Saturday, February 13, 2016

You never know.

If you ever wonder why God puts people in your life, then let me tell you a story. When I was in college, I was part of a spiritually encouraging and forming group at University Heights Baptist Church in Stillwater, Oklahoma. This group was filled with snot nosed wing nuts like myself as well as other students who were more formed in their faith, like my wife. I made many life long friends in this group, found a mentor and even met my wife (not the wing nut) in this group. To only be a part of this group for a year, it is amazing to see what God did and how he bonded and formed us in this time. After college, we went our separate ways and served and ministered in places all over the world. Strange places like Poland, Vietnam and Massachusetts. With the advent of social media, we would leave a note celebrating a birth, anniversary or birthday, but every now and then, we have a situation like the one we have been dealing with this past week and these relationships grow even greater. Our family and staff at Pine Brook have been ministering to a family whose father has had a very rapidly developing case of liver cancer. This precious family made plans to take one last trip together to see the Grand Canyon. Last week, they left and were able to spend some time together seeing the canyon in a helicopter and enjoying their moments together. Toward the end of the week, the father developed serious complications and they were admitted into a hospice care facility near Phoenix, AZ, where they are trying to make his final moments as comfortable as possible. Our staff got the call and we knew we couldn't do much from 2,200 miles away. As we prayed about how to minister to them, technology and social media was a blessing, but we knew there was no replacement for being there, hugging them and pointing to the ultimate comfort that comes from Jesus.
This is where those relationships established years ago in this wonderful group becomes important. Bryan Intemann was one of my closest friends during this time and God had led he and his family to minister in Phoenix within the last few years. I messaged him about the situation and asked if he would go to the hospice center about and hour away from his office and he arranged to go see the family at once. Along the way, we texted, talked on the phone and stayed in contact about ministering to the family during this difficult time. He spent time praying with the family, hearing their stories and even making a french fry run for their two boys. As he left yesterday, he called and thanked me for the opportunity to be a part of ministering to this family. This morning, I received a text from him saying the family had texted him and asked him to come back to the facility because the father had taken a very bad turn overnight. I called the mother and prayed with her and through her tears, she spoke of how comforting it was to have Bryan there yesterday and on his way to be with them this morning. I know when Bryan is done praying with them later today, he will call and we will discuss what he saw and experienced. It will be hard for both of us and by this time tomorrow, this father may have passed away. However, it won't be before God used a rag, tag group of snot nosed wing nuts to encourage this family, share his gospel and bring glory to Him. Please pray for this family and join us in worshipping Jesus well during this time.

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