The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned

 

to their first ministry, to reopen a church

 

in suburban Brooklyn , arrived in early October

 

excited about their opportunities When they saw

 

their church, it was very run down and needed

 

much work. They set a goal to have everything

 

done in time to have their first service

 

on Christmas Eve.

 

T hey worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls,

 

painting, etc, and on December 18

 

were ahead of schedule and just about finished.

 

On December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving

 

rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.

 

O n the 21st, the pastor went over to the church.

 

His heart sank when he saw that the roof had

 

leaked, causing a large area of plaster about

 

20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the

 

sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about

 

head high.

 

T he pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor,

 

and not knowing what else to do but postpone

 

the Christmas Eve service, headed home.

 

On the way he noticed that a local business was

 

having a flea market type sale for charity so he

 

stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful,

 

handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth

 

with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross

 

embroidered right in the center. It was just

 

the right size to cover up the hole in the front

 

wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

 

By this time it had started to snow. An older

 

woman running from the opposite direction was

 

trying to catch the bus.. She missed it. The pastor

 

invited her to wait in the warm church for

 

the next bus 45 minutes later.

 

 

 

She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor

 

while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put

 

up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor

 

could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and

 

it covered up the entire problem area.

 

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center

 

aisle. Her face was like a sheet.. "Pastor,"

 

she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"

 

The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check

 

the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into

 

it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had

 

made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria

 

The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor

 

told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The

 

woman explained that before the war she and

 

her husband were well-to-do people in Austria

 

When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave.

 

Her husband was going to follow her the next week.

 

He was captured, sent to prison and never saw her

 

husband or her home again.

 

T he pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth;

 

but she made the pastor keep it for the church.

 

The pastor insisted on driving her home, that

 

was the least he could do.. She lived on the other

 

side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn

 

for the day for a housecleaning job.

 

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas

 

Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the

 

spirit were great. At the end of the service, the

 

pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door

 

and many said that they would return.

 

One older man, whom the pastor recognized

 

from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the

 

pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he

 

wasn't leaving.

 

The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on

 

the front wall because it was identical to one

 

that his wife had made years ago when

 

they lived in Austria before the war and how

 

could there be two tablecloths so much alike.

 

H e told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he

 

forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was

 

supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and

 

put in a prison.. He never saw his wife or his home

 

again all the 35 years in between.

 

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten

 

Island and to the same house where the pastor

 

had taken the woman three days earlier.

 

H e helped the man climb the three flights of

 

stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on

 

the door and he saw the greatest Christmas

 

reunion he could ever imagine.

 

True Story - submitted by Pastor Rob Reid

 

Who says God does not work in mysterious ways..

 

I asked the Lord to bless you as I prayed for

 

you today, to guide you and protect you as you go

 

along your way. His love is always with you, His

 

promises are true, and when we give Him all our

 

cares you know He will see us through.

 

 

 

So when the road you're traveling on seems

 

difficult at best.. Just remember I'm here

 

praying and God will do the rest.