Mike Parker: Beth goes home to be with the Lord
Friday morning, I opened an email informing me that Beth Newton passed away Monday. Just a few days before her passing, Beth had sent me a letter that explained – in medical terms – the deteriorating condition of her heart. I sent a photo of her note to my daughter Sara, who is a cardiac nurse, because I am not fluent in medical terminology. In that note, Beth said that she might not live long. I never expected the end to come so soon.
Beth and I had known each other for about 60 years. We met when we attended Bible Mission Baptist Church in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Beth attended Upper Arlington High School, and I was a student at Reynoldsburg High. We were both born the same year and we finished high school the same year – 1968. After high school Beth attended Wheaton College, and I went to Ohio State. Later, Beth attended Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland for her nursing degree.
We renewed our friendship when she finished college and headed to Haiti to serve as a medical missionary. Beth had known since she was nine years old that she wanted to serve the Lord as a missionary. My church became one of her supporting churches, and we faithfully sent her support for 30 years or more.
One time, Beth visited our small church and presented her work. One memorable item she had for the “show-and-tell” portion of her presentation was a huge tarantula spider that had entered her house in Haiti. Beth trapped the spider under a bowl and slid a plate under the bowl. She put this makeshift spider prison in the freezer of her fridge. Later, she removed the contraption that held the spider and filled the bowl is clear acrylic. She had created an eye-popping display to convey what life with spiders was like in Haiti.
As Beth served in Haiti, she came to realize that nurse practitioners could meet the medical needs of 90 percent of the Haitian people. She returned to the United States to obtain her Nurse Practitioner/Mid-Wife degree from the Frontier Nursing Service in Hyden, Kentucky. She then went back to Haiti and served in many ways including: educating about infant nutrition, serving in the clinic and hospital as a nurse, teaching children’s Bible classes (attended by up to 300 children).
Then she began the arduous task of creating and seeking approval for a nurse practitioner program. Although the people of Haiti speak Haitian Creole, French is the official language of instruction in Haiti. Beth had learned French many years ago when she visited Quebec, but she needed to sharpen her skills, so she spent a summer in Paris, France, immersed in the language.
As she struggled to gain approval of the nurse practitioner program by the Haitian health ministry, months turned into years. Finally, she received approval and began turning Haitian nurses into nurse practitioners. Her efforts were a genuine victory for health care in Haiti. Her graduates were not only accredited nurse practitioners, but they also were adept at translating for visiting doctors from the United States who rotated in and out of Haiti to provide medical services at the mission clinic.
Devoted in her faith, Beth found strength and purpose from her relationship with Jesus. Her joyful countenance, kindness, wisdom, and gentle spirit touched the lives of all who knew her. I will always remember her warm smile, her generous heart, and her unwavering belief in the power of prayer. Her life was a testament to the portrait of the virtuous woman presented in Proverbs 31:26:
“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”
Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
PHOTO: Beth (center) with two Haitian children at the mission clinic.
Neuse News is a locally-owned small business startup in downtown Kinston. Our goal is to provide free, hyper-local news to Lenoir, Greene and Jones counties. The kind of news our grandparents read in a format fit for today's times.
We provide this by having supportive advertisers and we encourage you to click on their ads, shop with them, and eat with them. Every bit of financial support is important to help us sustain free, hyper-local news.
Please consider supporting Neuse News with as little as $5 one-time or via a monthly option. Every little bit helps us, help you.
