Changing Times

Yesterday we were ministering at Fairview Manor, a beautiful nursing home facility just on the outskirts of Erie, Pennsylvania. The attendance was sizeable, and the people joyfully participated in the singing of gospel songs they have been familiar with most of their lives. When I preached from John 4 on Jesus meeting the woman at the well, the people were listening very attentively as I emphasized how that the fact that Jesus "must needs go through Samaria" is a parallel to how He meets each one of us at the time and place of our greatest need. Although no one responded to the invitation for salvation, I felt comfortable that the gospel message of God's love and grace was presented carefully. Many years ago, one man said this: "Personal evangelism is simply presenting Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit...and leaving the results to God!" There have been a number of times over the years where we have learned later on that someone has gone back to their room, thinking about what they've heard in our service, and trusted Christ on their own. We have to be very careful that we are not guilty of trying to "manipulate" people into the kingdom of God! I have been in services where the preacher/evangelist has stretched out the invitation time, almost begging people to come to Christ. If the message of the cross is presented clearly and an opportunity is given to respond by faith to trust Christ as Saviour, then the results are what God wants at that moment. There may be one saved, several saved, or none at that moment. I have always believed that if we pray before we preach, asking the Holy Spirit to work in hearts, then when the service is over, it's over. God has done what He has chosen to do in the hearts and lives of those present.
After the service at Fairview was over, I had a chance to talk with the activity person. She apologized as she told us they had to cancel our services in November and December due to conflicts in the scheduling of other activies. She was genuinely sorry we could not be there, and she didn't like having to cancel like this. Usually they have a set day and time for us that cannot be changed because of other activities, but we asked her "How about another day?" We happen to have some Thursdays open in those two months and were able to fit Fairview into those days. The activity person was estatic! She kept thanking us for adapting our schedule to her needs (almost like Jesus going through Samaria to meet the woman at the well!). We told her that those Thursdays were open because of our having dropped another nursing home off our schedule because of their lack of interest in our ministry.  The facility had "changed hands" and many times we would arrive only to find out they didn't have us on the calendar for that day (and this after ministering there almost 10 years!). I mentioned this in another post, but many of the independent nursing homes are being bought out by larger corporations, who, unfortunately, have little concern for the spiritual welfare of their residents. They have designed or redesigned their facilities with no designated place for church services (or if they have a "chapel", it has been designed as a "meditation room" for only a few people at a time). We also see some of the larger nursing homes moving towards short-term "rehabilitation" centers. In some ways this changes the structure of how the nursing home operates, but for us, we see it as an opportunity to reach people with the gospel who are coming for a short stay and then resuming their normal life activities. There is no doubt that we have seen quite a few changes in the ten years we have been ministering in the nursing homes of northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio. But, regardless of this, there is one thing that will never change: mankind's need for a genuine relationship with  God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. And, as long as God allows, we shall remain faithful to His calling to bring the gospel into these facilities. Thank you for your prayers and faithful support that permits us to reach those "living on the brink of Eternity"!

Missionary Pastor Norm Aabye