As long as Moses held up his arms, the Israelites won, but when he put his arms down, the Amalekites started winning. When Moses' arms grew tired, Aaron and Hur brought a stone for him to sit on, while they stood beside him and held up his arms,

holding them steady until the sun went down.

Exodus 17: 11

Aim

To hold up the arms of our Health Care Workers on the front line of the battle with Corona, both spiritually and practically, so they feel the love and support of their local Christian community.

For Whom

All health care workers (HCW), from cleaner to doctor, working in any health facility. Open to all regardless of faith. It is up to the individual HCW to request support.

By Whom

A small group of Christians supports one HCW. Each group has one coordinator, or group leader to be the HCWs point of contact. The group sets up a WhatsApp group with the HCW.

What does Support look like?

Support should be a response to the HCW’s actual needs, rather than what the group thinks are his/her needs. At the start, the HCW may fill out a questionnaire to kick-start the relationship. Support may be in the following areas:

Spiritual: The group commits to pray regularly for the HCW and their family.

 Communication: Regular notes of encouragement from the group members to the HCW. The HCW should not feel obligated to respond.

Getting started

SMS “care” to 063 615 6880 and we will call you back Or Go online and do the following

Step 1

• The HCW

Fills in an online form with contact information, work details and needs.

Link to form: https://bit.ly/HCWCareForYou

OR:

• The small group leader:

Fills in an online form with their contact details, and location of their church/small group.

Link to form: https://bit.ly/GroupCare4HCW

Step 2

• Our team will match the HCW to a group and message both the group leader and

HCW to let them know who they have been paired with.

• Please take note: this step may take some time at first, as we are wanting to set up all the small group bases first, so that we do not keep the HCW waiting once they have applied for help. Please be assured that we will be working on the perfect match up.

Step 3

• Once you have been allocated your HCW, please contact them as soon as

possible so they are not keep waiting, identifying yourself, and perhaps providing a little information about your group, who will be supporting them.

• The leader of the group sets up a WhatsApp group with the group members and the HCW.
• And off you go!

Finally

• Our team will continue to support and encourage both the HCW and group, and is available if there are any issues or queries.

Protocols for Small Groups

• Respect the confidentiality of the HCW’s identity and cell phone number.
• What is said in the group must stay in the group.
• Do not try to get medical advice or any other assistance from the HCW.
• Be mindful of and sensitive towards the HCW with the content and volume of messages or posts that are sent to the group.
• Do not post your prayers. Just pray. Only post a message if you feel it important enough to give appropriate and wise encouragement to the HCW.
• The goal is to pray for and care for the HCW not to recruit them into your church.
• Do not assume that the HCW is a believer. They have signed up because they would like prayer support. Be wise in your use of terminology and language.
• If the HCW leaves the group, respect their right to do so. Perhaps it was not the best fit for many possible reasons. Please feed this back to us, if this should happen (contact email below) so that we can update our database. Then keep on praying and perhaps keep making yourself available to support another HCW.

Protocols for Health Care Workers

• Do not feel any obligation or pressure to respond to messages unless you have the capacity to do so.
• Feel free to message the group co-ordinator personally, if you would prefer to make a more private request for prayer or support.
• Anything shared will be treated with confidentiality.
• If the WhatsApp group is not working for you, feel free to leave the group and perhaps try a different one. Please politely excuse yourself before leaving the group, and please feed this information back to us (see contact emails below) so that we can update our database.

For any queries or problems email: care4carers@heartlines.org.za