Rise & Shine - March 21, 2021
Follow Me
Rise & Shine, March 21st
Click Here for a Copy of This Week's Discussion
John 12:20-33
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.
Commentary from Facilitator, Maggie Gough
At the end of last week, we discussed the role of Christians called to spread the good news, evangelize, and serve Christ. Some people choose to serve Christ as missionaries. Like in the pro-Israel movement, sometimes that mission can cause unintended harm. For this week, I have included an example of unintended harm. I have also included a link to the Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) web page describing how we attempt to engage in mission work in a way that carefully supports others’ needs.
In the News
American With No Medical Training Ran Center For Malnourished Ugandan Kids. 105 Died
Ten years ago, Renee Bach left her home in Virginia to set up a charity to help children in Uganda. One of her first moves was to start a blog chronicling her experiences.
Among the most momentous: On a Sunday morning in October 2011, a couple from a village some distance away showed up at Bach's center carrying a small bundle.
"When I pulled the covering back my eyes widened," Bach wrote in the blog. "For under the blanket lay a small, but very, very swollen, pale baby girl. Her breaths were frighteningly slow. ... The baby's name is Patricia. She is 9 months old."
Bach went on to write that Patricia had fallen sick three weeks earlier. But her parents had been unable to find anyone closer to home who could cure her.
Then, wrote Bach, "One of their relatives told them about a 'hospital' ... with a 'White Doctor.' "
Except Bach was not a doctor. She was a 20-year-old high school graduate with no medical training. And not only was her center not a hospital — at the time it didn't employ a single doctor.
U.S. Missionary With No Medical Training Settles Suit Over Child Deaths At Her Center
Renee Bach, an American missionary who operated a charitable treatment center for severely malnourished children in Uganda despite having no medical training, has settled a lawsuit brought against her in Ugandan civil court by two women and a civil rights organization.
At least 105 children died in the charity's care. Bach was being sued by Gimbo Zubeda, whose son Twalali Kifabi was one of those children, as well as by Kakai Annet, whose son Elijah Kabagambe died at home soon after treatment by the charity.
Under the agreement reached this week, Bach and the charity — Serving His Children — have jointly agreed to pay about $9,500 to each of the mothers, with no admission of liability.
Primah Kwagala, a Ugandan civil rights attorney whose organization filed the suit on behalf of the mothers in January of last year, said that the settlement was in line with typical court judgments for medical malpractice death cases in Uganda and that it had brought her clients a measure of "closure."
Episcopal Relief and Development Integrated Approach
Use Password: 2944
Dial in by phone: +1 646 876 9923 US
Meeting ID: 848 961 141
