The Adventist Health System (AHS) has a Spiritual Ambassador program. Two entities in the AHS, Shawnee Mission Medical Center and the Florida Hospital system, run large and very active Spiritual Ambassador programs. Shawnee Mission Medical Center is located in Merriam, Kansas, which is part of the area of Shawnee Mission, Kansas. Florida Hospital is a system of numerous hospitals, clinics and other types of outpatient centers in a large part of Florida. Florida Hospital administers its Spiritual Ambassador program from the Florida Hospital Mission Development center in Orlando, Florida.Sometimes the Spiritual Ambassador program is called the SAFE program. SAFE stands for Spiritual Ambassadors for Everyone. To serve, one does not have to be an Adventist, but one does have to be a Christian.
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Florida Hospital system
At both Shawnee Mission and Florida Hospital Spiritual Ambassadors are hospital employees who have a desire to provide Christian service above and beyond their job duties. The Florida Hospital program feels employees become Spiritual Ambassadors as a result of answering God's call to serve as a Spiritual Ambassador. Florida Hospital provides a half day of training for its Spiritual Ambassadors. Representatives from the Mission Development center coordinate the training sessions. The training involves the use of a flyer and a thirty-six page booklet, as well as audiovisual materials.
The booklet Spiritual Ambassadors: Living Our Passion, says a Spiritual Ambassador can extend Christ's healing ministry by experiencing and helping others experience trust, belonging and hope. A Spiritual Ambassador can become involved in a variety of activities to serve. This same booklet lists thirty such activities and this list is not intended to be all inclusive. For instance, many Spiritual Ambassadors lead or coordinate daily work unit devotions and set up prayer and devotion boards in their units. They also sometimes have devotion and prayer updates in departmental meetings and newsletters. They also sometimes act as liaisons between patients and hospital chaplains.
Some hospitals have utilized Spiritual Ambassadors for various outreach programs. Florida Hospital Heartland Division encourages its Ambassadors to record devotion messages in its "Dial-A-Devotion" program. Various hospitals have set up food pantries to help employees who have fallen on difficult times. Also, one hospital holds a single parent Christmas party to help employee single parents enjoy Christmas more fully. Some hospitals have set up programs to provide clean clothing to emergency department patients in need of clothing.
Shawnee Mission Medical Center
Shawnee Mission Medical Center describes the SAFE program in a series of videos on the internet. A paragraph of text accompanies the video sites: "The aim of SAFE is to provide support to the associates of each hospital unit/department at [the hospital], and to the people they serve, through the intentional service of a peer who has both the gifts and training of a caring ministry. The Spiritual Ambassador will give encouragement during times of stress, lend crisis support, all while modeling the principle of our mission - Improving health through Christian Service." The mission of Florida Hospital is stated a bit differently. It is "Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ."
Shawnee Mission has six videos. In each one a different Spiritual Ambassador talks about his or her experiences as a Spiritual Ambassador. While all the persons talk about different subjects, they each say the position is used by them to spread hope, encouragement and faith in God.