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A recent worship service at the senior living home near Cornerstone

Ministry is Rarely a One-Way Street

by:  Rev. Frank Liu
Cornerstone Reformed Church in St. Paul, MN
the Missions Banner, May 2023:  Online Edition

“Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails.”—Psalm 71:9.

Ministry comes to us in different ways. Sometimes it is seeing a need and being pro-active to meet it. Other times, it is being approached and asked to assist, and then responding with help. For Cornerstone, the local senior living home ministry was the latter of the two. Back in mid-2021, in what seemed like the peak of the pandemic, the activities director of a local senior living home contacted us and asked if the church would be willing to provide worship services to their residents who were isolated, unable to attend their own congregations, and had been asking for services. When I responded to the solicitation, the activities director said that we were the first church even to reply in her six-month effort with local area churches to help. Part of God’s care for His people (i.e., not being cast off in old age) is the love shown through His church.

In our culture, care for the elderly often falls by the wayside. It is not a surprise. For various reasons, a generation earlier, many parents put their infants, toddlers, and children into daycare and after-school programs, or simply left them home alone as “latchkey” kids. So, children were first left by the wayside. Now, as these children have grown up, are all busy working and have the duty to care for aging parents, they have found them senior living homes. Life’s choices have returned full circle!

Our relationships are growing with the residents and the staff.  Sure, in the last two years, we have had to say goodbye to residents as their care needs have changed and they have moved on, and goodbye to staff as jobs also change. But the overlap period, however long or short, was providentially blessed of the Lord. A few months ago, we heard that a lady who regularly attends the worship service has been put on hospice care. Her husband, who has also been attending regularly with his daughter, also brought their other daughter to the service along with a niece and nephew. Perhaps some of these were only family members trying to care for aging parents/relatives, but perhaps they are also blessed to hear the gospel. This week, several ladies from church will be meeting for lunch with a senior resident who is still quite energetic. So, praise the Lord that relationships are growing!

I’m often reminded that ministry is rarely a one-way street. Those who serve and desire to bless are also greatly blessed in return. “Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come.”—Psalm 71:18. One of the curses of our culture is the rarity of trans-generational interaction (let alone across two or three generations!). Yet in the life of the church and also in the senior living ministry, such interaction is taking place and to the good of the younger generations!

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support for Cornerstone. May the Lord continue to bless your efforts to bear witness of the good news and your labors for Christ’s church!

 

pictured above:  A Recent Worship Service at the Senior Living Home near Cornerstone

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