Lawrence Presbyterian Manor
COVID-19 updates continue DECEMBER 2020
Meet Dinah Dutta, our new chaplain What’s your title? A life of transformation from cancer research scientist at the University of Kansas, clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA), oncology chaplain at KU Medical Center, to Presbyterian Manor chaplain. How long have you been with PMMA? Five months What’s your favorite Bible verse for the holidays? “Bless the Lord O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord O my soul, and forget not all His benefits” (Psalm 103:1-2). What are your favorite holiday foods? During holidays, my grandmother and mother used to make a lot of traditional sweet treats. After I came to the U.S., I learned to cook turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce. I love cornbread. I could not master the pumpkin pie, so I buy it always. What are some of your favorite holiday traditions? I grew up in India in a deeply spiritual, Christian family. Going to midnight worship all dressed up is one of my fond memories. We lived in a community where most of our neighbors were not Christians. As a family, we prepared baskets with fruit and sweet treats and delivered door-to-door. We also used to have an open house on Christmas day after the worship. Many colleagues and friends of my parents used to come to wish us well. Here in the U.S. we (my husband is a professor at KU) invite our students who cannot go home for holidays. Most of them are not Christians. Buying gifts for them and cooking traditional Indian food gives us great JOY. We do not have kids of our own. We deliver baskets to our neighbors, wishing them merry Christmas and happy holidays. Our neighborhood where we live now is very diverse.
Get the latest updates on visitation status, ongoing safety measures and PMMA’s response to COVID19 on your community website, LawrencePresbyterianManor.org/ covid-19. Visitation status is updated weekly on Mondays for the week ending the following Sunday. Visitation status is updated as needed in between due to outbreak or health department orders. You can also send your loved one a digital Christmas Card from our Art is Ageless® card collection. Email the card to your campus contact for delivery, or send directly to your loved one via their email address. With cases on the rise, we remind you to practice basic safety measures to keep yourselves and others safe from COVID-19. Whenever you leave your residence or are in the presence of others, wear a cloth mask or face covering over your nose and mouth, wash your hands frequently with soap and water or alcohol-based gel, and maintain a safe social distance of six feet or more between yourself and others with whom you do not live. Practicing these simple safety measures can help stop the spread of COVID-19.u
What inspired you to become a chaplain? My dad, the late Rev. Dr. Pooranchand, was an ordained pastor in India.
Chaplain – continued on page 2 Lawrence Presbyterian Manor | A PMMA COMMUNITY
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