Thursday, April 8, 2010

THE RETURN OF CHRIST - WATCH IN AWE!

APRIL 2010 NEWSLETTER/MINISTRY CALENDAR

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me....Matthew 25:40

Lakewood Nursing Home Salem Village Nursing Home Rosewood Care Center

Sunny Hill Nursing Home

Paradise Park Assisted Living Senior Star @ Weber Rd. Heritage Woods, Bolingbrook. Weber Place

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. “Your son is here,” she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient’s eyes opened heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack; he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.

The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed. All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile but each time he refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients. Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night. Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding all night and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited. Finally, she returned and she started to offer words of sympathy but the Marine interrupted her. “Who was that man?” he asked. The nurse was startled, “He was your father”, and she answered. “No, he wasn’t,” the Marine replied. “I never saw him before in my life”

“Then why didn’t you say something when I took you to him?” “I knew right away that he needed his son, and his son just wasn’t here and when I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed.” I came here tonight to find a Mr. William Grey. His Son was killed in Iraq today, and I was sent to inform him….What was this Gentleman’s Name? The Nurse with tears in her eyes answered, “That was Mr. William Grey.” The next time someone needs you ... just be there for them.

I can relate to that story with the Nursing Home Ministry. So many times when I go visit the homes and I have no clue who I will be visiting that day, but the Lord will lead me to a person who so desperately needs a friend at that moment or someone to pray with them and its such a Blessing to know the Lord directs our steps and leads us in the direction He wants us to go and leads us to the people who need the Lord.

We had great services at Lakewood this month and we always have a great crowd there. The residents are always so excited on the Sunday when they know we are coming. We really enjoy the services there. We also had good number attend the services at Rosewood. Alyce is a resident at Rosewood and will be celebrating her 100th birthday on May 7th and is praying that she lives long enough to see it happen. She needs our prayers as she has not been able to attend the services the last 2 months.

We started services at Weber Place, the new Assisted Living on Weber Road, this month and it went really well. Jocelyn Akut, one of our Ministry team, led a resident to the Lord and that is always exciting.

Her name is “Lena” and she needs our prayers. She is our new sister in Christ. That’s what the Ministry is all about, bringing the lost to Jesus and encouraging those who are down and out.

The little children continue to bless our Ministry with singing at the services on Saturdays at Heritage Woods, Senior Star and Weber Place. The residents love the children and they make the services very special. I keep praying that the Lord will send us children to sing at all our services. What a Blessing to see families training them in the ways of the Lord.

We appreciate all the Ministry Team who so faithfully gives of their time and talents each and every week. With eight homes, it takes a lot of dedication and commitment and our team is very dedicated and we give God all the Praise, Honor and Glory for all He is doing through the Ministry and for a Ministry Team that has soft hearts and willing to listen to the still small voice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to be willing to follow His complete Will in their lives.

Kim is back with us after a successful Mission Trip to Honduras. Welcome back Kim, we love your spirit and your heartbeat for Missions.

What a Blessing it is to walk with the Lord and you realize it so much more when you get out of your comfort zone and you have to depend totally upon the Lord. You draw so much closer to Him and the good news is, He will never let you down, and He is always by your side.

You say: 'It's impossible'

God says: All things are possible

( Luke 18:27)

You say: 'I'm too tired'

God says: I will give you rest

( Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: 'Nobody really loves me'

God says: I love you

( John 3:1 6 & John 3:34 )

You say: 'I can't go on'

God says: My grace is sufficient

(II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: 'I can't figure things out'

God says: I will direct your steps

(Proverbs 3:5- 6)

You say: 'I can't do it'

God says: You can do all things

( Philippians 4:13)

You say: 'I'm not able'

God says: I am able

(II Corinthians 9:8)

You say: 'It's not worth it'

God says: It will be worth it

(Roman 8:28 )

You say: 'I can't forgive myself'

God says: I Forgive you

(I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: 'I'm afraid'

God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear

( II Timothy 1:7)

You say: 'I'm always worried and frustrated'

God says: Cast all your cares on ME

(I Peter 5:7)

You say: 'I feel all alone'

God says: I will never leave you or forsake you

(Hebrews 13:5)

PLEASE NOTE: All contributions to our ministry should be made payable to “Sonshine Outreach Ministries”.

