Spiritual Care: A Guide for Caregivers by Judith Allen Shelly Read Free Book Online

prveelyt&ing, not evangelism. While many people
may seek God openly when they face a crisis, others will turn
firmly to the religion they have grown up with. In such cases, we
can assist them in finding someone from their faith tradition to
support them. However, we can continue our friendship and listen
carefully to their faith stories. We can offer to pray for them.
Sometimes we can invite them to Christian events and programs
where they will learn about Christ. In the process, we enter into
dialogue and look for opportunities to gently share our own story

    For example, I met Satomi, a Japanese exchange student, on
an airplane. We talked off and on during the fifteen-hour flight
from Korea. She had left a sick mother in Japan and felt terribly
guilty because they had not parted on good terms. She attended a
college near my home, so I invited her to come for weekends.
Although she never became a Christian, we talked openly about
Christianity and her own experience as an agnostic in a Shinto
and Buddhist culture. We discussed her family problems and her
difficulties with schoolwork. She attended church with us and frequently asked me to pray for her, which-I did. She observed that
Christians were "good people," so she wanted to be around them,
but she could not take that step of faith.
Getting Up Our Courage
    Sometimes we are not really ashamed of the gospel or afraid of
reprisal should we discuss it openly-we are simply uncomfortable discussing spiritual concerns. It feels too personal and may
reveal our frailty. For example, when Henry suffered a serious
myocardial infarction, his daughter called his pastor, frantically
pleading, "My brothers and I don't know if my father knows the
Lord, and we don't know how to ask him!" Her concern took the
pastor by surprise. Henry had always been active in the church, faithfully attending worship and a midweek Bible study. He spoke
openly about his love for the Lord, but he had never been able to
talk with his children about his faith.

    Later in the week, the pastor gathered Henry's family together
at his bedside. "Henry," the pastor began, "your kids want to
know if you know the Lord."
    Henry's eyes misted as he reached out to the two standing closest to him. "Yes, I do. I have prayed for you every day of your
lives, and deep in my heart I've wanted nothing more than to be
able to talk to you about him, but I'm just an old farmer, and I
never had the right words. I just figured your mother would do a
good job, so I left it up to her." Hugs and tears followed as the
emotional barrier came down. Henry experienced healing not
only physically but spiritually as well.
    The letter to the Hebrews tells us, "Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is
faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love
and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of
some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see
the Day approaching" (Heb 10:23-25). Henry's children saw the
day of his death approaching and feared it would be an eternal
death. How sad it would have been if they did not have the assurance that they would meet again in heaven.
    People long to know and be known in the depths of their spiritual being, but many fear rejection if the truth were known. Consider Fran, a former missionary who taught Christian education in
a seminary. Strong, capable and opinionated, Fran seemed to measure her worth by how much she could accomplish for God. After
returning from a summer mission trip, Fran came down with a
mysterious illness that sapped her energy and finally forced her to
take a leave of absence. When Ginny, one of Fran's students, came to visit, Fran tried to maintain her professional composure, but
Ginny's intuition prompted her to explore Fran's spiritual needs.

    "I think I'd be mad at God if I were you!" Ginny suggested.
"Here you invest your whole life