A Ministry Outside of Church Walls

When my nephews were born three months prematurely, we found ourselves making daily visits to the hospital. Little did we know that along the way, we were also going to encounter other parents just as much in need of prayer and support.

My brother and his wife made friends with many of the parents in the NICU. A year ago, we were visiting our nephews when a woman came to our babies’ room crying, “They said my baby is going to die.” This happened a few minutes after the doctor had just told my brother that Lucas had stage four hemorrhage in the brain. So we went into a quiet room to calm her down. We asked her what her son’s name was. “His name is Peter,” she answered. “Do you know that his name means ‘rock’?” we asked. “Yes, that’s why I named him that.” We then asked her where Peter’s room was. “What for?” she asked. We told her we wanted to pray for him. So she took us to Peter’s room and we prayed for him. At the end of the day we met up with her again and she told us that Peter was doing well. In fact, Peter has come a long way, living up to his name by being a rock. We visited his room whenever we were at the hospital. His mom now encourages other parents to believe.

There are so many people who don’t go or can’t go to church. Maybe God has placed you in their path to remind them that God is just as near to them in the hospital as He is in church. Most often than not, they’ll find Him outside of church walls.