Whoever goes to the LORD for safety,

Whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty, can say to him,

"You are my defender and protector.You are my God; in you I trust."

He will keep you safe from all hidden dangers and from all deadly diseases.

He will cover you with his wings; you will be safe in his care;

his faithfulness will protect and defend you.

Psalm 91:1-4 TEV

Thanksgiving week brought me a surprise – instead of being involved in the final days of the Kodaikanal International School semester activities, I found myself a patient at the Christian Medical College and Hospital in Vellore.Some on-going medical concerns had prompted our school doctor to call for a consultation and I was asked to come immediately for medical tests.Fourteen hours of travel later, I checked into the hospital.Everyone was surprised that I had come alone.It is commonly expected here in India that hospital patients have a family member with them.There is even an extra bed in a hospital room for the relative to sleep on and they are expected to participate in much of the daily care for a patient, go out to buy medicines and food/water, and accompany the patient to any procedures and tests to push the cart or wheelchair.I ended up being very dependant on the hospital staff and visitors to help me.Thank you, Lord, that CMCH does provide the option of getting meals from a dietary department and that it has staff who are so kind and compassionate!And that You are with me, Lord!

Each day brought a regular procession of workers into my room – the man who wipes the tables and counter tops, the man who washes the sink, the lady who empties the waste baskets, the nurses who straighten the bed, the man who sweeps the floor, the man who washes the toilet, and yet another one to mop.One day the man who cleans the air-conditioning filters came in to do his task.Another day was the day that the nurses take down all the curtains to send them to the laundry and put up clean ones.Thank you, Lord, for the many, many people who each do their job faithfully every day all around this large hospital, making it a clean and safe place to come!

Every time I had to leave my room for a test I encountered the thousands of people who fill the hospital each day.The maze of corridors and open courtyards are jammed with patients and families.Every department of the hospital has an overflowing waiting room – 50 people were in the endoscopy waiting room, at least 100 in the radiology waiting room and hallways.CMCH has over 2000 inpatient beds that are consistently full.More than 5000 outpatients are seen each day.In the center of all this busy activity is the chapel – a place of calm for quiet prayer.Thank you, Lord, for the faithful commitment of this institution to showing your love by meeting the tremendous health care needs of this nation, from the founder, missionary Dr. Ida Scudder, to the medical and nursing students of today.

My window was next to a regular path the monkeys take across the roof tops from one end of the hospital complex to the other.I began to recognize them as they came and went – the one with the lame hand, the mother with the baby, the one with the deep scar on his leg.There were at least 30 of them.Occasionally one would stop and peer into my window, its face just inches from mine.Every evening as the sun set the air filled with tens of thousands of birds that come to roost for the night in the many trees on the hospital campus.Their calls and chattering to each other raise an incredible din as they jockey for a place in the branches and along the roofs and ledges.Thank you, Lord, for this place that is a refuge for so many of your creatures, as well as to the sick and injured.

I ended up having to postpone the trip I had planned to North East India to visit mission hospitals that receive White Cross gifts from American Baptist Women's Ministries.However, I did learn more about how White Cross contributions are used at CMCH.I was able to see the piles of linen that are needed each day to care for the patients.A visitor from the public relations office brought me some pictures and lists of sheets, gowns, towels, curtains, and baby layettes that are needed each year and how the White Cross support helps to make it possible.One morning as I anxiously faced yet another test, a nurse handed me a gown to put on."Maybe this is a ‘White Cross' gown!" I thought.It reminded me that just as the fabric provided by the gift of an American Baptist Woman covered me physically, so would her prayers cover me as well.It reminded me of the promise in Psalm 91, "He will cover you with his wings; you will be safe in his care; his faithfulness will protect and defend you."As I pulled the sheet over myself that night I prayed:Thank you, Lord, for your love that covers me and for the love of sisters and brothers in Christ that cover me as well.

Betsy Perkins