Our Perfect Protector

January 05, 2015 ∙ by Anonymous ∙ in This Month's Issue

Our Perfect Protector

Editorial by Seth Bardu

It is normal to run away from danger—natural or man-made. Explosions, fires or floods send most of us fleeing. However, have you noticed that when most of us are escaping disaster, there are others who do not mind facing them? Firefighters race toward fires, storm chasers closely track tornadoes and policemen storm toward the scene of a shooting with the hope of stopping the gunman and possibly saving lives.

A New Type of Disaster

More recently the world has focused on the Ebola epidemic, another type of disaster. The fear of dying from it has not been limited to the countries considered to be the epicenter of Ebola in West Africa, the area of the continent I once called home. Governments around the world have reacted for fear that this dreadful disease could invade their shores. In the United States, some state governments have enacted laws that far exceed what the Center for Disease Control have recommended—not based on scientific facts, but on fear, and possibly even politics.

My mind turns to a few Americans—and Seventh-day Adventists at that—and others who decided in the wake of this outbreak to travel toward the danger to save lives. Two such individuals are Gillian Seton and James Appel, Loma Linda University (Calif.) medical school graduates. These two were willing to serve at Cooper Adventist Hospital in Monrovia, the only Adventist infirmary in Liberia, and one that the Columbia Union Conference financially supports. Even though this facility was designated a “non-Ebola” hospital, many with symptoms have landed at their doorsteps.

This little hospital with very limited resources remained opened when other providers in the country shut down due to fear. Many in the nation died from non-Ebola related illnesses simply because of a lack of treatment facilities. Fear did not stop Seton and Appel and their committed staff from helping thousands in need. These two doctors averaged 18-hour days treating the sick when Cooper Hospital was the only option for most patients. Although Cooper did have to temporarily close, they have reopened and continue to heal the sick.

Facing The Sin Epidemic

Of course, no one is a braver and greater Protector from disaster than our Creator. He made a perfect world and His last act was creating man and placing him in the midst of a perfect environment. However, man disobeyed God and got infected with a dreadful disease called sin. Our Creator did not want this disease to create a permanent gulf between Him and His creation, so He implemented a plan. That plan required His Son not to run away from the sin problem, but to face it head on.

Jesus took a risk by leaving His throne to come hang out with sinful beings and face our “filthy rags” so that we could be saved from this epidemic. If He had not spilled His blood, our disease would certainly destroy us.

Seth Bardu is treasurer for the Columbia Union Conference.

Read more articles from the January 2015 issue

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