A Bamboo Grove for the Soul: A Storybook of Spiritual Resources for Caregivers (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781481016551)

Tom Becraft is an award-winning author in the healthcare field. His booklet, "Crossing the Bridge: A Guide to End of Life Issues," received the coveted 2011 Award for Spirituality and Diversity from Planetree, a patient-centered consortium of 600 hospitals in North America, South America, Asia, Europe and Australia. Becraft is Lead Chaplain at Kadlec Regional Medical Center, a 270-bed Level II Trauma hospital in Richland, WA. Concurrent with the award for "Crossing the Bridge," KRMC became one of just 16 Designated Planetree Patient-Centered Hospitals around the world, distinguishing itself for its advanced work in attending to the whole person. Prior to transitioning into healthcare chaplaincy in 2005, Becraft served as a bilingual campus chaplain, college and high school educator and ordained minister at schools and churches in Japan, Hawaii and America's Northwest. He became a Board Certified Chaplain in the Association of Professional Chaplains in 2008. Each day he translates over three decades of cross-cultural ministry into attentiveness toward the needs, wishes, and choices of patients, families and hospital staff, companioning with them on a quest for release from the shackles of emotional and spiritual pain. Becraft has a master's degree (1980) in religion from Andrews University with a concentration in inter-religious, cross-cultural studies, and additional graduate work in education and counseling. His undergraduate degree was in theology with a minor in journalism (1974). While living in Japan he wrote two books in Japanese, one of which became a continuing education text for Japanese clergy. "A Bamboo Grove for the Soul" is Tom's first full-length book in English.