Based on: Luke 4:18 IV
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised;”
As I pondered
this scripture and the request to give an example of “the oppressed go free”, I
considered that oppression can come in many forms—and can even be
self-inflicted. I thought of a situation where people can find themselves
“oppressed” by their circumstances and don’t recognize that they have caused
the situation by their own fears, beliefs and choices.
This is the
story of a good friend and neighbour whom I will call Mrs. G. (just “G” for
short). After a lifetime of working hard
and spending the last two years of her husband’s life caring for him until he
died, G kept herself busy by helping out her neighbours and expressing her love
in the form of homemade bread, pies, cakes or cookies. She was a blessing to
many. But, over time, she found managing
her finances very challenging—her husband had always done that job. And now, of
course, there was just one pension income but the same expenses to care for her
home, even with the widow’s supplement. She became brokenhearted with despair over how to make
ends meet. She succumbed to
“purchase-required” contests that promised big winnings and fortune-tellers
that promised good fortune if money was sent to them. Using credit cards to pay the fortune-tellers
(who threated to send her “bad” luck if she didn’t send money), these
situations drew her deeper and deeper into debt. G became anemic from living on bread and
margarine because she spent her money on these dreams instead of groceries. To
her credit, she had good intentions for her potential winnings—to help others
and the Church. This situation was unknown to anyone. Her only child, a son who
was drowning in his own troubles was very effective at ignoring his mother and
seldom stopped by to see her (even though he drove past her house every day, going
to and from his home further up the road).
Since her
husband died, G was very faithful attending our congregation and was baptized
in 1997, at the age of 70. In 2006, although she professed to being “fine” when
I would chat with her after Church, I had noticed that she seemed to be
distressed but was not forthcoming. In the Fall of that year, we had as our
guest ministry Ken McGowan, Financial Specialist. (I believe that his presence
was God-directed, as there were three CEM appointees who had given a presentation
in North Bay the previous day and on Sunday, each one was designated (by whom?)
to visit a Northern Ontario congregation.)
Dwight and I hosted Ken overnight in our home. During our visit I
expressed to him my concern for G, as I knew of a previous time that she’d had
received advice through another friend who had tried to help resolve some
dubious financial matters. Ken had some ideas for me to consider offering to
her. As is our congregation’s custom when we receive guest ministry, we had a pot-luck
lunch after Church and sister Shirley and I noticed that G was looking very
pale. Shirley and I convinced (read: coerced) G into permitting Shirley to
drive her to the Emergency at the nearest hospital. G was so depleted, she required blood transfusions
and barely remembers being hospitalized for a week, or any visitors who came to
see her.
Following the
return to her home, I visited her and expressed my concern, offering assistance
if there was anything I could do to help. G’s eyes welled up with tears and she
told me that she had “not slept a wink all night”, but had lain awake praying,
asking God to please send someone to help her. The Holy Spirit sent a tingle
through me from head to toe and tears came to my eyes, as I realized that mine
was a God-sent mission. What a humbling and awesome privilege to be God’s
instrument in answer to another’s prayers. As we talked, I shared with her that
Ken had some ideas and if she wished we could follow through with them. I
became her Financial Manager and hold Power of Attorney for her finances. As
CFO, I applied for some assistance from the Oblation fund, which was gratefully
received. We met with the bank manager and arranged a consolidation loan to pay
off her debts. Then we set up a budget to manage income and expenses, settling
on a weekly amount of cash for her to pay for some costs directly, such as
groceries and personal items. With Ken’s assistance, we also prepared her will.
God helped us to “bring
deliverance to a captive”.
-2-
G got back into
the baking she loved to do, sometimes taking orders or selling from her table
at the local annual yard sale. Her hope and joy in life returned and she
enjoyed visiting her friends once again and helping where she could. Since I
would not receive any monetary appreciation for assisting her, she kept us
supplied with regular gifts of pies or my husband’s favourite oatmeal cookies.
G’s mail was delivered to my mailbox so I could pay her bills and after several
months of “return to sender” and note-writing, managed to eliminate the contest
and fortune-teller mailings. G was no longer “blind” to the deceit she had suffered and could
now “see” hope for
the future. It is ironic that in her troubles she could see the needs of others
and wanted to help them but could not see how to help herself. I believe that
is why God needed to respond to her prayerful pleas.
Through regular
contact with her son, I was able to involve him more in her life and his new
wife was also instrumental in promoting regular visits. In her 80’s, G’s health
was deteriorating and my “responsibilities” grew to accompanying her to medical
appointments and shopping trips. The care providers kept supposing I was her
daughter, so we unofficially “adopted” each other. Arrangements were also made
for Home Care, nurse visits and various other services through the wonderful
Community Care program. Through government Residential Rehabilitation
Assistance and Home Adaptation for Senior’s Independence programs, we were able
to arrange for much-needed repairs and adaptations for her comfort and
safety.
A year and a
half ago, her son and his wife found themselves in need of new
accommodations. This presented an
opportunity for them to move in with G, which was a blessing since by then she
was becoming unable to live alone. Because she was not amenable to the idea of
a nursing home, this took care of all of their needs. The son that ignored her for years now
provides 24-hour a day care, supplemented with several visits per week from the
Community Care workers. The “bruising”
of the past has healed as she expresses her love and appreciation for her
“wonderful son who takes such good care of me”. In accordance with her wishes
and those of her son and daughter-in-law, I remain her financial manager. These
arrangements are fulfilling her wish to remain in her own home for the rest of
her days. She is ”set at
liberty” from previous fears and anxieties.
At 85 years of
age, G comes to Church when physically able and attended the Community
Christmas Dinner and, in January, following a half-hour drive, sat in a
wheelchair to pay her respects to the family of a priesthood member who passed
away. I am pleased to state that G’s finances are in a healthy condition with
sufficient funds reserved for her funeral expenses. She feels secure, knowing
that her affairs are in order. For myself, I humbly appreciate having the
opportunity to act with God’s help to bless the life of a faithful soul who has
the gift of kindness and generosity towards others. In turn, G has blessed me
with her warm friendship and love and the many lessons I have learned along the
way about being a Spiritual Companion and receiving our Heavenly Father’s
guidance.
Heather Fryer, Evangelist
Monetville, ON Canada
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