Senior Adults

My name is Teresa Willoughby. I serve on the senior adult council of which I am the current president. I am chairperson of the bereavement committee and the kitchen –hospitality committee. I serve monthly with the hospital hospitality ministry, and most recently have been volunteering my time on Tuesday and Thursdays at Hope House. I facilitate the ABF lesson when our regular teacher isn’t present. My husband, Steve, and I host our small group in our home. I feel as though I am an active senior adult, but still can’t be compared to what others in our church are doing.

These are some of the areas of ministry that Living Hope’s senior adults are active participants:

BASKETS of LOVE Baskets are assembled at church containing items that are useful to hospital patients. The baskets are delivered to local hospital patients who are listed on the church CAREnet.

HOSPITAL HOSPITALITY Volunteers assemble bagged lunches which are prepared at church and taken to family members of patients in the waiting rooms of local hospitals.

BEREAVEMENT When the need arises, volunteers are phoned and asked to
prepare a dish of food. They may also be asked to help serve the meal or clean up afterwards.

NURSING HOME MINITRY Volunteers meet to practice and then go to local nursing homes to sing. Volunteers don’t have to have a beautiful voice just one that makes a joyful noise and a willing heart that wants to share the love of Jesus.

HOPE HOUSE This is a new outreach ministry which seeks to meet a material need, but more importantly share the Gospel so that unsaved people will come to know Jesus and get connected with an area church. The ministry includes all ages; however, several seniors play an active role.

I would like to share how serving in one of these ministries has helped to change me. I am a retired elementary school teacher and have been so for six years. I still enjoy returning to the school from which I retired and substitute. Eleven years ago we purchased a newly constructed house. Recently I began to think of some updating that the house needed especially the kitchen. My husband said we need to wait until we finished paying for our youngest daughter’s college education before we took on such an expensive project. Not wanting to concede that he is right, I begin to think of how this could be done sooner. After much thought the idea come to me that I could save all of the money that I make substituting this school year and if I taught as many days as I usually do I could probably pay for the upgrades by next summer or early fall. I felt that was a great solution.

Shortly before this school year began, I attended a training session at Hope House. I immediately felt that this was a ministry that I needed to be a part of. After praying about when and how much time I should commit to Hope Hose, I felt led to serve each Tuesday and Thursday. I became very excited about this time and found myself wishing for Tuesday and Thursday. Shortly after I begin giving of my time to Hope House school opened. Wouldn’t you know that for the first three Tuesdays of school, I received a call about 6:00 A.M. asking if I was available to teach. I said I had a prior commitment. I began to think will I ever get called on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday. Still I was glad that I had honored my commitment.

After serving a few weeks at Hope House, God began to change the desire of my heart. Seeing the many material needs that the guests have not to mention their spiritual needs, made me realize how truly inconsequential and unimportant updating my kitchen really is. I now have a heart that is full of so much more gratitude than before. God has lavishly poured out his blessings on me both materially and spiritually. He has given me much more of a servant’s heart. I see the hurt in these people’s eyes, and their troubled faces and I can’t help but want to more. What a wonderful opportunity God has placed in my path. I want to be faithful and honor my commitment to God.

James 2: 14-17 says: What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well”, but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works is dead by itself.

We are saved by grace and through our faith by trusting in and committing to Jesus Christ. We must do more that just talk about faith. We must demonstrate compassionate actions. Genuine faith is active and productive. We show that our faith is genuine by doing good works. We can not do everything and help every body but we are not exempt from translating our faith into concrete actions.

Once again James reminds us in 2:26 that faith without works is dead.

Please as a senior adult join with others as we live out our saving faith. Prayerfully consider serving in one of these ministry areas.
A call to service is not limited to Senior Adults. No matter how old you are, if you are a Christian, you are called to serve. Please find your place of service so that together we can fulfill Living Hope’s mission Get to God, Grow in Christ, and Give to others.