The country where Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus fled 2000 years ago today receives many Sudanese fleeing a seemingly never-ending war in their homeland. They come to Egypt and its capital Cairo, now the largest city in Africa with a population predicted to reach 20 million by the new millennium.
Medical work at All Saints Cathedral began when a pregnant Sudanese woman collapsed. She didn't want to go to an Egyptian hospital, as she was unable to pay the costs at foreigner's rates. This prompted Mark (our co-ordinator) and Annette Bennett (a midwife) to start the antenatal clinic in 1995. Last year it saw 120 pregnant women. It serves Sudanese women not helped by the UNHCR Cairo office and provides consultation, home visits and some small tests on site. We refer major work including delivery to nearby contracted hospitals and we cover all the costs. Our paediatric clinic is open the same hours, to save the mothers' time. The general medical clinic open two days a week held approximately 2200 consultations in 1997, seeing cases from TB to peptic ulcers to mental instability.
'The greatest privilege of working in the clinic' says Annette,'is how we can serve the Sudanese community with a complete ministry. We try to keep prayer as the main focus,. It is exciting to offer that as part of our normal care .... when we register, when there is a threatened pregnancy or when a mother reaches term . . we stop the clinic and pray for her. Although we've had people from many different backgrounds we've never had anyone say no to prayer.
When we took on Sala (not her real name) we referred her to a good obstetrician who sees some of our hard cases for free. When she came to us in subsequent pregnancies I talked with her about God's love and how her previous miscarriages were not because God was punishing her. Many times we sat with her, laid hands on her and prayed. After three more miscarriages we were still puzzled why this was happening, but each time we gave her the opportunity to grieve and acknowledge the loss of life, and we would weep together. In the midst of it all we continually reminded her of God's love for her.
After her last miscarriage, she went alone to the hospital for a D&C. A few weeks later she came to me at the church. 'I came to talk to you about Jesus,' she said. In hospital she was very lonely and sad. As she came out of the anaesthetic she was struggling emotionally. She was all alone and had no one to cry, with. She closed her eyes for a bit, and when she opened them again, there stood Jesus, touching her hand. She knew it was him although he didn't speak. She had this incredible feeling inside her and felt her heart change. She thought about some of the things we'd talked about and realised the most important thing was to love Jesus. She is now trusting Jesus although ,she may never have a baby. When she first came to the clinic, she said she had put all her hope in me. Now she realises she has to put all her hope in Jesus. It is a great joy and privilege to be part of something like this.'
Bryan Kane is ministry co-ordinator at All Saints Cathedral, Cairo.
Medical work at All Saints Cathedral began when a pregnant Sudanese woman collapsed. She didn't want to go to an Egyptian hospital, as she was unable to pay the costs at foreigner's rates. This prompted Mark (our co-ordinator) and Annette Bennett (a midwife) to start the antenatal clinic in 1995. Last year it saw 120 pregnant women. It serves Sudanese women not helped by the UNHCR Cairo office and provides consultation, home visits and some small tests on site. We refer major work including delivery to nearby contracted hospitals and we cover all the costs. Our paediatric clinic is open the same hours, to save the mothers' time. The general medical clinic open two days a week held approximately 2200 consultations in 1997, seeing cases from TB to peptic ulcers to mental instability.
'The greatest privilege of working in the clinic' says Annette,'is how we can serve the Sudanese community with a complete ministry. We try to keep prayer as the main focus,. It is exciting to offer that as part of our normal care .... when we register, when there is a threatened pregnancy or when a mother reaches term . . we stop the clinic and pray for her. Although we've had people from many different backgrounds we've never had anyone say no to prayer.
When we took on Sala (not her real name) we referred her to a good obstetrician who sees some of our hard cases for free. When she came to us in subsequent pregnancies I talked with her about God's love and how her previous miscarriages were not because God was punishing her. Many times we sat with her, laid hands on her and prayed. After three more miscarriages we were still puzzled why this was happening, but each time we gave her the opportunity to grieve and acknowledge the loss of life, and we would weep together. In the midst of it all we continually reminded her of God's love for her.
After her last miscarriage, she went alone to the hospital for a D&C. A few weeks later she came to me at the church. 'I came to talk to you about Jesus,' she said. In hospital she was very lonely and sad. As she came out of the anaesthetic she was struggling emotionally. She was all alone and had no one to cry, with. She closed her eyes for a bit, and when she opened them again, there stood Jesus, touching her hand. She knew it was him although he didn't speak. She had this incredible feeling inside her and felt her heart change. She thought about some of the things we'd talked about and realised the most important thing was to love Jesus. She is now trusting Jesus although ,she may never have a baby. When she first came to the clinic, she said she had put all her hope in me. Now she realises she has to put all her hope in Jesus. It is a great joy and privilege to be part of something like this.'
Bryan Kane is ministry co-ordinator at All Saints Cathedral, Cairo.
