I was an electrician for the first part of my career but in 2000, I injured my back and had to undergo major surgery. The surgeon told me I would need to find a new line of work.
You have a lot of time to think when you’re laying in a hospital bed and I started praying about what God wanted me to do now that I had to make a career change. It’s amazing how you can “hear” God when you are quiet.
He spoke to me, saying I needed to minister to people in hospitals. There was a guy in the bed next to me, a painter, that didn’t know the Lord, so I thought I should get started. I began sharing what He had done in my life. And wouldn’t you know it, he accepted Jesus into his heart!
As soon as I got out of the hospital, I met with the pastor of our small church. He encouraged me to move to a larger church where there was a need for such a ministry. My wife and I searched for a new church and there again, the Lord showed His hand. The minister said they needed help with pastoral care, so I started making hospital visits. I loved it. But little did I know that the hospital visits were just preparing me for something bigger.
I felt The Lord was nudging me to minister to people in nursing homes. That next Sunday, while I was helping in the church parking lot, a member started talking to me about his relative in a local nursing home and how they wanted a Sunday service. I went there and asked the director if I could come to see the residents a couple times a month and share some Biblical truths with them. I was welcomed and for the past 11 years, I’ve preached to them twice a month.
It has been a blessing to me, and it never would have happened if I didn’t take that time to listen to His quiet voice. When I look back at how everything unfolded for me after my accident, I can sure see God’s hand along the way.
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