GOSPEL MISSION DISPENSARY
“For several months we have had a house physician, and the use and need for him has steadily increased. The establishment of regular hours at which patients could see the doctor, and a proper place for consultation, naturally suggested the establishment of a dispensary. This appeared feasible to the Executive Committee, and Mrs. Monroe, Superintendent Kline and Dr. Bowker were appointed a committee to study the advisability of such an addition to our work. The report from this committee was favorable to the project, and active steps were at once taken to the establishment of a free general dispensary for the treatment of all classes of cases, or their reference, where necessary, to special institutions.
“The location of the Mission for dispensary work could not be better from any point of view. It is accessible to the hundreds needing its help. There is no conflict in its field by any other institution doing this class of work. Four rooms on the first floor of the Mission, with the chapel for a waiting-room, will serve admirably for dispensary needs at present. And these rooms are rapidly being put in shape by carpenters and painters. Shelves are being made for the pharmacy, a door cut through the partition, and running water is to be installed.
“Our printing plant will again demonstrate its usefulness by furnishing the necessary record blanks, labels, treatment cards, etc.
“The Executive Committee has placed Dr. Charles Harvey Bowker, 1204 Massachusetts Avenue, in full charge of the Gospel Mission Dispensary, and he will have associated with him at first Dr. O. C. Cox, 1320 Eleventh Street, N. W. A number of leading physicians and surgeons have evinced an interest and willingness to give their services, and Dr. Bowker will add them to the dispensary staff and assign them work as the clinic grows and they are needed.
“Dr. Bowker's experience in managing a hospital in his home city, and his hospital and dispensary work in Washington, assure us a businesslike management of this new branch of our work.
“Our need at present is for drugs and surgical dressing, and it is hoped that the druggists of the city may contribute.
“The dispensary opened Thursday, February 1, 1912, at 10 A.M., which will be the regular daily hour, and all those who are interested are invited to inspect the new rooms.”
You notice that we opened February 1, 1912, and our annual report in May Tidings, 1913, shows the following:
THE MISSION FREE DISPENSARY
Staff
Physician in charge, Dr. Charles H. Bowker, 1204 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W.
Associates
Dr. Oliver C. Cox, 1320 Eleventh Street, N. W.
Dr. W. O. Owen, Southern Building.
Dr. William F. Hemler, 706 Eighth Street, N. W.
Dr. C. A. Simpson, 1217 Connecticut Avenue, N. W.
Dr. C. F. Dufour, 1347 L Street, N. W.
Dr. Adam Kemble, Cecil Apartments, Fifteenth and L Streets, N. W.
Dr. Jesse Ramsburgh, The Portner.
Hours for Treatment
Medical and surgical cases treated daily, 11 to 12 A.M.
Diseases of Women—Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Diseases of Men—Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Diseases of Children—Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Diseases of Ear, Eye, Nose and Throat—Monday and Thursday.
Report for the Year Ending April 30, 1913
| Cases treated | 2500 |
| Referred to Hospital | 80 |
| Treated at homes | 80 |
The dispensary is in need of a sterilizer and a special fund for medical supplies for those too poor to pay.
The sterilizer later was the gift of Dr. Jesse Ramsburgh, and we have a complete set of lenses for testing the eyes of school children.
It would break your heart to see the women with babies, the aged on crutches, the hosts of children, the aged victims of every vice, now broken and often repentant, seek the aid of these good men. Often we run short of remedies. “What do they do then?” you ask. Well, they simply go down in their own pockets and buy the necessities, and no one is turned empty away.
Think of a procession of sick and needy persons, 2500 human beings in line, and you will see in your mind what that blessed dispensary has done for the sorrowful of this city in one year.
I wish I dare to tell you the particulars of one of these great physicians who had not been living close to God, seeing our work of faith, seeing how the Mission people lay their many needs before a patient God, who meets every demand in answer to their prayer, and possibly feeling that in a mission he could not minister to a mind diseased without himself being in touch with the living God, was led to revise his views, make public confession of his faith and enlist in God's organized method of evangelizing the world by joining the church. We all need God, but the hand that reaches down to help sinful men must have the other hand clasped close in God's strong hand if he would do effective work.
CHAPTER X
The Power of the Gospel
St. Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.”
Yes, the gospel is the power. The soul is as dead as a street car with the power gone, till it is touched by that special power. I could kneel at the side of a sinner and quote the very best things of Shakespeare or Milton, and the soul would step to no higher ground; but when the right verse of God's word is shown with the New Testament in hand, and the Holy Spirit makes that soul see that the passage before him is God's recorded wireless message for his soul alone, the power comes on and that verse again proves true, “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name,” and a soul is born into the kingdom of God. Dan Crawford, the great missionary to Africa, says not Livingstone, not Taylor, not Dan Crawford, are the real pioneer missionaries, but the Spirit of God Himself, and when the word is brought to a prepared soul it is a spark of powder. He tells of one besotted Negro who read John's Gospel. The Negro said, “I was startled that Christ could speak Chulba; I heard Him speak out of the printed page, and what He said to me was, 'Follow me.'” Mr. Crawford says, “When the guncotton of John's Gospel came in contact with the tinder of his rebellion, he was literally exploded into the kingdom,” and by continuing to study St. John's Gospel the transforming power of the gospel made him a good earnest Christian man, fit for the companionship of good people.
At a rescue mission we have such scenes almost every night of the year. In our case it is usually the word first implanted in the human heart either at a mother's knee or by some Sunday school teacher, or by a faithful preacher in early life, then the very room of the Mission is filled with the Holy Spirit in answer to the prayers of God's people. Now, when a heart-broken, world-buffeted sinner comes into the room, the words or music of some song, or the presentation of God's word, is used by God's Spirit to bring to memory all the sinner has known of these things; he hears redeemed men tell how God cured them of lust, of alcoholism, of gambling, of profane language, of all sin; he sees these men well clothed, radiantly happy, and sees and feels his own degradation; is it any wonder he drops on his knees and cries out, “Men and brethren, what shall I do to be saved”? When he wants God more than he wants deliverance from his besetting sin, when he wants God more than he wants his deserted wife and children, when he wants God for what God can do for his poor soul, the God of his soul comes down, and at that second the soul passes from death unto life eternal, for that soul the decisions of the judgment day have been settled, for Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my words and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.”
That verse comprehended and lived has power enough to carry a soul through all besetments into the very presence of God.