Hoosiers - Let's Do It This Time

South Dakota passed one in 1984 and South Carolina passed their version twenty years ago. Last year, Indiana was poised to follow suit but was foiled in the last hour (literally) by people who file suits for a living. The Indiana Volunteer Medical Health Shield bill (HB 1145) is long past due and 2015 is the year to make it happen.

The economy of Indiana continues to exhibit strong growth. The unemployment rate has been cut by more than 28% in two years. With balanced budgets, healthy financial reserves, lower taxes, and increased funding for strategic priorities, Indiana has become the Midwest state that everyone wants to emulate.

But there are still too many Hoosiers who are trapped in a cycle of crisis, where threats to housing, health, and hunger have overwhelmed their lives. One out of every six Hoosiers are considered to have "food insecurity." That's more than one million Indiana residents who struggle to put food on their table. When these people face a decision between groceries or basic medical services, groceries will win every time.

Over time, the neglected health care for these families result in taxpayer funded emergency room visits because of health concerns that cost more, and now take longer to treat. Societal side effects include longer emergency room waits, and occasional delays in identifying real medical crises.

Meanwhile, the State of Indiana has thousands of health care workers, many of whom travel to countries around the world to provide basic health care to individuals in need. These medical workers have the utmost respect for life and have dedicated their lives to the service of humanity. Volunteering comes naturally to many of them. They would welcome the opportunity to volunteer health services in their communities, but Indiana law and the threat of litigation prevents them from helping Hoosiers.

That's where the Volunteer Medical Health Shield bill comes in. House Bill (HB) 1145 would open the door for medical professionals to volunteer in their local communities. Underserved and at-risk youth could receive free sports physicals at a local YMCA or Boys & Girls Club. Seniors on a limited income, could receive a free health screening during a visit to the food pantry.

The Volunteer Medical Health Shield would cost taxpayers nothing, while providing the cost savings realized with fewer taxpayer-funded emergency room visits for primary care needs. The State of Washington, when considering a similar bill, calculated their savings to be at least $6 million over a six month period, with other estimates totaling four times that much!

The human impact would be significant as well. With medical professionals volunteering their expertise, our communities would be healthier. Low-income Hoosiers would be able to use what funds they do have to address other pressing needs. More underserved youth with free physicals would have access to after school and summer sports.

HB 1145 costs nothing, saves millions in taxpayer dollars, strengthens Hoosier communities, and is nonpartisan. The Volunteer Medical Health Shield would be law today if it wasn't torpedoed at the last minute by a handful of individuals who would rather threaten litigation than see professional health care workers serve their neighbors and strengthen their communities. We can't let that happen again.

It's time for Indiana to help thousands of Hoosiers gain free access to basic health services. It’s time to unburden medical professionals from the law, and threats of litigation that prevent them from serving their most vulnerable neighbors. It’s time to free Indiana’s health care workers to pursue their passion to serve those in greatest need. We need the Volunteer Medical Health Shield bill.

Now is the time to contact our State Representatives and Senators and ask them to continue to make Indiana the state that others look to for leadership. Ask them to support the Volunteer Medical Health Shield bill (HB 1145):

Indiana House of Representatives – General Switchboard: (800) 382-9842 or the Office of Rep. Brian Bosma, Speaker of the House at (317) 232-9677

Indiana Senate – General Switchboard: (800) 382-9467 or the Office of Sen. David Long, President Pro Tempore at (317) 232-9416

You can find me on FACEBOOK at my Facebook Page (http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504321719). Here's a link to my Flickr.com Page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/curtisferrell/) Thanks for reading!

What Ties Bind You?

Christian Perspectives Article for the New Castle Courier Times 07-26-08

There’s an old church hymn with these lyrics: Blest be the tie that binds / Our hearts in Christian love / The fellowship of kindred minds / Is like to that above. What are the ties that bind you to your local fellowship of Christ-followers?

For many church-goers, the only connecting point is that we meet in the same building once a week. The advent of the automobile and the increasing desire for personal preference in worship styles has effectively eliminated the “neighborhood church”. We rarely worship with our next-door neighbors. Instead, we drive some distance to find “just-the-right” church.

But what happens when we don’t see our fellow worshipers during the week? What do we miss when we only see each other on Sunday mornings?

Those weekly meetings are staged, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, facing forward and listening. When do we sit across the table, and share face-to-face about our struggles and joys? What are the ties, or connection points, that bind us to each other as brothers and sisters in Christ through the week?

When someone is hurting because of a broken relationship, do we find out because of direct interaction with that person? Or do we find out through that particularly Christian form of “sharing” called the prayer chain? Prayer chains are fine, but when do we have the opportunity to personally minister the grace and peace of Christ to someone who is hurting? Those opportunities usually happen within the context of a meaningful ongoing relationship.

The only way we can be in the right place at the right time is to be in the right place to begin with. This might sound redundant but explore the idea with me. How can we minister to people with whom we have little or no contact? How can we connect with people we only see for ninety minutes, one day a week? When the right time comes along, will be in the right place?

What will it require, in rescheduling our lives, to create new ties that bind? How can we “live life together” more effectively? The early Christians were known for gathering daily to talk and eat and share and minister. When someone had a need, the rest of them sold personal belongings and addressed the need together, as a community. But they couldn’t have addressed the need together if they were never drawn together.

Togetherness deepens our understanding of each other, our trust for each other, our accountability to each other, and our compassion for each other. Separateness breeds misunderstanding, mistrust, and cynicism, and opens the door for all kinds of behavior that dishonors God. We fail in our mission, when we fail to interact with other believers and the rest of the world.

What are the ties that bind you to other believers? If it’s just a car and a spot on a bench for an hour-and-a-half, that tie is very fragile: handle with care. What can you do today to improve those ties? What will you have to give up in order to spend more time with brothers and sisters in Christ, not to mention those who have no relationship with him?

