Proclaiming Christ through compassionate care
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From Luke’s Journal March 2026 | Vol. 31 No. 1 | God at the Bedside
This wood-block print depicts an evangelist praying by the bedside of a patient at the Berega Mission Hospital in Tanzania.
The hospital works in partnership with the Anglican Diocese of Morogoro, combining physical and spiritual care to make Christ known among the villagers.
My husband Michael and I, together with our sons, were sent by CMS Australia to serve in this village for four years, from 1992. Michael worked as a hospital doctor alongside two other doctors and a team of one hundred other staff members.
Staff, like the evangelist depicted in this print, prayed for patients and cared for them practically in their times of need – by the bedside, on the operating table, and in the labour ward, and in times of transition into life and death.
I carved this image from local wood, rolled black ink onto the raised parts, and printed it onto paper. This creative process reminds us that we are made in God’s image to love and serve God and our neighbours.
Jean Burke – CMS
Jean Burke
Jean Burke has served with Church Missionary Society (CMS). From 1992 to 2003, she and her husband Michael, were sent to Central Tanzania, where Jean worked in Berega Hospital, Mvumi Mission Hospital, and later with a local HIV program in Dodoma. In 2022, they enquired with CMS about short-term medical education ministry opportunities in East Africa. Soon after, they were invited back to Tanzania to help establish a new model of Christian medical education in family medicine at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Moshi. Drawing on her qualifications, teaching experience, fluency in Swahili, and deep familiarity with Tanzanian life, Jean will explore further opportunities to serve on location.
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