(Photo courtesy Baptist Global Response)
International (BGR) — Tears slid down Radhika’s face as she felt her soft, new sheets. At 70, she was bed-ridden and often cold. Her family couldn’t afford to buy her a blanket. When she received a Baptist Global Response (BGR) Hospice Kit containing sheets, she wept.
BGR has found that sharing a five-gallon “bucket of love” may be the most effective way to open doors to share the love of Christ with these folks who are at death’s door. BGR has researched and worked with partner organizations to determine the best resources to include in the Hospice Kits. One kit costs around $85.
A detailed shopping list is available, and nothing more or less should be included for the sake of customs regulations and a need for uniformity. A step-by-step guide for assembling the Hospice Kit is also available so that all items will fit properly in the five-gallon bucket. You may also shop online for bulk items or an already packed bucket to be shipped to one of two storage facilities.
(Photo courtesy Baptist Global Response)
Items found in the bucket are helpful for the comfort of the patient as well as an aid to the caregiver(s). Those items provide a means to maintain human dignity. For example, drinking straws are provided as, many times, patients in the last stages of a terminal illness are unable to sit up to take medication or drink; and a bendable drinking straw can assist the patient in swallowing medication and life-giving water. Latex-free disposable gloves are provided to protect the caregivers from bodily fluids.
One BGR partner wrote: “One of the items that impressed one man was the white socks–first socks he had ever owned. After a week or so, BGR partners received a report of how something so simple has made a difference. The man, who has a sore on his hip from being bedridden, now has this to say, ‘I thank God very much for providing me with this kit. I didn’t request these things, but they have helped me very much. The bedding has really helped me because now I don’t feel the pain on my hip from sleeping with no bedding.'”
One bucket can make a difference, physically and spiritually. Will you be a part of making a difference?
