Hundreds of children and their families lined up outside the hospital waiting for nasal swabs. Seriously ill patients were being admitted. Antibiotics were being distributed throughout the community. Health care workers tried to identify who was infected, who had been exposed, and who needed hospitalization.
No, this was not 2020.
It was 1987.
During my family practice elective in Pohnpei, Micronesia, the island was afflicted with a whooping cough epidemic. It had become a public health crisis, and I was at ground zero. With close living conditions, poor hygiene, and limited health care resources, the cases were multiplying rapidly and threatening to overwhelm the hospital. The medical director where I worked seized control and issued a directive. Every health care worker was mobilized.
We set up a massive screening station outside the hospital. Working through the extensive familial ties of the island, nearly the entire pediatric population was eventually brought to us. For hours, we took nasal swab cultures and sent them to the University of Hawaii to be analyzed by the public health department.
Meanwhile, other workers manned a complex supply chain distributing antibiotics to stricken children and those who had been exposed. The very ill were triaged to the hospital. Others assisted with patient education, teaching families about proper hygiene, preventive care, and vaccination. The rest of the population supported us with meals, transportation, and whatever else was needed.
Within a few weeks, the epidemic was contained and the crisis resolved. The entire population participated. It was magnificent! How was an isolated island with limited resources able to contain an epidemic so quickly?
Once again, the Bible gives us the answer.
The Jews had been granted permission to return to Jerusalem after seventy years of exile in Babylon. They found the city walls in ruins, leaving the once mighty city defenseless. Nehemiah organized the returning Jews by tribes and families and oversaw the rebuilding of the wall. Meanwhile, the threat of attack from hostile neighbors was constant. Some worked on the wall while others stood guard, ready to defend the city. In only fifty-two days, the wall was completed. It was an astounding accomplishment.
But Nehemiah knew the work was not finished. The city had been restored physically, but the people also needed to be restored spiritually. So he gathered the entire population before one of the restored gates, and Ezra the scribe read the Word of God aloud.
Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
Nehemiah 8:7–8 (ESV)
Nehemiah did not rebuild Jerusalem by himself. The priests did not do it by themselves. The soldiers did not do it by themselves. The teachers did not do it by themselves. Everyone had a role. That was what I witnessed in Pohnpei. Some of us collected nasal cultures. Some distributed antibiotics. Some cared for the sickest children. Some taught families about hygiene and vaccination. Others brought meals or provided transportation. No single person could have stopped that epidemic. But the entire community could.
The same was true in Jerusalem. The wall was rebuilt because the people worked together, each doing his part. And when the physical work was finished, they came together again to hear and understand the Word of God.
There is a lesson in that. When God directs us to accomplish a task, He does not necessarily ask us to do everything ourselves. He may place us among others and give each person a different responsibility. Our part may seem large. It may seem small. But it may be exactly what is needed. When God directs us to accomplish a task, He will provide what is necessary to complete it according to His will and for His glory.
Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.
#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #groundzero #epidemic #whoopingcough #Pohnpei #Micronesia #Nehemiah8:7-8
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One thing that stayed with me from Pohnpei was how many different people had to participate before the crisis could be contained. Some roles were obvious. Others were almost invisible. Have you ever been part of something where everyone doing a small part made all the difference?