How DID YOU MEET JESUS?
Jan Bruesch is a long time Savior Member.
There have been 2 guiding factors in my life that Jesus has used to draw me in closer to him. The first is ALPHA. I have worked with ALPHA for decades. Those years were times that I was most in touch with my faith. I have worked with ALPHA Chicago, and ALPHA National. I attended conferences, talks, and conventions which even led me to see the Pope! Over those decades God grew me in my faith through the powerful witness of ALPHA.
I ran the ALPHA course at Calvary Episcopal Church in Lombard, my second church home, and my faith and knowledge of Jesus grew immensely. When I started to participate in ALPHA, I realized that I had never really known Jesus. I had been a church goer all my life, but it was my involvement with ALPHA where I saw other people’s lives transformed, and in turn my life was transformed. I remember vividly, it was the Sunday of the Transfiguration in February, and I went up to the priest and said, “Donald, I am on the mountain top, and I don’t want to come down!” It felt as if I was being Transfigured up on the mountain with Jesus.
It was during the second ALPHA course that I helped lead at church that a man named John attended and shared that he was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was told that he only had 12 weeks to live, which wouldn’t have even been long enough for him to finish the course. Fr. Donald assured him that “we” would journey with him. I knew in my heart that I was the one that would journey with John since it was my responsibility to lead the lay ministry. John kept coming back week after week, and I got to know him very well. The doctors gave John 12 weeks to live, and God gave him 12 months. He attended 3 more ALPHA courses with us. His presence was important and during his illness he served the group so diligently. He even helped to start a prayer blanket ministry, of which he was the first recipient. On his deathbed, John expressed his life had been changed and he attributed this change to his participation on ALPHA. I personally saw that change happen. I saw Jesus minister through my dying friend. It was one of the strongest times in my life that I encountered Our Lord. I look at John’s photo often when I am struggling, and I remember John’s final months. I think “Lord, you were there. I see you at work.” It has been 20 years since those first days at ALPHA. Things have changed. I have changed. I know that Jesus is here for me, and I feel His presence.
How DO YOU LIVE WITH PAIN?
2 years ago, in August 2021 I had an accident. I fell and found myself in a rehabilitation center called Belmont. Just like John I encountered Jesus during my suffering. The most prominent way was in other people ministering to me. Especially my dear friend, Ada. She visited me 2-3 times a week and called every day. She even did my laundry, even though the facility would do it there for me. Many others gathered around me as well and their prayers for me were answered so vividly. I believe that I would still be at Belmont if not for the prayers of the faithful. The first time I was able to return to Church of the Savior, people came up to me that I didn’t even know, and they said they were praying for me. The power of their prayer was very apparent. I could see God’s work in my life…and in their lives!
Now, I am permanently disabled from my accident, and I am learning to cope with the body that God has given me. I am learning to live with the restrictions that I have, although I grieve the loss of the things that I used to be able to do. This leads me to the second influential tool that God has used to draw me into Himself. It is the National Order of Daughters of the King. I have been a Daughter since 1987.They have a motto which states,
For His Sake…
I am but one, but I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But I can do something.
What I can do, I ought to do.
What I ought to do,
By the grace of God, I will do.
Lord, what will you have me do?
I often find that I say this motto now. “What would you have me do? I can’t do everything, but I can do something.” I know that God has something for me to do. The Daughters of the King is not a social club, but a lifetime vow. A vow of prayer, service, and evangelism. I will continue to follow the voice of the Lord diligently in the face of suffering, just as my friend John.