Prayers for Dennis
The FSD (Family Strengthening Department) team has taken advantage of this unfortunate COVID-19 season to get to know the families we serve on a deeper level (especially since many families have been home during quarantine without work). The FSD team has checked in on all of the students and have tried to document and assess their family needs.
During these home visits, we saw a change in a man named Dennis. His daughter is a student at Cherish Primary School, but we had never noticed her father’s growing shoulder until recently. The team of social workers were struck by what appeared to be a tumor and his inability to use his right hand. Due to this growth, he hasn’t been able to help around the house nor work. Since he is right handed, it’s even made simple tasks like eating more difficult as he learns how to use his left hand.
When Kathie, the FSD team member handling this case, asked him why he hasn’t come in to Cherish’s Health Center before, he said it was because he feared what this kind of ailment might cost him to get fixed at Cherish’s center or elsewhere. This broke our hearts. We still have a lot of work to do to make sure future patients never fear walking into our doors. While appointments are not free (we try to give dignity and ownership of healthcare to the patient), we work with every patient to make sure it is easily affordable based on each of their specific cases. We never turn someone away.
We brought Dennis to Cherish Health Center to get checked out by our medical team. Due to the size of our facility and the resources we have, we had to refer him to a larger hospital in town. Kathie has been walking alongside him through this process making sure he gets the right attention and care at the larger hospitals. She checks in with the family regularly and keeps him closely connected to Cherish Health Center’s medical team to ensure that he’s being cared for, is not intimidated by treatment or diagnosis, and to make sure his family and him are resourced to walk to this journey. Since these larger hospitals are often overwhelmed, we’re here to make sure he gets adequate attention and treatment by the doctors and staff handling his case.
This weekend we should hear news from the pathologist to help figure out what treatment will be best for Dennis. We ask that you join us in prayer for his case. We pray for his family and for hope and healing. We also pray that God can use Dennis to spread the message that everyone is welcome and can be loved and transformed by the care at Cherish Health Center.
The Cherish family is full of givers. Givers of financial support, givers of volunteer hours, givers of time spent in prayer. God can use you just like he can use Kathie to encourage Dennis along the way. The power of prayer is a beautiful gift, if you think of Dennis over the next few weeks, please lift him up in Jesus’ name!
Thank you!
**The man’s name has been changed to Dennis for this post to respect the patient’s privacy.
“He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.””