Friday, 20 February 2009 21:42 Last Updated on Wednesday, 10 June 2009 09:56
NCFI held its 50th anniversary conference at Hill Station Hotel, Jos, Nigeria, 14-18 September 2008.Over 100 international nursing delegates, and around 300 Nigerian nurses attended the four days, which makes this the largest NCFI Conference to date.
After long journeys from all over the world, the international delegates were warmly welcomed to Nigeria by the official conference party and the many Nigerian nurses and midwives at the conference (many of whom had also had lengthy journeys). After an opening ceremony on the Sunday night, we got down the real business of the conference on Monday morning.
Bible Expositions
Gbile Akanni (who heads up a ministry, 'Living Seed', centered in Gboko, Nigeria) gave the three main Bible addresses looking at our professional values in a Biblical context. His first study in Exodus 1:12-22 focused on the role of the Hebrew midwives in preserving life against an authoritarian state – reminding us that we have a privileged position of standing with people as they go through the gateways into life and out of life. We are Christ to all who we accompany on that journey. It was also a reminder that all that we do, whether seen or known by others or not, is seen by God, so we are accountable for the care we give in every context (Proverbs 1:17; Exodus 1:17-19). He also reminded us that the roles of nurse and midwife are God ordained offices – complimentary and equal to the roles of pastor and teacher, and that this has been so throughout the history of God’s people.
The second study looked at Luke 10:25-37 reminded us that not only does our profession allow us to fulfill the greatest commandments in scripture, we can only fulfill the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves if we also fulfill the commandment to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. We must be God focused and purposeful in how we care.
The final study looked at how we find the inner strength for this ministry – I Thessalonians 2:3-10. We are mandated to show the love of Christ to all (Luke 10:27); and so it is that the virtues of the nurse and midwife (gentleness, tenderness, self giving) are held up as virtues for all to aspire to (I Thessalonians 2:7&8). Because people entrust themselves and their loved ones to our care as they would no other human being at their times of greatest vulnerability, we have a huge responsibility to act with total integrity and to live out in gentleness, self-giving, and service the values of the gospel in the way we care for our patients. If we are to do this, we need first to be filled by the Holy Spirit, and to walk closely with our God (Ephesians 3:14-19).
Above all else, Rev. Akanni reminded us one and all that nursing and midwifery are significant ministries of the church. This theme was reinforced by several seminars looking at the history of nursing and the church, at Parish Nursing and therapeutic prayer (among others).
Plenaries
The focus of the plenary sessions was very much on the mounting problems of global health, and the need for major initiatives amongst the global community. Professor Sophie Mogotlane (Academic Chairperson of the Department of Health Studies of the University of South Africa, WHO Collaborating Centre Director, and Editor of the Africa Journal of Nursing & Midwifery) spoke eloquently on the scale of the problem on Monday, on Tuesday Dr Paul S Wai looked at the big scale responses that were needed on the Tuesday, and on Wednesday Professor Barbara Parfitt (Director of Global Health Development at Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland) looked at the role nurses had to play in this response, and gave a rousing call to nurses everywhere, and Christian nurses in particular (especially those in Africa) to stand up, make our voices heard and take leadership roles in shaping local, national and global health policies. We have a role as advocates for our patients and communities that is not being heard enough in the corridors of power, and we need to be pushing ourselves forward to make that voice heard.
Seminars
There was an excellent and broad ranging seminar programme, looking at everything from the role of nurses in responding to human trafficking in Norway and Ghana, to parish nursing in Europe and North America, to the challenges of teaching nursing in multicultural environments in Japan and Argentina.
NCFI Business
A new international board was elected at the International Forum on 17 September, with Barbara White (USA) being elected as the new President. The European representatives are Marion Deelen (Spain), Tove Giske (Norway) and Sue Allen (England). The coming years will see a big focus on the development of the regions, leadership training and succession planning, and increasing the role of NCFI as a conduit for the voices of Christian nurses to be heard in the corridors of power at national, regional and global levels.
The 2012 world conference will be in Latin America – although the nation and dates are yet to be confirmed.
Final Thoughts and Reflections
This was arguably the best conference I have been to in some time – giving both a high level challenge to nurses and midwives to see the value of our professions to God, and the importance of our role not just in the care of our patients, but in being advocates for the poor and marginalised to the powerful.
The welcome from the Nigerian nurses was truly warm and gracious, and we enjoyed a warm and joyful fellowship all week, culminating in an exuberantly joyful ‘African Evening’ on the Wednesday night.
This will probably be the only chance that many of the nurses from Nigeria will have to attend such a conference, and I feel that it truly gave them a sense of self-worth and a great challenge to action. My prayer is that they and we take those messages to heart and act upon them.