Is Grace Available?

Courier-Times Article for Saturday, May 5, 2007

I got a phone call from God on Wednesday. Actually, it was from one of those telephone sales people, but I’m sure that God was behind it.

Wednesday afternoon was busy, as usual, and we were short-handed in the church office. When one of the secondary phone lines started to ring, I knew it must be a sales call. I don’t like sales phone calls and I really didn’t have time for this one, so I was going to dismiss it as quickly as possible.

“Hello. Church of God, Curt speaking.”

“My name is . . .” at this point I was so disinterested in the call that I can’t even remember the lady’s name or the company she was calling from. I instantly came to attention when she asked, “Is Grace available?”

Just then, I had one of those moments where time slows down and you have an extended conversation with yourself. I wanted to say, “There is no Grace here.” But my mind said, “Actually, there IS grace here, but not a person called Grace.”

The conversation in my head continued, “Right, but if I try to explain that to . . . ‘what’s-her-name’ from ‘what’s-that-company’, she won’t understand. Then we’ll have a longer conversation and she really doesn’t want to have a long conversation. She just wants to sell me something.”

Being slightly frustrated at the conversation going on in my head and feeling awkward about the extended pause in the conversation in the real world, I answered, “I think you have the wrong number.”

She apologized and hung-up, but that’s when God picked up the phone and continued the conversation. “Is it really the wrong number?”

Is Grace available? How about Joy, is Joy available? If I knock on your door, will you answer with Charity? If I come to visit, will I meet Hope? If I visit your home will I be greeted by Faith?

I didn’t answer quickly because I know that when God asks a question, it’s not because He doesn’t know the answer. He wants to know if I know the answer.

Talking-the-talk is easy, but walking-the-walk is challenging. I hope the answer to all of those questions is, “Yes!” But I fear that many times I am so consumed with things that are urgent, I respond in ways that prevent Grace, Joy, Charity, Hope, and Faith from showing up.

When God calls your number and asks you those questions, how will you respond?

Today you may witness Cinco de Mayo celebrations among many of our Hispanic neighbors. Given the national debate about immigration, legal and illegal, when you greet someone celebrating Cinco de Mayo, will Grace be available?

We have several prisoners in Henry County, some from out of state. If you visit them will you bring Hope along?

New Castle is full of nursing homes, transitional care facilities, and those who are simply shut-in. Could you take Joy with you the next time you visit?

Look at your community and ask yourself, “What is it that Charity is asking me to do for my neighbors?”

If you are facing dark days of depression, or sickness, or family strife, how would Faith deal with the situation?

I pray that you will be ready to respond the next time the phone rings. By the way, when God does call, you don’t have to worry about the phone bill. That fee has already been paid by His Son.

Do I Really Love My Neighbor?

Christian Perspectives Article – Saturday, March 17th, 2007

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

One month ago the body of four-year-old Ariana Payne was discovered in a storage locker in Arizona. She had been dead for at least six months and no one knew. Her five-year-old brother, Tyler, has been missing at least that long and is feared dead, but no one has missed him either. It is possible that these kids have been missing for almost a year but it didn’t bother anyone until they found little Ariana.

On the same day Ariana was found, police entered a Long Island apartment and found the body of 70-year-old blind, diabetic Vincenzo Riccardi, sitting in front of a TV that was still on. No one had seen Vincenzo for more than a year. No one had missed him. His neighbors thought he had been hospitalized or moved to a nursing home so they didn’t check on him.

Two cases, a country apart. Two souls, a generation apart.

What breaks down in a society, or in a nation, that allows the most vulnerable to disappear without notice? Why is that two individuals, who should be receiving the most watch-care, can be missing for a year and no one knows? No one cares.

It is the second great commandment that is broken; Love your neighbor as yourself. It is community that has disintegrated. How can we love our neighbors when we don’t even recognize that they are missing?

I am convinced that most Americans are so busy with the busy-ness of life, so focused on our own needs, so consumed with consumer-ism, that we have left the “community” and not even recognized it. Do you know your neighbors? Could your neighbor be missing for more than a year and you not know about it, or care about it?

There are neighbors within one-hundred-yards of my house that I am ashamed to say could have been missing for a year and I wouldn’t know.

Sometimes we get tied up in do’s and don’ts, trying to live up to the standard we think God has set for our lives. Or we reach for the “brass ring” of success by climbing the next rung on the corporate ladder. We strive for athletic, academic, or artistic success and sacrifice time and relationships to attain it. Even in the church sometimes there is more busy-ness than effectiveness.

But Jesus said only two things are required; Love God and love your neighbor. If you do these things, the rest of the law of God will take care of itself. But how can you love God if you don’t invest any energy in getting to know Him? And how can you love your neighbor, if you don’t even know that they are missing?

John, Jesus’ closest friend during His earthly ministry, goes even farther. “Anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” John ties the two together. If we don’t love our neighbor, how can we claim to love God? If we truly love God, we must also love our neighbor.

Who do you know that needs extra watch-care? Who are the ones in your neighborhood that need “checking in on?” Who’s watching out for you? Who should have been watching our for Ariana and Vincenzo?

I was stunned by the recent re-publication of pictures of the destruction in the wake of the 1917 New Castle Tornado. Whole neighborhoods were destroyed. 22 people lost their lives, and hundreds were injured. If we were hit by another tornado in 2007, would you know who to look for in the piles of rubble? Would you know if your neighbor was missing? Would you care?

During this season as we prepare for an Easter celebration, let’s build community on all levels. Get to know your neighbors and what their needs are. Only then will you be able to love them. And get to know God and what He desires. Only then will you be able to love Him.