Kit Johnson said there’s no scriptural mandate on how old — or young — someone has to be to serve God.
He’s seen how harnessing the gifts of all ages can make a difference. He saw it clearly for the first time on an overseas missions trip.
“I’ve been on mission trips where it’s a family affair; it’s not just one individual who goes,” Johnson said. “When it happens, what I see is a unique blessing, and not just to those who are being ministered to. The family that serves together matures in their faith.”
So when he became pastor of First Baptist Church Elba in 2020 after serving as the church’s student pastor, he wanted to bring that idea into the core of the church, strengthening not just families but also the whole church family.
“This year, a huge push — not just by me but by popular demand, others were desiring to see the same thing — they wanted us to be seen as a missions-minded church,” Johnson said. “The goal is that every individual who calls FBC Elba their home can reflect on 2024 and see how God used them in whatever unique way that He did.”
Always time to serve
That goes for their young members, but it also goes for their older ones, he said.
“What I’ve found is that members who are 70 and older start feeling that their time is over — they don’t have the stamina to chaperone a youth trip or do construction work,” Johnson said. “But just because they’re no longer capable of serving in that capacity, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a new way that God can use them for His glory to further edify the church.”
In recent months, members of all ages have found a variety of ways to serve. Older members have driven people to the doctor or to go grocery shopping. They’ve also given people who are out of work an opportunity to make money by helping out with lawn care and other tasks around their homes.
Three men have stepped up to mentor fatherless boys, Johnson said, and others are teaching the youth how to serve in different ways around the church, such as running the sound.
Numerous opportunities
Members also helped host an event on the church grounds for the local organization Hand Up Enterprise in early April, and they’ve volunteered at the local food pantry and pregnancy resource center.
This summer, the church is taking a team to Belize.
“It’s the Lord,” Johnson said, noting that so many other things are happening on a regular basis.
The picture of serving as the hands and feet of Christ is all over the New Testament, he said.
“People are responding and submitting to what God was wanting them to do,” Johnson said. “We wanted to be a church of outreach, and I’m so proud of what God’s done here, but I can’t stop there — there’s still work to do. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”
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