Note on the Hospital
In my blog “A day in the life…Hospital Edition” I was trying to be cheeky and entertaining. But I was also trying to be honest. Some of the tasks we are assigned to do on the Race are not the most comfortable. I don’t think any of the members of my team would consider themselves “sales people” and so this task at the hospital was initially very daunting.
Not only that, but we had some ethical concerns. It could be because of cultural differences and probably other factors, but several of us, myself included, expressed concern about approaching patients in the hospital and asking them for money. However, I brought this concern to our contact at the hospital for clarification to see if it was normal to approach patients in the hosptial and ask for money. Our contact, Nancy, shared with us that they have board approval from the hospital. We are not allowed to go upstairs and visit patients in their rooms since the board deemed that they needed rest and shouldn’t be bothered by solicitors but the board deemed that if they were well enough to be in the waiting room then they were well enough to be approached by volunteers.
Another factor that made things interesting is that we happen to have someone on our team who has worked as a fundraiser for patients in a hospital back in the states who has experience and ideas on this topic. Plus, we have someone on our team who majored in business and marketing who had ideas about raising funds as well. Nancy was very accomodating and was willing to take time to meet with our team and discuss ideas we (by we I really mean the two I just mentioned) had about ways to raise money.
In the end, we realized that people were much more willing to donate that we intially expected. We also realized that a lot of it has to do with our attitude. Though we might not wake up in the morning wanting to sell heart boxes or stuffed fishes, we will do it because that is the task that has been set before us.
We were blessed to have a contact who was willing to hear and discuss our concerns. However, I am learning that obedience is more important. Am I willing to do what the authority above me says simply because they are my authority?
I shared the struggles with feeling uncomfortable in the task because that is how it feels. However, when we changed our attitude as one to serving the Lord and serving those who will benefit from the donations then I was able to get over myself, put on a smile, and ask for money.
The last blog, I wanted to give you an idea of what it is like to be me in that day. The intention of this blog is to show you what I am learning which I think can be summarized as humility.
