25th Anniversary Celebration!

This past weekend we traveled to Connecticut to help the good folks at River Valley Baptist Church in Ansonia, Connecticut celebrate the 25th anniversary of their church. God used us to plant this new work in October of 1987, and after pastoring the work for 18 years, I turned over the reins to Pastor Chris Camp, my able associate of many years. Pastor Camp and the church people put on a wonderful anniversary dinner on Saturday evening, with delicious food made by the church's hospitality committee. The choir sang, and there was special music. Dr. Barry Brown, now the associate pastor at Central Baptist Church in Southington, CT and part of the staff of New England Baptist College, but in 1987 the pastor of White Oak Baptist Church in Stratford, was the special speaker for the evening. It was under Dr. Brown's ministry that I was called to preach, and through his leadership and direction, we were sent to Ansonia to begin the new work. He challenged the church from 1 Corinthians 15:58 to remain steadfast to the task God had called them. He and I received special gifts from the church as tokens of their appreciation, and after the dinner it was time for pictures that will be tokens of remembrance of a wonderful event in the life of the church.
On Sunday, I was privileged to teach the adult Sunday school class and preach both the morning and evening services. It felt good to once again stand in the pulpit before our friends of many years. It was also good to see new faces of those whose lives have been touched by the continued ministry of the church. River Valley will always hold a special place in our hearts as we recall the miracles God performed in the lives of so many over the years. It was difficult to finally go home after the Sunday evening service after emotional "good-byes" were said. Our prayer is that God will continue to bless Pastor Camp and the congregation of River Valley as they continue to remain faithful to God and their calling upon their lives.

Pastor Norm Aabye

A Special Time of Year

October is a special time of year that always brings fond remembrances of God's hand at work. After four weeks of "get acquainted" meetings in the Ansonia Red Cross building, we held the first service of the River Valley Baptist Church in Ansonia, Connecticut on October 25th, 1987, in the gymnasium of the Lincoln-Hayes School. This week marks the 25th Anniversary of that church plant, and we are looking forward to attending the special services, and seeing old friends again. Pastor Barry Brown, who is the assistant pastor at Central Baptist Church in Southington, Connecticut will bring the message Saturday evening at the anniversary banquet. Bro. Brown was the founder and pastor of White Oak Baptist Church in Stratford, Connecticut back in the early '80s, and it was under his preaching that God called me to preach. After many years at White Oak, Pastor Brown became affiliated with the New England Baptist College in Southington, as well as a staff position at Central Baptist. He has always been a good friend in the ministry, and I am looking forward to hearing him deliver the Word of God. I will have the privilege of preaching the Anniversary Sunday morning message at River Valley, am looking forward with great anticipation of standing behind the pulpit once again, of the work God used us to begin. Brother Chris Camp, who was my able associate for many years, is now the pastor at RVBC, and doing a great job of keeping a good testimony for the Lord in the Naugatuck Valley area. The Lord has been faithful to that work for all these years, and there are still some folks at River Valley who were in that first service 25 years ago!
RVBC is our sending church for our missionary work among the elderly in the nursing homes of America. They have stood by us and faithfully supported our work, as well as having a significant presence on the mission fields of the world through a solid church missions program. White Oak Baptist Church, from which we were sent to plant River Valley, also plays a very real part in supporting our present work. Without partners in the ministry like this, we could not be able to make  a difference for the Lord. We do not take it lightly that we represent not only the Lord, but also those faithful friends who share our burden for the lost and who financially help us to remain "full-time" on the field. Our prayer is that if the Lord tarries in His coming, He will raise up others to catch the vision of reaching those who are living literally "on the brink of eternity".

Missionary Pastor,
Norm Aabye

God's Hand At Work!

Autumn is almost on its way out. Cold nights, frost on the ground in the morning, and the colors of the leaves at their peak tells us that the season we dread most is on its way. Of course there's nothing we can do about winter (unless someone has a free plane ride to warmer climates, with free accommodations until the snow's gone!), and the work of the  ministry must go on. We have seen some amazing work by the Holy Spirit as He's worked in the hearts of nursing home residents. Recently we had five individuals (4 men and 1 woman) accept Christ during a service at a facility near our home. To make sure they understood the invitation, I reworked from another angle (!) and again asked them if they would like to receive the Lord as their Saviour. All responded affirmatively. Praise the Lord! We were back at that particular home today. It's sometimes a difficult place to minister because the people are not sick, but are either developmentally handicapped in some way, or have some slight diminished mental capacity. Today several were complaining that no one ever comes to visit them. It was sad, but then one of the men told everyone that I had been his friend for several years. It really choked me up a bit. I then told everyone present that we were aware that most of them seldom had visitors but that's why we were there....we were there friends. We thought the service was going to be disappointing because I had inadvertently left the suitcase of songbooks at home. The people were wondering what we were going to do (they don't do well with disappointment). I said, "Let's all just sing the first verse of the songs you know". What a great time we had, with many lifting their voices loudly to the songs they were familiar with. It was a great service.
Earlier this week, the Lord wrought a great victory. After our service at one of the larger nursing homes in the area, one of the workers approached me and said that the Jehovah's Witnesses had been given a place on the calendar twice a month. When they came for their first service they told the people they were going to teach "Christianity". As they began, the "teacher" told everyone that God had created the angels and then created a "very special angel" named Jesus! Workers and residents were in an uproar, to say the least. The activity director's office is right in the corner where the service was held. She had heard the whole thing. She approached the JW leader and told them they were being removed from the monthly calendar immediately. Praise the Lord for discerning staff members with backbone!
We constantly need your prayers. We are on the front line of the battle for the souls of those nearest eternity.
Thank you to all those who make our continuing ministry possible.

