Celebrating Grandparents Day

Grandparents Day, celebrated annually the first Sunday of September after Labor Day, was established with the goal of educating youth of important contributions seniors have made throughout history.  We celebrated Grandparents Day with the residents of our nursing and senior homes with Happy Grandparents Day cards and flowers.  The day was also an opportunity for us to visit room to room and meet residents who don’t normally attend our Sunday services.  Our members describe below some of their experiences from that day:

Alice: Mr. G, after being absent from our services for about half a year, joined us today!  He felt very special to find out today was Grandparents Day, saying it is a holiday for him.  After service, he rejected my invitation to stay for lunch fellowship; I think he felt awkward to stay since he had been absent for a long time. Then Grandma G asked him to stay.  She has a special diet and so normally doesn’t join us for lunch fellowship, but decided to stay today in order to keep Mr. G. accompany.  Indeed, her invitation made Mr. G stay and we all had a great time talking about today’s message on blessings.

I’m encouraged that Mr. G came back, and also encouraged to see how Grandma G proactively invited Mr. G even though she is not a Christian. She was initially hostile toward Christianity because of previous bad church experiences, but it’s clear that God is softening her heart.  She also accompanied the other grandmas to visit Mrs. L who cannot come to service because of health reasons.  I learned today that she was reluctant to discuss death because death is taboo in the Chinese culture, and it is sad and fearful to think about death, but I’m praying that she will know the victory we can have over death through Jesus.

Kevin: After our service, we walked around the nursing home handing out our “Happy Grandparents Day” cards.  I had been looking for an opportunity to visit some rooms that I hadn’t really been in yet.  In one of these rooms I met a resident named R, who cannot talk, and his older sister Ms. M, who visits R daily.  When I showed her the postcard she began to talk about her faith.  She told me that her mother died when she was only 16, and when her mother died, she lost everything.  At that time, she said, she put her faith in God to lead her through life.  She said that now at 83 she has had a great life and that it is because of God.  Then she reiterated it.  This is the truth, she told me.  It was clear that her faith and knowledge of God was real and true, and it was encouraging to meet her during my visits.

Ulia: I’ve been praying for a couple we first met last Easter when we visited room to room to pass out gifts of potted plants.  Neither attend our services on Sundays because they generally stay up late and sleep in past our morning service.  Ms. P is Catholic, and when she received our card and a flower, she was so thankful, and said our visits are God’s grace to her.  Mr. S is an atheist, looks disdainfully at organized religion and Christians in particular, but when he received our card, he was really touched.  He commented how beautiful the cards were, and he said that our religion is good, that it’s so good of us to remember them.  This was encouraging to hear, since during our first conversation he had insulted Christians and Jesus. His response gave me a chance to share that we are motivated to do these good things for others because we have been touched by God’s love, and want to share God’s love with others.  He thanked us, and invited us to come to visit them anytime.

Chris: After the worship service, I talked to Grandma C, who made a salvation decision two weeks ago.  Since it was Grandparents Day, I asked her how many grandchildren she has.  She replied that her son who lives nearby has two children, but she did not expect to see them as they were probably unaware that today is Grandparents Day (and understandably so, as not many people know about this day).  I asked her how she enjoyed today’s worship service.  She said there isn’t much to look forward to at the nursing home, but the Sunday worship service is one thing she looks forward to.  I also found out that it’s getting hard for her to read the Bible because the font size is too small for her, so I told her we would bring a large-font Bible next time.  I am thankful that we have opportunities as these to care for the elderly.

