posted December 14, 2001 08:35 AM         

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. They worked hard,
repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc. and
on Dec 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On Dec 19 a
terrible tempest - a driving rainstorm - hit the area and lasted for
two days.

On 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. The 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. She
was captured, sent to prison and never saw her husband or her home again.
The 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. He 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. He 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

posted December 14, 2001 03:19 PM         

~Princess

posted December 16, 2001 09:39 PM         

YES! I found them in an Ann Landers column about 20 years ago and I think I still have it somewhere. If anyone's interested, I'll dig it up and post it, unless you happen to have it handy. It's very interesting to say the least!