It’s been long argued whether or not patients within minutes of their last breath can hear the people around them. Kathy Gautier believes that they can. She uses her spiritual gift of encouragement to sing to patients who are near the end of their life.

Kathy’s Hospice Ministry experience goes back nine years ago when her mother, Karen Baxter was placed in the care of Hospice Ministries after a long road of battling with Dementia and Parkinson’s Disease. Before this time, Kathy was not overly familiar with Hospice Ministries or the hospice process. “After walking into the center, I immediately felt welcomed and amazed at the presence of peace in the atmosphere”, Kathy recalls. “The environment felt like home.”

During her mother’s time at Hospice Ministries, there was a patient across the hall that was nearing their time on earth. As Kathy heard the weeping of the patient’s family, she felt led to walk across the hall and ask the family if she could sing. As the family agreed, she was able to share hymns and give a brief testimony of what the Lord had personally done in her own life through her mother’s sickness. That day, she saw how the Lord used her voice as a way to minister to the family as they were deeply grieving. As she walked away from the patient and their family, she knew that ministering to others through her voice was something she now felt led to do. “It was truly more rewarding than any place that I had ever sang before”, Kathy remembers.

As the Lord continued to heal Kathy of her own personal grief from her mother’s death, he also began leading her to sing to other patients in hospitals and hospice centers who were nearing their time on earth. She began using her voice as a means to minister to others as they were grieving.  “I often find that the singing is just as much for the family as it is for the patients”, Kathy says. “The family, just as much as the patient, needs to be reminded of the truths and promises written in the songs.”

Over time, Kathy has been amazed of the reactions of both patients and their families, and the way that the Lord has used her voice to minister to others in a very difficult season.  “Whether it is a simple smile or thank you from the patient, God has truly spoken to me through each family that I have sung to.” Over the past 9 years of singing to patients, Kathy has truly developed a love and thankfulness for the Hospice Ministries center. She recalls that it is a wonderful last memory of her mother’s life, and is grateful to play a small role in the care that Hospice Ministries provides to their patients every day.