Doy & Estrelle Lopez Answer the Call for Ministry to Care for the Elderly

CTK parish priest Father Bong Tupino had always argued that CTK parish does a decent job of ministering to the pre-school children through the Mustard Seed Ministry, to the youth through the Youth Ministry and PREX Youth, to the families and married couples through the Family & Life Ministry, but there continues to be a void as far as ministering to the elderly is concerned. The parish currently has a few activities that involve senior citizens , e . g . , EMHC’ s g iv i n g communion at the homes of the bedridden in the villages; Ladies of Charity providing medicines to a couple of dozen super senior ladies in the Libis community; ditto with the occasional healing visits initiated by the Healing Ministry. But the sense is that there is still no concerted effort to address the spiritual, formational, educational, emotional, physical and communal needs of the elderly in Christ the King Parish Greenmeadows, whether they live in the gated villages or in the Libis sitios.

So in late 2016, Fr. Bong appointed Doy and Estrelle Lopez, who had just stepped down as long-running head couple for the Family and Life Ministry, to take on the challenge of formally setting up to minister to the elderly in the community. The Lopezes had taken time off during the first quarter 2017 to take a long-needed vacation and have recently come back to share their first thoughts.

First things first, the Lopez couple proposed a new name, the Sunrise Ministry, the rationale being that senior years are often referred to as sunset or twilight years, a negative term. Hence, they’ve flipped this on its head and have decided to call their ministry ‘Sunrise’.

After discussions with the Ladies of Charity regarding possible physical exercise programs, interviewing resident Bishop Raul Martirez, himself a super senior at 79 years old, checking with potential counselors regarding lectures on the topic of ‘after midlife’, and making preliminary contact with an art café, Doy and Estrelle have begun to think of the broad brush strokes for the ministry, which would include, but not be limited to: physical activities such as daily ‘dancercise’, potentially in coordination with the Ladies of Charity; creative endeavors such as painting sessions and ikebana flower arranging; formation seminars related to the spirituality of after midlife years; and fellowship activities, such as volunteer work to help the youth, youth helping the elderly with technology and apps, and regular home visits to those who can’t or won’t leave their homes.

But the Lopezes admit that it’s early beginnings, for example, they haven’t yet talked to the Youth Ministry on their youth-related directions. But what they’ve clearly put in stone is a planning workshop set for March 11 and 12 that should result in very specific plans and projects for 2017. They’ve also tapped other seniors to work with them in the new ministry. Specifically, they’ve tapped Jorge and Baby Banal as associate head couple in charge of external affairs; Manolo and Linda Dayrit also as associate head couple. They also brought on board as core group members several Marriage Vocation Program stalwarts, such as Dan and Vinchu Lapid, Louie and Nell Laudico, Benjie and Wins Mirasol, Spanky and Dolly Perez, Nap and Flor Cabello, and Charito Barredo.

Let’s wish the new ministry success as they plan out their directions for 2017.