Ministry is dangerous

I have said in the past that ministry is dangerous. I found out yesterday just how right I was. I had made plans for the afternoon to go visit one of the shut-ins (we will call him George.) I have never seen him in church and from the way that other people in the congregation speak of him, he is a bit of a recluse. I happened to mention off hand after worship in the morning that I was planning on visiting to visit George. Another member, Maurice suggested that it may be a good idea if he came along. Apparently, George doesn't much care for strangers and he thought that having a familiar third party may make things easier. I agreed and we met up later that afternoon to go visit George.
Maurice showed up right on time and told me that he would drive since George would recognize his car. With that we were off. George lives way back off the beaten path, but I rather expected that. What I did not expect was what happened next. We drove up the "driveway" and headed around to the back door. As we rounded the edge of the house, there stood George, gun drawn, and pointed at us. He started yelling something, but I couldn't understand. His words were slurred since he had no teeth left. Before I could even draw a breath, Maurice was yelling at George, telling him who we were and, (most importantly) to put the gun down. Apparently George didn't recognize Maurice's new car and thought we were intruders.
After a few tense moments, things calmed down. I was invited inside. It was clear from the interior of the house that he had lived alone for quite some time and that he was quite accustomed to making due without all of the trappings of civilization. He was very grateful that I had come to visit and brought him communion. I may go back to see him again before the holidays, but I'm definitely taking an escort.