PRAY: Nurses in need of strength to carry on

After almost two years of working with patients affected by the pandemic, nurses are in need of prayer and hope.

Evelyn Labun is a retired nurse and part of the Nurses Christian Fellowship of Canada (NCF). 

"I got connected when I was a student at the former Winnipeg General Hospital now the Health Science Centre," says Labun. "We had a club in the school and I've been more or less connected since then. At one point I was the chair of the NCF committee in Canada."

Labun lives in Winnipeg but was born in Southern Manitoba. NCF hosts a Nurses Prayer Breakfast the first Saturday of each month for anyone in the nursing world. This includes students, nurses, and even other health care workers and aids.

"Before pandemic, we got together for breakfast and prayer session related to our work as nurses and our relationships in the community. We would have a bit of a devotional after breakfast and then prayer requests and praise for answered prayers."

Since March of 2020, the nurses meet over Zoom after breakfast to pray. 

"One of the real issues is the hecticness of the pandemic and the shortage of nurses. Nurses are very tired and students have to meet on Zoom or other social media. Pray for strength and health, that they may not burn out. That the nurses can find strength and joy in their work and that the pandemic will ease up. Pray that they will find rest and relaxation in their relationships with God."

Labun asks people to pray in particular for nursing students. 

"Nurses tend to be people persons, that's usually why they go into the profession. They're online now, worried about getting sick and managing their studies. People are upset and sick, so I would ask for prayer for student nurses as they learn the profession and become those caregivers that we all need."

Even though Labun is now retired from nursing, she shares that her faith played a big role during that time.

"I worked in the psychiatric area pretty well my entire career. I said to myself, 'How can I care for these people?' I thought, each person is made in the image of God, and that's how I'm going to relate to this person. I'm going to try and bring out the image of God in this person."

The next prayer breakfast for nurses in Manitoba is January 8 at 9:30 am over Zoom. People interested in joining this, future prayer meetings, or join the Nurses Christian Fellowship of Canada can click here.