Holistic care, we are told, is the best sort of care we can offer our patients. Care that embraces the social, psychological and even spiritual aspects of health and healing, not just the physical, is at the heart of what good nursing is all about.

The Bible says quite a lot on this subject. While we are made of the stuff of the earth, we are also made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7); human beings have both an earthly and a heavenly nature and are built for a relationship with God (Revelation 22:1-5). But we are also social beings, made to be in relationship with each other (Genesis 2:18).

Once these important truths about what it means to be human are grasped, we can see why whole person care is essentially about relationships - with God and with each other. In a very personal article [page 14], one of our members shares how the trauma of an abusive relationship damaged her in body, mind and spirit, but how the Lord brought healing to all of these areas. Also in this edition: Sophie, a newly qualified caseloading midwife, shares the challenges and joys of caring for new mums and their babies [page 24]. Meanwhile Esther, a nursing student, rejoices in what the Lord showed her from her time nursing in another culture [page 12]. Finally, a testimony of how God can heal physically, but also how sometimes physical healing doesn't come, but God is still with us in our sickness [page 26].

God is interested in every area of our lives (Romans 12:1) and he brings salvation, healing and wholeness. Our prayer and hope for you at the start of this New Year is that you see and experience the wholeness and hope of God at work in your nursing/midwifery career and in every other area of your life.

Steve & Pippa

Steve Fouch, CMF Head of Nursing
Steve worked in community nursing in South London, before working for several years with a Christian HIV and AIDS home care team in the city.

Pippa Peppiatt, CMF Nurses Student Staff Worker
Pippa trained as a nurse and has worked in a variety of settings. She has also planted a church for students with her husband, set up a charity for street kids in Uganda, and has been a Friends International Student Worker.