As we all know we are living in a scary, isolating, and unpredictable time. It seems like each time you turn on the tv or read the newspaper new restrictions are being put into place as the Covid 19 virus continues to spread. Though we are all working on social distancing and juggling life working at home and online schooling for our children we need to remember that God has given us an opportunity to do something great. Never before has the church had this much time or opportunity to minister to their community. I wanted to take a few minutes and share some ways our churches can use this crisis situation to minister and serve others. In order to make it easy to read I will divide the ministry ideas into categories and different post over the next few days.
Community
During this time our community is looking to the church to offer encouragement, hope, and peace. One of the best ways to minister to the community is through prayer. You can go to www.blesseveryhome.com and register for an account. You will enter your address and it will give you the names and addresses of the people in your neighborhood. Then each day you will get an email as a reminder to pray for specific families. This also presents a great opportunity to call them to say hello or see if they need anything, send a card, and eventually be able to share the gospel with them. Another way we can minister to our community is to share positive words and thank you’s to those people who work in the school systems, hospitals, doctors offices, and the police and firemen who continue to work hard to keep us safe. It’s important that during this time of isolation we use social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc) to brag on and thank those around us instead of expressing our negative feelings about decisions that are being made. No one has lived through a time like this so we are all trying to figure out what’s best for us, our families, our church, etc.
Our Church: Senior Adults
Many of our senior adults are high risk to contract this virus so most of them are staying at home. This can especially be isolating for them. We as a church can take time to call them, pray with them, and ask if they need anything. Many seniors need medicine, food, or other essential items that they are scared to go out to get. This presents us with a wonderful ministry opportunity. So find a senior adult in your church or neighborhood to call and check on. There are also many seniors adults living in nursing homes and rehab facilities. Though you cannot visit them in their room there are creative ways you can visit like using Facetime or virtual visits. If they have a room with a window contact the facility to see if you can visit them at their window or if you can draw pictures or write letters that can be delivered to them.
I would love to hear ways your church and family is ministering to your community and to senior adults. Please email me your ideas [email protected]
The next post we will discuss ways you can minister to parents, children, and youth.
~ Serving together,
Katie Harris, GCCBA Missions & Ministry Team Leader
