What is Compassion Ministry
Healthcare organizations exert pressure on physicians to discharge patients as soon as they appear able to care for their own needs. According to medical research, patients heal better in the comfort of their own homes and are less likely to acquire an infection after leaving the germ-laden hospital environment. However, the true motivation for early discharges stems from the money saved when a patient does not use the full amount of the dollars allocated to a diagnostic code charged for admission. If a patient’s diagnostic code indicates their condition should take 6 days to recover, the hospital is paid based on the code, not the actual time in the hospital. Therefore, if the patient goes home in five days, the cost savings are significant. At least that is how it used to be. It’s possible changes I’m unfamiliar with may have impacted this process, but it was the practice not too long ago.
Limited Family Resources
Families used to get excited when patients were discharged early. Finding someone to help care for the patient was not an issue. The patient’s great-aunt on his mom’s side could come over for a few days if needed. However, family culture has changed in the last few decades. Families are scattered far and wide now, and nearby relatives are rare rather than common. Help now comes from friends or paid agency staff if the family is unable to do it.
Can’t Afford Paid Assistance
Many families are single, adult breadwinners. Taking extended time off work means a loss of income vital to survival. While the law may protect their right to do so, the financial impact of exercising that option is beyond question. On the other hand, paying someone else to assist with care is also out of the question. Hiring medical assistants for home care requires a minimum four-hour commitment from most agencies, and the hourly rate for the least expensive role is at least $15.00 before overhead. In most cases, the person will pay about $25/hour for four hours ($100/day or $500/week). These expenses are NOT reimbursed through insurance.
Decline in Available Healthcare Resources
Another significant change is the decline in the number of healthcare workers available to provide care, as well as the cuts to home health services under Medicare and Medicaid. Home health services now have a serious gap in resources for the elderly, disabled, and chronically ill. Though more people need assistance, many must be turned away. Overworked healthcare professionals, spread too thin to cover the extremely large territories required by their assignments, can barely provide basic services within the time allotted per client. Few, if any, have time to teach family members how to care for the patient at home.
As a result, seniors who live alone and have no family nearby, or individuals with medical conditions, of any age, who physically or mentally cannot care for themselves, are at serious risk of harm. With no one to check on them, they are at risk of accidentally being found dead if an incident occurs while home alone.
Next Mission Field
Knowing this need exists, I see this vulnerable population as the Church’s next mission field. Church congregations could make such a difference in the lives of these people. By forming groups to reach out to the homebound, disabled, and others who are hurting, members could talk to them about their lives and what they need most. In rescuing them, they would see the love of Christ in action through the Church. Your ministry would preach a sermon of Christ’s love not only to the patient but also to the entire family and everyone who heard how your Church reached out into the Community.
A Compassion Ministry Can Save Lives and Souls
Start a Compassion Ministry at your church and experience the joy it brings to those you help and your congregation.
Why am I encouraging churches to start Compassion Ministries? It wasn’t part of my original plan, which was to expand my Healthcare to Homecare website after my husband’s death to incorporate information on patient advocacy and to strengthen the information on home care, in response to the push to send patients home sooner. However, when I returned to church, I was shocked at the low attendance. I began to hear that it was common among all churches since COVID. Members had not returned. I began to research why.
He led me to articles on why people were not attending church and how we had lost connection with those under 30. Additional resources showed ways to encourage people to listen to our message again. One of those ways was to show people God’s love through meeting their needs.
When I reached that point, God told me that my next purpose was to begin encouraging churches to start a revival among young people through one-on-one ministry, specifically by helping with home care. I honestly resisted, and I still am afraid to do this, but this is God’s ministry, and I can’t say “No” to him. Therefore, I founded Compassion Ministry to assist churches in developing strategies to support members facing chronic health concerns and other crises.
Before deciding to start a ministry, ask God to reveal whether your church needs a Compassion Ministry or if you are already meeting the needs of your church family. If He responds that he wants you to start a program, then ask him where he wants you to focus. As you begin to assess the needs and struggles among your church family, you may realize the needs are much greater than you imagined and wonder how you ever missed them all. Then, in the next breath, you may wonder how to meet them all.
Keep in mind, God fed 5000 with just a few fish and loaves of bread, so he can do anything you ask of him when it’s in his will. Since this is His ministry, he will fund it. God wanted the Compassion Ministry programs used by the churches to meet area needs. He will direct each church to develop the necessary programs for that area. Ask him where he wants your church to focus. He may want you to choose one program or more that complement one another. Have a prayer group ask Him to give you an answer, and then go with it.
Once you know which programs to start, I have drafted rough directions on how to get started for various programs. If you need more information or get stuck, please call me for assistance, and I’ll do my best to help you find the answer or provide a resource. God Bless you, and I know He will.
As you begin to reach out to members of your church and assist them with various projects, you will likely encounter those who are unfamiliar with the fundamental beliefs of Christianity. While some did not attend Sunday school, it is possible others had no exposure to Christian beliefs at all. Members should also prepare to respond to individuals who are angry due to previous encounters with Christians who were judgmental about choices they made, which those individuals felt were immoral. Helping members learn how to respond apologetically and lovingly to the behaviors of others, and assuring them that God loves everyone, is essential.
I’ve included information about the main characters of the Bible, why the Bible is considered valid, how to discuss salvation, why God cast Satan out of heaven, and a few additional topics. If you have information you would like to share, please send it for my review. If they can be of help, I would love to add them.
