Partner Church Article: March 2019

   “Bingo!”

Dear Partners:

I went to an elder care conference one day and there was an off-the-cuff comment three deadly “B’s” that facilities should stay away from because they were overdone are passé.  It wasn’t the main points of the presentation so I didn’t take the time and energy to have this clarified— but I was, at the least, confused by it.   I forgot what the third “B” was but I do remember the first two.  The second “B” was “Bible”— as a pastor, this not only confused me but offended me too.  Our weekly Bible studies are doing very well and seem to be very meaningful to our residents, thank you.  The one that confused me was the first “B,” though, and that was “Bingo.”  My experience is that there are a lot of folks at Josephine who love to play Bingo.  We’ve tried several game-type activities but from what I see, none of them draws as many people as Bingo does. Folks at Josephine seem to like Bingo in the day, at night, bingo at special occasions, super-mega Bingo, you name it.   For some people, it’s one thing that they look forward to every single week.

This is also, then, the reason why I am writing this article for you this month.  Going against the trend of staying away from that first deadly “B,” I would love to attempt to make this game as available as possible to as many people as possible.  This is where you might come in.  We have some people who would love to play but find it difficult to play because of their mental capacity— and then when they try to play, some of the people who know how to play get frustrated at them because they can’t play correctly.   My “ask” this month is for some volunteers who might be willing to sit alongside some of those who are having trouble playing and to help them play the game.  We like this solution better than setting up two different Bingo sessions based on mental capabilities.  Would you be willing?  The Suites Bingo is every Thursday beginning at 2pm and lasts no more than an hour— The Meadows (nursing home) Bingo begins a half hour earlier on Thursday as well.  This might be a perfect opportunity for those who may have said in the past that they don’t think they could volunteer at Josephine because they wouldn’t know how to relate to “old people.”  Let us know if you might like to try and help out in this way.  I can promise you that it will be very helpful for the community and a meaningful experience for yourself.

There are lots of ways to engage in the life here— so, we invite you to just talk with us.  As the weather gets warmer and the sun begins to shine some more, walking groups outside will begin to resume.  We could always use more helpers in the gift shop.  I would love to see art classes come back.  We have some interested folks wanting to knit for those who are homeless.  Or maybe your church has a volunteer project that you need more hands for and it could be done here at Josephine?  Let’s talk about it and be creative so that we can help the folks here continue to discover some of the joys of life!  God bless you always.

Warmly, Pr. Andy