Gordon Rumford Ministries

It was a quiet morning when the telephone rang in my study. As usual, I did not have any idea who or what I would hear when I answered it.

The call was a relay from a pastor friend in a town two hours drive from here. A young man 16 years of age was the focus of the conversation. Although Jimmy lived in Mississauga with his family, he had spent a summer or two in this town working for a family in the local evangelical church. The call centered on an incident a couple of days earlier that concerned Jimmy.

It seems that Jimmy had been brutally beaten in a plaza in Mississauga by four young offenders and left in a coma. The family was unchurched, but would be receptive to a pastoral call. The boy was in the Mississauga General Hospital intensive care unit and still in a coma.

When I went to the hospital, I met by Jimmy’s mother and sister. I was given a warm reception when I identified myself and the mother explained in detail about the assault. It was a brutal action by some seriously disturbed young people and arrests had been made. The mother explained that her son might be in the coma for several weeks. It was not known what he would be like after regaining consciousness.

The mother was brave and hopeful that her son would come around and survive the incident. The father was unable to spend more than a few minutes by his son’s side as he could not endure the reality his eyes witnessed. The sister sat quietly weeping in the corner of the room.

I spoke with the mom about how senseless the situation seemed and then assured her that Christian people would be praying for her and the entire family at this time. She was genuinely moved by the fact that we would show such concern for strangers. Before I left, I gave her my phone number and assured her that she could call any time if there was a need to speak to me.

It’s a couple of weeks later and I have had several visits with the young man and the family. In the first few visits, while Jimmy was still comatose, I would speak to him as though he heard me and pray with him. After two weeks Jimmy regained consciousness and although he still has a long way to go, full recovery is expected.

On my last couple of visits there was clear recognition of me and a positive response to my presence with him. His mother is thrilled that such attention was being paid to her family.

We hope in the coming weeks to have some young people from a local church come and visit with Jimmy. We will arrange for them to bring a guitar, take him to a common room, and sing some songs, chat, and share their Christian faith with him. In this way we hope to reach into this unchurched family and build a bridge to a good evangelical church.

We are told by the folk in the small town where Jimmy worked one summer that he has made a profession of faith. In God’s grace we shall build on that beginning and see the entire family come to know the Lord.

Once again we have had opportunity to be a pastor to pastorless people, to ignite a spark in a dark place that one day may bring light and hope.

It’s because of the kind support in prayer and financial giving of folk like yourself that we can continue our work for the Saviour.

Thank you for being a part of this work for the best of Masters.

John 1: 4 – 5
In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness… The true light that gives light to every man.

I was working away in my study on a sermon when the phone rang. There was a frightened voice on the other end who identified himself and asked if I remembered him.

Of course I did. He had attended a home Bible study I held in my house many years ago. He had been a quiet, shy young man who was intensely interested in Christianity. Sometime during his 2-3 years attending my study he had become a Christian. He moved away and I only had one or two contacts with him in 16-18 years.

Now he was in trouble. His minister was away on holiday and he needed help now. As he told me his story I understood why he was upset.

Recently he had a lump removed and a few minutes before he called me he had been in the surgeon’s office to receive the news that it was malignant and further surgery was urgently required.

Recalling that I had cancer some years ago, he chose to call me for spiritual and emotional support.

I made arrangements to visit him right away and drove to his home which was an hour from mine. It was good to get reacquainted with him, and meet his wife and family.

I took careful notes of when his medical appointments were so I could contact him each time to get updated on his progress. I also instituted a Bible study program for him to strengthen his faith and draw him near his Saviour.

The first passage I had him study was Isaiah 40. What a rich and delightful passage it is. He noted what it told him about the Lord and himself.

Then I had him study Psalm 91 with its exceedingly great and precious promises of the Lord’s deliverance in times of trouble. He faithfully studied the Word of God and sent me emails on the results.

Now I have visited him again and lent him a book I lend to many people. I have 6-7 copies of this out of print classic and usually 4-5 of them are out on loan at any given time. It is entitled The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ.

The book is well written and each of the 23 chapters is only 5-8 pages long. The author takes the biblical narrative from the time of Jesus’ arrest to His death and speaks about each scene in a warm and pastoral manner. It is a wonderful teaching aid for the follower of Christ and gives excellent application of the Scriptural truths.

After reading a chapter I have counselled many people to go to Isaiah 53:11 and read it.

Then I ask them to recollect what they read in the book and consider that Jesus does not regret suffering that for them.

“He shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.” When Jesus recalls what He suffered here for His people He does not regret it. He believes His people were worth all the sorrow and pain He suffered on their behalf.

What is important to do with people who suffer is what is spoken of in Hebrews 12:3: “Consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.”

Often people wonder how I get m connections to people in pain and especially to those who are terminally ill. It is indeed a marvel to me how these people come to my attention.

