Magheragall Parish Church

'Pray for great things,
expect great things from God,
attempt great things for God'.

Mr David Healey - Intercontinental Church Society

David is currently the Communications Manager and General Manager acting for ICS. He wil be visiting and preachung on Sunday 22nd June.

By way of introduction to ICS the following article has been taken from the Societies website.

What does ICS do?

ICS is an international Anglican mission agency which seeks to make known the Christ of the Scriptures to people of any nationality who speak English. We do this by
planting and growing international churches outreach to tourists through our Seasonal Chaplaincies helping people find churches abroad e.g. by publishing the Directory of English-speaking Churches Abroad.

ICS's ministry is to people who speak English of which there are around 1.5 billion in the world, when you take into account people who speak it as a foreign language as well as those for whom it is their mother-tongue. ICS partners around 55 chaplains and assistant chaplains working in 65 new and long established congregations, ministering to English-speakers. We also provide seasonal chaplains in holiday resorts in Europe and the Mediterranean. ICS operates in many countries in Europe and Mediterranean, as well as in the South Atlantic. We also have associate chaplains in South America

We were founded in 1823 and have worked in most parts of the world looking after the spiritual and practical needs of people from countless nationalities, backgrounds and economic circumstances. From the 1830's onwards we began planting churches in mainland Europe and now our work is mainly focussed on mainland Europe, and places in and around the Mediterranean. We also work in the South Atlantic and South America. In the Anglican Diocese in Europe alone we are responsible for over thirty of its chaplaincies (the Anglican term for a church or parish overseas).

All chaplains linked to ICS work under the licence of the Bishop in whose Anglican diocese they minister. ICS works closely with all diocesan bishops, their staff, and the congregations it partners for example in the management of appointments and church-planting and other ministry projects. All chaplains whose appointment ICS is responsible for, and all associate chaplains linked to ICS, subscribe to our Basis of Faith.

As you maybe aware Dr Rory Wilson is a CMS Ireland mission partner serving as a Medical Superintendant in Kiwoko Hospital, Uganda.

Being on call for a weekend is certainly never boring.

Having finished the ward round on Male ward, and nearly finished paediatrics, a midwife found me to report the arrival of an unconscious mother. Having delivered her twins at 5 a.m. from a distant health centre, she started fitting and was till fitting on arrival.

Eclampsia (life threatening high blood pressure in pregnancy) is sadly quite common here - many mothers don’t attend for antenatal care in a place capable of testing the blood pressure, so rather than early intervention as would be appropriate in a UK setting, they often present dangerously out of control, often with fatal consequences for mum and baby.

While some of this lady’s symptoms suggested that it might be eclampsia, some other features did not support such a diagnosis. Actually she h ad meningitis, and the onset was just coinciding with the delivery of her twins. For 48 hours she battled for her life. Deeply unconscious with hugely fluctuating temperatures and blood pressures she required intensive monitoring and intervention by the midwives and myself. On Monday morning she was sitting up talking on the word round. If it were not for the care provided by the staff of Kiwoko this new young mum would certainly have died leaving her twins without a mother. She now needs to stay with us for another week’s antibiotic treatment, but a full recovery on discharge looks likely.

Another mother (aged 15) was admitted a month ago. Having had a caesarean section at a hospital in Kampala, she developed a nasty infection in her would. She deteriorated badly over the coming days. After she passed some blood in her stool we wondered if in addition to her infection she had developed an ulcer in her stomach. It seemed most unlikely, but we could not find any thing else we could do to improve her situation. Dr. James looked into her stomach with a flexible gastroscope which had been given to us from a hospital in Northern Ireland a few months ago. He identified a huge ulcer which had eroded an artery. Shortly afterwards she underwent life saving surgery. She is doing well, and having been so touched by the care she received at the hospital, she and her Muslin husband have decided to follow Jesus. It is now possible to get much simple medical equipment in Uganda, but few facilities exist with an endoscope such as the one which diagnosed this young lady’s problem. It is good that we have been able to use what for Uganda is fairly cutting edge technology to such great effect. It is also a measure of the impact which experienced doctors can have is they are bale to spend some time with us. Dr. Steve who was with us last year had trained James how to use this equipment prior to his returning to Edinburgh to finish his consultant training.

Looking after those in need is most worthwhile and rewarding, but being able to do so in an environment proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus makes it even better still. An old man who had taken some chemicals intended for treating cattle was admitted last week. He made a much better recovery than we had expected. The family were expressing their thanks prior to discharge and commented upon Dr. Emma (one of our junior Ugandan Doctors) who had been on call the night this man was admitted. The family said that they could see Jesus in this doctor, in the manner of his caring and compassion when they were in so much need. It is indeed good to have such colleagues to work with.

Please give thanks for:
* good rains which have come at last. There is now much digging and planting, and good crops can reasonably be expected in several months time. The stores in the hospital water tanks are now well replenished.
* good progress with the extensions at the nurse and laboratory training schools. Completion of these buildings is expected in the summer.
* some seriously ill patients making full recoveries in recent weeks.

Please pray for:
* the work of the mission team, particularly regarding moves to further develop training for local church leaders, most of whom have never received any training at all.* those with incurable conditions, that they would find peace in the midst of their sufferings, and be supported by friends and family.
* safety for all staff - those building, to be pro
tected from accidents, those working with patients, to be protected from disease, those driving, to be protected on the roads.
* the ongoing slow process of identifying and developing future leaders from within the hospital staff team.
* ongoing difficulties with the supply of blood for transfusion to anaemic patients. Recent policy changes at the national blood bank in Kampala will mean more of our critically ill patients requiring a transfusion will die due to inadequate supplies. Discussions are under way with the responsible authorities, but need humility on behalf of those authorities to see the error of the present policy, and to do so rapidly before I invest much time in meetings with them in Kampala, and before more life is lost.

Thanks as ever for the ongoing support. We have many excellent gifted and committed staff, but the work at Kiwoko only continues because of the ongoing support in terms of prayer, finance and practical support from our supporters around the world. Thank you for your ongoing partnership with us in this great work.

Rory

The Parents and Toddlers Group will finish for the summer on Wednesday, 18 June.

On the 10 September we look forward to welcoming everyone back after the summer break and we extend a warm welcome to and any Toddlers and their parents / grandparents / carers who would like to join in our fellowship. The Toddlers’ Team hope that you all have a lovely summer and that the Lord will bless you wherever you are.