Back In Action!

 
First of all, let me apologize for not updating our blog. As many of you know, 2023 was a difficult year for us. I was diagnosed with "advanced, agressive" Stage 4 Prostate Cancer early in the year. This sent our lives into a tailspin! Sicne that time I have numerous doctors appointments, tests, and then radiation treatments at the Hillman Cancer Center in Erie,, PA. In addition, I am on a number of meds and hormone injections. As a result of all of this, we had to curtail most of our nursing home visits in order to keep me from contacting any sickness with my immune system somewhat compromised. 

But all this is changing.  My most recent PSA test number has dropped to 0.45! That means that the treatments and the meds are doing what they're supposed to do. Even though there is no cure for this cancer (it has metastisized into three places in my bones, also), the treatments are designed to provide a better quality of life while we battle this insidious disease. 

In addition, we have resumed our ministry to the nursing homes and God has even opened up a new facility to us, the Niagara Village senior living center in Erie, PA. What a beautiful place! We had our first service there the beginning of March and they are eager to have us back. We even received a nice card from one of the dear ladies who attended our service, expressing her appreciation and her looking forward to our return. The nursing homes are all excited about having us back on schedule, as you can imagine.

We have also begun to minister in an Alzheimer care unit in one of our larger facilities. The Activity Director there was not sure if we would feel comfortable there, but we love being able to see the "windows of remembrance" open in these dear folks' hearts and minds as they begin to sing along with the songs and hymns they have recalled from days gone by.

I would like to extend a hearty "Thank You!" to all our supporting churches and individuals who have been financially and prayerfully faithful to us during this past year. The Lord  has supplied all our needs through His people. We love you all and appreicate your standing with us during this time.

Of course there may come a time when we will no longer be able to continue this ministry, but we are trusting in the Lord to make that a long way off! In the meantime, we will continue to bring the gospel to those "living on the brink of eternity.

Pastor Norm Aabye

P.S. to Year's End

I try to stay away from talking about any of the negative experiences we have in the course of our ministering in the nursing homes. For the most part, it has been wonderful these past 16 years!  However, things seem to be rapidly changing. Now, if you are the pastor of a church that has one or two nursing homes that you visit, you may not have experienced much in the way of restrictions (except for the COVID fiasco!) or change over the past few years. But because we are in many facilities, we see a much broader picture. 

When we first began C.A.R.E. Ministries in 2006, many of the Activity Directors were born-again Christians who really had a heart for the type of ministry we brought. They went out of their way to accommodate our needs and there were literally no restrictions on what I could preach or how we could minister. However, with very few exceptions, the spiritual landscape of the nursing homes has changed and is changing for the worse. The new breed of Activity Director seems to be younger and less spiritually-minded than their predecessors. One facility where we, as well as our local church, have ministered for many years, has a new AD that has never returned my calls in the past year! I leave messages and explain that we'd like to get back in and could she explain any COVID restrictions, etc., but to no avail. Not even a returned phone call. Amazing. Yet we see on their Facebook page  other people apparently carrying out some kind of activities in the nursing home. Another facility has also made it very difficult for us to return. Again, frequent phone calls to see if their restrictions have dropped have not resulted in even a returned call.

One of the larger facilities that we have ministered in since our beginning, has been closed to us but recently called inviting us to come back in January. We were so excited, but it was short-lived. I received a call the other day informing me that they had "hired" a woman to come in and do Bible studies. The AD told me they also had a chaplain, so they wouldn't be needing us anymore. Of course, those who know their Bible understand that the apostle Paul made it clear that women are prohibited from teaching men (even in a mixed group): 1Ti 2:12  But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. The word "suffer" means "allow". God has a  certain "chain of command", so to speak, when it comes the handling of His Word. The Bible does not allow for women preachers or pastors or Bible study leaders (unless it is a women's group). Now, I understand that the administration at the nursing home may not know or may not care what the Bible says, but as someone in the ministry for the past 35 years, I can see "the handwriting on the wall", so to speak. What do I mean?

