Jack Aamot is a member of the Alliance of Renewal Churches. He is a pastor and longtime missionary to Southern Brazil; and, he was one of my favorite teachers in the Bible school I attended. One year we brought him to Trinity Lutheran Church in Rapid City, South Dakota where I was the youth pastor to teach on “Evangelizing the Baptized.” Two of our church council members ended up surrendering their lives to Jesus as Savior and Lord. Jack is 80-yeaers old and going strong. He lives in a senior high rise of apartments called 7500 York Place in Edina, MN. As I visited with Jack recently he shared with me the passion he has for a vision God has given him. As Jack shared I thought to myself, “I want to be like Jack when I grow up.” Should I ever be 81 years old, I hope I am still passionately in love with Jesus and fueled by a new vision for ministry. I asked Jack to share with us, and here is what he writes:

     "When I retired some 16 years ago, I still had many opportunities to go out and preach, lead retreats, do bible studies, and more. But as my wife, Ruth, and I have grown older we have found it more difficult to travel. Can you believe that? In fact, we had done ministry in Brazil for 14 years after retirement; counseling, preaching, leading retreats, and visiting our daughter and family there. But with Ruth’s advanced vision loss and my aches and pains, we have given that up. What do to?
     "The desire to be used of God to reach others for Christ was still a strong desire within us. We had both experienced God’s call to the mission field earlier – Ruth at age 5 and I at age 18. We found each other and spent our first 14 years as missionaries in Brazil. Then, serving congregations in Van Nuys, CA; Minneapolis, MN; and Bloomington, MN. Then I served with Lutheran Evangelistic Movement (LEM) before retiring in 1997. We moved into a cooperative in Edina, MN with 330 apartments and 400-plus residents. We felt God telling us that this was to be our place of ministry. At first we remained quite active in the church we had joined, but slowly have pulled back and followed the call God gave us to minister here at 7500 York (the name of the cooperative). We started a small group for sharing, bible study, and prayer in our apartment home; then a second group also in our apartment. These groups prayed for opportunities to reach out and God gave us the vision of a group on each floor (there are 9 floors). A couple and a 99-year old man in our first group offered to lead a group on the third floor (we were on the first floor). The cooperative then built an Assisted Living addition to our building and we now have an additional 80-plus individuals connected to us. So, we started a small group there and another group on the fourth floor here. We then saw a need for a worship experience, so, on the third Sunday evening of each month we meet in the social room at York Place for worship. There has also been opportunity for Ruth to lead a once a month “sing along” at the assisted living facility and for me to preach.
      "Our goal is two-fold: First, to challenge, encourage, and equip the believers here to live as Christians, sharing their stories of Jesus with others in the daily routine of living in this “small town” atmosphere. Second, to share the gospel of a personal relationship with Jesus so others can live out their years with an assurance of going to heaven when they die. Remember, in our community we are all aware of being closer to our death than ever before. So God has given us a calling and a mission at ages 77 and 81. He still has a purpose for our lives beyond praying for our children and grandchildren. May God grant each of you the joy of a purpose and mission regardless of where He has sent you, whatever your situation and your surroundings.”

Thanks,Jack, for your living witness of love for the Lord, for the lost, and a passion for God’s vision and mission in your life.