A Need That Does Not Change With The Seasons

September, 2012

Dear Praying Friends,

It seems like the days slip by so quickly, and now here we are at a change of seasons already. The leaves are beginning to change colors on the maple trees and the nights are getting cooler. It won't be long until.....well, you know what comes next!
But, although the seasons may change, the need to provide America's elderly with one more opportunity to hear the gospel continues.  Our services continue to go well in the nursing homes. I wish we had the space in a letter to share with you all the stories of the lives that are being touched daily because of your faithful support of our ministry. Many nursing home staff members consider me as a sort of “chaplain”, and frequently ask if I would stop in to see a particular resident with spiritual concerns after the service. And, occasionally, a staff member will open their heart to us and seek counsel concerning a lost family member or a personal struggle in their life.  We appreciate the level of trust that God has built into our ministry over the past six years.
After our service this past Sunday, one dear Christian lady, that we've become close to over the years, was in tears. She clutched my hand and poured out her heart how she had wronged another resident. She had just asked the lady's forgiveness but needed assurance that things were now right between her and God. I prayed with her and she went back to her room with a big smile on her face. One man that recently trusted Christ has been set upon by the Jehovah's Witnesses .  After a service, I stopped by his room and shared with him  what they don't believe and what the Bible teaches about salvation and about Christ, in particular. It seems that the JW's are in every home, preying upon the elderly. Satan holds out hope to deceive people right down to the last minutes of their lives! Please pray that the power of the Gospel would prevail as we preach and teach the truth of God's Word.

We continue to have a need for giant-print King James Bibles for those who request them. In the past, interested churches have made these available to us, for which we have been extremely grateful. Additionally, we are designing a brochure to enhance our recruiting efforts for those whom God may be calling to full-time missionary service in the nursing homes. We hope to be able to have these brochures printed and ready for our travels this Fall as we present our work in churches and missions conferences.If you would like to help either with the Bibles or the production costs of the brochure, please let us know.
As we seek to bring hope those in "America's fastest growing, yet most neglected mission field", we would appreciate your prayers that 1) more churches would schedule us to present our work, 2) for our car to keep running, now with over 240,000 miles on it(!), and 3) for more people to catch a vision and a burden to establish a C.A.R.E. Ministry in their area. 
As always, we thank God for each of you, and consider you as partners with us in the ministry of reaching the hearts & souls of those “nearest eternity”.

Missionary Pastor Norm Aabye

Staying The Course

Recently we attended a preacher's conference in our state, where God had clearly brought a number of preachers to the pulpit, with the same burden on their hearts, to proclaim His truth. The emphasis of this one-day conference was faithfulness to the task of pastoring and proclaiming, in spite of the many struggles, pitfalls, and discouragements that come the way of the man of God. Without a doubt, the key principle that was brought forth was that, while the great men of the past, such as Moody, Spurgeon, Sunday, etc., have left us a wonderful picture of faithful service, we dare not ONLY look back to them. The future generation is depending on US now to leave them a legacy of faithfulness. The ministry is never going to get any easier. The devil knows his time is short and he will attempt anything to try to dissuade and discourage those who have been called to stand in the pulpits of America and thunder forth "Thus saith the LORD!". Some will fall prey to his schemes, and that will be tragic. But we must never allow the demise of some to turn the rest of us away from serving God. Somewhere out there someone is depending on you and me to stay faithful. 
This is especially true in the area of nursing home ministry. Many in America's nursing homes are literally living "on the brink of eternity", as we say, and they know it! One of the saddest things about ministering among the elderly is that on any given week we can go into a home for our service, only to find that "so-and-so" is missing. During the week they have slipped off into eternity. How important it is to be there as often as we can, proclaiming the wonderful truths of God's Word; laying out the simple plan of salvation before them, that they might trust in Christ. What if we were not there? I know of several nursing homes where we are the ONLY Bible-preaching ministry there! We must stay faithful to our calling. To do this, we rely upon the faithful giving of God's people in churches that see the importance of reaching "America's fastest growing, yet most neglected mission field". In the days ahead, we are asking God to expand our ministry, both through increased giving that will allow us to travel to more nursing homes, and through the development of C.A.R.E. Ministries in other places. We are actively recruiting couples who share our burden to reach this forgotten segment of society. If you are a pastor and would like to have us come to your church and share this unusual ministry, please call us or e-mail us. We would count it a pleasure. Meanwhile, let's stay faithful!