A new generation of workers fresh out of college with a "woke" philosophy fresh in their minds; nursing homes that are being bought out by large healthcare corporations who frankly are looking only at the "bottom line" of profits; and a society that is becoming more and more alienated towards Bible-based Christianity. If the Lord tarries in His return, I believe we can expect less interest in spiritual things from the nursing homes...the very place where people are "living on the brink of Eternity" and want someone to come and share with them the truth of the Word of God!

It may sound like I'm "venting" here, but I wanted you to know what we are up against in trying to reach a larger number of nursing homes with the gospel. Although the world seems like it's spinning out of control, we are thankful that we still serve a God who has everything under His control. Pray with us that He will open the doors to greater opportunity to minister in the nursing homes in the coming year while there is still time.

Pastor
Norm Aabye

C.A.R.E. Ministries

Year End Wrap-up

 

December, 2022

Dear Praying Friends,

As we close out this year of ministry to the nursing homes, we want to thank each of you for your faithful prayers and financial support during 2022. Needless to say, this past year has been an unusual time for our ministry. With the relaxing of some of the COVID restrictions, a number of our nursing homes have been slowly opening to us again. It is amazing that there are so many differences in the current restrictions, everything from just wearing a mask into the facility but not wearing it once we’re ministering, to ‘facial recognition’ machines, checking of temperatures, and even standing behind a plastic shield! Some have refused to allow us back in because, although we had the virus before, we have not been vaccinated. However, beginning in January, we will be ministering once again in one of the larger facilities here in Pennsylvania that had previously held to stringent restrictions, including the necessity of vaccinations. They have relaxed their restrictions and we are looking forward to getting back to this facility where there had been much fruitfulness for the gospel in the pre-COVID days.

Currently we are ministering at: Rolling Fields Eldercare (the largest facility in this part of PA), Juniper Village (where we are now inside, but held a tremendous outdoor service in late summer), Embassy Park (where the least restrictions make the service enjoyable, rather than bearable!), Fairview Manor (the have gone out of their way to make it possible for us to be there), Walnut Creek Nursing & Rehabilitation Center (we only have to wear mask “in the hallways”?!), and the Crawford County Care Center (where we’ll start again in January). We have three more facilities that we are trying to get back into, but so far have been refused.

One of our larger nursing homes south of here was eager to have us back and called saying we only had to wear mask. After a 45 minute drive, we arrived only to find out that I would have to wear a mask while preaching and singing and playing my guitar (extremely difficult, and not necessary as I was no closer than 20 feet to the people!) and Priscilla was told she could not pass out the song books to anyone, and had to retrieve the ones she already had I asked where they were getting their restrictions from and when they told me we had a conversation about what other nursing homes were doing to allow us in. The staff would not bend and unfortunately, we packed up and headed home. Pray that the administration at this nursing home would be willing to allow us back with minimal or no restrictions. As you can probably tell, this is turning into an extremely frustrating situation. If COVID variants return this winter in any force, I can only imagine what will happen to our ministry. Thankfully, one Activity Director told me that they will NOT shut down again. If anyone tests positive at their nursing home, they will simply move them to a separate wing. Makes good sense.

So, pray for us, when God brings us to mind. The nursing homes will never be unnecessary and will continue to be populated with those who are “living on the brink of eternity”. We pray that 2023 will be a more fruitful year in reaching these dear folks who are without a pastor, without a church, and without the Gospel. Thank you again for standing with us.

Norm & Priscilla Aabye

C.A.R.E. Ministries

"Slow, But Sure"

 August 3, 2022

As Summer begins to wind down, we're not quite sure how to anticipate what will take place in the nursing home ministry in the months ahead. Although COVID seems to have slowed down, the "variants" continue to create problems with our getting back into the facilities that we have ministered in for the past 15 years. Some have allowed us come back with minimal restrictions, such as wearing masks. Others, though, continue to require us to be vaccinated or tested on a regular basis. One has gone so far as to expect us to not only wear a mask but goggles as well. Obviously, there is a broad interpretation concerning protective measurements even within the same county. There's really not much we can do about this, so in addition to preaching in those places that have opened to us, we continue our weekly Friday morning devotional, Making A Difference, which is available for Activity Directors to pick up and "cast" from their phones onto a large screen TV before a group at the home.  

