April Newsletter

Author: Ruth Preston

Reaching, serving and empowering older people

Welcome to this April Faith in Later Life newsletter where we will be sharing updates and news, signposting to new resources, and highlighting opportunities for you to get involved with.

 

 

“I have been reminded of my calling to do this work, and that God is not leaving me to do it alone, but with help from Faith in Later Life, He will equip me.”

Church Champion

 

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1-2

 

Resource of the month

God’s Word in God’s world

Presented in an A5 format, this hardback glossy photobook brings together Bible verses and photos from nature. Designed with older people in mind, it reminds the reader of the world they have experienced and of God’s creativity and faithfulness, supporting them as they continue in their journey of faith. Large print, thick pages and a landscape format make it easy to read and handle.

 

The author, Ruth Ranger writes that she created this book “because I was looking for a book for my Dad to browse through in his care home during the Covid-19 lockdown in Spring 2020. I wanted something to bring both God’s beautiful world and His wonderful words to Dad in a relaxed and accessible way. The book was very much enjoyed by my Father, and also proved popular with many others living at his care home”.

 

April news

As we approach the May bank holiday, Easter seems a distant memory but as our last newsletter was before Easter, I still want to take this opportunity to wish you a (rather belated) happy Easter! Thank you for taking part in sharing our Easter postcards with older people in your community; those of you who sent a card to an older person contributed to over 3,400 older people being reached with love and scripture at Easter- praise God!

 

As we look forward and reflect on Spring and new life, many church buildings that were closed due to Covid are starting to reopen, or planning to do so. I wrote an article for Evangelical Alliance about how we can ensure we include older people in our plans for reopening church buildings, and how we do ‘hybrid’ church. You can read that article here.

 

May is a month busy with activities, seminars, and teaching, and we are really looking forward to our ‘Faith in the Second Half’ online conference, co-hosted by our friends at Keswick Ministries. For more information or to book on, click here.

 

We are also pleased to be holding a free Church Champion guest event on May 10th. Every month we hold online ‘equipping’ sessions for our Church Champion community, but in May there is an opportunity for anyone to join us as a taster. This may be helpful if you want to know more about becoming a Church Champion, and how we support our Church Champion community. We will be hearing from our ambassador Professor Keith Brown, as well as Debs Fidler who leads a befriending network in Greater Manchester. The sessions are at 1.30pm and 7.30pm (the evening one is a repeat for those unable to make the afternoon). For more information and to book, email [email protected].

 

Would you commit to praying for us if you are not doing so already? And of course, as a small charity, your financial support is crucial. Can I ask that you prayerfully consider whether you could commit to giving to enable our ministry to continue? If you were able to give regularly (every pound makes a difference) to the work of Faith in Later Life- or even a one-off donation- that would be hugely appreciated and would help us with our planning. You can give by contacting us directly and we can provide our bank details, or by setting up giving via our website. If you would like a conversation about this, I would be delighted to speak with you.

 

Thank you for those of you who responded last month and set up regular giving, or gave a one-off gift, we are hugely grateful for your partnership in our gospel ministry.

 

Everything we do is underpinned by prayer, so we thank you for your continued prayers for our ministry. Please can you pray for:

  • Our plans for 2021 and for financial provision.
  • Our preparation for our ‘Faith in the Second Half’ conference.
  • That our Church Champion community would continue to grow, for God’s glory.

 

Yours in Christ

CEO, Faith in Later Life