Shining Light to Seniors

ALICE

Often through the years, the administration at different facilities has called attention to particular people who were having a hard time of things and would ask me to try to help. Such was the case with Alice. They told me she would not leave her room and that she was severely depressed.

 

So I started visiting Alice. Sure enough, she was very withdrawn and did not want to talk at all, let alone about Christian things. Little by little, just from friendly visiting, she began to loosen up. At first it was just the success of seeing her agree to sit in the lobby with me and talk. During that initial period, I tried to draw out the reason for her discouragement. Finally she opened up to me.

 

She had been "tricked" into entering the nursing home! Well, I had heard all kinds of stories, but I decided to listen and to try to ascertain the validity of her claims. Her nephew had told her they were going to visit someone at the home, and when they got there, she was "dumped off!"

 

I asked her lots of questions, trying to see how much of this was true. She told me where she had been living. She told me that her nephew had wanted to sell the house for the money. I drove by the house and sure enough, it was FOR SALE! Generally, I don't get mixed up in these things, but in the this case, I knew I could do it without having to share it with anyone. I called the realtor and asked, "What ever happened to that elderly lady that lived in that house?"

"Oh, she died," he told me.

 

Everything about her story checked out. No wonder she was depressed! On top of that, many years before, her son had died when he was 20, and then, her husband died because their son died. A picture of her son with a trumpet and a few other things were the only belongings she had.

 

 

 

 

 

So began two years of weekly visits! Alice We became friends. We'd sit in the lobby and talk for a long time each week...but she did not want to hear about Jesus Christ! What had He done for her?...she wanted to know.

 

Well, there is a way to share the gospel where the person hardly knows it's happening! That is what I did, always telling what God has done for me--just a little bit here and there. She would ask me, "You are such a good friend. Why do you come here every week to see me?" I would always tell her that it was because I loved her and that I wanted her to know that Jesus loved her.

 

The thought occurred to me that God had used her unpleasant situation to bring her to a location where she could hear the gospel. "I'm really, really sorry for what has happened to you," I would say, " but just think...if it hadn't happened, you and I would have never become friends!"

 

I really did share the clear story of the gospel with her throughout those two years of visits. Towards the end, I became even more clear. Finally, one day I said to her, "You have to make a decision about believing in Jesus for your salvation and forgiveness of sin. By now, you know that I love you and that you can trust everything that I have told you about Christ. You have to decide... do I believe this or am I going to reject it?"

 

I told her I would like to have an answer in one week when I returned. When I arrived the next time, we chatted, but soon I asked her, "Alice, tell me...do you want to pray with me to accept Jesus as your Savior?" She said, "Yes."

 

We prayed together. She was saved! A few months later she had a debilitating stroke. A few months later, she died. She is with the Lord in a home that cannot be taken away!