Dear Brothers and Sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ,
 
Paul had a bumpy ride throughout his life but now as he moved toward retirement age, he seemed to have settled in nicely.  Once widowed, his second wife brought love, stability and the occasion once again to enjoy the good things of life including children, grandchildren, travel, and friends.   Yet, Paul lacked a relationship with God in Christ and, in addition, suddenly it appeared as if all the blessings that Paul had received were about to be stripped from him once more.  A trip to the hospital due to chest pains had revealed something serious.  Paul was diagnosed with an advanced case of cancer.   Further testing confirmed what the doctor suspected, namely, that the cancer had spread to other places.  Paul's prognosis was not good.
 
At first, Paul fought valiantly but in time it became clear that the doctors were right - Paul was going to die.  His wife tried to have her priest visit but priests in parishes of over 6,000 members don't have the time for such things and, frankly, Paul wasn't comfortable with the idea.  So his wife, concerned about his eternal well-being, tried several protestant churches.  She found one that responded by saying, "We have just the thing for your husband.  Our church is a Stephen Ministry congregation.  We can send him a trained caregiver who will visit once a week, listen to Paul's concerns, share the faith with him, and pray for him."  "That sounds great," Paul's wife said, and so the arrangement continued over the next several months until Paul died and went to heaven having confessed Jesus as his Savior.
 
For those of you who don't know it, Paul was Pastor Loughran's father-in-law, Kersti's father.  What is more, there are lots of  "Pauls" out there, people in crisis situations who need distinctively Christ-centered care until the time of crisis has passed.  Stephen Ministry caregivers are trained to do just that.  As your pastors in Christ, we want you to know