Pastor Smith
The only time I met Pastor Smith was when he conducted the marriage ceremony of my sister Carol to Roberto in Washington, D.C.
When Roberto was a young Christian, it was Pastor Smith who discipled him and then later mentored him in his role as a pastor. Roberto considered him his spiritual father, his own father not having been a Christian during Roberto's growing up years.
For a number of years they served in the same building, with Roberto pastoring a Spanish congregation and Pastor Smith preaching to an English-speaking group. The groups met at different times.
Last summer when Roberto and Carol went back to the Baltimore/Washington area where they used to live, they visited Pastor Smith, who had retired earlier, and was suffering from pancreatic cancer at the time of the visit. Things looked fairly hopeful at the time though because of some new drugs he was being given. Then several weeks ago his son Joe called and told Roberto that his father was quite low.
Last weekend Roberto's uncle died, and Roberto returned again to the Washington/Baltimore area for the funeral. He planned to visit Pastor Smith in the same trip, after the funeral.
Things did not go as planned when Roberto tried to make arrangements for the visit. He could not reach Joe by way of his most recent contact information. (He was out of the area, as it turned out.) When he looked for his number in the phone book, he found more Joe Smiths than you can imagine. No luck there. When Carol told me this story, she did not know how it happened, but Roberto finally found out in which hospital Pastor Smith was a patient, so last Sunday afternoon he went to visit him.
When he entered the room, he greeted Pastor Smith and was rewarded with a smile of recognition, and they visited briefly. Then they prayed together. That having been done, Pastor Smith was ready to die. So he did, right then and there, with Roberto in the room.
The person who was to deliver Pastor Smith's funeral sermon was abroad, and the funeral had to be planned for this weekend to give the pastor time to get back to America. Roberto is asked to prepare and give the eulogy.
One of Carol's tasks in preparing to come here was to edit the eulogy (Roberto's first language is Spanish, and English speaking and writing still present some challenges, PhD notwithstanding). Then Roberto left KC again for the east coast, and Carol leaves KC tomorrow to come here to be with Mom.
Moments of grace and hope come often, mixed right in with trouble, sickness, and death. For Roberto and Pastor Smith, meeting again last Sunday was one such moment of grace. For Pastor Smith, it was only the beginning.
When Roberto was a young Christian, it was Pastor Smith who discipled him and then later mentored him in his role as a pastor. Roberto considered him his spiritual father, his own father not having been a Christian during Roberto's growing up years.
For a number of years they served in the same building, with Roberto pastoring a Spanish congregation and Pastor Smith preaching to an English-speaking group. The groups met at different times.
Last summer when Roberto and Carol went back to the Baltimore/Washington area where they used to live, they visited Pastor Smith, who had retired earlier, and was suffering from pancreatic cancer at the time of the visit. Things looked fairly hopeful at the time though because of some new drugs he was being given. Then several weeks ago his son Joe called and told Roberto that his father was quite low.
Last weekend Roberto's uncle died, and Roberto returned again to the Washington/Baltimore area for the funeral. He planned to visit Pastor Smith in the same trip, after the funeral.
Things did not go as planned when Roberto tried to make arrangements for the visit. He could not reach Joe by way of his most recent contact information. (He was out of the area, as it turned out.) When he looked for his number in the phone book, he found more Joe Smiths than you can imagine. No luck there. When Carol told me this story, she did not know how it happened, but Roberto finally found out in which hospital Pastor Smith was a patient, so last Sunday afternoon he went to visit him.
When he entered the room, he greeted Pastor Smith and was rewarded with a smile of recognition, and they visited briefly. Then they prayed together. That having been done, Pastor Smith was ready to die. So he did, right then and there, with Roberto in the room.
The person who was to deliver Pastor Smith's funeral sermon was abroad, and the funeral had to be planned for this weekend to give the pastor time to get back to America. Roberto is asked to prepare and give the eulogy.
One of Carol's tasks in preparing to come here was to edit the eulogy (Roberto's first language is Spanish, and English speaking and writing still present some challenges, PhD notwithstanding). Then Roberto left KC again for the east coast, and Carol leaves KC tomorrow to come here to be with Mom.
Moments of grace and hope come often, mixed right in with trouble, sickness, and death. For Roberto and Pastor Smith, meeting again last Sunday was one such moment of grace. For Pastor Smith, it was only the beginning.
posted by Mrs. I at
6:14 PM
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