TEN WAYS TO MINISTER TO SENIOR WOMEN

Lifeway.women (https://women.lifeway.com/)

Ladies, you’ve been on a journey with us these past few months as Rita and I have endeavored to share interviews with you from “seasoned” women who are still active in ministry. They have shared the pros and cons of getting older. But all of them had one thing in common. Their love for God was palpable and they had a passion and desire to continue to serve Him even in their winter season. I hope this has been an encouragement to you and we would love to hear from you with any suggestions for our blog, if you are interested in being interviewed, or have any comments. You can contact us through the website contact page.

I am working on a Bible study by the same name, “Bloom in Your Winter Season,” and have had the chance to do quite a bit of research and have found some very good articles. I’d love to share some of these with you from time to time, and that is what I will be doing today. This article is great for “seasoned” women as well as those who minister to them. You can find this article online at Lifeway.women. I hope this encourages you and gives you some ideas for your ministry. Remember, “God didn’t give us an expiration date on our service for Him.” I hope you enjoy the article!

Change your perception about senior adults.

In the past we thought of senior women as a little gray-haired lady in the rocking chair knitting with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Seniors look different today. Because of modern medicine, seniors are living longer, feeling and looking better, and loving it!

Enlist them on your team.

If you are the women’s ministry leader, enlist a senior woman to serve on your team. She will be invaluable getting the word out to other seniors and praying for you. She has been around and knows the ropes. She completes assignments and wants to be included.

Know your target audience.

The more specifically you can define your focus group, the more effective you will be in reaching them. You know certain characteristics about them, and these characteristics are important, but dig deeper! What are they passionate about? What are their interests?

Find a common cause.

Establish connections around common interests. Buzz words today are “connect” and “involve.” Know in advance that most senior women will not join you in August at a swim party at high noon, but if you plan a mission trip or project, call on them! They have come up through the ranks of mission’s organizations. They grew up studying about, praying for, and giving to missions. Identify those in your group who care deeply about a particular area and want to do something about it.

Senior women love to learn.

Just because they are older, they should never stop learning; and the new senior adult woman loves to learn. Health care professionals agree learning and keeping senior minds engaged and active help keep minds sharp. Women’s ministry can help! Senior women love Bible study. Most have been in Sunday School all their lives and long for in-depth Bible study. And senior women can still teach. Take advantage of their knowledge.

Age is irrelevant.

Dr. Charles Arn, director of the Institute for American Church Growth, Monrovia, California, says that right now all of us are experiencing our chronological age (actual birthday), our biological age (do you feel 73 or 37? How is your health?), and our psychological age (how do you think of yourself?) Some women half my age think of themselves as older.

Everyone can make a difference.

Older adults long to make a difference – to leave a legacy and evidence their lives mattered. Ask them to reflect on their loves, events, things they accomplished, people they touched, and their memories. What do we want to leave behind? Perhaps a record of prayers for children, families, stories, shared memories and experiences, good character, a legacy of faith, a Bible written in through the years.

Mentoring is key.

We generally think of mentoring as older women teaching the younger. “A wise man will listen to increase his learning, and a discerning man will obtain guidance.” Proverbs 1:5 What if we identified seniors who have been through chemotherapy, divorce, widowhood, or difficulty with children and paired them with young women experiencing the same events? Meet together as groups and formulate lists of needs and how to meet them.

Start small and expand.

How can we involve older adults in a way that leads to intergenerational participation? How can we maximize their involvement so programs are meaningful and make an impact? Where is the blueprint for an intergenerational infrastructure? History offers some answers: In the early days of our country, informal helping systems were essential for survival. Education included everyone. Older adults taught young people their skills; little ones learned by doing chores, taking responsibility, and realizing they were important links to the family and community’s survival. We may never return to those days, but to establish the intergenerational link, we must make changes.

How do we begin? Start small and expand. Build on existing organizations. Bring women together to form a stronger effort that links, crisscrosses, uses many touch points, and includes all individuals. It should match needs and people, connect people to tasks they enjoy, applaud them for their successes, and guide them to greater success.

Discover a second wind.

The dictionary defines this as renewed strength or energy, as during a competition. It is seen in marathon runners whose every muscle aches, whose lungs are on fire, whose breath come in short pants. The runner is in agony, the finish line seems unreachable. Then the runner gets a second wind – a surge of renewed strength and energy that takes the runner to a successful finish. Think of older adults you know who caught their second wind and went on to great achievements in later years.

Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of England at 65 and served off and on in that position until he was 81. Missionary physician Albert Schweitzer practiced medicine well into his 90’s. The point is this: You can help senior women catch their second wind. And as they do, their lives will be enriched, and your women’s ministry will be too. How are you investing in your senior women, and how are they influencing others for Christ?