For One Soul: The Life of Naren James

At age 58, it was the third time in his life he had colon cancer. The first time was in 2007 at age 45. In one of his presentations describing his journey, Naren James made sure to preemptively counter any critics, “And that happened despite eating vegan, for all you vegans out there.”

The first impressions of him aren’t one of devotion. Yet devotion is what has marked the life of this man. Naren James is a middle aged and stands at 5 foot 6 inches with a slight hunch and glasses. He has the gift of gab and speaks with a West Indian accent. 

As a teenager, Naren accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior and was baptized into the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. He attended medical school in Montemorellos in Mexico, the only Adventist medical school outside the United States at the time. As a medical student he would spend Sabbaths going into the mountains working with pastors and providing free healthcare. Despite the naysayers, an entire village was brought to Jesus and Naren became convinced of the effectiveness of medical ministry. 

Naren then did family medicine residency in the US and subsequently opened up a practice in Kentucky. During the busyness of it all, Naren lost sight of his first love of serving the Lord. It was during this time that Naren fell into debt. His practice struggled to make ends meet. During this time, Naren fell into a depression. God felt far away. It was during this low point when Naren picked up the Ministry of Healing and began to read. His relationship with God was renewed. Naren was actually already personal ministries director at his church. But his life had a strict dichotomy – his career and then his ministry to the church. What Naren began to realize was that every patient encounter was an opportunity to minister for Christ. It was this paradigm shift that revived Naren’s practice. Patients weren’t just opportunities for business but chances for ministry. He now went from patient room to patient room with a lightness in his step and clarity of purpose. 

Battling Cancer

Then at age 45, Naren had an episode of bleeding and was found to have colon cancer. It would be the first of three occurrences.

Incidentally, Naren had been praying for what he calls an “expanded ministry.” Several characters in Scripture underwent an expanded ministry after a near-death experience. Queen Esther risked her life to ask for the favor of protecting her people from genocide. King David went toe-to-toe before Goliath forever establishing his reputation as a courageous warrior of God. Daniel took multiple risks – from refusing the king’s food, to not bowing before the Babylon Statue and thus thrown into a furnace, to openly praying and hence thrown into a lion’s den – and each brush with death resulted in a greater ministry. 

Successes in Adversity

Only a few years before diagnosis, Naren had helped found the Adventist Medical Evangelism Network – an organization that inspires physicians, dentists and pastors during an annual conference with up to 500 in attendance annually. A couple years later after his initial cancer diagnosis, Naren would help found the Life and Health Network – a media company dedicated to medical ministry. 

Even with his fight against cancer, Naren implemented one of the most innovative medical ministry programs at his Bluegrass Clinic in Kentucky. He hired both a Bible worker and a public health educator from Loma Linda University. The program used Don Hall’s Eight Weeks to Wellness and Neil Nedley’s Depression Recovery Program. Typically these programs run at a cost to the patient. Naren billed insurances for a group medical appointment and thus made the program affordable to patients and even profitable to the clinic. A profitable program meant this could be sustained. Any patient with a lifestyle related illness such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity and even chronic pain was referred to the program. In fact, those with chronic pain on narcotics were required to go through the program. One disgruntled patient who hated the requirement complained to the Kentucky State Medical Board and the clinic was thus audited. The audit meant Naren risked losing contracts with Medicare and Medicaid which could result in shutting down the clinic. Fortunately, Naren had data. He tracked how effective the program was in brining down weight, blood pressure and other factors. The physician performing the audit came to the following conclusion: The clinic had no irregularities. In fact, the program was “fantastic” and more physicians should be implementing the same. 

Though the practice and program had a good chance at sustainability, it would be cut short. Naren would have a recurrence of colon cancer. This time spreading to his lungs and spine. Naren was forced to sell the practice at a reduced price. 

Battling Cancer Round 2

Naren battled cancer and was put on multiple regiments that didn’t seem to work. At last, Naren was put on a regiment that his oncologist didn’t even think was going to work. A few weeks later, Naren sat down with his oncologist, “Naren, the treatment is working. Your response is in the 95th percentile.” That’s a doctor’s fancy way of saying, “It’s a miracle!” 

With the cancer behind him, Naren went on to found the non-profit clinic Optimal Health Center in Chatanooga. He again envisioned a clinic seeking to save souls at its core. This wouldn’t be just a mission statement. The clinic would hire a chaplain who would be a liaison to other churches in addition to providing Bible studies to interested patients. 

Battling Cancer Round 3

Alas, the clinic would have its share of financial troubles. The vision attracted physicians and staff, however, the number of patients coming into the practice could not sustain its structure. Naren had to begin cost cutting measures and fundraising. It took about two years, but he finally got to the point where the clinic was financially sustainable. Then 2020 rolled around – a year many anticipated to be great – and Naren experienced severe low back pain. Imaging and evaluation by his doctors would determine a third occurrence of the malignancy. The cancer was back again. Naren contacted the board of the nonprofit group and actions were taken to liquidate the assets of the clinic. The dream of the clinic was over. 

A Battle for One Soul

One wonders whether or not the last couple of Naren’s life – pouring his time, finances and energy into the Optimal Health Center – was a waste. Naren doesn’t think so. He points to his patient Ernell Bates. Mr. Bates was an African-American gentlemen with multiple uncontrolled health conditions. His sister, the last family member, died a year ago and the evangelical congregation he belonged to neglected him. Naren referred him to the care of a volunteer chaplain Mr. Baldwin. Mr. Baldwin studied with him every week and helped Mr. Bates find a Seventh-Day Adventist Church who accepted him with open arms. 

Naren writes how he saw both Mr. Bates and Mr. Baldwin in a conference room over Skype with their masks on due to COVID-19. When Mr. Baldwin asked about baptism and Mr. Bates answered yes, Naren asked to see his face. The smile of his patient made Naren tearful. Unfortunately, weeks before his baptism, Mr. Bates would succumb to his chronic illness. His life is gone but his salvation sure. 

The future of Naren’s life is uncertain. But his heart certainly reflects his Heavenly Father’s: one of loving devotion. Naren’s life is best summed up in the words of his own newsletter when introducing Mr. Bates story, “The journey for this ministry over the past 18 months has been quite rocky for me personally and I have often questioned many of my judgments along the way including the very decision to start this ministry. However, after all of it today this experience just reminded me of the lengths to which heaven would go to save one soul.”

Like a shepherd going after one sheep, the perfect adjective for Naren’s life is this: devoted. 

Personal Note: Pray for my friend, Naren, this week. He’s going through a lot.