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Vol. 47,
No.36 SOUTHSIDE ORACLE November
19, 2004
Never Help a
Stranger
If you’re one of those people who don’t want to get
involved, don’t help a stranger get into his coat. At least my experience
taught me this. Walking out of church one Sunday morning I saw an elderly
gentleman struggling to put on his coat. I took the sleeve that eluded him
and put it within his reach. He thanked me and that was all….I thought.
Shortly after the coat incident he saw me again and
greeted me fondly. I learned that he lived on our way home so I offered him
a ride. This became a weekly practice that lasted two years.
We got to know Gus fairly well. There were not many
like him in the middle-class church where we went. He had been an
alcoholic, but after his conversion, the turning point of his life, he had
come to worship at the church where we attended. He especially loved
children and each week delighted them with little jingles of poetry he had
composed.
One Sunday Gus wasn’t at church. The following week
he was absent again. We found Gus sick in his one-room apartment. He
showed us a large growth on his abdomen and explained he was going to City
Hospital the following day. We took him a hot meal that night and promised
to visit him again soon.
We saw Gus several times in the hospital. My husband
gave blood for Gus after his surgery. A month later Gus went back to his
apartment. He was still a sick man and we helped him all we could. Before
long Gus returned to the hospital and late one night we got a telephone call
from the nurse informing us that Gus was very low.
“Have you called his relatives?” I asked. “He
has no one. You are the only one he told us to notify in case of
emergency.”
Stunned, I hung up. Was Gus really that alone? I
should have known. We could have done so much more if we had realized we
were all he had.
We hurried to the hospital and while my husband parked
the car I ran ahead to Gus. He couldn’t speak. He was breathing hard. His
eyes were wide and glistening, but he seemed to recognize me when I bent
over him. “Gus,” I said, “can you hear me?” He couldn’t answer, but the
expression of his eyes changed and a look of glory transformed his face.
“Gus, greet Jesus for me.” I watched him die.
If you don’t want to be involved, then remember it
doesn’t pay to help a man get into his coat. You might have to give him
some of your time, money, and blood. And he might just give you a part of
his life.
__Name
withheld, East Hill Evangel
The Bulletin Board
Senior
Dinner – Last Saturday our young people hosted thirty-six of our seniors
in a Thanksgiving Dinner. They did a wonderful job. Our thanks to them and
to the adults who helped, especially Laurie Giombi.
Our
Condolences – We extend our sympathy to Nathalie Campbell on the deaths
last week of her brother Earl Fredrick and his daughter, Kristi Horne.
The
Sick – Patricia Young underwent successful open-heart surgery at St.
Luke’s Hospital Tuesday morning. As we go to press she is in recovery….Karoline
Jensen has been confined to home as she recovers from her recent leg
surgery.
ATTENDANCE RECORD
Two
years ago Last year Last week Goal
Bible
classes 124
163 146 170
Morning worship
230 239 *246 250
Evening worship
66 49 53 80
Contribution $4191.06
$4997.57 $4763.42 $4500.00
(*) first service,
130; second service, 116
Small Group Report
– Ladies’ Thursday Class
(Editor’s note: In the next few weeks we plan to feature the midweek Bible
class groups that are held both at the church building and in homes. We
hope in this way to encourage more to become involved in one or more of
these studies. All of them are open to everyone.)
Our
Thursday morning ladies’ Bible class meets at 10:00 a.m. at the church
building as it has for many years. Julia Hawley is the teacher. Usually
six to twelve women attend. The class is studying in the Old Testament and
is currently looking at the period of the captivity of Israel with emphasis
on the books of Daniel and Esther.
The
class provides good fellowship as well as Bible study. Over the holidays
the ladies in the class assemble holiday gift baskets that they take to
shut-ins and others. They have also carried out various improvements around
the church building such as providing fans and heaters for the nursery and
they send out cards to the sick and those in the hospital.
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