Influence: Please share a little about your ministry to seniors, and how it came about.
Wes Wick: In her early 50s, Judy served as donor relations consultant for AG Financial Solutions. She met with many seniors who had included family, designated ministries and local churches in their estate plans. While passionate about their families and specific ministries, conversations regarding their church experience would often take a nosedive. Many of the seniors Judy talked to felt left out and forgotten — but they still had so much to offer. It was heartbreaking to Judy to see how generationally isolated and discouraged many seniors had become.

God’s generation-to-generation design for the church is under attack, and Young Enough to Serve (YES!) was birthed to help strengthen churches — focusing on prayer, serving and disciple-making potential in life’s later years.

Why is it important that seniors stay active in ministry?
The idea that we would stop serving in our later years does not come from Scripture or the heart of God. As our physical bodies age, maintaining a servant’s heart has new challenges. We may need to shift gears and get creative along the way, but remaining open to saying “yes” in the serving arena can lengthen our lifespan and increase our life imprint and legacy.

When seniors prematurely conclude their serving and disciple-making days are over, it creates a negative ripple across the generations. Conversely, when senior adults continue to serve, it instills inspiration in the next generation to serve as well, i.e., “If Grandma and Grandpa can still make a big difference in the lives of others, in spite of their obstacles, what can I do now to fervently serve the Lord and better steward my gifts?”

Highlight a few of the ministries that are supported by YES!
A plethora of ministry opportunities exists for seniors, both AG-affiliated and interdenominational — and many secular opportunities as well where seniors can be salt and light.

The idea that we would stop serving in our later years does not come from Scripture or the heart of God.

Assemblies of God MAPS-RV is doing a wonderful job in mobilizing seniors. Some other favorites include Royal Family Kids Camp — where older adults play key roles as camp grandparents and aunts/uncles to foster kids. We are huge fans of Gleanings for the Hungry, Operation Christmas Child, and International Students Inc., as well as other ministries that deliberately welcome seniors in many serving roles.

We also desire that leadership be attentive to other programs in our local churches, schools, communities and government where mature Christian influence is sorely needed.

What philosophy of leadership do you stand by?
“With help from all generations” are the first five words of our mission statement. While YES! is focused on inspiring adults over 50, we want to affirm how valuable every generation is in making this happen.

From 1 Corinthians 12, we see how vital it is for each part of the body of Christ to be concerned about the whole and also how the whole Body needs to concern itself with each part. We have to break away from the isolated body part mentality and engage young leaders with us in this adventure. The generation-to-generation relationship adds life and vitality both ways.

This article was originally published in the February/March 2017 issue of Influence magazine and has been used with permission. For more print content, subscribe.