Cora was a four-year old little girl I visited in the hospital who had questions about God. Her mom confessed that she knew hardly anything about God. When I talked to Cora about her questions: “Who is God, where does He live; what does He do?”
Cora listened with great interest. Cora was soon on my lap hugging me. Sensing that she had something more to say, I waited. Finally, with her arms tightly wrapped around my neck, she whispered her worries in my ear. She did not want anyone else to hear what she was saying. In fact, she whispered so softly, I myself could not understand. Finally, she cupped her hands around my ear, and I heard what she found so hard to share.
Her confession of sins startled me for a moment. Cora believed she had done wrong and worried what God would do. The door was wide open to help Cora not only understand sin, but the great love and forgiveness Jesus wanted her to know. We ended our visit with a prayer.
A week later, I stopped by to visit Cora while a nurse was trying to give her medicine. When I entered the room, Cora was hiding under a blanket not wanting any part of her medicine. When she peeked out from under her blanket to see who had entered her room, I said, “peek-a-boo.” After the third “peek-a-boo,” she threw off the blanket, jumped into my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck. “You’re the man who talks about God” she said.
“Do you like stories,” I asked? She shook her head yes and said, “My favorite story is The Three Little Pigs.” “Well,” I responded, “if you take your medicine, I’ll tell you the story.” Nodding in agreement, Cora began taking her medicine in small sips. Each time I would pause in the telling of the story, Cora would take another sip until the medicine was gone. After repeating the story, a second time, I began telling Cora about God’s house in heaven where no one bad could ever come after us. Once again, this little girl found comfort and reassurance in Jesus her Savior.
At the end of our visit, Cora prayed with her palms together and fingers tucked under her chin. My heart was filled with joy as this little girl gave me an almost perfect picture of trust in Jesus’ saving love. “Let the little children come to me. Don’t keep them away. The kingdom of heaven belongs to people like them” (Matthew 19:14 NIRV).
As we enter into another season of holiday celebrations, please consider partnering with us in this unique gospel ministry — Shining the light of Jesus’ love on the walled-in souls of our communities.
Chaplain Ken Wenzel
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On the 15th of October, the Lord Jesus welcomed Ken into his heavenly home. We offer God our thanks and praise for Ken’s 25 years of faithful service to this ministry. “Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21 EHV).