Mail your gift to SonShine Outreach Ministries, c/o Joyce Mancke, 509 Rhonda Dr., Lockport, IL. 6044l. Your gifts are tax deductible and you will receive an end of the year statement.

Our schedule for April is as follows-

Lakewood Nursing Home, Plainfield –April 4th @ 2:30 p.m.

Senior Star @ Weber Rd (Saturday) April 10th @ 10:00 am,.

Weber Place (Saturday) April 10th @ 11:00 a.m.

Salem Village, Joliet – April 11th @ 2:30 p.m.

Rosewood Rehab Center, Joliet – April 18th @ 2:30 p.m.

Heritage Woods, Bolingbrook, - (Saturday) April 24th @ 10:00 a.m.,

Sunny Hill, Joliet –April 25th @ 2:30 p.m.

Paradise Park, New Lenox –April 25th @ 2:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Joyce Mancke

Email: jmancke@sbcglobal.net

Phone: 815-351-7659

March 2010 Newsletter and Ministry Calendar

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me. Matt: 25:40

Lakewood Nursing Home Salem Village Nursing Home Rosewood Care Center Sunny Hill Nursing Home

Paradise Park Assisted Living Senior Star @ Weber Rd. Heritage Woods, Bolingbrook. Weber Place

On Thursday, the 25th of February, my husband came home bringing the most beautiful bouquet of flowers and when he handed them to me, he kissed me and wished me “Happy Anniversary”. They were a mixture of carnations, miniature daisy’s and Roses which are my favorites. I love roses, however, he has given me flowers many times but this was the first time he had ever brought me roses and we will be celebrating our 30th anniversary on March the 15th. So I was in awe of how beautiful they were and my mind just started going crazy, I’m thinking, WOW, its only the 25th, its 3 more weeks until our anniversary, how thoughtful, and I wondered if he was planning to continue to build on this for the next three weeks and you can’t imagine how special I felt at that particular moment. I thought to myself, its really been a great 30 years and the flowers are such a thoughtful thing to do and they were so beautiful. At that moment he put his arm around me and kissed me again and then he started laughing as he said, “there was a funeral at the Methodist church I just finished cleaning and the pastor wanted to know if I wanted to bring these flowers home”. Well, I won’t write in the newsletter what my next thoughts were. . . . . . . and I think there are probably some of you, especially you ladies, that would not have accepted that very well and you guys may still be in the dog house, but all kidding aside, I started thinking about all of that and the Lord gave me the most beautiful thoughts. A situation had happened that brought sadness to one family with the death of a loved one, and although it was a sad day for them, God used a bad situation to bring joy to someone else. I have really enjoyed the roses (and I enjoyed the special moment with my husband before I found out they were funeral flowers). It was truly a fun moment together and we had a really good laugh and it has already been an anniversary I won’t soon forget. God is so good and laughter is good for the soul and I thank God that He brought us together 30 years ago and gave us a sense of humor and has taught us how to laugh together, cry together and best of all read our Bible and pray together. God has been so good to us.

The Nursing Home Ministry is going really well and we are taking on the 8th home in March. We will be having two services on the second Saturday of each month. We will do Senior Star at 10:00 a.m. and Weber Place on Weber Road, at 11:00 a.m. We are so Blessed to have so many wonderful volunteers who are so dedicated and faithful to the Ministry. God just continues to open the windows of heaven and pour out His blessings on the volunteers and the Ministry.

The month of March will complete our fifth year since the SonShine Outreach Ministry started on the first Sunday of April 2005. A lot of good things have happened during that five years. I can personally say, the Ministry has been a real Blessing in both my life and Verlin’s. I never get tired of thinking about going Sunday after Sunday and now on Saturday’s as well, and even throughout the week. I love the ministry and I love the people who have worked so closely with us and become very dear friends. We’ve shared a lot with each other but even more importantly we have been priviledged to share the Blessings God has so abundantly given to us these past five years. Its exciting to bring a smile to the faces of all the residents and even more exciting to lead a soul to Jesus Christ our Lord.

