I think you will find this article about 85-year-old Nikie Tedesco very encouraging.

Nikie is a former member of our church, Hope Chapel, who has carried on a great Thanksgiving Day ministry for forty years. She has a great heart for God and for people, is an ardent evangelist (as you read the article you’ll see that she does things a whole lot differently than I do, which is , of course, fine) and cares deeply about those in need.

My fondest memory of Nikie is from twenty years ago. She attended my baptism and said these words, “Someday, you will be an evangelist for God.” I have to admit, that at the time, I rolled my eyes. Now, when others see me, they  roll theirs.

Here’s the article from our local beach paper, The Easy Reader:

From her tall stool at the Starbucks in the Ralph’s shopping center, Nikie Tedesco reaches out her slender hand to each passerby and asks, “May I bless you, lovy.

She looks fragile and doll-like in her ankle-length purple gown and sparkling Jesus brooch pinned to her high necked blouse. Her silver hair is pulled back tightly in a ponytail. Yesterday, she turned 85.

If her offer of a blessing is rejected, she blesses the person, anyway. Click here to read the rest.

(Read about Hope Chapel’s
Skid Row Outreach by clicking here.)

(Photo credit: Kevin Cody)