... When Andrew and I retired in 1990, we left London and went to live in Southern Spain ... vowing never to do another stroke of work!
Andrew had qualified at Bart's in 1951, and had spent his houseman year at Mildmay Mission Hospital before spending seven years as a missionary ... two in Brown's Town, Jamaica and five on the Island of Malta.
The sudden death of his father meant Andrew stayed on in London to run his practice until another doctor could take it on....
That March morning of 1990, as Andrew and I flew to the sun with our two cats, Andrew was leaving behind a solo NHS practice and 30 years of practice in Harley Street, of which I had shared the last sixteen.
Our life had been full and happy, tucking in many extra medical activities - the most exciting being medical advisor for the many films coming out of Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. As our leisure time dwindled and the pace of work raced - a pace that we knew we couldn't keep up indefinitely, we made the decision to retire ... it was time to leave the rat-race and lie in the sun.
For a chronic workaholic, the concept of 'just being' took some getting used to, but as time went on we happily filled up our days. Family and friends also seemed very eager to come and 'just be' - and seeing the odd patient sitting on the veranda seemed the ideal way to spend retirement... but the pace was hotting up and we could no longer kid ourselves that we were retired. In fact we were not only enjoying the fresh challenge, but we felt that God was calling us to do more. Surely we were too old.... He wasn't seriously asking us to give up our lovely villa and move? I remember looking out at our colourful Mediterranean garden created from the builders' rubble, with its mountain and sea views and home to multitudes of bee-eaters; golden orioles and nightingales.
At our age, what to do? We decided to write to the Christian Medical Fellowship in London, who swiftly replied with the profound wisdom 'You are never too old to serve the Lord.... Go for it.' They had also enclosed a list of hospitals that needed doctors - mostly in Africa.
In our corner of Southern Spain, Andrew was the only British doctor, and he began to worry about leaving them. We decided to lay out our fleece and specifically pray, if it was His will, to send an English doctor for all our patients.
Meantime, we wrote off to all the hospitals on the list and were overwhelmed when all said, 'yes, come tomorrow'! We decided to join the INF Mission in Nepal, who required a locum for 3 months ... it would test us spiritually and physically whilst listening for God's direction as to where He wanted us to be.
Nothing is impossible with God, and ten days after praying for a British doctor, she rang! A lovely Christian, moving to exactly our part of Spain, and wanting to come and work with Andrew, and so she did very briefly, until we flew off to our new life in Nepal. There we experienced, the extremes that poverty brings to this gentle nation. We loved our seven months in Pokhara where when we left, we said goodbye to many friends that we plan to see again one day.
Then on to Bethesda Hospital, perched on top of one of the Lebombo Hills in South Africa. It is one of four mission hospitals built in the 1930's by the Methodist Church. Now it is administered by the KwaZulu government but we try hard to retain the Christian ethic. It is a dangerous place where the night sounds are often accompanied by gunshots, so after dark it is unwise to venture out. Andrew and I have been tackling the TB work since we arrived. We can keep most patients in our wards for two weeks, when hopefully their infectious stage is past ... but then we have to monitor their progress up to completion, five and a half months into the future and that is the most difficult part. So many live in poverty, way, way into the bush - and the medicine on an empty stomach makes them sick. We try hard to encourage each patient through their own particular difficulty, but with hundreds and hundreds of patients each year the task is daunting. It is heart-breaking when the underlying factor is AIDS, and eventually almost all our patients return to our ward to die. We can cure TB but not AIDS, and sadly, the two go hand in hand.
As Christians, we can only meet them at their point of need ... where medical science stops, we can offer love and compassion, and in their last moments lift them up into our Lord's everlasting arms - no longer in pain and fearful, but renewed, an honoured child of God.
If at times we are despondent ... it is usually when we are tired, but we have also been abundantly blessed by our family and friends back home - and also our new South African friends. Gifts of every description constantly arrive to make most things possible. Wool, games, crochet hooks; videos; clothes; toys; and money have all made life more pleasant for our patients ... not forgetting money ... which has provided a 4x4 vehicle for our community work ... oxygen facilities; cot-beds; screens; bed-tables; a heated food trolley; wheelchair commodes; Christmas treats and TB Awareness days ... and not forgetting the small stuff like food vouchers; seeds; paying for a gardener to grow vegetables for our TB patients and the Old Folks ... money for a fare home, a funeral, a chaplain's wage; bibles and testaments ... the list is almost endless. We thank God that He has sent us here to do his work, and that our TB team of nurses have love and compassion for our patients ... even in death, they give their prayers as they lovingly lay them out ready for their relatives.
Some time in the future we will leave Bethesda, so that our Zulu TB team can continue the programme ... meanwhile we continue to listen for His guidance, knowing His complete provision and love for us. We didn't retire ... God re-tyred us ... and how grateful we are that He brought us on such an adventure in our latter years.
If anyone reading this has a wish to be retyred, allow God to nudge you, as he did with us ... test out His promises ... life will never be dull again, and don't forget, 'You are NEVER too old to serve the Lord.'
