Excerpts From: The Messenger |
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Maybe I have been influenced by our Bible Study (We have decided to read the bible in the order it is presented and have just finished the book of Exodus), but I wonder what modern day engineers would have done if they had been given the task of parting the Red Sea. I am sure they would not have done the same thing as God did and then of course, each set of experts would have had differing ‘expert’ opinions. Perhaps they would have objected to the time frame given them for completion of the project. They surely would have felt rushed. They would have put up BIG signs. Just think of how we humans organize and plan things, I am sure, we surely would have done it differently. There certainly would have been more fanfare, more marketing, more planning, more strategy.
But you know, that's not God's plan. When you are cornered or outnumbered, there are no BIG signs, no fancy advertising telling you how to feel, there really are no resources you can trust. There's just a Red Sea in front of you with people trying to kill you behind you. What do you do? Wait? Time is passing, the army is getting closer. Bite your nails all you want to. It won’t change anything.
Do you feel cornered right now, overwhelmed? Listen, He knows all the sticky situations you may be in. It may take dark and miserable days of heartache and feeling trapped before deliverance may come.
Perhaps you're single, married, lost a loved one, busy making a living or fulfilling your career potential, or lamenting about a lost life, you didn’t get to do what you always dreamed of, a lifetime of living gone down the drain. Perhaps you have some physical dilemma, stuck in bed, in a wheelchair, lost your eyesight, hearing,. You've been there for months, years.
Pay attention, fellow Christians, take a deep breath and read this slowly. I believe that our arrival at the Red Sea may come in many shapes and forms. But we will cross it.
I don’t know why the dark days are there, but I know we can trust God to part the Red Sea and see us to the other side. My theological take on this may be that the Lord is breaking a habit that had been born in Egypt, maybe a habit that has no business living in Canaan. These habits are VERY tough to break. The tears may flow. But if we put our predicament in the HANDS of the one we can trust, we can get to the other side. God may manifest Himself as very substantial and genuine.
I wish you all a wonderful summer season. Take this time to visit with family & friends. Don’t forget we are always here at St. Ansgar’s if you need a listening ear or just want to enjoy our company. Father’s Day will be celebrated this month and I wish all a Happy Father’s Day!
Your friend and pastor,
Samuel King-Kabu.
Most of you enjoy reading the Messenger because you feel some heartfelt connection to St. Ansgar’s Lutheran Church. Many of you contribute to the Church, and we are very grateful for your contributions. But we need to appeal now to you, and to all who feel this connection or who, even without the connection, are comforted knowing that there is a Danish church in Montreal. Spread the news! Your church is in serious financial trouble.
Over the years, with fewer members actually coming to church regularly – some have moved away- and with the passing of many beloved members, our donations have fallen. We find ourselves running a structural deficit of about $1000 a month. This is an average. Some months it is much higher. This has been going on for a long time, gradually eating away at our reserves, which are now exhausted. We have taken advantage of as many rentals as we can, but there is little time or space left to rent out. We must balance our budget to survive, and this can come only from regular donations. Unlike churches in parts of Europe, we do not get any subsidy from the government
.Many have given us one-shot donation in the past, and these are much appreciated and this kind of help is always welcome. What we need, however, is for our members and friends, those who love St. Ansgar’s, to re-evaluate their giving, to establish a regular habit of giving to the church. This giving must be based on a realistic proportion of the ongoing cost of maintaining a church and a ministry.
Now, I can’t tell you what you need to give. Each family has their own reality. For your amount to be effective, though, it may have to hurt a bit! In the Gospel, there is the story of the old woman who dropped 3 small copper coins into the collection. Christ pointed out that her donation was greater than the riches others tossed in, unfelt out of their abundance.
I can’t tell you what to give, but I ask you to consider carefully. Some regular members give $20 to $25 a week when they come. Some think about us even when they don’t come, and make up for those missed Sundays. Some send us a regular cheque of about $100 a month. This is in the ball park of the kind support we need from our larger community, in order to keep us healthy. I am not asking anyone to take food out of their mouths, but consider that the above level of donation is equal to about a large coffee and a doughnut a day!
Some may realize that this is beyond their ability. They may only be able to contribute $50 a month, or even $25. What is most important is that it be regular. If you are unable to come (We would love to see you!), then please drop your regular donation in the mail.
We recently passed our 80th year of ministry in Montreal. With your participation, we can ensure that St. Ansgar’s will balance its budget and remain a presence for the next generation.
May God bless you all.
Roger Kenner
Church President
Many of you, but not all, know that you can get the Federal and Quebec governments to nearly match your donations to the Church! Those who live in Quebec and pay income tax can get back 53% of their donations over $200 when they file their annual tax returns! If you budgeted for $500 a year, without using the tax receipt, you could actually donate close to $1000 for the same cost. I am writing you as the Church’s financial secretary, the one who makes out the tax receipts for donations, as well as a taxpayer who has recently finished his tax returns.
