Longing for family’s salvation
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Faith Fitness
Bro. Sam Kaufman
My dad’s parents both came to the United States at the turn of the 20th century. They escaped persecution of Jews that occurred before World War I. My grandpa’s family fled Odessa, Ukraine, after intense persecution.
My grandpa was a young boy at the time. When troops entered their home, my grandpa’s family hid him in pickle barrels.
At times, troops used bayonets to pierce through the pickle barrels, but they never got my grandpa.
My grandma’s family came to America from Lithuania following persecution they experienced there.
When they arrived on the East Coast in the United States from Ukraine, they gave my grandpa’s family the last name of “Kaufman.”
My grandfather and grandmother met while in the United States. Their families quickly assimilated into the culture, learning English, attending school and working long hours at multiple jobs.
My grandfather, Samuel, learned American customs and ways and owned a furniture store in Boston, Mass., when he grew up.
I never met my grandfather. He died in his 50s after suffering multiple heart attacks.
My grandmother was as sweet as she could be. She was a blood Jew, but she also practiced the customs.
We ate only kosher foods while visiting her. She prepared knishes and matzah, for example. When I was a young boy – about 5 – we traveled to Boston for my uncle’s wedding. I remember wearing a kippah on my head during the ceremony.
My father became a geologist and did not practice any Jewish customs. My mom was from Oklahoma, and they met in New Mexico.
We didn’t attend any kind of church or participate in religion.
I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart when I was in my mid-20s. When I first got saved, I tried to share Jesus with my parents.
At that time, they didn’t want to hear about it. Looking back, I feel like sometimes I might have attempted to push too much.
I later realized the best thing I could do was to pray for my family and walk the walk, while looking for an opportunity through God to maybe share something.
My dad is now 91, and his health is failing. He can only walk with a walker and not too much. My mom contacted me recently and said I needed to make a trip to visit. While there, I had some of the best conversations I’ve ever had with my dad.
I made it a point to talk about our family, his youth, his parents, his working days, and much more.
Additionally, I helped him any way I could. That included pushing his wheelchair, turning his computer on and doing anything he needed done.
My dad is a very proud man, so it was difficult to see him in the physical condition he’s in. He hates that people have to help him with everything.
The first night I was there, I heard him fall while in his room. He is tall (about 6’1 or 6’2) and has always been very strong. When I saw him on the floor and helpless to get up, it seemed so strange. He was just looking at me.
I was able to get underneath his arms and pick him up onto his feet. I told him I wouldn’t let him fall. It was just difficult for me to see him in that condition. After all, he is the one who has always helped me and protected me when I was young.
Now, it was me having to help him.
After serving him to the best of my ability for about a week, one night I was helping him into bed and God unactioned me to say something to him about the Lord. I said that he should ask Jesus to forgive him of his sin, and that he should be sorry for the sin he committed against God.
He told me he was tired and wanted to go to sleep. But he did not become angry or offended. God had softened his heart.
A couple of nights later, I said the same thing to him. This time, he told me he didn’t feel like he had done anything too bad that he needed forgiveness from.
I said that everyone has sinned and come short of the glory of God, and that when we die, our flesh goes back to the dust, but our soul lives on forever.
He’s a good moral man – never committed murder, and some of those things – but I also know he is a sinner in need of God before he leaves this world.
Please pray with me for his salvation. Pray that God will convict him of his sin and that he will call on Jesus.
The night before I left, I wrote him a long note about the things he taught me and specific experiences in which I learned valuable life lessons from him. He has been a great dad to me, and I want to see him get saved.
