It’s 9pm on a Friday night. Within minutes of receiving an urgent text message from a chaplain at a patient’s bedside, a small group of hastily assembled nurses, managers and support staff huddle in the hospital chapel to uplift in prayer a mother and new baby in crisis in intensive care. Prayers extend to the doctors and staff caring for them, and to the family. A few members from a local church who happen to be in the hospital foyer join in prayer. God’s help is desperately sought; His promises are claimed. Gradually the chapel empties and people go home. The next morning, there are tears of joy when the message filters out that mum and baby are stable.
From its inception 115 years ago, Sydney Adventist Hospital (the San) has made prayer an important part of its foundation. Somewhere on campus every day—in the nurses’ quarters, on the wards, at patients’ bedsides, in the chapel and churches on site—people are prayed for.
This year Adventist HealthCare has an even greater focus on prayer and we are inviting you to become a Prayer Partner with us.
“Adventist HealthCare as an organisation perceives a need to engage with our broader church community to seek your support in prayer,” said Dr Branimir Schubert, director of Mission at Adventist HealthCare. “The Prayer Partner initiative aims to create a wide network of people who will pray and represent the San’s mission—Christianity in Action—in their own sphere of influence: family, church and work.
“Last year there were 13,548 chaplain visits to patients and an additional 467 prayer requests received and responded to,” added Dr Schubert. “We invite you to engage with us in prayer and harness its power.”
Every month Prayer Partners will receive an email with prayer points. These may include prayer requests for patients and families (with privacy maintained), prayers for doctors, staff and hospital leadership, or for strategic and visionary wisdom. “We will keep you updated on how your prayers are being answered,” Dr Schubert said.
“We function in a very complex environment and would benefit greatly from your prayers,” said Brett Goods, acting CEO at Adventist HealthCare.
“We continue working hard, with the skill and commitment of each staff member, to do the best we can for our patients. We know prayer has boundless power. We ask you to partner with us as we extend the healing ministry of Christ.”
You might be thinking, Why would I want to be involved? What can my prayer do? Jesus is our example of intercessory prayer: “Christ Jesus who died [and] was raised to life, is at the right hand of God and is interceding for us” (Romans 8:34, NIV). When we pray, extraordinary things happen: “Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (Hebrews 4:16, NLT).
Adventist HealthCare chairman Pastor Glenn Townend said: “The hospital may not be ‘your ministry’; you might already have your own area of focus and responsibility. However, the hospital is part of God’s healing ministry and, even from afar, you can be a partner in prayer to make a significant contribution to further God’s work.”
To become a Prayer Partner, email Dr Branimir Schubert at prayer@sah.org.au.
