This year The Baptist Home marks an incredible 103 years of ministry to the aging.
What began as a vision given to a young Baptist pastor and his wife more than a century ago has grown into a vibrant ministry with campuses across Missouri and ministry connections around the world.
Resident Maxine Wester (left) visits with Vera Cline, coordinator of The Baptist Home in Ozark, Mo. (The Baptist Home)Perhaps the global ministry is a surprise to some but Baptist Home leaders strongly feel God’s calling to reach out to international brothers and sisters in Christ to provide the resources needed to minister to aging humanity in their countries.
“Our field is global because aging is universal,” says The Baptist Home President Steven Jones.
Last year, TBH partnered with The Baptist Home Foundation and the Future Leadership Foundation to send two staffers to Belarus and Ukraine to provide specialized training in validation therapy and managing finances to pastors, seminary students and social service workers.
Through the work of the TBH Foundation, the global aging ministry is expanding with work in Moldova, El Salvador and Guatemala, with possibilities in Cuba, Mexico and Nicaragua.
On the home front, the new chapel and activities center known as the Goodwin LifeCare Center on the Ozark campus was completed and dedicated last year. The center includes a prayer garden, waterfall entry and meeting space for 300.
Progress continues on the fourth Missouri campus at Ashland. A master plan has been completed, and a sewer contract is in place. Work on the site plan and infrastructure needs continues to pave the way for housing construction to begin.
TBH hopes to begin breaking ground in the spring of 2017.
To see the master plan or to take a virtual concept tour of the new campus, visit www.thebaptisthome.org/central missouri.
The Baptist Home is launching its Assistive Care Ministry and Veterans Care Ministry programs to equip churches and other organizations to help meet the needs of the aging in their communities.
For over a century, The Baptist Home has been providing Christ-like compassionate care to the sick, the widowed and the dying. Last year, The Baptist Home provided nearly $2 million in benevolent care to long-term care residents with a little over half receiving some assistance.
To learn more about the ministry of The Baptist Home, visit its website at www.thebaptisthome.org or on Facebook and catch a glimpse into the lives of those who are served.
To receive updates on the progress of the Ashland campus, or desire to learn more about active living housing, assisted living or nursing care for an individual, call (866) 454-2709.
Becky Barton is director of communication for The Baptist Home. This is one of a seies of ministry impact articles that appeared in Word & Way. The section contains stories from organizations and institutions that were invited to share how they were impacting a life, a group or a community.
