Surprised but Prepared

I was enjoying some time with my kids Saturday morning when somebody called, “Dad, someone outside wants you.” It was a nurse. The nurse pulled in front of our driveway and I saw that she was crying. She said, “Don Steven, Your church member William Baez is in the hospital. I am his daughter. Please come.”

I ran and changed my clothes and drove the 40 min. up to the Mennonite hospital to see him. He was full of tubes, wires, but most ominously, made a loud gurgling sound whenever he breathed. He was alert and conscious and I saw him mouth the word “Thank-you” through his oxygen mask.

I stayed in the room for about five hours and read to him from the bible, prayed with him and spoke to the family as they came and went. I asked the nurses about his status and a few said he could last for a couple of days like that, but one thought he might die the next day. He became unconscious and I could no longer communicate with him. After a while, I left for home and spent what remained of the evening preparing for our Sunday services.

Sunday morning, on the way to church, a neighbor stopped me and said, “Pastor, William Baez died last night at 2 in the morning. Can you do his funeral today at Noon?” Of course I said yes.

Before we left the church for the funeral, I had the privilege of translating a sermon given by a young ministerial student named Max Kennedy. He is the boyfriend of my daughter Rachel. He did a fine job and our people were blessed. His brother Abe carried some hymn books over to the funeral home right after the service and I got ready to preach. There were only a few people so we came back at seven that night and had a preaching service then. Today, I preached again at noon and gave another sermon at the grave-side at 1:30.

I met William Baez during my visits to town and invited him to church every time I saw him. He started coming after about a year of invitations and attended for over a year. He was friendly, positive and had a great sense of humor. I will miss him. One of the last things he said to me was, “I prayed that I would not return to my house. I want to leave the world from the hospital. I want to go and see my precious Saviors’ face.

I went to church yesterday expecting to translate a message so I did not write one. Since then I have preached three funeral sermons. Fortunately I have kept some of my old funeral sermons and was able to reuse some of them. Preparation and planning for the future helped me in this situation. Brother William Baez also made his preparations beforehand, preparations of a more important kind.

I hope you, dear reader, will make what preparations you need before that expected, but somehow surprising time comes, that day when it is your turn to leave this world.