Hospital Visitation Ministry

1 Laborers in the Harvest SeriesChurch MinistryHospital VisitationMinistryBy Richard C. HobbsPublished byMercy Street MinistriesPO Box 121 Alma, AR 2006 Laboring in the Harvest SeriesChurch MinistryHospital VisitationMinistryBy Richard C. HobbsThe use of short quotations or occasional pagecopying for personal or group study is permittedwith the written permission of the scripture quotations are from the King JamesVersion of the Bible, unless otherwise of ContentsAcknowledgments ..1 Introduction ..3 Chapter 1 Minister with Assurance ..5 Chapter 2We have a Dependency upon Each Other ..8 Chapter 3 Principles of Hospital 4 Respect Patient Privacy.

2 12 Chapter 5 Hospital Procedures and 6 Waiting Rooms ..15 Chapter 7 Minister with a Calming 8 Ministering Hope and Encouragement ..19 Chapter 9 Prayer for the Sick ..23 Chapter 10 Healing Through the Word ..26 AcknowledgmentsI would like to thank Arthur Blessitt, the man whocarried the cross around the world and to everynation, for spending so many hours of his time toshare his heart with me. The burden that Arthur hasfor this world and the love he has for all the peoplehas touched my heart in such a way that I will neverbe the same. Arthur has taken time to be a friend anda motivating force in my of all the Holy Spirit has quickened my heartand has given me love for all people.

3 I love peopleand enjoy the opportunity to share the , the Holy Spirit has opened the doors for ourministry to train laborers in the harvest all over theworld. For the love, favor, and mercy the Lord hasgiven me, I give Him my life to train laborers in theharvest and share the gospel to the am thankful for the many intercessors that pray forour Ministry daily. They have spent many longhours and many tears praying for us in the streetsand for the lost. Only God knows what their criesand prayers have , I am thankful for my wife Kay and mydaughters Sally, and Sarah. Also, I thank CaseyCoble for assisting our Ministry .

4 They have helped12me with the many tasks that needed to becompleted. My family has shared the call the Lordhas on my life and has been part of this ministrysince its Visitation provides a unique setting tominister to people who find themselves with agreater dependency upon friends, family, church,and their faith. Those who prepare themselves tominister in Hospital settings and to the sick willdiscover that a visit, a Scripture, a spoken word, orprayer will bring hope and comfort. Lives can beforever changed from your obedience to the Wordof God and compassion for 1 Minister with AssuranceWe have a privilege to be ambassadors andministers to those who are sick and hurting.

5 It is attimes like these that hearts are open to the touchfrom our Lord Jesus. The Bible says that faithworks by love. We also discover in the Word thatGod has given each of us the measure of faith. Wecan have confidence knowing that our ability tominister to those who are hurting comes from theheart and our Lord. We can share His comfort,healing, and salvation through His Word and Hislove for them. We must visit with assurance that thepresence of the Holy Spirit will go with us and makeknown the mercies of God to those we visit in themidst of their uncertainty and LordJesus does not separate His feelings from ours andwhen we hurt.

6 He seeks opportunity tointervene in a life to bring hope and hurtsMatthew 254445 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord,when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or astranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did notminister unto thee?Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I sayunto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the leastof these, ye did it not to Holy Spirit is upon this earth to minister to thewhole person -- body, soul, and spirit. The HolySpirit moved upon the face of the earth at creationwhen God spoke the world into existence. He isready to move upon those who call upon Him tobring the conviction to the lost and comfort to thehurting.

7 So many times when people face illnessthey search their heart as fear and despair grips theirsoul. Some may question their purpose in life andbasis for this time of suffering wewant to reach out to support them. We may bringassurance of salvation and lead many into arelationship with Christ, or deepen the existingrelationship. Through the Word, we can bring hopeand Friday night, I was ministering in the streetsand a young man suffering from drug addictionasked me for a said, My dad wasadmitted to the Hospital last night. Would you goand visit him? I agreed and went to the Hospital thenext evening to visit his father.

8 I sat down andvisited with him and took time to listen and to be afriend. I told him that his son had sent me andyesterday he gave his heart to Christ. His father waspleased to hear that his son accepted Christ and thenI prayed with his dad. His dad had a request for meand asked if I would visit another relative that was inintensive care. I said that I would go and visit went to the intensive care nurse station to getdirections to the patient's wasunconscious and the family and I held hands andprayed for the young man. They were thankful thatI had taken time to visit and to care.

9 Then they gaveme a room number of someone they knew thatneeded prayer and I went to the room to meet thefamily and to pray for the patient. As I stood in theroom, I knew that my whole evening had beendirected by the Holy Spirit and the hearts of thosethat cared. There was no where else that I wouldhad rather been as I knew that I had been in the willof God this day. Visiting people in the Hospital neednot to be something to fear but an opportunity toshow our love for others and to serve our Lord. Thisexperience for me in the Hospital had built myassurance that wherever I go the Holy Spirit willdirect my path as I minister to 2We have a Dependencyupon Each OtherWe are to represent the church and our Lord Jesuswhen we visit the sick and those in the Hospital .

10 Ourcare is beyond a sense of responsibility to helpanother. Our care comes from the heart and is basedon the love that God has placed in His creation. Weare dependent upon each other. There are manyScriptures in the Bible that describe this dependencywe have upon each other. The Lord said in Matthew18:20,He said in Mark 16:18,Also, Hesaid in Matthew 18:19,In these Scriptureswe can see that God has established many of Hisprinciples upon people ministering to peoplethrough His , we have adependency upon each needfriendship and fellowship to feel a sense ofwholeness.