Leeds woman ‘blessed’ by visiting homebound

Many people in their 80s and 90s are alone a lot of the time — except in Leeds. 
   
For more than 25 years, God has used Lorna Banks to bring cheer into the lives of that city’s homebound.
   
“Find somebody you think is lonely — and they’re not always what you would think of as ‘loners,’” she said. “You don’t have to talk. Just listen. That’s all they want — somebody to listen to them.”
   
Homebound ministry is a joy to those who are called to it, Banks said. 
   
“You’re so blessed because you learn a lot of wisdom from the older people, and they don’t even know that they’re imparting wisdom to you but [they are],” she said. “I’m a whole lot more blessed than they are.”
   
While visiting the homebound may be her favorite thing to do, it’s just one of many ministries quietly accomplished by Banks, according to her fellow church members at Valley View Baptist Church, Leeds, in Birmingham Baptist Association.
   
Pastor Larry Ballard said Banks is “the epitome of what a missions-minded Christian should be.” 
   
“She reaches out to those who are hungry, needy, lonely, suffering, bereaved and displaced,” Ballard said. 
   
“She stands out to me because she quietly goes about serving others in the name of Christ. She doesn’t make a big fanfare about things.”
   
He explained that Banks reminds him of the capable woman described in Proverbs 31, who provides doubly for her own family and still has more to give to those in need.
   
First and foremost, her ministry is a ministry of presence — just being there, reminding people that they are not alone in whatever it is they’re going through.
   
“She is there when anybody needs her and more than anybody ever knows,” said Pauline Shelton, a friend and fellow church member. “She does all sorts of volunteer work, like passing out produce [at a local community center].”
   
Banks visits people when they’re in the hospital — sitting with them, if need be — and then again shortly after they return home, several people noted. 
   
The second visit is to see how she can help them — perhaps with a meal, grocery shopping or taking them to the doctor for a check-up visit.
   
“Lorna has always been very keyed into what’s going on around her with fellow Christians and people in need,” said fellow church member Carol Rainey. “She does what we all should be doing. How can people see Jesus unless they see Him through us?”
   
But Banks doesn’t limit herself to presence. She finds a way of doing something that provides tangible benefit to the intangible gift of letting people know they are not alone.
   
Fellow church member Mildred Newsom noted that Banks takes some of the widow ladies out to lunch and took care of her father in her home until he passed.
   
Married to her husband, Tom, for 47 years on Valentine’s Day, the Bankses have three children, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren with one more on the way. 
   
“She’s a woman of prayer,” Tom Banks said. “She evaluates [each situation] on what she can offer and what she feels God is leading her to do. … She’s interested in other people, and she’s doing the ministry she feels called to do.”