An Amazing Grandmother

We recently celebrated Grandma B’s 101st birthday!  Despite her age and her weak body, she is amazingly cheerful and thankful, and she thanks God for sustaining her these many years. When I first began visiting CB nursing home at the beginning of summer, Grandma B was doing poorly – her health, her spirits were down.  She wasn’t strong enough to join us for Sunday services, so our whole church was praying for her body to strengthen, for her spirit to strengthen. Perhaps in part due to our prayers, we’ve seen a marked difference in Grandma B.  She has rejoined us for Sunday service, and as much as her coarse voice can handle she heartily sings along with the hymns, often from memory.  Her regular prayer request has been for the other residents at CB, and that she could share God’s love with them. One weeknight I went to visit her and some of the other residents, I entered Grandma B’s room and met her at the door because she was heading out on her wheelchair.  “Are you heading out, Grandma B?” “Yes, I’m just going to take a walk.”  “You want some company?”  “No, I’ll be fine, my wheelchair is wonderful.”  As I watched her down the hallway, I saw her pause to talk the other residents in the hallway.  About fifteen minutes later, I ran into her again in the hallway.  She didn’t see me because she was intently reading the names of the residents in a certain room before she went in to visit them.  I was really heartened to see her because she was answering her own prayer request, making friends in order to share the God’s love and give hope to the other residents. About an hour after I had first seen her, I went back to her room and she was exhausted.  I think the trip around the nursing home wore her out, and she was slumped in her wheelchair next to her bed.  She arose when I said her name, and as always she was very thankful to see me, promising that she would pray for our church to be a blessing to the CB residents. I’m very thankful for Grandma B, for her love, gratitude, and the example of her faithful life that she has lived before God.  My heart always feels so humbled and cleansed after I spend some time with her; she gives me a clarity on what life is all about – loving God and loving people.  She always thanks our church members, but we are so much more thankful that she answered God’s call for her to be a missionary to China, so thankful that we have had the wonderful opportunity to get to know her through our ministry at CB.  We interviewed her on her birthday and asked what advice she would pass on to younger people such as us, and she urged us to listen to and trust in God’s word, and we will experience His great blessing in our lives.  She is a living testimony of that kind of blessed life, and I hope that I’ll be just like her at 101 years old!

Praise the Lord for the salvation decisions!

Recently, two residents made salvation decisions! For the previous several weeks, we had been going through a message series that covers the intellectual foundations of Christianity.

On this particular Sunday, I gave the final wrap-up message on this series, and covered common misconceptions people have about what salvation is. After the message, we had an invitation time for all the residents where we passed out commitment cards and asked them if they wanted to make any personal decisions in light of all they’ve heard, and the two residents responded with salvation decisions! One of them, Ms. R, mentioned that she had gone to church all her life but never made that personal decision to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and so she wanted to do that. My wife had a chance to pray with her afterwards, and Ms. R had tears of joy down her face after making her decision.

One of the other items we had on the commitment card asked if they wanted someone to read the Bible together on a weekly basis, and four of them wanted to do so.

We are so glad to see that all the collective efforts to produce and teach these messages on a weekly basis resulted in these decisions.

Overflow for Sunday Worship

A few months ago we met G as we were passing out flowers for Easter.  We got to talking with her and found out she was both blind and paralyzed.  She then asked if we were the same group that made her the necklace she was wearing.  It turned out that Kenny Choi had visited her during Element’s Valentine’s Day visit and she has fond memories of that time.  Jane and Jenny regularly visit her during the week and got to know her better. And as I stopped by on Sundays after our services, she would ask about what we did that day which gave me an opportunity to give her short summaries of the messages.  She seemed interested in coming to our services but hesitant to come because it was very difficult to move out of her room given her condition. So I thought: if she can’t come to our services, why not bring the services to her?  As a result, we ended up using cellphones to set up a low-tech wireless audio overflow system.  Unfortunately her room didn’t have a phone line nor is there any wireless network for us to leverage, but our cellphones have worked well enough to bring the service to her in her room.  But last Sunday, with the help of a special physical therapy nurse, she was able to come out to our service, and hopefully she’ll continue to join us in the future!

Birthday Celebration!

Today is Mrs. D’s 96th birthday!  Her family couldn’t celebrate with her til the following day, so we – me, Audrey, Makiko and her two adorable kids – totally surprised Mrs. D when we walked into her room!  She smiled widely when we gave her a birthday card and a bouquet of roses. She said, “Thank you so much!” and, because she can’t see well, asked us to read what we wrote to her in the card. We read our encouraging words to her, like “Thank you for being our prayer warrior, your cheerfulness, and being an encouraging presence in our lives.” She is a prayer warrior because every Sunday she reminds us how she prays for us daily . She asks about Barbara and how her babies are doing. She also follows up on my prayer requests regarding my family’s salvation and health. Whenever someone is absent, she would ask if that person is sick and how he/she is doing. She says she is praying for her roommates and the rest of the residents here. Although she can’t remember names very well, she can describe in detail many of the residents. We often find her sitting in the dining room instead of staying in her room, where she is talking and interacting with the nurses and other residents. She also unreservedly asks us to pray for her health so she would be able to live with her family again soon. We encouraged her to be a good witness to the residents while she is here. I’m so grateful how God used us to bring joy and encouragement to Mrs. D on her special day! She is a caring and warmhearted grandmother to all of us.

