Friday, March 28, 2014

Jerry

Recently my father was admitted to the hospital for a health issue and was there for a week. During the time he was there we were introduced to a young man, who was admitted to the same floor, who was expected to die the same day within hours of his admittance. Hearing the commotion in his room and the crowd of family around the doorway to his room, my sister who was by my dad asked the nurse what was going on. The nurse explained the reason for the commotion few rooms down where the young man was admitted.  The nurse, who was a Christian, when she found out that our family was also Christians, asked my sister if she would want to go over and talk to the young man. My sister took the opportunity and visited him and his family who was gathered there. The Lord used her to speak with him; she shared Christ with the young man, Jerry, and prayed for him. We came to find out that my sister's visit had a calming effect on the young man.

She brought the young man's condition to the Church as a prayer request and the Church prayed for his deliverance. Following evening three of us from our church visited Jerry in the hospital room to pray with him. He was very open with us about his health condition. He seemed to be in his early thirties and had many dreams for his life. He told us that through high school and early college he was an exceptional student, for whom, his family had great expectations. But he fell into the wrong group of friends and became an alcoholic. Now, on that hospital bed he was facing death to come any time as his liver was failing due to his alcoholism and shutting down.  When he was first brought in, the doctors had only given him hours to live, but now his prognosis was that he may live for another ten days. He shared his fear of death, his desire to have another shot at life so that he could marry his girlfriend of many years, give his parents a grand child and live a normal life devoid of alcohol. Though he was born in a Hindu family, he said he had grown up without any staunch beliefs.

We shared Christ again with him and shared our testimonies of Christ's healing power. He accepted Christ as a savior, we prayed with him that night and pointed him to an on-line bible to read. My friend suggested that he start with the book of John in the New Testament.  He thanked us and we left. Few days later my cousin, who was there that night we visited, visited the young man again with another friend to pray. Jerry's condition had gotten much worse and one of his brother politely told my cousin and the friend to not come anymore as they wished for Jerry to pass peacefully and wanted to cremate him according to their religious traditions.  Respecting his wishes they prayed and left.

As a family we, my wife and children, had been praying for Jerry. For me it had become personal following the visit to his hospital room that night and the conversation we had with him. During family prayer we counted each day that the doctors had given Jerry to live and prayed for God to do his miracle, to cure the young man and bring salvation to his extended family. Few days after that last visit to Jerry's room, my cousin called me one late evening, as I was waiting at the bus stop coming home from work, that Jerry had passed away the day after his last visit with the friend from church. I felt empty inside.

At our nightly family prayer, I informed my family that Jerry had passed away few days ago and his family had cremated him. We'd been praying for a dead man! That night I did not feel like reading my bible nor did I have the heart to pray. The scripture that we read that night during the family prayer gave us a ray of hope...

Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life.  Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again.  They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish.  Do you believe this, Martha?... (John 11:25-26)

The last sentence echoed with my name at the end... "Do you believe this, .....?" I look forward to seeing this young man in heaven one day!

Israel & the New Breed - It's not Over


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