In the News ... "MMH chaplain ministers to patients during pandemic, beyond"

MRT Photo by Iris Foster

• MMH chaplain: Goal to be 'a visible reflection of an invisible God'

By Iris Foster, Reporter
• Midland Reporter-Telegram

MIDLAND, TEXAS - “You bring God’s best into life’s worst,” Chaplain David Harwood said when asked how he and his staff managed to minister to patients at Midland Memorial Hospital for the past two years during COVID-19.

Imagine having the souls of every patient on your prayer list. That has been the workload for the well-regarded Chaplaincy Department, and it has been stressful. Its director, Harwood, is constantly reminded of the plight of the hospitalized who feel helpless. He himself was hospitalized for eight days last November with non-COVID issues, so he quotes Ezekiel 3:15 (KJV) which says, “I sat where they sat and remained there astonished among them.”

When patients were locked down from time to time during various surges during the pandemic, chaplains including Michael Berry and Duane Bemis, stood in for family, church clergy and other potential visitors. Harwood explained that rarely did they don PPEs and enter COVID patients’ rooms; instead, they spoke over the phone looking through the hallway window into each room. He often touched the glass with his hand as a further connection. That probably explains how he was able to avoid catching COVID himself.

During his 18 years in Midland, he’s witnessed numerous medical miracles and prayed for people suffering from depths of pain. He calls his work “the ministry of listening presence,” and he also offers spiritual and emotional support to the medical staff who have endured so much. In that vein, he is most proud of the Catastrophic Assistance Fund, which he founded in 2004. To date, it has provided $400,000 in financial assistance to Midland Health workers who have experienced serious events.

The Plainview native weighed a career in journalism with one in the ministry many years ago. Ultimately, he graduated from Ozark Bible Institute (Neosho, Missouri), Central Christian University (Blytheville, Arkansas) and is currently working on a master’s degree from Trinity Bible College and Graduate School in Ellendale, North Dakota. He was ordained in 1982 and served first in Hobbs, New Mexico, at an Assembly of God church.

His first chaplain opportunity occurred in the Texas town of Carthage, where he served a rural volunteer fire department. He eventually felt called “not just to a congregation, but to a community beyond church walls.” Harwood’s last church posting was in Conroe as associate pastor at First Assembly of God, where he also was involved with HIV/AIDS sufferers and served as director of Chaplaincy Services at Conroe Regional Medical Center.

In addition to assuring patients’ needs for pastoral care 24/7, Harwood hopes to establish regular services in the beautiful chapel located in the Scharbauer Patient Tower. In the meantime for occasions, such as Ash Wednesday, he and his staff take ashes to nurses’ stations and offer them to anyone in the chapel.

Harwood’s love for writing -- helpful for crafting sermons -- will occupy his future, he thinks. He’s already begun a book, “Messengers of Hope,” on helping people navigate difficult times. Other topics he wants to explore include home and family relationships because he has an affinity for single mothers. He also wants to write about “a ministry for broken men, just one part of our broken world.” Harwood says he doesn’t intend to tell people what they should do—they must take personal responsibility—but to help them define their options and help them decide what they think they should do ...

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