Sharing the Gospel

I talked to Grandma J today after our worship service. She said she was able to enjoy the singing time but she didn’t understand the message because she didn’t understand English. So I offered to summarize the message for her in Mandarin.  After I read the passages on the bulletin and summarized for her Ulia’s message, she responded by asking, “How can one be called a sinner if one hasn’t committed any crime?” (The word for “crime” in Chinese is the same word for “sin”.) At that moment, I was really surprised by the fact that I had her attention long enough that she was thinking along with me.

To appreciate this, you would have to understand that she is very easily distracted. Even as she is talking to you, she would be constantly looking around for random distractions. In several occasions, she started offering us water or juice to drink just because she saw one of the caretakers brought in cups for the residents, and then she kept insisting that we get something to drink. Another time, as I was pushing her around the building, I saw a phone on the wall and I told her that I recognized the model of the phone. We kept going but she thought that I was looking for a phone to make a phone call. And so as we passed by room after room, she kept asking people whether there were any phones in the rooms, even as I had explained to her that I didn’t need to make a phone call. Once she was fixated on something, it became very hard to draw her attention away from it.

Going back to that moment, I was really excited to explain to her that what we meant by sin was not the same as doing bad things, but calling our own shots, resulting in separation from God. That got her thinking and she seemed to have more questions. She saw that I was kneeling on the floor and wanted me to sit on a chair so we went to the lobby. Unfortunately, as soon as we got to the lobby, she was distracted by other things again. Nevertheless, I was still thankful that God has given this opportunity for her to think about spiritual questions, and I pray that there will be more opportunities for her to hear and understand the gospel and make her decision to accept Christ.

Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday, our nursing home ministry group held special Easter services, after which one resident made a decision to become a Christian!  We also brought potted plants – a variety of tulips, lilies, hydrangeas, etc. – as gifts for the residents at the nursing homes we visit.  Here are some stories of our members’ experiences:

Jenny: I ran into Grandpa H, who attends our services regularly, in the hallway.  I greeted him and showed him the potted plant that I was about to take to his room for him. He responded saying that instead of keeping the plant for himself, he wanted to give his plant to someone else at the nursing home who didn’t receive any visitors, and he led me to that person’s room.

I was really touched by his generous gesture, knowing how much the residents treasured the potted plants to the point that there were some grandmas following our group around ensuring they received one.  His gesture of love reminded me of God’s love because Grandpa H thought of other people’s needs above his own.

Jane:  The grandmas and grandpas we visited were definitely touched.  Some of them brightened up and cheerfully responded, “Happy Easter to you too!” or “God bless you.” One grandpa, Mr. J, was especially thoughtful when he insisted that I leave the plant out in the lobby for other people to enjoy as well. He showed a selflessness that is hard to find in the nursing homes, where people often keep to themselves and know only their own worlds.

Jenny and I also got to meet G, who is blind and confined to her bed due to paralysis of her lower body.   Kenny and our Element students had actually first met her when they visited on our Valentine’s Day of Compassion in 2010. Amazingly, she was still wearing the cross bead necklace from that day and still remembered “Kenneth.” She really appreciates our church, and quickly opened up to me and Jenny, sharing about her life and the history of her medical condition as a paralytic.  I’m thankful that we visited the residents in their rooms with potted plants, as that gave us a chance to meet this precious woman G.

