Photos by adam miller
Cover se C tion
Good samaritans
How one church is caring for its community through free healthcare services
by adam miller F
our pills and four pillows are the current prescrip- tion for Eva Bragner’s blood clot, which almost killed her. The four pillows keep her left leg propped up above her heart most of the day. The four pills thin her blood so some of it can flow around the coagulated mass running from ankle to knee. This all followed a heart attack, after which she was not able work her two jobs. She had no health insurance to pay her hospital stay. But thanks to Ministries of Jesus (MOJ), Eva Bragner’s alive and has yet to see a medical bill.
Ministries of Jesus is a non-profit healthcare clinic and ministry of Henderson Hills Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma. The clinic began as a nugget of inspiration in the heart and mind of pastor Dennis Newkirk.
“Luke 4:18 captured my imagination, which says ‘He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the cap-
tives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed,’” says Newkirk. “I wanted us to be a church that reflected this kind of anoint- ing. I realized then that I didn’t know of any church doing this type of ministry in our area.”
how it all started
The dream became reality in 2002 in a rented space just a few miles away from MOJ’s now two-year-old facility in little more than a cramped office space with just a handful of volunteers.
“We lived on prayer and waited for God to provide donations,” says Theresa Nelson, a nurse who volunteers at the clinic. “Now we watch God provide even more as He shapes the hearts and at- titudes of the people in the community.” Case in point: Delta Dental, the largest dental provider in Oklahoma, provided them with thou- sands of dollars of free services and equipment. A local women’s club provided free eyeglasses. Edmond city council gave $30,000 of city funds to help with
ON MISSION • Fall 2010 17
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