Serving Between the Lines and the Cracks
“I think our country is getting worse,” said an older man as he watched the news during his workout at the Fairhope Rec Center. Looking at the five televisions above the treadmills set on 24-hours news channels is discouraging, but the people I met this week in Mobile gave me plenty of reasons to disagree.
I met Jim and Mary Mather at their home where students from around the world have found a community and Dr. Robert Lightfoot at his clinic, Victory Health Partners. All three stepped out in faith following directions from God even though others called them crazy. Years later, their ministries continue to grow. International students and refugee families are adjusting to life in a new country through the Mathers’ Friends of Internationals at the University of South Alabama. A few miles away, thousands of uninsured adults below the poverty line are getting good care for body and soul.
Across the street from South’s campus, the Mather’s door is always open. Mary brings a plate of cookies and pound cake as soon as you walk in. Their worn out welcome mat says “welcome” in over 15 languages and most have been spoken in their home. After the Trump administration started removing the country’s welcome mat for refugees, reporters from the BBC and The Daily Show on Comedy Central found Jim and Mary and came into their home to hear the stories from the refugees’ side.
Starting out as a nurse and a physical therapist, Jim and Mary have provided medical care around the world. They sold everything and moved to Pakistan to work at a hospital. They learned the language and set down roots planning to stay for a long time. But five years later, God said, “international students.” Those two words lead to Mobile and The University of South Alabama 20 years ago. Today they host Bible studies, dinners and families who are in town to see students. They are a second home.
For Jim, life is about the person in front of him and gives his undivided attention. He says there is a refugee crisis because the body of Christ has trouble loving people between the lines and reminds that Jesus’ family fled to Egypt because of persecution in Israel.
“We like things in black and white and gray is a tough area for many of us to deal with,” he says. “Life is more complicated than good guys in white hats and bad guys in black hats. To be a healthy community, we have to build a bridge of belonging. Before people can believe, they have to know they can belong. The most important thing we can say to another person is, ‘I believe in you’.”
Dr. Lightfoot was serving on a medical mission trip in Venezuela with his wife, Tami, when God told him to serve in his own backyard and open a health clinic for the uninsured who are below the poverty line. A clinic that would reach body and spirit without government support.
People told him it couldn’t be done.
But a clinic that provides ministry first and health care second can be done. 12 years later, the clinic has 19,000 patient encounters and 60,000 volunteer hours each year, making health care possible for people who juggle rent, utilities, and food. People who can’t afford to take care of a health problem before it becomes a crisis.
Patients come from Mobile and surrounding counties in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. They pay $35 up to $55 and everything else, even labs, are included in that copay. There is wound care, counseling, surgery, dental, eye care and OB-GYN. Over 150 specialists in Mobile see referral patients for the price of a copay. The clinic isn’t free because the patient has to buy in. The fees cover half of the operating costs. Fundraisers and donations cover the other half, $600,000 a year. Patients must be uninsured with no medical benefits and have a gross income of less than three times the federal poverty guidelines.
Lightfoot describes Victory Health Partners as “effective and efficient and a workable solution to a complicated problem.” His clinic works because the medical community makes it possible and provides millions of dollars in services.
“Patients are thankful to be treated like anyone else,” Lightfoot says. “No one wants to fall through the cracks. There is simple dignity in just being treated like someone with insurance. Our clinic is a community supporting a community effort to solve a community problem. We go home tired but blessed every night.”
A community solving community problems is happening in Mobile. Mather says there are opportunities for love and purpose all around us. “You don’t have to go around the world to find them.”
We don’t have to leave home to find our purpose. We can stay right here and look between the lines and through the cracks to find it. Serving our communities with purpose. This may not make the news, but it is how we make this country better.
These are the stories I want to see on all five TVs.
How you can help:
Friends of Internationals- They always need for families who want to provide a home environment. To welcome students in their home and give them a place to stay overnight or holidays. Email Mary at maryvmather61@gmail.com
Victory Health Partners- The first thing Dr. Lightfoot asks for is prayer. They need volunteers from the front door to the back door. Every week 60-70 volunteers are needed to run the clinic. They also need financial donations.
Volunteer Coordinator, Amy Browning (251) 460-4062
Physicians, nurse practitioners, and dentists volunteers, Pat Dixon, 251-460-0999
https://victoryhealth.org/about-victory/
