Every Thursday afternoon I go with a team of students to a local Alzheimer’s home. This time is consistently one of the absolute hi-lights of my week.
Earlier this year I met a possibly 4 ½ foot tall Japanese man by the name of Bill. At 84, Bill was very sharp mentally when I first met him and I wondered why he was even in the home. During that first conversation Bill and I had a quite coherent conversation as he told me all about his life. Bill had a career as an engineer and designed and manufactured toys for childrenJ
I told Bill about Jesus and how I’d given the rest of my life to Him. Bill listened, but when I invited him to encounter Jesus for himself, he was hesitant and told me, “I’m a Buddhist, and I really don’t want any BS. I’ve had a lot of people give me religious BS during my lifetime.” I laughed, grateful for his honesty. Instantly I knew that Bill and I were going to get along great.
Over the next few weeks every Thursday afternoon I looked forward to seeing my new friend. I learned that Bill had never married during his lifetime and had no family—it broke my heart to think that he had nobody close to him during this vulnerable season of his life. As I hung out with Bill and just loved on him I kept telling him about Jesus and his love. He listened.
Finally, after maybe a month of visits, one Thursday afternoon, I approached Bill in the home hallway. “Bill!” I said. “Bill! Today is your day!” “Give your heart to Jesus today Bill!” “There’s no better day than today!” I kept patting him on the shoulder and laughing as he smiled.
“I’m a Buddhist.” He said with a smile.
“That doesn’t matter Bill! Jesus loves Buddhist!!” “Today’s your day!”
I continued to petition him with love to be reconciled to God.
"OK. I’m ready.” He said abruptly.
I was shocked. “Really?”
“Yep.”
"You’re not BS’n me are you Bill?” I said with a laugh.
“No, I’m ready.”
I was beside myself! Surprised by his sudden change of heart, I led Bill in a simple prayer to give his heart to Jesus.
After praying with him I began to encourage him by declaring to him what I believed God was going to do in his future! “Bill” I said, “Jesus is going to visit you at night and he’s going to speak to you and you’re going to know his love. You’ll never be the same after today Bill! Jesus is alive in your heart now and He’s going to change everything!”
I then asked Bill to pray for me and asked him if he would pray for me every night. I believe that the elderly, particularly people in their twilight years, have a treasure in them that is hidden behind their frailties. If we have eyes to see this treasure we can gain a spiritual inheritance from those that have gone before us. This is something I’ve been learning on this outreach. When I meet new people in the home and I ask them if they want me to pray for them, I will often also ask them if they could pray for me. I’ve found that many of my elderly friends are very honored by this request.
I told Bill that I’d be back soon and that I couldn’t wait to hear about his encounters with Jesus!
The next week I found Bill in the same hall way. “Bill!” I said as I gave him a big hug. “Has Jesus talked to you yet?”
“He talked to me last night,” he said.
“Really?? What’d he say?!”
“He told me ‘everything’s going to be OK,’” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
I continued to visit Bill every Thursday. Soon I realized that Bill was getting weaker. Week by week he became less and less responsive. I learned that he had lung cancer and I think his medication was affecting his responsiveness. It was really surprising how quickly his health deteriorated. After just a few weeks I would simply sit with him and hold his hand as even talking became a struggle for him. I prayed for his healing, but mostly I would just sit with him and tell him how awesome he was and how much God loved him.
During these times, Bill had moments of clarity. One day as I was sitting with him in the dining room of the home telling him how wonderful Jesus is, suddenly he responded, “You’re right… You’re right” he said, “you believe in something so amazing” “God is real. I know now that everything is going to be OK.” Bill would infrequently say things like this in between long periods of silence… Usually just saying, “Everything’s going to be OK.”
The last time I saw Bill I had a feeling I wouldn’t see him again. He wasn’t able to respond and didn’t have enough strength even to lift a cup of water to his face.
Sure enough the next week Bill was gone… Though I missed my friend I was so happy to have the privilege of loving him. And I had so much peace that everything was OK.
God is teaching me to take initiative with love. Sometimes love makes people uncomfortable, but people are desperately hungry for the real thing. We have to persevere with love! I felt the Lord speak to my heart a few months ago that if there’s anything in me that isn’t comfortable with love it isn’t worth holding onto.
I hope this story encourages you to reach out today and show someone some love! Everyone needs love and we have the ultimate source in Jesus living inside of us. Sometimes all it takes is taking some time to make someone feel specialJ
