February 2021 Newsletter

Reaching, serving and empowering older people

Welcome to this February 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.

 

 

 

“Faith in Later Life have been inspiring, helpful, encouraging and affirming. Lots of ideas to consider and plenty of resources available.”

– Church Champion

 

 

 

 

Resource of the month

Living with Alzheimer’s – A love story

 

 

When Robin Thomson and his wife Shoko were told she had Alzheimer’s, they had no idea what lay ahead.

 

As the disease gradually took over their lives, Robin watched as his adventurous and independent wife slowly seemed to disappear. He and their adult children faced painful and real struggles, and experienced both frustration and great support from the health and social care systems. Yet Shoko’s love remained constant and Robin found himself invited into a deeply spiritual journey with his wife.

 

This honest and hope-filled account, with its practical insights, suggestions for ways forward and advice on further resources, is a must-read for caregivers and for the friends and families of those affected by this mysterious disease.

 

 

February news

 

 

The new year has continued in its busy vein and along with the usual media appearances on Premier Radio and others, we have been busy planning for the new financial year which starts in April. We are thankful for all God has enabled us to do, and we want to continue to encourage and equip Christians in reaching, serving, and empowering older people for Christ; and we want to continue to grow our ministry, to support and enable many more people and churches. And with more resources planned and continued training and equipping of our Church Champions community, we are excited!

 

After over 2000 Christmas postcards were sent out to older people in your churches and local communities, we have created Easter postcards, which present a wonderful opportunity for all of us to reach out to older people in our communities once more, showing our care for those who may be lonely or isolated, whilst sharing scripture. For more information about how you can get involved, please visit our website here.

 

As Faith in Later Life continues to grow, I am delighted that alongside Professor Keith Brown, Dr Fi Costa has now joined Faith in Later Life as an Ambassador. Fi originally trained at the Royal College of Music, and as a research fellow at the University of Roehampton her principal research interest is the effect of music on the wellbeing and quality of life of older people. Fi is actively involved at Holy Trinity Brompton and is part of the Daily Hope project team. To read a bit more about Fi you can find her biography here.

 

We continued to be involved with the free ‘Daily Hope’ telephone line, which we were co-founders in. This month we have seen the numbers of calls pass 400,000 since its launch last year and the total call time has hit 5 million minutes! We continue to receive letters and feedback from people for whom it is a lifeline, and we thank God for this free phone line, where anyone can phone up and listen to a gospel reflection, or a hymn or service- as well as engaging in chair exercises or help with sleep! The free phone number is 0800 804 8044 – who can you share this with today? 

 

I will share more about our future plans next month and our need for financial support (in these challenging times for small charities), but in the meantime if you were able to consider giving either a one-off amount, or regularly, to the work of Faith in Later Life, that would be hugely appreciated. You can do so by contacting us directly, or by setting up giving via our website.

 

Lastly, thank you for your continued prayers for our ministry, your prayers remain vital. Please can you pray for:

 

 

• Our plans for 2021 and for financial provision.
• Thank God for the opportunity to reach older people at Easter.
• Pray for all those who remain fearful due to covid19.

 

 

Yours in Christ

CEO, Faith in Later Life

 

 

Upcoming Events 

‘Faith in the Second Half’ conference, 11th – 13th May

 

An online event in partnership with Keswick Ministries, seeking to inspire, equip & empower those in the second half of life to live for Christ. Speakers include Jeremy Marshall, Revd Roger Hitchings, Professor Keith Brown, and Louise Morse. For more information or to register, click here.

 

Church Champions March webinar, 9th March

 

Living with Alzheimer’s- Hearing from Robin Thomson as he shares his story of how he cared for his wife following her Alzheimer’s diagnosis.