prayed for. Canon Semu provided oil for anointing the sick. So many asked for prayer that we were not able to visit in all the wards. We sang and brought greetings as well. Among those we ministered to were a woman who had lost one of her twins in birth, and a newborn whose mother had dropped over dead a week after delivery with no explanation. One woman asked if it cost anything to have us pray. When we finished she tried to give us money.
We also had the opportunity to sing praises and celebrate with a woman who had delivered twins.
The most troubling visit was to a woman who had end stage AIDS. AIDS is rampant here although the church is at the forefront of prevention and they are making progress. The family asked that I come in to pray for her and for them. As I entered the room I found her laying almost naked. She must have weighed less than 80 lbs. She was in obvious pain and only her eyes moved. When I first saw here I thought that she had suffered a terrible burn. Sores and blisters covered the entire length of her body including her face. There was literally no place to anoint her with oil without causing her pain so I poured a drop over her heart and held my hands above her head as I prayed that God would be present in her situation with comfort and peace. Knowing how to pray in such situations is so difficult. The only clue I have is to rememberthe scriptures admonition to weep with those who weep . . . In such situations the doctrine of the incarnation is far more than a theological construct. It is the only way we can follow Christ . . . to be present in the flesh . . . broken, hurting flesh.