The Season for Missions!

That title may sound a little misleading, for there really isn't a "season" to focus on missions and reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every day, every month, every season of the year is appropriate to tell others of the Good News that Jesus still saves! However, many churches host their annual Missions Conference during the Fall months, usually in September, October or November.  I love missions conferences! The fellowship, the stirring preaching, meeting new missionaries who are serving our Lord around the world....it's all good, as they say.
Pastors, if you are in the process of planning your annual missions conference, would you consider having us come and share how God is working in the hearts and souls of the elderly (and sometimes, not-so-elderly) through the preaching of the gospel in the nursing homes? While the majority of nursing home residents will never leave the "home", we are seeing more and more people who are there on a short term basis for rehabilitation. If these folks can hear the gospel and trust Christ, they will leave as "new creatures" (2 Cor. 5:17), taking the message of hope with them to those they know.  Additionally, we are able to minister to many staff members who are present during our services. We often hear positive remarks from nurses and helpers about the Bible messages. And, a special treat is when we find a man who has preached the gospel all his life, and is now confined to a nursing home, who appreciates hearing the message he has given out to others through the years. This happened just recently in Ohio where a retired pastor told me afte the service, "I wish everyone in this place could have heard this message". I was pleased that his soul was fed and that God's name had been lifted up in the facility.
But here's our concern. As I've spoken to pastors, evangelists, and fellow-missionaries, I am told repeatedly that they haven't seen anyone else with a ministry quite like ours, dealing with multiple nursing homes. Our desire is to help others begin a C.A.R.E. Ministry in other cities and states. With this in mind, we are putting together a new video to show at missions conferences this year that focuses upon our recruiting efforts to find others with a burden to reach this often forgotten segment of society. I believe every Bible-preaching church would benefit from having its people challenged for souls in this way.
Again, if you would like to have us come and help you and your church see what is being done among the nursing homes, please e-mail us at care.ministries@yahoo.com. It would be our privilege to partner with you in this important and timely ministry.

Missionary Pastor, Norm Aabye

A Burden For More!

Although we are enjoying the beautiful summer weather, our thoughts are already on autumn: the season for missions conferences! Since its founding in 2006, C.A.R.E. Ministries has faithfully brought the gospel of God's grace to the residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and Alzheimer care units throughout northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio. As supported missionaries, we have partnered with many churches and individuals who consider our work important enough to help us financially and with their prayers.
While it is exciting and rewarding to see the enthusiasm residents have for the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, the Lord has put a burden on my heart to do and see more. We are moving forward with a vision to see more C.A.R.E. Ministries established throughout America. Although most churches have at least one nursing home that they visit on a regular basis, our desire is to see a duplication of our ministry of multiple homes visited on a rotating basis.
We are looking to present this vision this fall at missions conferences, and are asking God to put a burden upon the hearts of those who may be interested in such a ministry. If your pastor or church would be interested in seeing our video that one man said "smote" his heart, please contact us at our e-mail address. Who knows if God will raise up someone to catch this vision, as Mordecai said to Queen Esther, "for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14)?

Joyful but Sad!

Yesterday we held our service  in the Alzheimer's wing of one of the larger nursing homes in the area. While we are pleased to see so many in attendance to hear the Word of God, at the same time it brings sadness to us as we watch those who we've known for some time drift farther away in their awareness because of this debilitating disease. The service was especially noisy and disruptive, but we press on hoping for that "window of opportunity" to open just enough for the truth of God's love through Christ to find an understanding heart. I just can't imagine what it must be like to sit with family and/or friends and not even know who they are, or where you now live. Recently, I helped one man who wanted to go home, back to his room. I showed him some of his familiar things on his wall and around his room, but he was insistent that this was not where he lived. He just would not go in. Finally, he decided he would stay out in the "family room" with the rest of the people. One lady sadly told me that she did not know where she lived and could I help her find her way.  Surrounded, as we are all the time,  by death and dying plus witnessing the sadness of a disease like Alzheimers, the nursing home ministry is not always joyful.....but oh how necessary!!! Praise God for His grace and mercy towards these dear ones, and for every opportunity we get to share Christ with them.