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