Missions and Health

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume 35, Issue 5, 1 July 1944, Page 11

Missions and Health

Care for the body is a visible sign of our care for other people, and it is a means pf expressing our Christian love which the recipients can understand. Scientific medicine is certainly needed, with careful 1 diagnosis, accurate observation and modern treatment. It can be- a real expression of the spirit of Christ, but it is not enough. ;. Care for the whole man, with the love of God m our hearts, is what is required to fulfil our calling and what patients need and appreciate. As healing is the concern,' of the Church, sanitation and similar health measures become relevant to the religious life of "the people. So also does the second great cause of disease, malnutrition. It is foolish- to give people only medicines when their first need is food. This raises questions of agriculture and economics, but these subjects also must become the concern of the Church, for the whole life of man is the concern of God. This then is what we must grasp if we call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ, that the gospel of salvation means the good news of health • for the whole man and not just for that part of him which we label his "soul," Christianity is concerned with healing, and the art of healing cannot be divorced from God, the "source of all life and health. Thus medical missions are ho longer merely an "auxiliary" to help spiritual work, but themselves an essential part of the Gospel, ths good news of Christ, and therefore ' an essential 1 part of the work of the Church.— From the C.M.S., "The Way of Healing."