Dr. Eleanor Chestnut arrived in China in 1893. She was a missionary doctor
serving under the American Presbyterian missions board. She built a hospital,
using her own money to buy bricks and mortar. The need for her services was so
great that she performed surgery in her bathroom until the building was
completed.
One operation involved the amputation of a laborer's leg. Complications arose,
and skin grafts were needed. A few days later, another doctor asked Chestnut why
she was limping. "Oh, it's nothing," was her terse reply. Finally, a nurse
revealed that the skin graft for the patient came from Dr. Chestnut's own leg.
She performed the operation giving herself only local anesthetic to remove her
skin.
During the Boxer Rebellion of 1905, Dr. Chestnut and four other missionaries
were arrested. As she was being led to prison, she saw a little boy bruised and
bleeding. Immediately she broke away from her captors, and kneeling down she
bound up the youngster's wound. A few hours afterward she was executed.
Fifty years passed, and people in China still talked about the foreign doctor
whose loving concern for others made them think of Jesus.
The perfect example of seeking the good of others is Jesus Christ. Selfless His
entire life, He gave His life so we may come to the Father. Today in prayer,
thank the Lord for His selfless life and pray that you will seek the good of
others.
"If our faith does not touch people with love it's selfish, a blessing only to
us." - Mary Taylor Previte
God's Word: "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to
the interests of others." - Philippians 2:4
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2003, Devotional E-Mail DEVOTIONS IN 1 CORINTHIANS
pkennedy@devotional.com
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