Why are we having a “Memorial for Lost Little Ones?”
In Romans Chapter 12, just after speaking about powerful love in action, the apostle Paul makes this amazing statement to the believers in Rome, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” (Verse 15)
It is a challenge to the church to not just be good at celebrating and rejoicing with those who have much to celebrate, but also to keep our eye on those who are mourning and hurting in our midst, and mourn with them. We are encouraged to create environments that can facilitate both these processes well! My experience is that we haven’t always been great at this!
Mother’s Day is a great day and it is happening this Sunday! As the church we are generally very good at celebrating the mothers in our midst and the incredible role that they play and we always want to do that. What we aren’t always cognoscente of in that moment is that it is actually a tough day for some, and for many can be a day of mourning. Behind the scenes there are stories of miscarriages and other losses that are very often unspoken of, for a number of different reasons. For some, it might be a reminder of the pain of an abortion that happened 20 years ago, and yet the pain is still felt as though it happened yesterday.
This Saturday, 7th May at 3pm, we hope to facilitate a memorial service that would allow those who require it, to mourn the loss of any ‘little one’, no matter what the circumstances or situations! No questions will be asked or awkward moments created, but rather just some time in the presence of our King. In Luke 4 v 18, Jesus stated that the Spirit of the Lord was on him to do a number of things, but one of those was to “heal the brokenhearted”.
I believe that Jesus is still doing that, so as a church family we wanted to create a ‘safe space’ to allow healing to happen in the loving presence of Jesus.
A few of important things to know:
- This Memorial is open to anyone who would like to be a part of this time, so please spread the word.
- Time: 3pm-4pm
- Date: Saturday 7th May
- Location: Life Changers, Tableview Campus, corner of Echium Road and Raats Drive.
We would love to see you there.
Mark van Pletsen on behalf of the eldership team.