The person I visited for the first time last evening, is a prime example of the circuitous manner in which we are introduced. Let me tell you the story.

Several years ago a former parishioner of mine, Jim, called with the distressing news that he had developed a cancer that was determined would take his life within a few months to a year. I visited him faithfully until he passed away.

During the time I visited him he told me about a Hospice visitor he had coming to the house. The man from Hospice had heard about me through Jim and wanted to meet me to hear more about my ministry. I arranged a time for us to meet and eagerly looked forward to the meeting. Jim had told me many favorable things about this person.

A few weeks later I finally met with Bill and we had a delightful conversation over lunch. He was a fine Christian man from the Church of the Nazarene. We shared much in common as we swapped stories of our experiences with people.

Bill was a retired business man who had been exceptionally successful. He enjoyed his retirement greatly and was putting his time to good use helping others. In various ways he encouraged me to continue in my work. Over the past several years we have known each other we have enjoyed fine times together.

A couple of weeks ago Bill told me of a friend of his who was a member of Bill’s golf and country club. This man was very successful in a privately held business and was concerned for his employees welfare.

This man had described to Bill a story about one of his faithful employees whose wife was slowly dying of cancer. The man whose wife was dying was a very fine person who was deeply grieved about his wife’s condition. He did not know which way to turn for help with his problem.

Bill told the employer about me and my ministry to people in pain. The employer was immediately interested in the possibility of me helping his employee.

Within a few days the man was contacted and he was very willing to have me contact him about a visit. I called and arranged to come that very night to see him and his wife in the hospital in Oakville.

When I entered the room I heard music from the 50’s playing quietly and the man immediately got up to greet me. His name was Al and his wife was Mary. I spoke to him for a few moments and let him tell me the story of their journey through suffering. Many tears were shed and it soon became obvious that the man loved his wife dearly.

Then Al took me to the bedside to introduce me to his wife. Mary seemed to be semi-conscious and I spoke quietly to her about the Lord. I suggested to her that it was clear she had a medical problem that she could not do anything about but had to come to the hospital to have the doctors take care of her.

I then said we all have the problem of sin and need to present ourselves to the Lord to have Him do what we could not do for ourselves.

It is a simple analogy and I use it regularly. I do not know if she understood or not but I then quoted a verse of invitation to her and prayed, commending her and her husband to the Lord. Al laid his hand on my back and wept quietly as he heard his and his wife’s names mentioned in prayer.

As I was getting ready to take my leave of them, Al reached out and gave me a great big bear hug. He was so appreciative of the attention I was giving him and his dear wife.

I left the hospital so thankful that people such as yourselves support me and Susan in our ministry to those who suffer silently. People with little if any resources to help them in their time of need.

It was a long road from my former parishioner to me to get help to Al but it was well worth the trip.

For several years Susan has been praying for a missionary lady who struggled with cancer. She and her husband worked in Quito Ecuador for HCJB. From time to time she would be back in Toronto for treatment and we would have the opportunity to meet with her.

In June she came home for the last time and entered Princess Margaret Hospital for experimental treatment.

Because her husband is from Winnipeg the four boys and the husband did not have a place to stay in the Toronto area. We volunteered our home as our girls were away in Cape Cod for the summer and it meant we had spare bedrooms.

They moved in and stayed with us for almost a month. Because the husband was so far from home he did not have a spiritual mentor to assist him. That is where I came in.

During this time we were able to minister in temporal and spiritual ways to the family including the patient in hospital. It meant our home was a busy place as we housed, fed and in other ways looked after five extra people.

The four boys ranged in age from 9-17 and were typical delightful young men. Because we had planned to be on holiday during this time our schedule was open and we were free to devote ourselves to the care of our guests.

After several weeks of unsuccessful treatment the lady slipped into a coma and finally went to be with the Lord. It was a sad business as the husband never gave up hope for an arrest of the cancer and an extension of his wife’s life.

It is such a difficult matter to know when to shift one’s thinking from hope for a cure to the realization that death is inevitable and may as well be faced. To take away hope for a reprieve seems cruel, and there never seems to be an appropriate time to face the fact that death is coming soon.

All one who helps can do is to be there and quietly keep vigil with the family. That is what we did.

We are grateful that the Lord has given us a home that can be used to shelter people in need and where they can retreat from the cold realities that face them to be refreshed and comforted. Also we are thankful that the Lord’s people minister to our material needs in such a way that we are in a position to help the hurting in this manner.

Perhaps the Lord will encourage some of our readers to offer their homes for hospitality to the needy. Some have grown children who have moved out leaving room for someone to come for a few days respite from the wearying battle with adversity.

It does not take a lot of skill to extend hospitality to an individual or family on the short term.

A little love goes a long way to easing the suffering of others and it is good stewardship of our temporal resources.