Yep,
I bet you have no idea what this blog is going to be about.
Well,
it is going to be about my adventures to different nursing homes this week.
Team
Chayil had the opportunity to visit three different nursing homes in three days
this week.
Each one was about an hour bus ride away
from Vidin.
Each one had a different feel to it.
Each one had a different smell to it.
Each one had a different culture of people
in it.
Here’s
our agenda when we go to the nursing homes.
Greet the residents.
Worship for 3 songs led by our ministry
contact Yavor.
2-3 people from Team Chayil will share about
The World Race, encouragement, and/or a testimony.
Worship to one more song.
We have time to talk to the residents
individually and build relationships with them.
At
the first one, the residents were very receptive to the gospel and there were
about 30 of them that attended our gathering. Many people who were very open to
hearing what the Lord had to speak through us. Also, many people were
Christians that were staying there. At
this nursing home, my friend Sarah and I were partnered up so that she could
translate for me.
We
found an elderly guy that wanted to talk to us about how he was at one time a
church planter. Then the next thing we
know, he is gone. Minutes later, he returned to continue talking to us and gave us each an apple. He continued calling Sarah and I, “My
girls.” While we were talking to him, he would get just inches from my face,
which would be uncomfortable for most people, but for me it was funny. I don’t
have a “bubble” so it does not bother me when people get up close.
A couple of things were
miscommunicated through translation from me, and well it wouldn’t be the first
time. Haha I saw a man weeping during worship and
I felt God calling me to talk to him. After talking to the guy that gave an
apple to me, I went and talked to the guy that was weeping. I told him that Jesus was waiting with arms
wide open for him to come to Him with all of his needs. The guy started
crying and I’m like “Oh no, what did I say?” This grandpa thought that I meant
God was waiting for Him to leave earth and live in Heaven with Him. Nope, that’s
not what I meant at all. I meant that Jesus wanted all of grandpa, not just
part of him. I suppose that is what you get when things get missed in
translation. Don’t worry our conversation continued and I was able to find out
more about his heart and encourage him to draw near to the Lord.
At
the second nursing home, we walked in to a hallway that had about 20 elderly
sitting on couches. I greeted each of them as I walked by. One grandma asked me if Sarah (who is 16 years old, btw) was my
daughter. Nope, not at all, haha. We ended up meeting with about 30 of the
residents (and staff) downstairs and we were even greeted with tables and
tables of little treats and pop. The residents here were much more laid back
and not so willing to open up for conversation, they were more concerned with
getting the desserts that were surrounding them.
During worship one lady got up and
started dancing! It was completely awesome to see
this grandma come alive and dance throughout all four songs. One of my
teammates, Betty also ended up joining her in dancing in front of the crowd.
After
worship I was able to share the testimony of my gma and papaw. I had found out two
days before going to the nursing home that my papaw was in the hospital and he
has a 50% chance of living. It just so happens that one of my friends lives in
the same town my papaw is in the hospital and my friend was able to visit him
and tell him that I love him. My friend was also able to ask my papaw if he had
accepted the Lord yet, and my papaw said
that he did two weeks ago while he was in bed. He said that a peace overwhelmed him when he asked the
Lord into his heart. My papaw said that he was so excited because now he will be able to see his wife again.
How stinkin’ precious is that? Well, I was able to share that story with the
residents and encourage them to accept the Lord. ((My papaw is still in the
hospital, so be praying for his health.))
During
the last song, right before going and talking to the residents, my teammate
Joan came up to me and encouraged me to talk to a lady in a purple shirt. I was
like, okay if the Spirit is leading you to tell me to go talk to her, then I
will. I found a translator, Angel, and he and I went over to talk to the lady.
As I sat next to her I started talking to her and asking her questions. While next to her, she was holding my hand
and caressing it which just made my heart melt. Angel, was not fully
hearing what she was saying or being able to understand her. Let’s just say she
kind of mumbled under her breath when she talked. I prayed for the Lord to give
Angel and I a supernatural ability to understand her. I soon became my own translator and was able to understand her a lot
better. She was not able to hear in her right ear, but she could hear a
little bit in her left ear which made it hard for translation. Another thing
that made it difficult in communicating with her was her constantly telling me,
“I don’t know you, I just don’t know you,”
over and over again. No matter the question I would ask she would just say, “I don’t
know you.” I came to a point in the conversation when I didn’t know what else
to do, so I prayed for her and asked the Lord to speak to her in ways that we
were not able.
Next,
I went to pour a drink for myself and then I looked up at a guy standing next
to me and almost poured the drink all over the table. The guy then started
saying something to me in Bulgarian, but I had no idea what he was saying so I
asked Sarah to come over and translate for me. She came over and he was
basically just telling me to pay attention when I pour the pop. I then sparked
a conversation with him and he was talking to me about himself and the lady
standing next to him. He kept saying that they were friends and I was like
okay, that’s cool. He was in his 60’s and she was in her 50’s. Then, he whips out some mouthwash
and points to the lady next to him. Apparently,
he uses that mouthwash so that he can kiss her and his breath smells good.
You want to talk about an awkward conversation, that’s an awkward conversation.
Here is the couple of the nursing home…
The
third nursing home had a much smaller crowd in attendance, about 15 people. Oh,
and once we arrived there we found out that a kindergarten class was also going
to join for a little bit. That sets up the stage differently because we were
not only ministering to the elderly, but then to 5-6 year olds. The residents
of this nursing home were not very attentive and tended to talk over the person
speaking. They were not receptive to the Gospel, but we still shared it with
each of them.
During
worship, I realized that there were two splitting images of my gma and papaw in
the room. I literally was almost drawn to tears. I got up to share the
testimony of my gma and papaw at this nursing home and before I shared the
story I pointed out my grandparents’ twins. As I did so, I started crying. God
laid both of the people on my heart to go talk to them after I presented. The
gma was very sick and had her head down most of the time, and as I went to go
talk to her, one of my teammates chimed in and got to her before I could.
I
was able to go and sit with the splitting image of my papaw and hear his story.
I found out that he was a widow
and his wife had died 27 years ago. He was alone and just wanted someone to
love him. While talking to him, I asked him if his knees hurt him. He said that
they both hurt a lot and other than that, he did not have any health problems.
I was almost in tears as I heard this. Not
only is my papaw now a widow, but his knees have been hurting him for at least
10 years now. It was not a coincidence that I was led to speak with him. I
talked to him for at least an hour, and by “talked to” I mean my translator
mainly held the conversation with him. I was interceding through prayer as they
spoke with each other. This man’s heart was so hard and he was not open to
receiving the Lord into his heart. He said that his wife was a better Christian
than he is, but that one day he wanted to be able to see her again. I
encouraged him to accept the Lord into his heart and he would be able to see
her again. Also, I stated that the Lord would come over him with immense peace
if he accepted the Lord. Similar to the
story of my papaw? Yes, the Lord works in crazy, awesome ways. He didn’t
accept the Lord in the moment, but I know that God is going to continue to
soften his heart.
I
love sharing with the elderly and hearing their stories. I loved being able to
share with them the story of my gma and papaw. It’s no coincidence that I was
placed here in Vidin, Bulgaria for this specific time in my life. God wants me
to share of the story of my grandparents to the elderly here and have his children
here draw near to Him. I know there were
about 8-10 people through the three days that accepted the Lord. Praise the
Lord!
Sorry
for the lack of photos, as you can tell I only have photos from the one visit
to the nursing home, I might be able to retrieve some from the other days in
the near future.
Also, I have several blogs coming your way, so stay tuned! Now, I’m off to eat Thanksgiving dinner prepared by an American lady 🙂 Blessings!
