Our Family Ministry

Nursing Home Two Blocks from Our Home

Matthew 25:32-40 (Kjv)

32 And before Him shall be gathered all nations, and He shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.

33 And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, ‘Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

35 For I hungered, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in;

36 naked, and ye clothed Me; I was sick, and ye visited Me; I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.’

37 Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when saw we Thee hungering and fed Thee, or thirsty and gave Thee drink?

38 When saw we Thee a stranger and took Thee in, or naked and clothed Thee?

39 Or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee?’

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, ‘Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.’

Purpose:

The purpose of our family ministry is to bring encouragement to others and to care for those in need.

Update: (as of Feb 2006)

The kids are learning about human mortality. We’ve lost a number of our neighbors in the nursing home over the last year. Florence was 93 years old and told us so every visit. Our conversations were the same each time. She would ask, “How are you?” and I would answer and ask how she was. She would always say “fine”, though I don’t think she could hear me. Then she would look down at one of the kids and say, “It’s hard to believe we were that little once”. She was so very hard of hearing that our conversations never carried on much further, but she would hold my hand and not let go for several minutes. I think it was a warmth and contact she didn’t receive much of.

As Florence was passing away I had the opportunity to pray with her by her bedside. She was unresponsive to my presence, but I held her hand anyway. I knew a little of her background that she lived next to a school as a child and that she once taught Sunday School to our neighbor across the street. As I prayed I asked the Lord to ease her passing. I also asked that if she was not ready that God would give her one more lucid moment.

Her nephew was there and listened as I prayed. He told me she had never had children. He was very grateful for our visit and allowed the kids in a few at a time to say goodbye. After her passing he sent us a card of thanks for our visits.

This Christmas we received two presents. One was from the staff at the nursing home and the other was from the family of one of the residents. They both were address to ,”The Wednesday Night Family”.

God is good.

Update: (as of Feb 2005)

It’s amazing how at first we were nervous about going to the nursing home and feeling we’d have to do some type of entertainment for the residents. They are just happy to have us there and we look forward to going each week. Except for a few bouts with sickness, we’ve been very faithful to visit every Wednesday night.

We’ve gotten to know a good number of the residents and have met some of their families who visit as well. Our kids bring activity items such as colors, small blocks or shapes to make designs. They sit at tables throughout the dining area and this provides them a good way to interact with the residents. While they’re doing that, mom and I are making the rounds visiting with each one. With this type of commitment we’ve had many more opportunities to share our testimony and talk to others about the Lord.

This is pretty much the pattern we’ve followed since we started visiting there. We have taken some bells to play with music a time or two, but really, it’s the visiting that the residents (we call them our “neighbors”) enjoy. The kids are completely over any shyness they had at first.

Details: (as of June 2004)

We’ve just begun our family ministry at the beginning of the summer of 2004 to endure at least until the end of the summer. We visit on Wednesday nights from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. The residents have just finished their meals when we visit and are sitting at small tables of 4 or less. My wife and I have six children (ages 12 to one year) and just the sight of them is an encouragement to the people there.

We bring checkers and crayons and paper and other things to do while visiting. None of the residents can play games, but many are very alert and enjoy watching my kids play. My kids spread out one to two per table so that many of the people in the dining room have a chance to visit with at least one of them.

My youngest daughters (ages 3 and 1) receive a lot of attention. Our three-year-old likes to stack checkers and color. Our one-year-old plays at their feet. Even those there that look like they are not very alert perk up when baby plays at their feet!

My wife and I are sure to go around and visit with each one there. I’m not very good at names, but after four visits I’m getting better. I’m also not generally an outgoing person, but the social pressure is low since they are just glad to visit. The visits give us a chance to find out who has regular visitors and who does not. We want to spend more of our time with those who do not.

One woman in particular has two sons, but one is dead. The other runs a store in another state and she says, “He’s too busy to get back here”. She doesn’t try to call anymore since she is charged for the long distance and never seems to be able to catch him. I asked if she has many visitors. “No, not as many as the others” she says. My reply is that she will have visitors every week all summer. Now she looks up and smiles when we come in the door.

I can’t believe we waited this long to do this. We’ve talked about it for years, but just never took that first step. The first step was just to call the nursing home to see if they needed visitors and when would be a good time. I was nervous the first week. Now I look forward to it. My three-year-old talks about her new friends.

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Last updated: 2/06