"Living On The Brink Of Eternity"

"Living On The Brink Of Eternity!" That's a phrase we often use to describe the condition of those we are ministering to in the nursing homes day after day. The generation that has given us so much is now near eternity's door and someone must reach them with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This was brought to focus recently as I was asked by a nursing home staff worker if I would visit a lady whose physical condition was at the point where Hospice was now involved in her treatment. Of course I agreed to go and found the woman more alert than I had anticipated. She told me her grandson had visited her from North Carolina and had impressed upon her the need to trust the Saviour for salvation. I presented the gospel to her as clear as I could but did not feel she was ready to make a conscious, valid decision to accept Christ as her Saviour. I went back to the nursing home a few days later and she seemed even more alert. But as I again told her about the love of God in sending His Son to die on the cross for her sins, and that she could personally know that eternal life would be hers by trusting Christ, she began to evidence a tremendous lack of clarity in her speech and thought. I left her with a gospel tract and told her again that I would visit her on another day. I expected to see her this week but was I received a phone call from the nursing home today informing me that influenza was making its way through the facility and they were not allowing any non-staff workers into the nursing home. I don't know when I will be able to see this woman again, but if the flu causes the home to shut its doors for any length of time, it very well may be too late to reach her with the gospel.She is literally "living on the brink of eternity", as are so many in the many nursing homes that we travel to on a weekly basis. It is often frustrating to know that there are those who are reachable but cannot be reached. By that I mean that we can only travel so much. If more people would consider the importance of a multiple nursing home ministry like ours, we could see more people reached while there's still time. Often, the 'window of opportunity', to clearly understand their need for salvation, of those whose minds have become affected by dementia or Alzheimer's disease, or by many medications, is very small and opens for a very brief moment. It is imperative that someone be there at that moment with the truth of the gospel.
When we recently returned from a trip out west to visit our son and his family, we learned that a dear man whom we have come to love over the years at one of our larger nursing homes facilities, had passed. Fortunately, he knew the Lord and was prepared to go home. The staff said that he had tried to wait for us to return. Apparently, he wanted me to do his funeral, but it was too late. It would have been nice to have been with him in his last days, but we will see him one day.
The nursing home ministry creates mixed emotions. While we see death all around us, and sorrow that so many either outright reject the Saviour, or are in such a physical condition that they are incapable of comprehending their need, we also rejoice that some have responded to the gospel message and are assured of their eternal destiny. We are grateful for those churches and individuals who consider this ministry important enough to partner with us through prayer, and financially. May the Lord raise up more workers for this field that is continually "white unto harvest".

Christmas 2014 Update

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23). As we approach the season to celebrate the birth of our Saviour into the world, we must marvel at the fact that God would lower Himself to be “with us”! What a wonderful thought, that the very God who created all things, who sustains all things, would condescend to dwell among His creation, and more than that, to die for those He created that He might be Lord, God and Saviour. As we represent you on the mission field of the nursing homes of Pennsylvania and Ohio, we are constantly mindful of the great responsibility we have of bringing a clear presentation of the Gospel message to those who are living on the brink of eternity.

As we look back upon 2014, we have seen many dear souls come to trust in Christ as their Saviour, and some of those have gone on to glory to meet face to face the Jesus whom they came to know and love. The services in our newest facility, Juniper Village in Meadville, PA, are going well. In our first service there we saw three individuals express faith in Christ. The residents and staff have received us well, and we are looking forward to a fruitful year for Lord there in 2015.

Just recently, another church that knows about our ministry, but in which we have not yet shared our work, has partnered with us financially. The pastor told me that he is planning a missions conference in the coming year and wants us to come and show our video and preach, but they wanted to start supporting us right away. We praise the Lord for opportunities like this and for those who see the nursing home ministry as an important outreach. This particular pastor told me that he considered the nursing home ministry as reaching his “Jerusalem”!

I know some of you are interested in how Priscilla's vision is progressing. After two laser treatments and two “needle through the eye” treatments, the retinal surgeon says he sees some improvement. He is adamant that her vision will NOT get any better, but he thinks they may have stopped it from getting any worse. She will have three more “needle” treatments spread out of the next several months to keep the disease from reverting back to the way it was.

As always, we thank God for each of you who believe in, and faithfully support our ministry. We consider you our partners in this needful work of reaching into the nursing homes while there's still time.

May God grant you a Blessed Christmas and a Bountiful New Year as you continue to serve Him in 2015.

