|
Taiwan Church News 3044 Edition June 28~July 4, 2010
Young and old in Changhua presbytery pair up in community outreach for elderly
Reported by Chen Wei-chien Written by Lydia Ma
As summer vacation draws near, staffs from many community and church organizations are racking their brains in search of interesting activities to attract youth coming home for summer holidays.
But this year, Changhua Presbyterian Church is doing things a bit differently. Instead of entertaining youth, it’s asking youth to become volunteers. Instead of letting youth become receivers, it is encouraging them to become givers by visiting seniors living near the church.
Changhua Church will begin a new ministry called “Center for Community Outreach for Seniors” beginning August 2010. It had originally planned this ministry with its senior fellowship members in mind – hoping those still able to walk about and share the gospel with people of their age would take the lead in this ministry. However, it also hoped that youth returning for summer vacation could participate too. In the end, it paired one youth with one senior for house visitation rounds.
Changhua Church’s pastor, Rev. Lee Chih-jen, said he hoped youth would have a chance to reflect on their own faith through sharing the gospel with others. He also emphasized how important it was for the church to teach young people about helping others in an age when summer vacations are usually spent having fun or earning money.
Though not many youth have registered for this outreach yet, Lee predicts that once school let out and youth come home for summer vacation, the number of participants will rise as more youth are encouraged to participate.
To avoid suspicion that church members might be con artists when they visit the private home of strangers, the church has already spoken to the city’s district chief and the latter proceeded to advertise this ministry in the community.
In addition, youth participating in this ministry will attend mandatory training sessions before they begin knocking on doors. This training will come in handy in the future as well when they share the gospel with their peers.
Because of Taiwan’s increasingly aging society, Lee feels that churches should consider adjusting how they do community outreach. Since the district where Changhua Church is located has the highest number of seniors in Changhua area, this ministry provides a great opportunity for public agencies and churches to cooperate in helping seniors.
Who knows? Such partnerships might just help public agencies fulfill their responsibilities and help Christians and churches fulfill their calling and vision at the same time.
|