Many have the misconception that the tax rebate is negligible, that it is part of the infamous ‘Non-Refundable Tax Credits’ section. In this section, on Schedule 1 of your federal return and on page 3 of your provincial return, you amass well $10,000-$20,000 worth of so-called ‘deductions’, only to see the real amount cut to 15% and 20% respectively. It is disheartening!
But do not be fooled! The charitable donation section comes AFTER that reduction. The percentages you are allowed to get back are real dollars that come right off the top of your tax owing!
On the federal form, you only get to deduct 15% of the first $200, but, after that, the rate is 29%!
On the provincial form, you only get to deduct 20% of the first $200, but after that the rate is 24%.
That’s 53% of all amounts over the first $200!
So, someone donates $1000 in a year. Of the first $200, they get back 35%, or $70. Of the remaining $800, they get back $424. That’s a total of $494! This is an effective government subsidy to your church, but of course only you can activate the subsidy.
And yes, you have to put the money out first, to get it back many months later. (We send out our tax receipts in February). And yes, you have to owe at least $494 in taxes already, in order to get the full benefit. (But few of us do not end up owing the tax man something, especially those on pensions or collecting from RRSPs and RRIF’s)
So, if you have not yet been taking advantage of this incentive to giving, it’s time to reconsider.
Roger Kenner
Financial Secretary
As a nursing student, I can say I have learned something new every day. We start off with learning skills such as taking vital signs, morning care, proper body mechanics, dressing changes, giving medications in every shape and form, any skill, you name it. We would be put in the hot seat by our clinical teachers, co-assigned nurses, and even by our patients.
Yes, the patients. You can have cooperative patients, mean and cranky ones, the patients who want-to-chat-all-day-and-you-barely-get-your-work-done kind, and even some who will not trust you, no matter how much your clinical teacher re-assures that patient.
After being on the transplant unit for at least a month, I was getting quite comfortable with my skills and the staff, knowing the medications really well, and having good time management. Most of my patients had been very easy-going with me and liked having a student nurse to tend to them, except for one.
As soon as I entered that patient’s room, I did my quick assessment of it. Neatly folded clothes on the chair, flowers by the bedside, bed neatly made, and my patient was up and about. I thought to myself, this is a good sign, patient is post-op, and looks like he wants to get back to his daily routine, this day should be breeze! Once we did all our formal greetings, vital signs, and assessments, it was time to flush my patient’s PICC line with some NS. Of course, my clinical teacher was there to supervise, and as I went to pick up the line to flush it, my patient, screams out in pain! So, here I am, thinking, oh my gosh, did I rip something out, is he bleeding, what did I do!? I was pretty sure I just picked up the line. I didn’t even flush it yet! So I look at my clinical teacher for any sign of anger, and she’s standing there, calmly telling the patient, that he should trust me, because I knew what I was doing, and have done this many times before. He, then, looks at my clinical teacher with a smirk on his face, and mentions how he never felt pain in that area until I have touched it.
I felt devastated, insulted, and angry! Then, I felt ashamed and embarrassed for having those feelings! I decided to let it go, just move on to my next thing to do on my list and would have to figure out another way to earn this patient’s trust.
Just before leaving the room, breakfast had arrived. My patient seemed extremely eager to eat, but then was notably disappointed when he saw a plain white bagel on the plate. Immediately, I saw this disappointment, and asked what was wrong. Apparently, the Royal Victoria Hospital was incapable of toasting a bagel properly. When he told me this, I literally stopped what I was doing and offered to toast it for him exactly how he liked, knowing this could be my window of opportunity to gain something.
I sped, walking down the hall, to the kitchen, plugged in the toaster, waited for it to pop-up, and finally it did, running back down to my patient’s room, and offering it to him. I was waiting for a response, like, “you can’t even toast a bagel properly”, or “you burnt it”, and never have I felt so nervous before about toasting a bagel. Finally, after the 3 longest seconds of my life, my patient goes “exactly the way I like it! Thank you so much!” with a huge smile on his face. I have never felt so relieved. After that, I even managed to convince him to get a chest x-ray, which he refused earlier in the day. My care for this patient became instantaneously easier to deal with.
Gaining someone’s trust, especially someone who has been hospitalized many times before and whom you’ve met in the same day, is something, we, as student nurses, did not learn in a lab or in the classroom. I have started to realize that, it’s not so much the complicated skills you can do, or how fast and how well you do them, but what you do. It is the small things, such as toasting a bagel, giving a back massage, or just sitting for 2 minutes and getting to know your patient makes a huge difference in their lives. These are the small things they remember the most when being hospitalized, and this is how I, as a student nurse, can make the hospital stay a bit more bearable for them to endure, and make their daily care even more pleasurable to do.
By Vanessa Palma
(this short story won a Creative Writing Nursing Award at Dawson College)
Web Page prepared by:
Roger Kenner
& Jette Blair.
Content-New Topics Last Updated: 2011/09/09
St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church - Montreal