Serving Together,

Norm & Priscilla Aabye

Autumn 2014 Update

Autumn, 2014

Dear Friends,

Well, Summer just seemed to slip by us with hardly a notice. Temps never reached the highs we would expect and now the mornings are really cool and it won't be long before.....well, you know (we don't like to talk about what's coming, probably by the end of October!). But despite whether we are comfortable or not, the need to take the Good News of Jesus Christ into the nursing home continues. In fact, we have just added another home to our schedule. We've started services at Juniper Village, an up-scale assisted-living facility in Meadville, PA. The activity director, who is a Christian, had previously worked at another nursing-rehabilitation center and when she changed jobs she told the administration in the new place about us and they invited us in! The Lord has His people in the right place at the right time to accomplish His will. Our first service was encouraging, with three people responding to the gospel invitation for salvation!

By the time you read this letter I will have done a series of interviews on WGOJ, a Christian FM radio station in Ohio that reaches northeast Ohio, northwest Pennsylvania, and southern Ontario, Canada. The pastor of the church that owns the station has become a good friend over the years and strongly believes in our ministry. He invited me to come on the air and talk about what we are doing and the great need there is to reach into the nursing homes now while there is still time. Please pray with us that God will open some new doors to present our work in churches whose pastors listen to the program. We are specifically looking for opportunities to recruit others to begin multiple nursing home ministries like ours in other cities/states throughout America (and Canada would be good, too!).

We are asking for your prayers concerning Priscilla's sight. She had experienced some blurring in her right eye on occasion, but it always cleared up. Recently she had a episode where there was no clearing. She visited her optometrist who ran some tests and immediately got her in to see the top retinal surgeons in this part of PA. They performed a lot of high-tech tests and determined that she has a “hemi-central venous retinal occlusion”, which basically is bleeding behind the eye. She has begun treatment that includes two laser treatments, followed by two needle injections through the eye. These treatments will NOT cure the problem, but hopefully will prevent it from getting worse. He emphasized that her vision will NOT improve, and she could lose her sight and even lose her eye, but at least they will have done what is medically possible to try to halt the advance of the problem. We covet your prayers and know that God could, by His own hand as the Great Physician, return full sight to her eye.

There is a praise in conjunction with this. I have medicare but my wife will not until December, so she is in a gap right now with no insurance. We had to pay $100 up front before the doctors would see her. After the initial tests, the bill was nearly $700. My wife called and asked if we could be put on a payment plan. We received a newly revised bill. The doctor had written-off all but $53. PRAISE THE LORD! But it gets better. When the doctor told us about the laser and injections I told him we would make payments no matter how long it took. He said, “Let's do this right. Let's do all the treatments and don't worry about the money”. He said, “I love what I do”, and then told us if we can pay, that's great, but if we cannot, he's not worried about it! I told my wife that within a multi-doctor office, God put us with just the right doctor! God continues to take care of our needs as we serve Him.

Music portion of our service at Fairview Manor, near Erie, PA.

Through all the trips back and forth to the doctor in Erie, we are trying to maintain our nursing home schedule, as well as take care of the church where I have been serving as their “interim” until they find a new pastor. Frankly, I'm concerned that the “double-ministry” is beginning to take it's toll, so please pray that God would supply the right man to eventually take the helm of Open Door Baptist Church. We have a busy schedule for the Fall and two missions conferences coming up. We have seen many respond to the gospel for salvation this year, and our work in the homes continues to be so rewarding. As were leaving a facility that caters to folks with various developmental handicaps, one lady came up to me from the back of the room as I was leaving and said, “Thank you for being here”. That makes it all worthwhile.

We are thankful for all of you who faithfully lift us up in prayer. It is our privilege to be your representatives to the nursing homes of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Serving Together,

Norm Aabye

Norm & Priscilla Aabye

Vacation time? Not for some.

Well, the nice weather has finally arrived. Consistently sunny days and warm temperatures tell us that Summer is finally on its way. And, of course, with Summer comes vacation time. Fortunate are those who can pack up the car, load up the trailer, or hop on an airplane and get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life to enjoy some  down-time at a favorite leisure destination. But not everyone will be taking a vacation this year. Those who reside in the nursing homes of America  will remain where they've been the previous months of the year, looking out the window, watching the world go by. Oh, some will be able to sit outside in the courtyard of the nursing home; some might even enjoy a jaunt around the property by a caring worker or volunteer. But leave the home and get away from it all? No. I could relate many stories told to us by residents who have family members who live close enough to regularly visit their loved (?) one, but hardly ever do. I have been told by those 'in the know' that it is not uncommon for years to pass without anyone taking an interest in visiting some residents. What if YOU were on the other end of this story? What if YOUR life was consigned to a small room, with few of your prized lifetime possessions? What if the only faces YOU saw from day to day were the other residents?  What if the only conversations YOU engaged in where about medications, doctors visits, and bed changes? What if no one ever came to visit YOU?
It isn't necessary to have a full-time nursing home ministry like ours to make a difference in the life of someone. Just pick out a local home, muster up some courage, and ask someone at the office if there is someone you can visit today. It's easy, and, I might add, extremely rewarding. There is an appreciation level on the part of nursing home residents and staff for those who will take some of their own  time to come and be an encouragement to others. Most likely what will happen is that you will want to go back again...and again. Pretty soon, guess what? YOU will have a nursing home ministry!

