Frequently Asked Questions
Why
do you need to raise support from churches and individuals?
Can't you pass an offering plate and collect money from
the residents you serve?
There are three
main reasons why we do not collect tithes and offerings from the
residents:
- Many of the residents we serve do not have
the financial resources to give, even if we were to ask.
- Not all of the residents are Christians.
Some have had bad experiences with a church "only
wanting your money." We do not want to embitter
them further by appealing to them for money.
- It would be poor "public relations" with
the administration at these facilities if we were to ask
their residents to give tithes and offerings. We are providing
spiritual services free-of-charge.
We strongly believe that our ministry
should provide weekly church services and Christian fellowship
as a gift to the residents without obligation on their part.
Aren't
local churches already holding church services at these facilities
on a regular basis?
We want to be
careful to answer this question in light of our own personal experience
at the facilities we serve. Some churches do provide periodic worship
services at nursing homes, but the churches that send pastors or
lay ministers generally do so on a monthly or quarterly basis.
The services often are segregated by denomination, meaning that
the pastor or priest holds a service or mass for the residents
of his or her own denomination. Since the services are so infrequent,
the residents don't get the opportunity to build real relationships
with the ministers and often don't even recognize them as the pastor
or priest who came last month or the month before that.
In some cases, the pastors in a town take turns going once a month
to minister at a nursing care facility, so it might be months or
even a year before the same pastor cycles through his turn in the
rotation and returns to the facility.
The adult foster care (AFC) homes
that we visit receive no visits from any local churches.
In many cases, the churches seem unaware that the homes exist right
there in their own neighborhoods. These residents are most in need
of spiritual care and encouragement, and the primary focus of our
ministry is on the residents of AFC homes.
Our goal is to provide weekly church
services in order build relationships with the residents. And because
of the flexibility of our schedule, we are able to participate
in holiday parties and social gatherings with the residents during
non-church times, and this helps to build a sense of community
and care as well.
Last
updated
Friday, December 28, 2007
