When Dr. Robert Martin, a former director of Nazareth Hospital EMMS, reflects on how God has worked through the hospital over its past 150 years, he often thinks of a little Arab girl who was brought to the emergency room suffering from a severe belly ache.
It was in 1973, when Dr. Martin was just out of his medical residency in the United States and an internist at the hospital, having been appointed by a predecessor agency of Mennonite Mission Network. The surgical staff suspected that the stomach of Dr. Martin’s 4-year-old patient was obstructed, so she was taken to the operating room. As Dr. Martin assisted, surgeons opened her abdomen and, to their surprise and dismay, her stomach was full of tumors. A biopsy revealed they were cancerous. Since the hospital was ill-prepared to treat pediatric cancer patients, the girl was transported to a large government hospital in Haifa. However, when the patient arrived with an abdominal fistula (a hole), that hospital said there was nothing they could do for her and sent her back to Nazareth, where she was re-admitted to the children’s ward.
Dr. Martin said the girl had Burkett’s lymphoma, which he had not previously seen, but quickly began reading about. The drug Cytoxan was recommended to treat the cancer. Nazareth Hospital didn’t have a large variety of drugs then, but happened to have a small supply of Cytoxan. He gave the girl the maximum safe dosage.
“In three to four weeks, her tumors responded to treatment, her abdominal fistula closed, and we were able to discharge her home,” said Dr. Martin, who is now retired from private practice in Lancaster, Pa.
“This is just one of many stories illustrating God’s provision that were shared by former staff who had worked at the Nazareth Hospital and were remembered during its anniversary celebration,” said Nancy Martin, Dr. Martin’s wife, and former director of the hospital’s nursing school. “And God’s faithfulness all these 150 years was the true reason for the celebration.”
Established in 1861 by Dr. Pacradooni Kaloost Vartan as a four-bed clinic, Nazareth Hospital is now a 147-bed private Christian hospital with 400 employees on a 25-acre campus along the Nazarene hillside. The hospital’s yearlong celebration of its 150 years culminated in a week of activities from September 2-7. At the campus, participants visited Nazareth Village, a living re-creation of Jesus’ hometown as it existed 2,000 years ago. There was a historical tour of Nazareth, a visit to the Sea of Galilee, and a day trip to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Additional events included a professional conference on “Health in the Arab Population,” and municipal celebrations organized by the city government. Many former staff participated during the week as hundreds with ties to the hospital came from across Israel and from 11 different nations to Nazareth, the largest Arab city in the state of Israel. Included among the participants, along with his wife and family, was John Vartan, the great-grandson of the hospital’s founder.
Over the years, many Mennonite Mission Network workers have served short- and long-term assignments at the hospital, and many people have played key roles in the hospital’s development and growth. Among them is Nancy Martin, who helped establish and also directed the hospital’s School of Nursing, beginning in 1987. The School of Nursing has been vital in preparing registered nurses from the local Arab population to meet the healthcare needs of their people. After the municipal government, the hospital is Nazareth’s second largest employer. Nancy continues her involvement as a trustee of The Nazareth Trust , the governing body for the hospital and nursing school.
The hospital operates in the context of the Arab-Israeli political environment as a center of reconciliation, employing Christians, Muslims and Jews. The nursing school partners with Haifa University to offer a baccalaureate program in nursing. The hospital and the nursing school, with more than 250 mostly Arab Israeli students, are accredited by the Israeli Ministry of Health. Nancy Martin said that the hospital does not proselytize, but does not hide its goal of healing in the name of Jesus.
“We often refer to our foundation as having three legs: Demonstrate Jesus’ unconditional love for everyone, support Christians in Nazareth and the Holy Land, and build bridges among Christians in the Holy Land and other parts of the world,” she said.
Reflecting on the little girl he first met in 1973, Dr. Martin said that he didn’t actually get a follow-up of her status until 15 years later. Then, as director of the hospital and sitting in his office, Dr. Martin received word that a father of a patient wanted to see him.
“I went up into the hospital only to find that the patient was this little girl that I treated 15 years earlier for cancer, and she had recently delivered a baby,” Dr. Martin said. “Her father wanted me to come up and see her. We did not have an oncology service (in 1973), but we had a vial of chemotherapeutic agent that God blessed the use of, and this little girl’s life was extended.”
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For immediate release.
Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact Andrew Clouse at andrewc@mmnworld.net, 574-523-3024 or 866-866-2872, ext. 23024.