Modern-day Circuit Rider

Recently, as I was musing about the ministry God has entrusted to me and my wife in the nursing homes, I was reminded of the old-time 'circuit riders' who traveled extensively throughout the frontier of early America, taking the Gospel to those without a pastor. I began to do some reading and found great similarity between our missionary work and the efforts of these brave men of God.

A circuit rider was a pastor, usually a Methodist or Baptist, assigned to travel among several rural churches to provide services for residents. Circuit riders were real and official pastors, not itinerant freelance preachers. They had a simple plan of evangelism: they went where the people lived, and they ministered to their needs. 

Let me share some fascinating history of the 'circuit rider'. The material is not original with me. I am indebted to John Wigger of St. Olaf College in Minnesota for his article, "Holy, 'Knock-Em-Down' Preachers!", from which I have excerpted the following:

"Early circuit riders were a different kind of clergy than had ever been seen in America, serving a rapidly expanding and spiritually hungry nation. They pursued their calling with remarkable zeal, forever changing the style and tone of American religion.

What was a circuit rider’s life like? And what was their collective impact?

In 1795, 95 percent of Americans lived in places with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants; by 1830 this proportion was still 91 percent. Itinerant ministry provided preaching...and church structure to communities that would not otherwise have been able to attract or afford a minister. The typical circuit rider was a young, single man who hailed from an artisan background, who himself had already moved several times from one village or town to the next, but whose life had been abruptly transformed by a dramatic conversion experience. Before turning to preaching, Bishop Francis Asbury (Methodism’s most influential early leader) had been a blacksmith, and most of the other preachers had been carpenters, shoemakers, hatters, tanners, millers, shopkeepers, school teachers, sailors, and so on.

A typical...itinerant was responsible for a predominantly rural circuit, 200 to 500 miles in circumference. He was expected to complete this circuit every two to six weeks, with the standard being a four weeks’ circuit. His partner, if he had one, usually did not travel with him, but either followed or preceded him on the circuit. Hence, on a four weeks’ circuit, the people could expect preaching about every two weeks, but only rarely from a circuit rider on a Sunday. On rural circuits, the itinerants made preaching appointments for nearly every day of the week, sometimes both morning and evening, with only a few days per month allotted for rest, reflection, and letter writing.

The early circuit riders preached and traveled at a grueling pace. John Brooks, for example, labored so intensely during his first three years in the itinerancy that he reported, “I lost my health and broke a noble constitution.” During one tempestuous revival, Brooks lay “sick in bed,” but the people “literally forced me out, and made me preach.”

In 1799, itinerant Billy Hibbard rode the Cambridge, New York, circuit, a 500-mile, four-week circuit with up to 63 preaching appointments, in addition to the responsibility of meeting the classes. In one year on the Flanders, New Jersey, circuit, Thomas Smith estimated he traveled 4,200 miles, preached 324 times, exhorted 64 times, and met classes 287 times.

During his 45-year career, Asbury, who never married, rode more than a quarter of a million miles on horseback and crossed the Allegheny Mountains some 60 times. He visited nearly every state once a year. One biographer estimates that Asbury stayed in 10,000 households and preached 17,000 sermons."

How very much like our work of traveling on a 6 day a week rotating schedule, throughout northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio, conducting services in various nursing homes to people who, for the most part, have no pastor. We have learned over the years that many times when an elderly person becomes needful of nursing home care, their grown children move mom or dad closer to them, to a facility nearby where they can visit them regularly. Unfortunately, in doing this they uproot the loved one from familiar surroundings, including their home church and pastor. As a result, they have no one to take care of their spiritual needs. Of course, this is where our ministry comes in as we bring Bible studies, church services, heart-stirring music, and counseling to the resident.

So, I guess our work among the nursing homes in two states qualifies us as a 21st century "circuit riding" ministry! Hey....where did I park my horse?

Missionary Pastor

Norm Aabye

Jude 22

Of Some Have Compassion

a·wak·en·ing

[uh-wey-kuh-ning] 

adjective

4. a recognition, realization, or coming into awareness of something: a rude awakening to the disagreeable facts.

Something is happening. "Where?", you say. Among the elderly in the nursing homes of Pennsylvania and Ohio. In 2006, my wife and I began our missionary outreach to those confined to nursing homes, to those residing in assisted living facilities, and to those living out their last days in Alzheimer Care Units. It has been an extremely rewarding ministry, as we have seen many come to faith in Jesus Christ as their Saviour. We came to this ministry not without some experience. Having been a church planter/pastor for over eighteen years prior to beginning this new stage of ministry, we had some knowledge of the need to bring the Gospel into the nursing homes. But in 2006, after God had brought us to northwestern Pennsylvania, out eyes were opened to the tremendous and urgent need to reach what we now refer to as "the people group nearest eternity". There is no group of people who are more aware of the fleeting measure of time than those who are living out their days in a nursing home.

