Westside Cares | Generosity Story
I first heard about Stephen Ministry from my mom. I just was curious. What is that, what are you doing? I was fascinated. And then I heard that the church here at Westside was going to be training some people, and I couldn't sign up fast enough, that just sounded like exactly what I wanted to do.
Well, a lot of times I'll get all into a room, and they're surprised. They're moved by the fact that the church has someone to come and visit with them and pray for them.
LifeLines are groups of individuals that gather together to talk about similar experiences they may have had. They're very easy to join, you just find one that speaks to you and your life experience. There's ones around grief, divorce care, addiction issues, sexual abuse issues. I had some experiences in my life that I had gone through alone, and then later on in life, when I came to be a believer in Christ and became active with the church, I realized there was a much better way. And I wish I had had that when I was going through it, and so I joined in and became a leader.
Pastors can't do it all. So we come alongside someone who's hurting, who may have had a death in the family, who may be caring for an elderly person. It can be just a difficult time in their life. They just need someone to talk to.
So we prayed for this woman, we anointed her with oil. She was very anxious, couldn't stop talking, she hadn't slept for for quite a long time. And I had talked to her about a week later, after we had done all of this, and she said she was doing better. And then several months later I saw her at one of the family baptisms out by the pond, and I noticed it was her, and I didn't even hardly recognize it. The transformation was just unbelievable. So that was really, really neat to see.
After God put it on my heart to become involved, I simply started talking to some of the staff here at Westside, and it's amazing that they were able to provide for us, not only a curriculum, but the materials, but the place to meet, and put it out online for advertising, all at no cost so that people could find the groups when they need them. And it's invaluable, it's a valuable resource.
My husband was diagnosed with... He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2014, in September, and he was gone in August of 2015. And I found myself, after the 15 weeks of training, all the books I'd read, all the training I'd had, the caring I'd done for other people. It's different when it's you. But when you're walking that walk, you know the signs of grief, you know what's coming next, but when it's you. So I reached out and I got my own Stephen Minister.
Well, it always helps me to bring the Holy Spirit to the surface, and not just for me to bring my spirit to the surface, but hopefully my spirit interceding with their spirit will be brought to the surface also.
Not only is it amazing to be among non-judgmental people that are based in Christian beliefs and talk about real life experiences that you have in common, but if you put God's word and his love in the middle of that also, it's magical, and that is not found any other place.
I'm not just a Stephen Minister. I was asked to help lead the Stephen Ministry training for the our like people, for people in the church that want to come alongside people and do that walk. I took a SHAPE test, and found out my first gift is faith, my second one is mercy, and my third is service, so it just really fit me to be a Stephen Minister, and I love it.
Yeah. I would like to thank the church for giving us the ability to visit these people, to create this ministry. I have a heart for these people. I appreciate it very much.
And for this church to do that for us is incredible. It's a program that I don't think you can put a dollar sign on.
They are a tremendous resource. You don't have to go through anything alone here, and the support and the love that you find is overwhelming.