Several years ago, we produced a brief video to show in church missions conferences that had  an emphasis on recruiting people to duplicate our style of multiple nursing home ministries in various areas around the country. We have statistics for states and metropolitan areas that can help retired missionaries, retired pastors, or just those with a heart for reaching the elderly with the gospel, to develop a ministry similar to ours. Recently we have received texts from pastors who have people in their churches who are interested in beginning a nursing home ministry through their local church. We were able to supply not only information on developing an on-line ministry to one interested party in the mid-west, but in another case were able to supply a church down south with copies of several of our videos that really stirred the individual's heart for the work.  It is obvious that more people are seeing the need to reach what we have referred to as "the people group living on the brink of eternity!"  While our main purpose in sharing our ministry in churches remains encouraging partnership by supporting our work, we see now that recruitment and helping to start similar ministries is also of vital importance. If you would like us to come to your church to challenge your people in this way, please contact us.

Recently I had the opportunity to 
preach an outdoor service.

One more point of interest. After 35 years in the ministry, I am keenly aware that "home" missions, such as the nursing home ministry, are often not given the priority in a church's missions program. Some might even believe that such a ministry will not bear fruit for the church. But let me share something with you. Before COVID, we met a husband and wife in one of our larger facilities. They were solid Christians who had served the Lord for decades. The husband was no longer able to be at home and required nursing home care. Week after week, the wife brought her husband to our services. Finally, she began attending our church. In one of the most unusual circumstances, they both joined the church....he, without ever attending, but wanting to be part of Bible-preaching ministry before he passed!  As she shared her testimony for membership, she also spoke of her husband's salvation, which I had verified in a conversation with him. Eventually, the husband passed, and I was privileged to perform his memorial service. Turns out that the wife had been a Sunday School teacher and played the piano. She now leads our women's Bible study, plays both the piano and organ in our services, and has been such a blessing to our church ministry.. In addition, her granddaughter and family have also begun attending. All because of our nursing home ministry! Of course we don't minister for what we can get out of it, but because of the desire to put something (or Someone!) into the lives of those who recognize their need for the Saviour.

Well, the Lord can make a way and open doors. We are relying upon Him to continue to make our ministry fruitful and to allow us entrance back into the homes on our previous schedule. In the meantime, we would appreciate your prayers and we thank all of  you for your faithful support.

The Aabyes

C.A.R.E. Ministries/ Making A Difference

"Stopped In Our Tracks!"

 

Winter 2021

Dear Praying Friends,

“Two weeks to flatten the curve” has turned into almost two years, and unfortunately there seems to be no end in sight to the COVID virus. Every facet of society has been negatively affected in some way. In our area, churches are still shutting down from time to time as cases pop up. The arrival of the flu season complicates the matter even more.

I wish I could give you some encouraging news, but there is no “beating around the bush”, as they say. Our nursing home ministry in both Ohio and Pennsylvania has suffered greatly due to restrictions and closures. Strangely, I was allowed into one local facility to be with a family whose loved one was dying, but we continue to be shut out from having in-person services.

We continue our “live-stream” Friday morning Bible studies into the nursing homes each week on Facebook. I recently received a favorable reply from one of our nursing homes who just learned about these video studies, and that they expressed they were going to pass along the information. All we can hope for is that those Activity Directors who feel our ministry is valuable will share this within their network with other AC’s as well.

We are grateful to the Lord for watching over us, keeping us healthy, and supplying our needs, and are humbled by the fact that all of our supporting churches have faithfully stayed with us through this difficult time. If there was something more we could do to minister more effectively, believe me, we would be doing it. We have had a tremendous relationship with all of the nursing homes that we have ministered in for the past 15 years, and I know they are as anxious as we are to have us back in their facilities.

Obviously, the greatest need is prayer. Prayer that the “pandemic” would cease. Prayer that the nursing homes would allow us full access without any restrictions. Prayer that God would save souls through our Friday morning video Bible studies. May God continue to bless you as you minister in your corner of His field through the holidays and into the coming year!

