Power of Attorney

Of all the decisions a person has to make in his lifetime, one of the most difficult is when he is acting as power of attorney (poa) for loved ones. For aging parents, this responsibility often falls on their grown children. It is never easy when the parents have an illness or accident and become unable to decide for themselves, and the children have to decide whether to resuscitate and approve aggressive treatment for the parents. Although I have no medical knowledge, sometimes church members would seek my advice as their pastor in family meetings. Accordingly I would like to suggest a few thoughts for consideration.

While most of the attention will be focused on the physical condition of the patient, I believe one crucial factor is the spiritual state, “Is the parent saved?” Physical life is valuable, but it’s also transient. The life expectancy at birth in Canada is 79 for men, and 83 for women. At age 65, it’s a further 19 years for men, 22 years for women. Although life expectancies had climbed slowly over the years due to medical advances, life is still short. But the next life is eternal, and so where the parents will spend eternity is of paramount importance.

Some families have waited till the last moments before calling their pastor to share the gospel with their parents. Although hearing is one of the last faculties to go, and you can still witness to patients on their death-bed by speaking into their ears, it shouldn’t have to wait so late. Every Christian should make it a priority to share the gospel with their family members. You never know how much time a person has, so do it sooner rather than later. If your parents aren’t saved yet, choose resuscitation to give them an opportunity to hear the gospel before they pass into eternity, other things being equal.

If the salvation of the parents is already assured, then their age and physical condition become pivotal. Here we are weighing the duration or quantity of physical life against the quality. If they are relatively young (say in their 80’s), in reasonable health overall and therefore able to sustain surgery with good recovery, and lengthy, difficult-to-bear treatments such as chemotherapy is not required, then by all means take the operation.

If, however, they are senile and in poor health, suffering from other ailments and not enjoying life with dignity, then it may not be in their best interests to undergo surgery or other aggressive treatment to prolong their stay. It is better to let nature runs its course, and not intervene when it’s time for them to go. Having said that, no aggressive treatment does not mean “do not treat”. It simply means no invasive surgery or other drastic means to prolong life as much as possible. The medical staff would still treat pains, fevers, hydration, hunger, warmth etc., making the patient as comfortable as possible while allowing nature to take over.

The hard cases are the in-between ones, and each family has to wrestle with what’s best for the patient, not its own convenience. The best is to discuss with the parents while they are in good health, as to what their wishes are when such calamities come. This lifts the burden from the children’s shoulders, and allows them to execute the decisions the parents made for themselves. Hope this helps.

Fools – Answer or Not Answer?

Q. Aren’t Proverbs 26:4-5 contradictory? How do you explain them?

A. The contradiction is only apparent:
• Prov 26:4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.
• Prov 26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.

Logically, two opposing statements are contradictory only if they are referring to the same thing, in the same aspects, at the same time. For example, witness A of an accident said, “The traffic light was yellow”, while witness B referring to the same light said, “It was red”. They are not contradicting each other if they are not looking at the light simultaneously, with B seconds after A. In the same way, Prov 26:4-5 are both true, but they do not apply at the same time.

In general, Prov 26:4 applies. Do not do tit for that. If he is mocking, lying, using foul language etc., do not respond in kind, or you will descend to his level and become just like him. However, there are situations that require rebuking a foolish argument e.g. in formal debates to defend the truth. For example, in debating the resolution “The Bible is not Trustworthy” the debater arguing for the proposition claimed that there is no absolute truth. In rebuttal the opposition asked “Is that an absolute statement?”. Either way the asserter answers will show up the foolishness of his claim.

In all arguments we need to look at the presuppositions before we respond. Many are based on false premises which when exposed will fall on itself. Prov 26:5 turns the argument back on the fool himself so he realizes the stupidity of what he is saying. Generally, I believe the wise approach is to apply Prov 26:4 in trivial matters and ignore the fool. But apply Prov 26:5 when the issue is significant in defense of the faith. Hope this helps.

Fools and Missionaries

As preparation for our upcoming short-term mission trip, I read “Fools and Missionaries – A Look at the Grace and Provision of a Loving God” written by our team-leader Martyn Hartley. The title reminds me of 1 Co 4:10, “We are fools for Christ”. It is a collection of his stories over the last 24 years, when our friend gave up his job as an insurance executive to become a career missionary. As the subtitle indicates, the anecdotes tell of how God supplied our friend’s needs, despite difficult circumstances, sometimes in amazing and humorous ways.

Interspersed throughout the book are principles we can learn from. For example:
• On being God-centered – It is not what I want to do for God, but it is what God wants me to do for Him.
• On doing our part – If I want to be used of God I need to do 3 things:
1. make decisive decisions,
2. start to pray effectively, and
3. increase my sphere of Christian influence.

But it is also very practical, with advice short-termers can readily use, even in their next STM trip e.g.
• On culture and customs – In certain areas, visitors are not welcome, emails are regularly intercepted, and the police harass the Chinese because they have money and often don’t understand what is being said. Such is the reality in many mission fields.
• On church – Services are long and many have 3 sermons! Many churches with icons give the impression that what they do is what will get them to heaven. For visiting pastors, be prepared to be invited to preach with little notice, and be ready to share the gospel.

To us, an interesting part is the names of people we knew from our Chinese Diaspora prayer meeting scattered in the stories. Many of these dear folks are lay people, past middle-age, yet have a passion for Christ and missions and have accompanied the author on many mission trips to Russia and Eastern Europe. Our hats off to these short-termers who care so much for their kinsmen that they go, often at their own expense, to evangelize, encourage and teach the Chinese Diaspora.

The book is an easy read of about 140 pages. Read it. You may even get hooked to take a mission trip yourself!

Taiwan Mission Videos

Since we have adopted Taiwan as one of our ministry fields, we kept an eye on resources that would give us a better understanding of the needs of the area to help with future work. Below are three videos from OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship) we found in YouTube. OMF overlaps somewhat with what SEND Taiwan does, and these clips give a good overview of the ministry there:

The Spiritual State of Taiwan:

Creative Working-class Ministry in Taiwan:

Ghost Month in Taiwan:

Consider taking a vision trip to widen your horizon. It may change your and others’ lives forever.