Eileen:  After our Easter Sunday service, I spoke with Ms. L who had raised her hand in response to George’s invitation for people to make a decision to become Christian.   She told me that if I looked at her legs, that I would notice that they are damaged and that they don’t work, and additionally she has been suffering for a long time because she has not been able to control her mind.  There are thoughts that she cannot control and no matter how hard she tries, her concentration and thoughts go awry.  She has tried to end her life on several occasions, and the last attempt was when she lost the use of her legs because she decided to step in front of a moving car.  Then she looked at me and said, “Well, I guess now I know there’s a reason why I didn’t die that day.”  She said that knowing that Jesus died for her and rose from the grave gives her hope because she can know God.  We talked about what it means to have a relationship with God and how sin is what broke our relationship with Him in the first place.  I asked her if she knew what sin was and what it meant to be a sinner, and Ms. L knew what sin was but stated she had never murdered anyone before.  I explained to her while things like murder, greed, envy, hatred, etc. might be ways in which sin is lived out, sin is at the core of who we are because we are separated from God, we turned away from Him, and before I could go further she said, “Oh, so I’m still a sinner then.” We talked some more about sin, our need for God and what happened on the cross and at the resurrection.  She told me that she prays often to God because she hopes that He would hear her even though sometimes she feels so lonely and miserable.  I told her that God hears her and that while she may not ever regain total control of her mind, that God knows her suffering and does not want her to suffer.  She said that she understood now that God is good, that she is a sinner and that there is reason to live.

I told her that I was really happy that she was there with us and that she is deciding to start a relationship with God.  I asked if I could pray for her and said, “Oh, yes.  That would be nice. Please pray for my mind.”  I prayed for her and thanked God that she was able to understand the gospel message.  I prayed for her mind, first of all, thanking God that she sat through our service and understood everything.  I prayed that in her times of frustration, misery and loneliness, that she would turn to God in prayer and know that He loves her as His daughter and sees and knows her pain.

After we prayed, we talked about our families and soon I noticed that what she was saying was no longer making sense and going off topic.  I eventually ended my conversation with her as we had to pack up to go, and walked away with a sense of amazement that for that 10 minutes or so, she was able to fully understand the message and make this decision to start a relationship with God.  I’m thankful that Ms. L came to our service and that we were able to share the gospel with her in that perfect window of opportunity where her mind was clear and her heart was open.

Valentine’s Day of Compassion

On Valentine’s Day, as it has been our church’s tradition for the past several years, we went out and visited many nursing homes and shelters.  Ulia shares a story from her visit:
Eileen and I were really encouraged by Mrs. J from Texas.  She has no living relatives, and she doesn’t have any children because she was never married.  She is unable to walk because of an injured leg.  She grew up in the church.  We told her we’re from a local church here to celebrate Valentine’s Day by sharing God’s love with her, and gave her the sugar-free cookies we had baked.  She slowly read the card aloud – “God is love … Happy Valentine’s Day from your friends at Gracepoint.”  She was grateful for the gift, and held onto it for a long time, throughout the time we were talking with her.  She said that she is sure that throughout the 80 years of her life God has been watching over her, and repeated that often throughout our conversation.  Because she lives at the nursing home, she hasn’t gone to church in a long time, she said. But it was pretty evident to me and Eileen that her confidence and peace in God were real in her heart.  Eileen asked if she had a Bible; she did—but she hasn’t read it because her vision is getting worse.  But since she was able to read our card, we offered to visit her again and bring a large print Bible—and she was really pleased to hear that.  At the end of the conversation we could tell she was really looking forward to receiving that Bible.  Before we left, she looked at the wrapped cookie gift in her hand again and said, “Well, it looks like I have my Valentine.”  The short time we spent with her was sweet and encouraging.

God’s Words of Encouragement

I’ve visited Grandma B at the local nursing home a few times before.  I am personally inspired by her great faith in God and am always blessed by our conversations.  During this visit, I was expecting her typical encouraging remarks like “May the Lord bless you and keep you” and “I will pray for you,” but I was taken aback to see her so down and discouraged. She kept saying that her body was feeling terrible and repeated that no one visits her anymore. I wanted to read her a little excerpt from “Living with a Purpose in a Worn-Out Body” to encourage her, but she said her brain was spinning too much and that she “really can’t handle that right now.” She also apologized for not being able to hear me so well and commented that she should be able to hear everything I say. She was overall so discouraged by her physical condition.  As I held her frail and small hands, I was completely at a loss for words. “How can I help her?” I felt so underqualified because I’m a young Christian and she has served as a missionary for many years…

