Fresh
News from
His Branches, Inc.
Embracing Options
Please welcome our newest program, Embracing Options, an
urban crisis pregnancy center we're developing under the sponsorship of Care
Net! We previously reported our plans to you when we were calling our new
project the Pregnancy Care Center of
Rochester. However, after
much prayer and sharing with some young people in one of the programs here in
the city, we've decided to change the official name to one that is more
"user friendly" in our neighborhood. We believe that a major
part of reaching women with crisis pregnancies in our community is to allow them
to see that they have options (other than abortion!) and that not only can they
embrace those options but they can be embraced at the same time. Safety,
trust, and love are so important to a young woman in times like these. Certainly,
carrying a pregnancy to term also allows for the first embrace of a
newborn child that is an experience unlike any other!
Embracing Options is now officially open for business. If someone is
in need of counseling, we are accepting clients and referrals (call
585-235-0690). Our Director, Sandra Clawson (sclawson@hisbranches.org)
is working very hard to connect with local churches and social programs not
only to raise awareness but also support for what we're doing in the
neighborhood. We're very excited about an invitation-only outreach to
interested supporters that is occurring on April 7, 8 and 9. We're also
excited about the enthusiasm that has been evident with people we talk to from
around the community. We've submitted our application for an ultrasound
machine though Focus on the Family Option Ultrasound, and in the meantime we've been the temporary recipients of a donated ultrasound machine that we're
using to train volunteers.
If you have interest in this area or want to help us financially, please contact
us or you can even donate online! Give us a
call as soon as possible to discuss your interests (235-0690)!
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Fundraising to Meet the Challenges of
Growth!
As most of you already know, His Branches has been experiencing
a unique move of God in the history of the organization. A year and a half
ago we launched out
in faith to hire our very first Executive Director, Scott Sittig. Since then we've opened our Prayer Chapel, taken steps with
New York
State to become a licensed Diagnostic and Treatment Facility, completed our new parking lot,
sponsored a new crisis pregnancy center, developed plans to
expand our facility, and so much more!
With the expansion has come the need to raise funds as we've
never had to do before. Under Scott's leadership we've been developing publications, revising our website, writing to foundations,
and cultivating our relationships with many of you in anticipation that the Lord
will encourage people to sponsor this ministry. We firmly believe in what
the Lord has prepared us for, but we know that we can't do it alone.
We're asking those who have been connected to this
ministry in any way over the years to consider making a one-time donation or
regular pledge commitment to His Branches. Items that we urgently need resources for include the development of our new crisis pregnancy
center and purchasing a
new ultrasound machine, expansion of our medical center, building maintenance
and repairs, computer software and hardware, staff, and much more. No gift is
too small or too large to be received and used wisely in building God's
Kingdom here in Rochester. We're grateful for any contribution you can offer -- all donations are fully
tax-deductible. Our mailing address is:
|
His
Branches, Inc.
342
Arnett Boulevard
Rochester,
NY 14619
|
or |
|
We're also happy to work with people who are in need of planned giving alternatives
or who simply want to designate gifts.
In
the coming days and weeks, we trust that you will be prayerful with us as we
solicit donations from others to undergird our growth and outreach. Please call 585-235-9000 or
contact us by e-mail
with any questions you may have about our ministry or policies. Many of you will have
other resources that you can contribute.
Some will have talent or expertise that is necessary to our endeavors.
Some of you will be sparked to pray for others who could fill needs in a variety of
ways. Thank you for
your prayerful consideration of how you might be able to strengthen ministry
with your gifts and talents. God Bless you!
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Prayer Chapel Open for Use!
Strategic Intercessory Prayer... If we are to succeed at
anything, it must be accompanied by prayer. How many of the saints
throughout the ages have echoed this refrain? Our success at anything is
tantamount to our success in prayer. Are you looking for a place of
solitude? Are you looking for people to pray with you or for you? Do
you need someone to help hold you accountable? For any reason, you are
welcome to come and use our Prayer Chapel or join our network of people who are praying
for this ministry and the people connected to it. Please join with us even
at this moment, wherever you are, and say a short prayer for God to let His
favor rest on His Branches, Inc.
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Dr. Morehouse Receives Award
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Save the Date!
Please mark your calendars for November
5, 2005 when His Branches will be hosting its first annual
community-wide banquet! This year we'll be honoring
Dr. Morehouse and his wife for their years of service and showcasing the new and exciting programs and services that
we've been
working on. We would like as many people as possible to join with us
in celebrating Dr. Morehouse's years of ministry to the city of
Rochester (now over 27!) and his tireless work to bridge disparities in the provision of
health care to our community. We'll be posting more information on
the event in the near future! Please plan now to join us for this
wonderful celebration event!
Volunteers Needed:
Please consider joining our steering committee to help plan
and organize for our banquet. If you have done this before (or just want
to help) and would be interested in helping pull this together, please contact
our office for more information at 235-9000.
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Testing a New Model of Medical
Care
For many of you that know of the medical care provided by Dr.
Morehouse, you are fully aware that prayer is integrated into the patient visit
and faith is an integral piece to the recovery process. We actually
believe that in some difficult cases, faith is the only answer to the physical
symptoms that are presented. For the whole body to function properly there has to be a clear balance of all the systems that the Lord
created, and if one of those systems is not functioning properly then illness
presents itself. One of the most profound and least understood systems in
the medical community is that of our spirit or spiritual nature. Very
often there are things that influence our spirit that are undetectable with
modern science and thus cannot be treated using the scientific method alone.
Dr. Daniel Fountain, a missionary doctor to Central Africa for
30 years and currently a professor at King College in Tennessee, pioneered a
similar vision to whole person medical care in Africa while Dr. Morehouse was
pioneering the approach here in America. The two of them have now
connected and their vision is to see "spiritual care-givers" planted
in medical practices all over the country. His Branches is preparing to
launch out and find a spiritually mature, Bible believing Christian person who
is interested in working alongside our doctors to offer spiritual counsel and
prayer to individuals with maladies that modern science alone can't treat. Jesus was the Great Physician, and we believe that a team
approach to medical care that includes this new position will enhance our
ability to truly impact and influence the health of our community.
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His Branches Seeking 3rd Physician
Our doctors have reached their capacity and are looking for
help! If you know a Christian family physician who is sensing the call of God to
serve in an inner-city practice, please let them (and us) know. We have an ideal
spot opening up this year and would love to talk.
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Spring Christian Physicians Breakfast
On Saturday, April 30th, GRMCCF will be hosting
Bruce
Jackson, Executive Director of the Christian Community Health
Fellowship, as our guest speaker. He will be speaking on the topic "Working Among the Poor: A Cross-Cultural Adventure for Health Professionals."
| Bruce has this to say
about his subject material: "It has often been said that as you
walk in another person’s shoes you gain an understanding of that
person. Jesus was able to at one moment relate to a person in a
position of power and authority and at the next moment relate to a
person that had no options and was in poverty. We will be looking at
the silent barriers that prevent poor people from accessing health
care, and in looking at these barriers we will gain an understanding
of their world. The obvious barriers are access, provider shortage,
and inability to pay (no insurance). The silent barriers include lack
of options, asset limits, powerlessness, issues of trust, survivor
mentality, and the unseen barriers of attitudes and atmosphere created
by providers." |
Bruce Jackson
|
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2005 Christian Physicians Directory Available
