Jesuit magazine (4-11).indd - The New Orleans Province of the ...

missions
On the Frontier with
rev. Dr. O. Kenneth
Johnson, S.J.
Healing and
Helping
our Brothers and Sisters
As a young man I had met several priests (Jesuit and non-
Jesuit) who inspired me with their lives of generous service,
putting their considerable talents wholly at the service of
others. But it was a few Jesuits who helped me pray through
the Spiritual Exercises that crystallized my desire to enter the
Society – largely to grow in the prayerful search for God’s
will and to grow in understanding of how I could more fully
and more generously cooperate with it. This desire was there
for a long time, but it slowly developed as I matured through
studies in adolescence and as a young man. I
completed medical studies before I was able
to enter the Society and for some time thought
I might leave that work behind as a new life developed
within the Society. During the years of
formation in the Society, my superiors helped
me to search for new ways of putting to good
use the experiences I had already had – and I
became associated briefly with several medical
schools for brief periods, moving to different
places and meeting different persons as is the
custom of a Jesuit scholastic. After ordination I
had expected to return to a medical school, but
I was given the mandate to go to Zambia. That
was in February 1993.
My first assignment in Zambia was at the
University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka – a
placement that was very providential since I
had the opportunity to meet many fine young
16 The Southern Jesuit Spring 2011
Dr. Ken Johnson, S.J., at the door
of one of the hospitals he serves.
Frs. Michael Gallagher
and Ken Johnson enjoy
some time together visiting
Victoria Falls in Zambia.
doctors with whom I remain friends today and to get acquainted
with the expected standards of care in a recognizable but
somewhat different environment. For several years afterwards
I went to explore work in a Catholic mission hospital so as to
understand the distinctive service Catholic hospitals provide.
Then I returned to the University Hospital and subsequently
to a district general hospital contributing to the teaching of
medical students, registrars (residents in training) and clinical
officers (physician assistants). In these different settings I
was able to help many sick patients. I was
also very fortunate to network with sisters,
brothers and priests and found that I could
assist them and their families. Although I do
not celebrate the sacraments in the hospital, I
have found many opportunities for ministry
in parishes and in retreat work. I have found
that I have quite enough leisure to be of help
in spiritual direction over these many years.
During the last 10 years of work in a district
general hospital, I was able to source some
funds to effect major improvements of the
equipment of the hospital for the surgical
theatre, for the ablution blocks and for the
laundry. By some unexpected providential
meetings, I began hosting a series of international
students who came to get a month’s
sense of medical work in an African setting.
In these last years I was feeling more