Little acts of love and compassion
can go far in
touching others for Jesus...
Every time I walk down the hallways of a certain nursing home, I pass the room of Mrs. Kramer. She is a sweet older lady confined to a wheelchair, who now resides full time at this facility. As I pass her room, I note the pretty Chanukah menorah still in her room, though Chanukah is long over. Pictures of her beloved children decorate the walls of her tidy room.
As I gaze at this woman moving slowly down the hall in her wheelchair, warm memories returned of my years of taking care of Jewish patients and elderly in home health care, and even Jewish children in summer camps.
How many miracles I have witnessed throughout the years as I interacted with Jewish families and people, people who need love and compassion and respect just like everyone else.
I can never forget one elderly Jewish woman, whose family called her "Nanny." Her daughter could not afford to pay full cost for home health care, including extra care for her while she was in the hospital at times. And so I told the family that I would only charge what they could comfortably afford and nothing more. And we enjoyed a wonderful relationship as I worked with them.
One day, Nanny suffered a severe relapse. She began severely bleeding from the rectum. She was in the hospital at this time, and I was providing extra assistance and support for her.
As I prayed with her, she asked for Jesus her Messiah to come into her heart and save her eternally. I had shared all about my miraculous healing so many years ago, and the amazing things Jesus does for all who come to Him. And that indeed, He is the promised Messiah of the Jewish people, and the Savior of the world as well.
The hospital did all they could do to save her, but precious Nanny died that day, right before my eyes. I notified her family, and I even came to the funeral at their request in another state wherein she was buried.
But something strange happened after all this. Her granddaughter, Marcia, came to me a few days later with a look of amazement on her face. "Pam...what is going on...what did you do with Nanny??? I had a strange dream last night!" I asked her to share what she experienced in that dream.
Jesus remains the only way to the Father and His glorious kingdom
"I was somehow in heaven, talking to Nanny. She was smiling and happy. She said to me, 'don't cry for me...I am happy in Heaven...Jesus saved me!'" And then, the dream was over.
But it was so vivid to Marcia, that she just had to come and find me to tell me about this. You see, Marcia was not a believer in Jesus at that time, and she did not understand what she had just experienced.
And so, the door was opened to share Jesus her Messiah with her at last. Marcia immediately prayed for Jesus to come into her life as well, and dedicated her little daughter to Jesus also. Her life was never the same after that divine encounter with the Holy Spirit, revealing where her beloved grandmother now was for all eternity.
And so, as I look at Mrs. Kramer, my prayers are filling heaven for her life to be touched by His love and mercy and salvation soon. She is very old now. She needs Jesus now.
I prayed for God to show me what she would really love, that I could bring to give her. He impressed upon me "CHALLAH," that delicious braided bread so popular with the Jewish community. And so, I visited the local bakery and bought a nice fresh loaf of challah, had it sliced, and brought it to Mrs. Kramer. But I was not prepared for her response.
Mrs. Kramer's eye lit up immediately as I handed her this loaf of bread. A smile came to her face as she held it in her arms. Normally very reserved in her speech, she immediately began to open up and talk to me. I had no idea how much this small gift would mean to her, but God did!
One small gift filled with love can make a difference
When I encountered again a few days her later, she expressed to me her thanks again, and shared how delicious that bread tasted that day! But that was last week, and it is now all gone, as she told me yesterday.
And so this Friday (when they bake challah again), I am going to buy another loaf of challah for dear Mrs. Kramer, just as I promised her. And maybe another special treat she will enjoy. Life in a nursing home can be very lonely and uneventful. Many elderly develop the attitude that they are simply there for the purpose of waiting to die, and nothing more. How sad. But there is more to life than sitting around waiting to die!
Jesus the Messiah and Savior of the world proclaimed, "I AM come that they may have LIFE and have it more abundantly." Life more abundantly is a Scriptural principle. The Jews have an expression in Hebrew, "L'Chaim!" Or, "to LIFE!"
And Jesus the Messiah came that ALL might have life more abundantly, Jew and non-Jew alike, for Jesus died for the redemption of ALL mankind.
His wondrous free gifts can be received TODAY by believing in Him and asking Him into your heart and life now.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have EVERLASTING LIFE."
From the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 16
As I present Mrs. Kramer with the loaf of challah bread Friday on the eve of shabbat, I am also very careful as to how I approach the subject of Jesus the Messiah. Years of interacting with the Jews has taught me to wait for the timing of the Holy Spirit, and to pray for His words to fill my heart as well.
And much prayer must precede such encounters, that God's Holy Spirit will draw that person to Jesus and open their eyes to spiritual truths as well. As Jesus declared, "No man can come unto Me, unless the Father draw Him." Salvation is of God from beginning to end.
In closing, I ask you to please pray for this precious woman, for God's Holy Spirit to open her eyes to the glorious truth about her Messiah, Jesus, and to bring her to full salvation through faith in Him at last. Pray also for her children and grandchildren to also come to their Messiah as well.
And please, fellow Christians, remember that God desires to use EACH ONE OF YOU to reach out to others with His love and salvation in YOUR world!
When I was much younger, I always used to think that it was only the BIG evangelists and television ministries or mega-churches that were really reaching others for Christ, and that I could never be used by God in such a mighty way.
But God has taught me just the opposite. For God needs every one of His precious children to reach out the lost all around them, and to bring the BREAD OF LIFE to their tables also.
As Christians, we can all reach people on a one-on-one personal basis, every single day. And many of the people we are called to reach out to, would otherwise slip through the evangelistic net of TV ministries, churches or crusades. YOU and your Christian testimony are very important, and Jesus needs YOU as His witness to a lost and dying world.
Thank you for your ongoing prayers for Mrs. Kramer.
God knows exactly who she is!
********************************************
And now, go and give
THE BREAD OF LIFE
to someone around you,
and help to
CHANGE THE WORLD
for Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.
-Pamela Rae Schuffert-
Posts
What a wonderful story about the Jewish lady you led to the Lord and her daughter who had the dream! I shall
ReplyDeletepray for Mrs. Kramer and your witness to her.
I have found that assisted living and nursing homes are wonderful places to share one's faith. My husband and I used to take our turn during a service in our local nursing home and I have had the opportunity to witness to at least three of the elderly when I have gone to visit my mother at her assisted living home.