Then I remembered that morning’s DT and last night’s prayer meeting, and was reminded that we need to encourage one another to strengthen God’s church. I told her that even though she hasn’t had any visitors lately, that I am someone who came to visit her that morning. She smiled. I then shared Psalm 42:5 with her: “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.” This was our ministry group’s memory verse from the previous week. As I was repeating this verse in loud audible voice, she closed her eyes and smiled, resting her head and lying still. I reminded her that even though we may feel weak and discouraged in this physical body, we are so blessed because we can put our hope in heaven and not on what is temporary. I told her that even though God knows that we are weak and sinful, God still loves us completely and died just to save us. I told her that there is nothing in this world that can separate us from His love, not age, not anything. I encouraged her to hold onto God’s promises and keep running this race, because God’s not done using her here yet. All these things that I shared with her are God’s promises that have personally helped me recently during my own discouraging times.  She thanked me for these encouraging words.  I was amazed at how God’s word really turned her spirit from one so downcast and disturbed to one so hopeful… how God’s word had such power. I’m reminded that I don’t need to be “spiritual enough” but that all I need to give to God is my willingness and obedience, being equipped with His living and active word, and He’ll lead me to bless and encourage others through my obedience and through His word.

Hope in Heaven

We recently heard the very sad news that two of the residents we had gotten to know at a local nursing home had passed away during the Christmas holidays.  Though we are grieved by their deaths, we are thankful to God that both residents became Christian this past year.  I wrote the below as I reflected on their deaths and our ministry at the nursing home.  My reflection is followed by a reflection from Ulia who also knew the residents who passed away: 

Yesterday when I visited the nursing home at which we regularly hold Sunday services, I learned that J and V had passed away. I supposed it was expected given that J had been looking progressively worse over the last couple of months, but still it came as a shock, and especially about V. I knew she was in the hospital because of a stroke, but she hadn’t seemed weak and I fully expected her to come back.  I was really saddened to hear this, as I had just gone to visit Joe two days before Christmas, and had taken the stereo with the Brooklyn Tabernacle CD and played it for him. Every time I visited I prayed with him, and most recently I had encouraged him to hope in heaven, that God was waiting to take him home to be with Him.

I am grateful that both of them knew God, and I was struck with the simple truth that at the end of the day, all that matters is that we have a relationship with God.  Literally, this is true. Not a single thing in the world matters but that, and I was renewed in my mission to give everyone at the nursing home a chance to hear and respond to the gospel. Our key verse this year is about encouraging one another, and I want to really encourage all the residents to come to know Jesus this year.

I was so grateful to God for His heart—his heart that gives the 11th hour workers the same wages, his heart that has a house with many rooms, his heart that sent Jesus to be the way, the truth, and the life to prepare for us a place in his house and take us there. I’m so grateful that God gave J and V the opportunity to start a relationship with him, and so grateful that God wanted to use us. Both of them became Christian through our ministry there, and what would have happened if we had not come there every week and had not ministered to them? They may not have come to know God at all…

Ulia: Both made salvation decisions this past year – J through George and some a2f brothers who had visited him in his room, and V through our church services.  In my conversations with her, V was clear on who Jesus was to her, that he was the Savior of the world and of her own sin, and I’m thankful to God for her clarity.  But she was in good condition prior to the stroke.  It was jarring to see an empty nameplate where her name usually was, next to her room door.  A few of her belongings were there – a vase, some articles and pictures on her bulletin board – but she was gone.  At a place like a nursing home, you’re just one of a 100+ residents.  I’m sure the staff members see their residents dying all the time; a couple less people – like V and J – perhaps aren’t such a big deal to them.  Life goes on – there are still other residents complaining, demanding, wanting this or that, refusing help, and eventually themselves headed towards the same fate, and then another patient comes and fills that empty bed.  But it makes a difference to God, and for those of us who got to know her, for her kids that she often spoke of, that she isn’t there anymore.  Because of God, she isn’t forgotten.  Because of God, she isn’t just another resident whose name will be deleted from the residence roster, who’ll be filed away as a former resident.  Because of God, she is a valuable and precious person just because she is a daughter of God.  I’m reminded of the contrast of our fate in Revelation and the book of life – those who’ve washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, their names are written in the book of life.  As jarring as it was to see her name disappear from the nameplate next to what used to be her room, it gives me comfort to think that her name, our names, are permanently kept in the book of life, not because of anything we have done, but simply because we’ve washed our robes in the blood of the Lamb.