Silverlinings (for other editions, see Silverlinings )

I Was Sick And You Looked After Me
(February 25, 2007)

Only a few people really make a significant difference in our lives, and for those at Asia Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary, that person might just be Mission Corp volunteer, Marilyn LeFevre.  Marilyn is just an ordinary person like you and me, but she has the extraordinary power of the human spirit being used by God.

Marilyn is a devoted wife, loving mother, faithful friend, and dedicated volunteer nurse at Asia Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary (APNTS).  Despite being ill and her body tired, Marilyn will go to the seminary clinic or a home to take a student’s blood pressure and temperature, or distribute medicine and first aid.  Rarely does she mention her own problems or that she has fibromyalgia—a chronic condition characterized by fatigue and sleep disturbances, as well as widespread pain.  Although the aching may persist for months at a time, the pain does not prevent Marilyn from fulfilling her volunteer assignment.

During a recent amoeba outbreak on campus, Marilyn spent untold hours visiting faculty and students in their homes and in the dorms, accompanying some to nearby hospitals and clinics, giving medications and instructions, but most of all just showing those who were ill that she cared.

Students and colleagues know her as the nurse with unbending optimism that breeds hope when everything looks hopeless.  But when Marilyn carefully climbed up and down the many steps on campus soon after the amoeba hit, she wanted to cry.  Realizing that there were too many people ill, that the number was growing daily, and not knowing the cause until test results would come back, she felt overwhelmed.  But the tears never really came, her optimism stayed strong.  She made a difference again.  She didn’t rest until every student and faculty member had been given medical assistance.

When asked where she finds her strength,  Marilyn relates how her husband Jon supports her in her ministry, how faithful he is to her when she is ill, and how their marriage is growing stronger year by year.  In just a few months, she and her family will be returning to the US.  We will miss her.  What a privilege to know her and observe her sensitivity to the needs of others. How blessed we are to know that she has done a beautiful thing to Jesus.

“I was sick and you looked after me.”
“When did we see you sick … and go to visit you?”
"The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:36, 39-40 NIV)

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Dr. Geneva Silvernail

Asia-Pacific Regional Literature Coordinator
Regional Education Consultant

Asia Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary
Ortigas Ave. Ext. Kaytikling, Taytay
1920 Rizal Philippines

Email: gsilvernail@apnaz.org
ministry@genevasilvernail.org