Most Bible-preaching churches have a nursing home ministry. But statistically, the facts show that it would require every true church to have at least 14 nursing home ministry just to meet the current need of taking the message of Christ to these dear folks. Few churches can muster the time or the people to carry on such a ministry. We realized that a ministry was needed that would reach into a multitude of nursing homes on a regular basis. Currently, we are involved with 10 nursing homes on a rotating schedule six days a week, bringing Christ-honoring music, biblical preaching and teaching, and personal counseling for residents and staff members. 

We also came to this ministry with mixed expectations. But something is happening lately. There seems to be an "awakening" taking place in the nursing homes in northwestern PA and northeastern OH. Suddenly, many are responsive to the Gospel and are trusting Christ as their Saviour.

The dictionary offers multiple definitions of the word "awakening", but the one that seems to fit here is "a recognition, realization, or coming into awareness of something; a rude awakening to the disagreeable facts". There is no doubt that God is working with increased fervor, bringing people to an awareness of their need for Jesus Christ. The "disagreeable facts", as the definition describes, are the facts that man is a sinner and is separated from God now, and will be for all eternity, unless something is done about his sin. Fortunately, something has been done. God sent His Son into the world 2000 years ago to take the sinners' place on the cross of Calvary, shedding His own blood as the payment for the forgiveness of sins, and then after dying, rose three days later as proof positive of His victory over sin and death and His ability to grant eternal life to all who would put their trust in Him alone for salvation. As of late, the message seems to be falling upon fertile hearts that the Lord has prepared to receive His Word in great measure. 

No human effort can account for what is taking place. I would echo the words of the Apostle Paul as he wrote to the Corinthian believers: "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God"  - 1 Cor. 2:4,5. 
I am aware that there are those who might now be saying, "Boy, it seems as if all of a sudden you're boasting about 'numbers'!"  Let me be clear: If and when anything is accomplished in the realm of the Spirit in the hearts of individuals, it is all of God. We would dare not take any credit. Our message has not changed. Our ministry has not changed. It is apparent that God, and God alone, is doing something for His glory in bringing many souls to himself, and for that we are grateful to be vessels that His might use.

I write this especially for pastors who might wonder if the nursing home ministry is worth the effort. Or, for those who wonder if a consistent evangelistic outreach among the elderly and infirmed is a valid missionary outreach worthy of a church's support. Each pastor and each church must answer that question individually. Jude, writing his brief epistle at the end of the New Testament, makes a statement that we have taken as our verse for the ministry the Lord has entrusted to us:  "And of some have compassion, making a difference" - Jude 1:22. Our desire is not only to continue on this ministry, but also to try to recruit others to begin similar multi-nursing home ministries in other areas of the country. The population of the homes is growing at an astounding rate, especially given the fact that the "baby boomers" began reaching the age of 65 just a few years ago. Many will find themselves in need of nursing home care of some kind in the next years, if the Lord tarries. Wouldn't you like to have a vital part in fulfilling the Great Commission in this unique people group? We would love to come and share with your church what is happening through this unique and much needed ministry, and to partner with you in reaching those in your area for Christ.

Serving together, 

Missionary Pastor,

Norm Aabye

Awakening!

While winter has kept our part of the country in its cold, fierce grip the past month, the fire of God's power has been more than evident in the nursing homes in Pennsylvania and Ohio. There is no other explanation for what we are seeing except the hand of God at work. In the past several weeks we have seen nine (9) individuals make decisions for Christ in our services. I have felt a tremendous freedom in preaching and people have been readily responding to an invitation to trust Christ for salvation. Of the nine, two (2) are staff workers (a nurse and an activity department person). In most of our services, there is at least one nursing home employee required to be in attendance. Sometimes I wonder if they are listening to what is being said, as they scurry around to take care of the various needs of the residents in the service. It is a blessing to see the staff bow their heads during the invitation, especially when one signifies that they would like to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
Yesterday, in Ohio, we had what I believe was one of the best services ever there. The Christians in the service were "Amen"-ing, and when the service had concluded, I spoke with two (2) individuals, a nurse and a gentleman on oxygen who both told me they had made decisions: one for salvation, one to rededicate their life to Christ. Sometimes the apparent effectiveness of our ministry seems to be "stalled", while at other times we see tremendous fruit being borne for the Kingdom of God. We give Him all the glory for what is taking place, and we are thankful to all those who make it possible for us to involved in such a necessary and rewarding ministry.

Missionary Pastor,
Norm Aabye