Several years ago I received an e-mail letter from a young girl named Naomi in London, England asking about Hope Hospice. Here are my answers to her questions.

 

Dear Naomi:

 

Thank you for your letter concerning Hope Hospice (Indiana). As you noted, we have a hospice with a Christian philosophy of life. On April 14, 1995 my wife, a registered nurse, and I started Hope Hospice, Inc. as a not-for-profit, public benefit organization. My wife and I started our hospice in Rochester, Indiana, a rural community in Fulton County. And what an incredibly wonderful [fourteen] years these have been.

 

What is the Christian motivation behind Hope Hospice?

 

Hospice is compassion for the suffering. In England in the 1940s a young woman entered Oxford University with little focus. She had no idea what to do with her life. But she soon came under the influence of a colorful professor of English, a writer with a gift, named C.S. Lewis. She became a Christian through much of his influence. She left Oxford, against the advice of friends and family, and began to study nursing. After five more years of rigorous training, she was certified as a nurse.

 

But her story doesn't end there, for her questing, Christian spirit would not let her rest with the way things were. You see, she ended up working on a cancer ward in a London hospital. Gradually, she came to realize that most of the doctors ignored the patients who were deemed terminally ill. As a result she watched many of them die virtually alone.

 

Greatly troubled she felt that Christian compassion needed to be expressed to these patients in a visible way. She approached the hospital administration with an idea she had for surrounding those dying of cancer with friends and loved ones during their last days, rather than isolating them in sterile rooms with strangers. Her radical ideas were quickly rejected. But undaunted, she decided to enroll in medical school to try to make a difference even though she was already 33 years old and would not graduate until she was 39. This she did and later a movement soon grew around the ideas that made it possible for dying patients to live their days in a setting of love and support.

 

The hospice movement came into existence. Cicely Saunders, out of Christian compassion and a sense of calling to help in a specific way, began this movement in England in the 1950s. It later moved to the Americas and is now used everywhere and in every town. It is called the Hospice Movement, and it draws its inspiration from Jesus' own passion and compassion for his children -- "as a hen gathers her brood under her wings."

 

Our prayer is that God will continually come to us in new ways and in fresh images, so that more Cicely Saunderses among us can be moved and inspired to take risks to join in God's compassion for his children.

 

How is Hope Hospice a Christian response to the problem of pain and suffering?

 

Hope Hospice has a Christian philosophy of life. We show Christian compassion to the terminally ill. We help them live with dignity during the last months of their life. We do not have a hospital or clinic. Our care is given in their home or a nursing home, and the patient and the patient's family is never billed for our services. The cost of our care is covered by Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, and donations.

 

Hospice care is most effective when there is time for us to learn about the needs and desires of both the patient and the patient's family -- we have cared for a patient for as long as two years. We provide all of the medication and needed medical equipment including oxygen. The Hope Hospice staff of a physician, highly qualified nurses, a social worker, chaplains, and volunteers works in partnership with the patient, family, and their personal physician to make the final period of life comfortable, dignified, and peaceful. Effective control of pain and discomfort is especially emphasized.

 

Admission to the hospice program is open to residents of Fulton County and bordering communities who have a life-limiting illness in which curative medical intervention is no longer possible or desired. One or more caregivers must be available. Care may be given in a private home by a relative, close friend, or paid companion. No qualified patient is refused Hope Hospice services based on type of illness, age, sex, race, creed, or the ability to pay.

 

Hope Hospice also provides a small bereavement support group for anyone who has suffered the death of someone loved. This support group meets at the Fulton County Library in Rochester. There is no charge to participate, and a Hope Hospice chaplain serves as the group leader. The bereavement group meets twice a month, September through December and April through June. During the first half of each meeting we show a bereavement video, and the second half of each meeting is left open for group sharing. Bereavement literature is also shared in these meetings.

 

What is the Christian motivation behind those working in Hope Hospice?

 

It is to bring comfort and care to terminally ill patients and their families. We seek staff members and volunteers with a Christian philosophy of life. We seek helpers who want to give comfort, love, and care.

 

How is the Hospice movement and Hope Hospice a response to the problem of pain and suffering?

 

Pain and suffering can be controlled. We use pain medication, and we give emotional and spiritual support to the patient and the patient’s family. We pray with them; we read the Bible to them; we show them love; we try to give them hope; and our nurses give the patients needed medical care.

 

Several years ago in an interview during his battle with cancer, theologian Francis Schaeffer said, "The only way to be foolishly happy in this world is to be young enough, well enough, and have money enough -- and not give a care about other people. But as soon as you don't have any of the first three, or if you have compassion for the weeping world around you, then it is impossible to have the foolish kind of happiness that I believe some Christians present as Christianity."

 

What is our greatest need in life? Is it to be happy? We may long for a change in our circumstances, and sometimes that's what we get. But a changed life is our deepest need. Changed circumstances may make us happier, but a changed life will make us better, for it will make us like Christ. This is our purpose.

 

My wife and I have been blessed by helping others who are suffering. I have been a minister for nearly fifty years. Also, my wife, Sarah, has been a nurse for nearly fifty years. We started Hope Hospice as a Christian ministry -- as a way for Sarah and me to serve our God. Hope Hospice has been one of the biggest blessings in our life together. It is wonderful to be able to help others during their time of need.

 

I hope that this helps you. May God bless you. Again, thank you for your letter.

 

Your friend,

 

Rev. Ronald C. Purkey, Founder/Chaplain

 

H O P E   H O S P I C E

1476 West 18th Street, P.O. Box 621, Rochester, IN 46975

Telephone: (574) 224-HOPE or Fax: (574) 224-4444

E-Mail: hospice@hopehospicefc.com

 

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