A Ministry Not Without Its Difficulties!

Recently, our ministry to the nursing homes and rehabilitation centers of northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio have been, well, to say the least....interesting! I don't share the following information to scare off anyone considering a nursing home ministry, but to bring a sense of reality to the work.

While most of the time, our services are orderly and very much appreciated, on occasion they present a real challenge. Such was the case recently while at a local nursing home with some of our church folks. The facility is undergoing renovations, and as a result, has lost or misplaced the songbooks that we use for our services. One was located for me to use so I could lead the singing, but some of the residents became agitated, wanting a book of their own. We had a pretty good attendance that day and it was getting crowded near the door. Several had to be moved around, and that created some confusion. When someone does NOT want to be moved, you're headed for trouble! Priscilla was trying to help out, and one lady grabbed her arm and pinched her. Then her skirt was grabbed and pulled. Finally, one of our church ladies ran to her rescue! One man, who seems to be on a downward trend, kept getting up and moving his chair around. Meanwhile, just outside the door of the activity room, where some other folks from our church were sitting, there was more commotion going on that I found out about later. BUT....despite all of this, a man trusted Christ after the preaching! God seems to override even the most distracting circumstances to bring people to salvation.
Unfortunately, we had to make a decision to discontinue our ministry in another facility. For some time now, we have had some troubles in this home, ever since new management assumed control. They have gone through a number of activity directors, and now have someone in that capacity who was formerly in another facility we ministered in that is now closed. This particular place has no decent room for us to meet in and we have been moved from a dining area to a small room to a hallway with heavy traffic of people interrupting the service by their passing through. I always call the staff if, for some reason, we are not able to fulfill our service on a given day (doctor's visits, illness, car trouble, etc.), but time and again, we have showed up only to find out we're not on the schedule for the day. The other day, after hurrying to pick up my wife from her volunteer work at Foundation Christian School (Pastor Phil Thomas' school) so we could get to the nursing home on time, we arrived once more to find out they hadn't planned on us coming. We decided the time has come to remove this facility from our schedule and look for an opening in another. There's a sense in which this is discouraging because we hate to give up on anyone, but there is also a sense of relief from the frustration of a less-than-positive attitude on the part of the facility's management and staff.
On the positive side, we had a great service at the Walnut Creek Golden Living Center in Erie the other day. While no one expressed interest in trusting Christ, there were many positive comments of appreciation from the residents for our being there, and a first-time visitor who just arrived at the facility the day before, who took a gospel tract. 
The nursing home ministry is extremely rewarding, but you have to learn to balance out the good days with the bad. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

"Living On The Edge"

There is a phrase we sometimes hear when someone who seems to be adventurous risks their life again and again for the sake of thrills or notoriety. We say they are "living on the edge". Well, there's a motto we've used in our ministry to the nursing homes for the past ten years: "Bringing the Gospel to Those Living on the Brink of Eternity!" Now, I'm pretty sure residents of the nursing homes are not adventurous or planning on doing anything that would risk their lives for the sake of thrills or notoriety...but even if they don't know it, they are "living on the edge"; the edge of Eternity! Unless someone is temporarily placed in a nursing home facility for rehabilitation purposes, residents are aware that their final days will no doubt take place right where they are. How important it is, then, that we be there repeatedly with a clear gospel presentation and an invitation to accept Christ as their Saviour. We cannot be sure of everyone's spiritual state who attends our regular services in the nursing homes, but we rejoice when someone openly responds to the invitation and asks Jesus Christ to save them. Such was the case just this past week when a man named Bob came to one of our services for the first time. I saw him sitting in the front row, where he was being helped to find the songs in the book we were using. I preached about the resurrection of Christ and Jesus' words, "because I live, ye shall live also" (John 14:19). And, I spoke of the fact that if the resurrection is not true, we are yet in our sins, and any faith in Jesus Christ is misplaced (1 Corinthians 15). But if it is true, then all will be raised one day, either to enjoy God's presence forever, or to experience eternal separation from Him. When the invitation was given Bob's hand immediately went up. After the service was over, I went over to him to verify that he had indeed trusted Christ. I was able to give him some large-print material to take with him that had been provided to us by a man interested in our ministry some time ago. I don't know yet if Bob will be a permanent resident at the home but if his decision was true, I know he'll be a permanent resident of Heaven one day! Please pray for Bob and for others who hear the message of the gospel every week. There is one worker at this particular facility who seemed interested but has not yet taken the step of faith. We are grateful for each church that believes in what we are doing. Winning the lost doesn't just take place on a foreign field somewhere. The nursing home is a field that is always "white unto harvest", and its residents are extremely open to hearing of God's forgiveness and eternal life. We appreciate your trust in us to be faithful to God's call upon our lives to reach this often forgotten people group.
On a different note, back in October of last year I stepped on a scale while visiting our son in Missouri. We didn't own a scale so I hadn't weighed myself in a long time. Boy was I surprised! I determined I was going to have to do something to lose some pounds. Priscilla and I started on a low-carb diet that has brought some very pleasing results. No expensive dieting programs, or ordering specialized foods on a monthly basis. No meetings to attend, and no counting calories. We just changed our eating habits, cutting out sugars and carbohydrate-loaded foods, I have lost almost 40 pounds, and my wife has lost over 30! We feel great, have more energy, and our blood pressures are down. In addition I now have a whole new wardrobe....clothes that have hung in my closet for years that I haven't been able to wear, until now! It's good to have people in the nursing homes ask "Have you lost weight?" and to be able to tell them our story. We give all the glory to God, who enabled us to discipline ourselves to stick to our plan.
If you are a pastor and would like to schedule us for a meeting to show a video of our work among the elderly of Pennsylvania and Ohio, or conduct a seminar for your church on beginning a nursing home ministry, please e-mail us at care.ministries@yahoo.com.