Wadsworth Window June 2021
April Lives Here
Wade Lives Here
We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8
Nursing Home Ministry
What a change there has been in nursing home ministry! I am now permitted to serve in Mitchell Care Center and in Mitchell Assisted Living. Up until last week I was required to wear a mask and face shield. Now just the mask. To check in I have to be interviewed by staff personnel, have my blood oxygen and heart rate checked, and go through a list of COVID symptoms to make sure I am not ill. Then they check my temperature. I am permitted to visit residents in their rooms if no one is ill in the room. We can have group Bible Study but we have to maintain 6ft. distancing. No singing is allowed. However, I can play hymns on CD. When I go from the Care Center to Assisted Living, which is in the same building, I have to go through all the same check in procedures again even though I just did it an hour before. Yes, it is inconvenient but it is meant to keep the residents as safe as possible and to allow the staff to keep visitation under control in both facilities.
In one Bible Study we have three people attending. In the other we have twelve. Some of the attendees sleep through part of the study but that is not unusual for nursing home ministry.
I continue writing to 85 residents every two weeks. I learned today that two more passed away. The letters contain Scripture, my comments and pictures. A few of them I reduce to a picture and caption because I know those individuals have lost their ability to read. After entering Mitchell Care Center, I have gotten some very encouraging news about how the letters helped the residents through the lockdown. It has also been good to reconnect with some of the staff people I have had ministry with. And the Activities staff are very positive about my ministry to the residents.
Baptisms
In my letter last March, I told you of a twelve-year old boy I was having a series of Bible Lessons with. There were six lessons altogether; How We Know the Bible is True; What God is Like; Who is Jesus Christ; What happened to the Human Race; God’s Plan of Salvation and lastly, Assurance of Salvation and Baptism. He prayed privately to receive Christ then asked for Baptism. On may 2nd I was privileged to baptize him in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That Sunday was a wonderful time. Our church sent two young women who graduated from Frontier School of the Bible on to their chosen ministries. We had a short sermon, observed communion, and had a baptism followed by a potluck dinner.
I am continuing weekly Bible Study with another boy and teaching him model carpentry. He is a remarkable individual for his age and his walk with the Lord is evident. His parents are making plans for his baptism this summer.
Thank You So Much!
Your continued generous support and loving prayers are a great blessing to me. I miss April immensely but you enable me to go on with life and ministry. The LORD said to the prophet Ezekiel 24:16a, 18 “Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke . . . So, I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded.” In a similar way, like Ezekiel, I have been left here to fulfill the ministry God has for me. Thank you so very much for being a part of my life and ministry.
