Starting a Prison And Nursing Home Ministry

[Minister Lynetta Majors]

Starting a Prison And Nursing Home Ministry Greetings my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, my church Soul Harvest C.C is in the process of starting a Nursing home and Prison Ministry. Please, any ideas,words of wisdom or any other input would be greatly appreciated. We are all one building God's Kingdom. I thank you in advance.

Be Blessed
Minister Lynetta Majors

[Minister Lynetta Majors]

This will truly help, thank you for sharing your ideas and knowlegde .I will take every idea 1-7 to the table to be implemented for the nursing home ministry. My people perish for the lack of knowledge. Thank you again My Sister in Christ and You Be Blessed.

[T.L. Hawkins]

I think this is awesome. I worked as a nurse for thirteen years and have been on staff in numerous nursing homes. There was always some sort of ministry that would come to the homes. This is what I've noticed and saw a need for:
1) Timing is everything. The best time to do the ministry in the nursing homes is as early as after breakfast or right after lunch. Patient schedules will conflict with any other times and the ministry won't have much time to accomplish anything.
2) Not all patients are of the same "denomination"...be aware of this in your preparations.
3) Get the patients involved. A lot of these homes are residences for former Pastor's, Deacons and musicians. Allow them to be a part of the service (if you have a worship period).
4) Allow one or two of the residents/patients to be the "spokesman" for your ministry. Allow them to share in the responsibility of spreading the news around the home about your ministry.
5) If at all possible, help with the needs of the residents that are less fortunate. Some of them have no family to visit with them or to assist them with the things they need for grooming (soap, shampoo, deodorant etc.). After the worship period..set a time frame for those in the ministry to sit a while and visit with the people who don't have visitors on a normal basis ( kind of like adopt a parent/grandparent). They really will appreciate it.
6) If possible, offer to provide transportation to your church for the residents who wish to attend church. Arrangememts can be made with the home as long as the proper paperwork has been completed. The key thing to remember is to have the residents back to the home before their next medication time.
7) If possible pick another day to visit opposite the worship time and get a small group of the ladies together for pampering. Women like to look and feel nice even in a nursing home environment. They can get their nails polished, hair curled or whatever your ministry agrees to do.
For the most part, make the people feel the love that you came to show them.

I hope this helps. May God Truly Bless You All on this Journey!
Be Blessed.