Winter can be pretty dreary. All the colors of Autumn have disappeared and the scenery is reduced to grays and whites. But we take heart, because Spring is on the way with all its evidence of new life! Pardon me if I use this as a lead-in to talk a little about the nursing home ministry. Those whose lives have been reduced to a small shared room with a bureau and a side chair, have little to look forward to. Spring for them will be no different than Summer...or Autumn...or Winter. The seasons become irrelevant behind the walls of America's nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and Alzheimer units. While activity departments do their best to provide entertainment and diversions for residents, they cannot meet the deepest need the human heart has: a relationship with God. We have been privileged over the past 10 years to bring the life-changing message of the Gospel of the grace of God to the nursing homes of northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio. We are thankful for the faithful support of churches and individuals who believe in what we are doing, and make it possible for us to keep a busy schedule ministering in the homes.
Once again we were able to spend Christmas and New Years with our son and his family in southwest Missouri. While there I was able to share in a service at the local nursing home where my son, Jason, preaches each Sunday morning. He has developed a real rapport with the folks there and gave me an opportunity to share with the residents a little about our ministry.
Upon our return, we started in on our busy schedule for 2016. Although we minister in ten nursing homes in the two states, some are visited more frequently than others, depending on the nursing home's calendar of activities. One of the places we minister in is the Golden Living Center at Walnut Creek in Erie, PA. Due to scheduling changes (both theirs and ours) over several months, we have missed visiting this facility. When we began the service we found that except for one or two people, the whole crowd was new to us. After the music portion of our service, where I play the guitar (the residents really love the guitar!), I felt unusual freedom as I preached the gospel. At the invitation several individuals responded to trust Christ as their Saviour. Now, there is nothing especially unusual about that. We have been blessed to see God save so many over the years. But what I want to emphasize is the fact that, for the most part, this service was made up of all new people. Every time we go into a nursing home, the possibility exists that some who have attended our services before have passed on; some having trusted Christ, some not. This is an URGENT MINISTRY! Statistics show that only 10% of all nursing home residents know Christ as Saviour. That means that the majority are merely religious and have no hope of Heaven. We must reach them while there is time. The "winter" of their lives is fast approaching. Only the Gospel can bring a "spring" of new life to them.Unfortunately, reaching the elderly in the nursing homes is not a high priority for most churches. Missionary efforts and support are usually relegated to church planting or the foreign field. I do not discount the importance of either of those. I have been involved in church planting myself back in Connecticut. But the nursing home is an ever-growing, never fully reached mission field that is literally right in our "back yard"! We would appreciate your prayers for our work. We hope that one day others would catch the burden and the vision for reaching "America's fastest growing, yet most neglected people group". We would love to see other multiple-nursing home ministries started across America. If you would be interested in such a ministry, please contact us.
Missionary Pastor,
Norm Aabye
