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Prayers As Former President Carter Enters Hospice Care

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

PLAINS, USA (Worthy News) – Christians in his native U.S. state of Georgia and elsewhere prayed as ailing former President Jimmy Carter entered into hospice care at home, opting to end more medical interventions.

His Carter Center organization said Carter would spend his remaining time at home with family in Plains, Georgia. The Carter Center last year marked 40 years of promoting its human rights agenda.

Though famous as the 39th president of the United States, serving from 1977 to 1981, he also became known as a firm believer in Christ.

Early in his administration, Carter reportedly told a group of government employees that he came to them not as “First Boss” but as “First Servant.” Though he was criticized for that remark to the Christian, the comment was reminiscent of the message of Jesus and Prophet Isaiah’s Servant passages in the Bible.

After his presidency, Carter, 98, continued giving Bible studies and was involved in building homes, human rights work, and other projects to alleviate suffering worldwide.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp asked the entire state to join him in sending prayers. “Marty, the girls, and I are praying for former President Carter, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and their family during this time. We ask all Georgians to join us in sending them our thoughts and prayers,” he said.

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

Similar calls came from the Habitat for Humanity group, where Carter helped to build homes for and with the poor in several nations. „One of the best ways to practice my faith as a Christian is to participate in Habitat like this every year,” Carter once said. “I think that’s the easiest way for rich people like us to reach out to people in need and work with them equally on the Habitat site.”

Habitat for Humanity CEO Jonathan Reckford said his group was praying for one his group’s most faithful workers. “All of us at Habitat for Humanity are lifting up President and Mrs. Carter in prayer as he enters hospice care. We pray for his comfort and for their peace and that the Carter family experiences the joy of their relationships with each other and with God in this time,” he added.

Carter’s grandson Jason Carter said he visited his grandfather and grandmother on Friday, and they are “at peace.” “I saw both of my grandparents yesterday. They are at peace, and—as always—their home is full of love. Thank you all for your kind words,” he wrote on the social network site Twitter.

Carter celebrated his most recent birthday in October with family and friends in Plains, Georgia, the tiny town where he and his wife, Rosalynn, were born in the years between World War I and the Great Depression.

As he entered his final days, people who knew him remembered his faith, which he wanted to share with anyone. “I believe that we are given an order by Jesus. One of the last things he did was to spread the word of God, and he being the basis for our salvation. Christians are supposed to be evangelicals. And I am,” Carter has said.