Coming full circle, life out of death

There was an older lady that I and another pastor visited recently. I was amazed to watch her come to faith during our conversation with her. Her mother has been dedicated to praying for her for years. She has drowned year after year in drink. She spent parts of her life on the street. But yesterday, in a beaten down North Philly neighborhood, she declared Jesus was her Savior.

I first met her at a few church events. But I barely knew her. The first deeper interaction with her came when I heard she was in the hospital and was expected to die maybe about 6 months ago. Her organs were failing, and I was told that at any moment she could die. I went to the hospital not knowing what I'd find. Would she still be alive? I had heard she was unresponsive, so I expected that if she was still alive, at most I'd be able to hold her hand and pray for her, and read some scripture to her as she lay there. But when I got there she was awake and sitting up and talking. It was amazing. Our conversation consisted of us talking about how God had done this for her and it was a remarkable recovery.

I hadn't heard much from her in the coming months. She came out of the hospital and came to church a few times but often was in a bad state physically. Then I received a call last week. Facing her impending death, she wanted to know how to deal with it. And we explained the gospel to her and after answering some questions, I watched as she changed and from as far as I can see, she put her trust in Jesus.