THERE is nothing more important in evangelism than knowing how to approach people. No matter how wonderful the message or how up to date the equipment, no matter how large the budget or the number of associate workers, success is definitely bound up with public relations.
Ralph B. Nestler, chaplain of the Eugene Leland Memorial Hospital in Hyattsville, a few miles from the General Conference headquarters, relates a most interesting experience which concerned a woman of the Jewish faith who was a patient in the institution. Her stay there greatly impressed her. Not only was the efficiency of the medical personnel all that could be desired, but the whole atmosphere of the institution appealed to her.
Like thousands of others who attend our hospitals and sanitariums, she felt there was an atmosphere there that seemed to be different. And she expressed it one day like this: "Chaplain, why are the people in this hospital so good to me?" That was a good question.
Now note his tactful reply. He said: "Because we are followers of the greatest Jew that ever walked this earth, Jesus of Nazareth." That was frank and also accurate.
Relating the experience later he told how the woman gazed at him quizzically but said nothing. He asked, "Would you like to hear passages of Old Testament Scripture that prove clearly that Jesus is the Messiah?" "Yes," she said. Then the chaplain read and explained such passages as Daniel. 9: 25-27, Isaiah 53, and Psalm 22. He says, "Tears streamed down her cheeks but she made no comment."
His approach was both wise and winning. For the next few days that intelligent, well-educated Jewish woman pondered what she had heard. Then as she was getting ready to leave the hospital she approached the chaplain again, this time with a request. "Chaplain," she said, "would you please give me the Book?"
"Which book?" he inquired.
Then pressing her point she urged somewhat emphatically, "You know the Book—the Book—the entire Book."
The chaplain then realized what she meant. She was asking for the Bible. She wanted both the Old and the New Testaments. Of course, he was glad to give her a Bible.
Now note the sequel to the story. The interest was followed up by workers from the Hyattsville church, and soon this good woman together with her daughter (who had been of another faith) and grandson were preparing for baptism.
"One could easily detect the inner peace that was in her heart," said Chaplain Nestler, "for it radiated from her face."
In visiting the home later he heard her exclaim: "God is so good! He has answered all my prayers but one, and I know He will answer it also. My son has been missing for seventeen years. Not a word have I received from him for those seventeen years. Not a word have I received from him since he married. All my attempts to locate him have failed."
The chaplain confided the matter of the missing son to the workers in the institution. Prayer seasons were held. He even sent certified special delivery letters to former employers of the son and to the religious leaders of the community where he was last known to reside. And then it happened; the son was located. He visited his mother a week after he was contacted. And what a blessed reunion that was. How wonderful is the grace of God!'
This good woman died of a heart attack two weeks later, but she had an Adventist funeral. The son and daughter-in-law both testified that they believed the hand of the Creator had indeed been guiding them.
Not all our contacts have such unusual and happy endings, but true medical missionary work is indeed the "right arm of the message" and when done rightly can be one of the greatest means of bringing to the sick ones a knowledge of the full gospel. Many who belong to natural Israel, who attend our medical centers, can be reached in this way who would not otherwise respond.
A great work is yet to be accomplished among these dear people and we thank God for the means He has placed in our hands for this, such as the little journal, the Israelite. But a prayerful, tactful approach means so much. Our chaplains are a vital part of the great evangelistic program of the church. And we thank God for these dedicated, well-trained ambassadors. May they watch for every opportunity to reach modern Israel.