Sincerely,

Pastor Norm Aabye

Is No News, Good News?

Well, you've probably heard the saying, "No news is good news". But is it? Not necessarily. I know it's been some time since we've provided any kind of update from the mission field of the nursing homes. We honestly do not have much to report. The COVID virus continues to limit  our ministry, at least from an in-person standpoint. But we have not ceased in our attempt to bring the gospel to those who are "living on the brink of eternity". 

In our last update I shared that earlier in the year I had developed a Friday morning Bible study designed for the nursing homes called "Making A Difference". With a weekly half-hour format, I have continued to bring relevant Bible messages that can be used by those in the nursing home activity departments for group watching. The good news is that the comments have been positive from those who have made this a part of their calendar of activities. The residents have missed us (and we, them) and are eager to have us back with our normal schedule services.

The bad news is that by and large the nursing homes remain closed to us, as well as most outside ministries or visitors. When some of the homes thought it would be safe to open, a breakout of new COVID cases occurred, causing them to shut down again. For those who are trying to accommodate outside ministries, the restrictions range from the difficult to the almost ridiculous. Most require that we show proof of vaccination for COVID, which we have not yet chosen to do. My wife has a low tolerance for shots. And, as you probably remember from last summer's report, we both had cases of COVID back in August. Over the past several months, my wife has had surgery and numerous medical tests (she is okay). Through all of this, one of my wife's doctors told her that she probably shouldn't get the vaccine, especially since we probably have a sufficient degree of immunity from having had the virus. I know this is a controversial topic, but we have repeatedly been told this by many in the medical profession this year. Frankly, we are in agreement with some nurses and doctors that we have chatted with, that there are too many unknowns associated with the vaccines, and would like to allow some time to see how this all pans out in the coming year before we decide what to do. 

That being said, there is no way to predict when we will be allowed to get back into the nursing homes in person. We will continue the Friday morning "live-streaming" videos, and will keep in contact with Activity Directors. We will also look for new avenues to reach individuals and groups within the homes.  Believe me, they are as eager as we are to have us back. In the meantime, we appreciate your faithfulness in standing with us in this much needed ministry. 

Pastor Norm Aabye

C.A.R.E. Ministries/"Making A Difference"

Making A Difference!

Well, here we are just days away from Christmas, 2020! It has been a difficult year for our ministry and we so much appreciate those churches and individuals who have faithfully stood by us during this time. The COVID-19 virus has all but brought our in-person nursing home ministry to a halt! Although I have been in contact with Activity Directors, the news they provide about possible soon re-openings is not very positive. 

With that in mind, we are beginning a new video ministry this month that we hope and pray will be an encouragement to those who have been isolated for so long with no personal visits. Our verse for our ministry has been Jude 22: "Of some have compassion, making a difference",  so we are calling this video ministry, "Making A Difference". Each Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. I will be doing a live-stream service, on my Facebook page, similar to what we normally do in the homes, with music and a Bible study. We have contacted the Activity Directors in the facilities in which we minister, asking them to make this on-line ministry available to those interested via the television network in the homes, or to individuals in their rooms on their tablets, laptops, or cell phones. So far, the response of this anticipated new ministry has been very positive. 

If you are reading this, and are an Activity Director in a nursing home, or are an employee of a nursing, or have a loved one or friend in a nursing home, or are a Pastor who has had a nursing home ministry that has been curtailed by the pandemic, we would appreciate you letting those who are in charge of activities in your local facility know about this ministry opportunity. One of the benefits of doing this on my Facebook page is that the services will remain available on the page, so that if the activity department is not able to view the Bible study "live, they can access it at another time more convenient to them. 

The days in which we live require us to take innovative steps to continue to proclaim the Gospel. We are asking God to use this social-media ministry to reach those who otherwise might not have access to solid, Bible-oriented teaching. May God continue to bless you this season as you serve the One who is the "Reason for the Season"!

Pastor Norm Aabye

"Making A Difference"