{"id":45723,"date":"2008-02-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-02-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/missions-trip-transforms-hospital\/"},"modified":"2008-02-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-02-25T00:00:00","slug":"missions-trip-transforms-hospital","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/missions-trip-transforms-hospital\/","title":{"rendered":"Missions Trip Transforms Hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

In her book Radical Gratitude<\/em>, Ellen Vaughn tells the story of a family friend named Jerry:<\/p>\n\n

\n

Some years ago Jerry was in Russia on a short visit with Prison Fellowship International. He and a group of friends visited a number of prisons, and finished their work a few days early. They asked their hosts if they could go visit children in the hospital.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

They were taken to a 750-bed hospital in Moscow at the end of the Leniniski Prospect. Most of the beds were empty. This is where children with cancer and blood diseases came to die. There was a cafeteria but no food. No trained nurses, no laundry, no disinfectants, few medicines, no lab work. The children's families brought in and prepared food for them in the empty hospital kitchen.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

This was the national clinic for children, where patients came from all over the Russian Federation.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

A staff person brought a young girl in an old wheelchair to Jerry. She was about 14-years-old, with thin brown hair and dark circles under her eyes. "She has about 4 months to live," the woman told Jerry. "We have no medicines to help her."<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

"What is her name?" Jerry asked. He bent down to the girl's level.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

"Eugenia," the woman said.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

Jerry rocked on his heels. Eugenia was his daughter's name. What if his Eugenia was dying and needed medicine? What would he do? What would this Russian Eugenia's dad do for his daughter if he could?<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

The staff people told Jerry that the drug protocol for Eugenia would run about $18,000 (U.S.). Jerry is not a man of wealth, but he turned to a buddy with him, a cattle rancher. "Ed," said Jerry, "if we can't find someone to donate the money to help this little girl, I'll sell my car, if you sell your truck, okay?"<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

"You drive me crazy always trying to swing these deals," Ed said. "But that's why I come on these trips with you. Okay."<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

But selling a car and a truck would only take them so far. There were lots of kids who needed help.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

Jerry returned to the U. S. and got on the phone. Within two weeks, a prominent children's clinic had given him tens of thousands of dollar's worth of drugs packed in cooler boxes with dry ice, and Jerry was on a plane back to Moscow.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Jerry and his friends raised millions of dollars, and the clinic became world-class. Furthermore, they teach nurses and doctors who travel all over the Russian Federation.<\/p>\n\n

Eugenia's cancer went into remission. Vaughn tells what happens when Jerry and the others got back to Moscow with the first planeload of medicine: "When he and his buddies walked into the hospital in the night, Eugenia's mother saw them coming. She ran down the dim corridor, her face incredulous, and burst into tears. 'You are Jesus, are you not?' she exclaimed in broken English."<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[310],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[405,411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3543,3557,3621,3897,3942,3985,4043,4057,4085,4096,4245,4250,4470,4476,4522,4567,4579,4708,4821,4869,4953,5011,5069,5139,5226,5284],"tax_ctp_topics":[378,382,388],"class_list":["post-45723","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-capital-campaign","tax_ctp_tags-change","tax_ctp_tags-circumstances","tax_ctp_tags-evangelism","tax_ctp_tags-faithfulness","tax_ctp_tags-felt-needs","tax_ctp_tags-generosity","tax_ctp_tags-giving","tax_ctp_tags-gospel","tax_ctp_tags-great-commission","tax_ctp_tags-influence","tax_ctp_tags-injustice","tax_ctp_tags-ministry","tax_ctp_tags-mission","tax_ctp_tags-nations","tax_ctp_tags-opportunity","tax_ctp_tags-outreach","tax_ctp_tags-priorities","tax_ctp_tags-responsibility","tax_ctp_tags-sacrifice","tax_ctp_tags-service","tax_ctp_tags-social-justice","tax_ctp_tags-st-patricks-day","tax_ctp_tags-testimony","tax_ctp_tags-values","tax_ctp_tags-witnessing"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\nMissions Trip Transforms Hospital - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/missions-trip-transforms-hospital\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Missions Trip Transforms Hospital - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In her book Radical Gratitude, Ellen Vaughn tells the story of a family friend named Jerry: Some years ago Jerry was in Russia on a short visit with Prison Fellowship International. 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