We have been having great participation with the residents singing and clapping their hands to the music. We had a very special singer at Lakewood this month. Viola, who celebrated her 103rd birthday on February 14th, sang a solo for us. She sang “This Little Light of Mine, I’m Gonna Let It Shine” and it was really good. After she sang, she told me that she prays every day that the Lord will take her home. She’s tired and ready to go home and she knows where she’s going. What a Blessing! ! !

One morning I wasn’t sure which home I wanted to visit, I kept thinking about going to one but felt a tug to go to another one. After I arrived at Lakewood, it was clear to me why I felt led to go there. Kaethe needed a friend and I sat and listened to her talk for over an hour. She has had many many years of hurt and pain as she began telling me her life story. Her mom died at an early age and she became very bitter as to why God would take away her mother. Her brother was in the service and she told about the time when her family was notified that he was “missing in action” and he never came home and they never knew how he died or what happened. She later married and had children but the grief continued, she lost a daughter at a young age, then her husband had a heart attack and died. Her son married a domineering wife and won’t allow him to visit her. She is angry with everyone and with God. I opened the Bible and shared several scripture verses with her and then presented the plan of salvation to her before I left. She was almost ready a couple of times to pray the sinners prayer but then she would stop and say, “I just don’t think I can let go of all the anger”. I told her I would be back and we will talk again, so please pray for Kaethe, she needs the Lord in her heart. She needs peace that only He can give to her and God can change her heart and bring joy.

There are so many things that happen in our lives, things that we don’t understand, circumstances change, and we don’t know what tomorrow holds, but praise God we know who holds tomorrow and we know He holds our hand. He never changes. He is always the same yesterday, today and forever and His promises are true and He will walk with us every step of the way if only we allow Him to. All He ask us to do is “be Faithful and Trust Him”.

The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not keep you and substain you.

Please continue to pray for the Ministry and all the volunteers and the many residents that we see each week. It’s a great opportunity to share the Love of Christ and many of the residents do not know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. It’s a mission field that is white unto harvest and God has chosen all of us to be His servants.

This newsletter goes out to many people and if you are reading it and you don’t know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, please don’t put off until tomorrow what you need to do today. Tomorrow may never come. Ask Jesus into your heart. It’s as simple as admitting you are a sinner and asking Him to forgive you for all your sins. Then ask Him to come into your heart and be your Savior and accept the greatest gift that anyone has ever given you. He loves you and He wants you to be His child. He wants you to share the joy and peace that only He can give. It’s the greatest decision you will ever make and He’s the greatest friend you will ever have. You will never walk alone because He will always walk beside you. Does that mean you will be perfect??? NO, it means you will be forgiven and your eternal home will be in Heaven.

PLEASE NOTE: All contributions to our ministry should be made payable to “Sonshine Outreach Ministries”.

Mail your gift to SonShine Outreach Ministries, c/o Joyce Mancke, 509 Rhonda Dr., Lockport, Il. 6044l. Your gifts are tax deductible and you will receive an end of the year statement.

Our schedule for March is as follows;

Lakewood Nursing Home, Plainfield –March 7th @ 2:30 p.m. Senior Star @ Weber Rd (Saturday) March 13th @ 10:00 a.m,., Weber Place (Saturday) March 13th @ 11:00 a.m., Salem Village, Joliet – March 14th @ 2:30 p.m., Rosewood Rehab Center, Joliet – March 21st @ 2:30 p.m., Heritage Woods, Bolingbrook, - (Saturday) March. 27th @ 10:00 a.m., Sunny Hill, Joliet –March. 28th @ 2:30 p.m. Paradise Park, New Lenox –March 28th @ 2:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Joyce Mancke jmancke@sbcglobal.net.

Phone - 815-351-7659