This request is written with the full knowledge and permission of Chaplain Samuel and his wife, Noela. Their last names have been withheld to preserve their privacy.
Hello, I’m Chaplain Michael. I serve as an overnight chaplain at a midwestern, 500 bed, Level-1 trauma center. I am blessed to be a part of a phenomenally talented staff of chaplains. In fact, I am writing on behalf of a very special chaplain and pastor, my overnight chaplain colleague, Chaplain Samuel.
Samuel is Ghanaian by birth. He and his lovely wife Noela have 3 beautiful daughters: Virtuous age 6, Joy age 5 and Fidele age 21 months. He is an example of a man who has wholly given himself to the service of God’s people. Not only is he the pastor of a small church, but he also cares for a multitude of people—the ill, the injured, the dying, their loved ones, and the medical staff at our hospital.
We chaplains have a saying that we often meet patients on the very worst day in their lives. Although we chaplains know that is the reality of our occupation, none of us was prepared for the devastating news we would learn involving our beloved colleague Samuel and his wife, Noela. What began as a cautionary check-in during pregnancy with their 4th child, has, in a matter of weeks, spiraled down into a most tragic outcome. Noela is now on home hospice care. They are holding onto their faith, even in this crisis. Remarkably, Samuel is keeping his spirits up and working 4 overnight shifts a week. This acute crisis has brought several needs to the surface as the family scrambles to care for both the girls and Noela (who is often exhausted and in spells of pain).
I am requesting your generosity to help them in the following ways:
- Financial support for a home caregiver (about $2,000.00 per month for 10 months) $20,000.00
- Travel and filing expenses to get family from overseas for emotional/physical and spiritual support = $10,000.00
- Emergencies = $5,000.00
- Financial support for childcare giver = $10,000.00
- Helpful home care supplies for Noela = $5,000.00
For a total request of $50,000.00
As a familiar passage in the book of Ecclesiastes says it, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”
Thank you for reading our request for Samuel and his family. We discern that perhaps it is a season for a true caregiver to be cared for by others.