GO FOR IT!!!
Andrew had qualified at Bart's in 1951, and had spent his houseman year at Mildmay Mission Hospital before spending seven years as a missionary ... two in Brown's Town, Jamaica and five on the Island of Malta.
The sudden death of his father meant Andrew stayed on in London to run his practice until another doctor could take it on....
That March morning of 1990, as Andrew and I flew to the sun with our two cats, Andrew was leaving behind a solo NHS practice and 30 years of practice in Harley Street, of which I had shared the last sixteen.
Our life had been full and happy, tucking in many extra medical activities - the most exciting being medical advisor for the many films coming out of Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. As our leisure time dwindled and the pace of work raced - a pace that we knew we couldn't keep up indefinitely, we made the decision to retire ... it was time to leave the rat-race and lie in the sun.
For a chronic workaholic, the concept of 'just being' took some getting used to, but as time went on we happily filled up our days. Family and friends also seemed very eager to come and 'just be' - and seeing the odd patient sitting on the veranda seemed the ideal way to spend retirement... but the pace was hotting up and we could no longer kid ourselves that we were retired. In fact we were not only enjoying the fresh challenge, but we felt that God was calling us to do more. Surely we were too old.... He wasn't seriously asking us to give up our lovely villa and move? I remember looking out at our colourful Mediterranean garden created from the builders' rubble, with its mountain and sea views and home to multitudes of bee-eaters; golden orioles and nightingales.
At our age, what to do? We decided to write to the Christian Medical Fellowship in London, who swiftly replied with the profound wisdom 'You are never too old to serve the Lord.... Go for it.' They had also enclosed a list of hospitals that needed doctors - mostly in Africa.
In our corner of Southern Spain, Andrew was the only British doctor, and he began to worry about leaving them. We decided to lay out our fleece and specifically pray, if it was His will, to send an English doctor for all our patients.
Meantime, we wrote off to all the hospitals on the list and were overwhelmed when all said, 'yes, come tomorrow'! We decided to join the INF Mission in Nepal, who required a locum for 3 months ... it would test us spiritually and physically whilst listening for God's direction as to where He wanted us to be.
Nothing is impossible with God, and ten days after praying for a British doctor, she rang! A lovely Christian, moving to exactly our part of Spain, and wanting to come and work with Andrew, and so she did very briefly, until we flew off to our new life in Nepal. There we experienced, the extremes that poverty brings to this gentle nation. We loved our seven months in Pokhara where when we left, we said goodbye to many friends that we plan to see again one day.
Then on to Bethesda Hospital, perched on top of one of the Lebombo Hills in South Africa. It is one of four mission hospitals built in the 1930's by the Methodist Church. Now it is administered by the KwaZulu government but we try hard to retain the Christian ethic. It is a dangerous place where the night sounds are often accompanied by gunshots, so after dark it is unwise to venture out. Andrew and I have been tackling the TB work since we arrived. We can keep most patients in our wards for two weeks, when hopefully their infectious stage is past ... but then we have to monitor their progress up to completion, five and a half months into the future and that is the most difficult part. So many live in poverty, way, way into the bush - and the medicine on an empty stomach makes them sick. We try hard to encourage each patient through their own particular difficulty, but with hundreds and hundreds of patients each year the task is daunting. It is heart-breaking when the underlying factor is AIDS, and eventually almost all our patients return to our ward to die. We can cure TB but not AIDS, and sadly, the two go hand in hand.
As Christians, we can only meet them at their point of need ... where medical science stops, we can offer love and compassion, and in their last moments lift them up into our Lord's everlasting arms - no longer in pain and fearful, but renewed, an honoured child of God.
If at times we are despondent ... it is usually when we are tired, but we have also been abundantly blessed by our family and friends back home - and also our new South African friends. Gifts of every description constantly arrive to make most things possible. Wool, games, crochet hooks; videos; clothes; toys; and money have all made life more pleasant for our patients ... not forgetting money ... which has provided a 4x4 vehicle for our community work ... oxygen facilities; cot-beds; screens; bed-tables; a heated food trolley; wheelchair commodes; Christmas treats and TB Awareness days ... and not forgetting the small stuff like food vouchers; seeds; paying for a gardener to grow vegetables for our TB patients and the Old Folks ... money for a fare home, a funeral, a chaplain's wage; bibles and testaments ... the list is almost endless. We thank God that He has sent us here to do his work, and that our TB team of nurses have love and compassion for our patients ... even in death, they give their prayers as they lovingly lay them out ready for their relatives.
Some time in the future we will leave Bethesda, so that our Zulu TB team can continue the programme ... meanwhile we continue to listen for His guidance, knowing His complete provision and love for us. We didn't retire ... God re-tyred us ... and how grateful we are that He brought us on such an adventure in our latter years.
If anyone reading this has a wish to be retyred, allow God to nudge you, as he did with us ... test out His promises ... life will never be dull again, and don't forget, 'You are NEVER too old to serve the Lord.'
GO FOR IT!!!
