Ministry puts ministers at risk

A doctor in my congregation told me that getting stuck accidentally with a needle can be deeply traumatic for first-year hospital interns. The anxiety level after these incidents is usually much higher than the likelihood of any serious infection. The doctor believes this is because it’s often the first time that young residents are goaded into facing their own mortality.

While this might be expected in the day-to-day duties of the residents, it’s not something you anticipate when you’re setting up for Sunday school. A seminarian doing her fieldwork at our church arrived early to make sure everything was ready for the children. She was setting out Bibles and art supplies when she noticed a balled-up paper towel on one of the tables. She grabbed it to throw away and felt a sharp prick. A needle inside the crumpled paper had pricked her, and her hand was bleeding.

Ronee is a resident in our shelter who has been diabetic since childhood and has to inject herself with insulin four times a day. We have sharps containers at the shelter, but when this young woman was out during the day, she had been wrapping her used needles in paper towels and stuffing them into her backpack. At some point, when Ronee was getting ready to leave the shelter for the day, a wrapped needle fell out of her backpack onto the table next to her bed. In the morning, when the beds were rolled away, the social worker in charge scanned the room but didn’t see the needle.