Looking into the eyes of the dying

There is something beautiful about being around death. I know it is a morbid thought that most people do not want to think about. To me though, death is a new beginning especially for believers.  I for one am excited for the day when I reach those pearly gates and God smiles at me as I enter in and say, “well done, my good and faithful daughter.â€�

This week I went to visit an old, sweet, gypsy woman that I met the first time I went to a gypsy village. Unfortunately, a blood vessel in her brain broke and she was slowly dying.

This woman was in the hospital for some time but the doctors sent her home to die. Her home is in the middle of nowhere and she lives in a old concrete building that used to be a state farm, where she worked for 25 years and eared her little square room.

We went to her to share the gospel. Becky asked one of the grand children to read John 14 and told her that Jesus is preparing a place for her. Afterward, we sang some old hymns; the sweet woman kept signing Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe this was her outward sign that she was putting her trust in Jesus and asked Him into her heart.  She could not speak and the sign was the only way to communicate that she believes. She began to well up in tears when we sang these songs to her and wanted us to stay.

At one point, I began to sing an old hymn called softly and tenderly. I then began to cry as I sang the words, “come home, come home all who are weary come home. Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling all sinners come home.�


Oh, what a gracious God we have that beckons sinners to draw near. Here is this woman who was dying and accepted the Lord the best that she could. She spent her life being an outcast and was looked down upon and here on her deathbed Jesus was saying, “ I love you and I am welcoming you home, where you can finally rest in peace.