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“Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out
the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than heaven—
what can you do? Deeper than Sheol— what can you know? Their
measure is longer than the earth
And broader than the sea. Job 11:7-9 (NKJV)
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The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to
their first ministry, to reopen a church in suburban
Brooklyn , arrived in early October excited about their
opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very
run down and needed
much work. They set a goal to have everything done in
time to have their first service on Christmas Eve. |
They
worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc,
and on December 18 were ahead of schedule and just about
finished. On December 19 a terrible tempest - a
driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days. On the
21st, the pastor went over to the church... His heart sank when
he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster
about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of
the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high.
The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing
what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed
home.. On the way he noticed that a local business was having a
flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the
items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted
tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a
Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right
size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and
headed back to the church. By this time it had started to snow..
An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to
catch the bus.. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in
the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later.
She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he
got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall
tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it
looked and it covered up the entire problem area. Then he
noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was
like a sheet... 'Pastor,' she asked, 'where did you get that
tablecloth?' The pastor explained. The woman asked him to
check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were
crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of
the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in
Austria The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how
he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The
woman explained that before the war she and her husband were
well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was
forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next
week. He was captured, sent to prison and never saw her husband
or her home again. The pastor wanted to give her the
tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The
pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could
do... She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only
in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.
What a
wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was
almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of
the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the
door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom
the pastor recognized from the neighborhood continued to sit in
one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn't
leaving. The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the
front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had
made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and
how could there be two tablecloths so much alike? He told the
pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for
her safety and he was supposed to follow her, but he was
arrested and put in a prison.. He never saw his wife or his home
again all the 35 years in between.
The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a
little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house
where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He
helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman's
apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas
reunion he could ever imagine.
True Story - submitted by Pastor Rob Reid
NOTES
FROM YOUR CHAPLAIN: NEAL BROWN - SOUTHERN CROSS MINISTRIES, INC.
- PHONE– 861-7298; 858-0976; CELL: 423-421-3402; Email:
pastor@cedarhillbaptist.com
NOTE:
If you would like to receive “CHAPLAIN’S NOTES by email, please
send me your email address at the address above and I will
gladly forward it to you.
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