We are eager to share stories of how Bethlehem students are being salt and light in this urban setting. This Bethlehem Seminary Apprentice recently shared an expanded version of this message during a monthly meeting of the staff and faculty.
Richard Baxter, a seventeenth-century Puritan pastor, once said, “preach as a dying man to dying men.” These words reflected my three years as a student at Bethlehem Seminary. Last April, I began a chapel service at the Minnehaha Senior Living residence located ten minutes south of Bethlehem. At the time, I was in Chancellor John Piper’s preaching class, and he had advised our class to find a way to regularly sober ourselves up to the realities of eternal life and death in order to remind ourselves why we’re training for ministry. The Chancellor reminded us of the fragility of life, and we don’t know how long we have here on earth.
During that class last April, a friend of mine died suddenly. At his funeral, the preacher missed the opportunity to clearly share the gospel to a crowded sanctuary full of non-believers. Conversely my friend’s younger brother—who has a severe stutter—fearlessly stuttered his way through the clear gospel message: our only hope in life is to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.
Life is short, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that there isn’t a moment to lose. It became crystal clear that God might call me home before I even completed seminary. Consequently, I told my wife that I needed to find some outreach ministry to invest my life in, and she directed me to the church newsletter. The newsletter featured a letter from the director at Minnehaha Senior Living asking for volunteers to lead a “religious activity” there.
I met with the director and found out that, after COVID, no volunteers had returned, except one part-time chaplain from the United Church of Christ. After meeting the chaplain, I quickly concluded that she wasn’t going to help anyone hold fast to the one true faith in their final years. This was the ministry opportunity I had been looking for. These seniors were hindered from hearing the truth, with no solid, trustworthy ministers or pastors coming to visit them. On top of that, an unbelieving lady was inviting me to preach the Bible. I didn’t need any more convincing after that.
Our chapel now meets weekly on Fridays. An older man from my church, Jubilee Community Church, comes every week to lead the singing. After the service, we visit the residents in their rooms who are unable to attend. We started with one person at our first service, but now we average ten regular attendees who make it when they’re able. Nearly all of them have some kind of chronic disease. A couple of them have advanced dementia. Quite a few of them never even lived in Minnesota until their kids, who live here, moved them here. They know very little about the city or state they live in outside of the walls of their residence. They are alone.
I love serving them. Many don’t have anything to look forward to in this life, so they’re very eager to hear about the next life and the best news in the world about our Savior. One thing I love about our chapel is that, regardless of their previous denomination, some of the older residents, who can’t see or hold the hymnal because of their dimmed eyes and arthritis-ridden hands, still know from memory just about every hymn that we sing. It’s also been a great reminder to me that I’m not really in a different place than they are. The Lord could call me home before any one of them. So, I’m very thankful to God to have this time with them in the first years of my ministry and in the last years of their life. Baxter’s words ring true: “preach as a dying man to dying men.”
Kurt Siegel
3rd-Year Seminarian
Prayer Request:
- Pray that the Lord would work in the lives of those at Minnehaha Senior Living.
- Pray for the prospective students who attended Preview Day today.
- Pray for those speaking at and attending Theology for Everyone.
- Pray that the Lord would bring in the remaining funds needed for this school year through the Million Dollar+ Challenge.