When Mary Kay beauty consultant Bobbie Hardin did a makeover on a homeless
woman at the Brantley Baptist Center in New Orleans, the young woman could hardly
believe her eyes.
She broke out crying, saying, “I have never looked so beautiful.”
When Mary Kay beauty consultant Bobbie Hardin did a makeover on a homeless
woman at the Brantley Baptist Center in New Orleans, the young woman could hardly
believe her eyes.
She broke out crying, saying, “I have never looked so beautiful.”
Looking closer into the mirror, she exclaimed, “You cant see my
scars.”
Excited about the womans response, Hardin took the opportunity to share
about Jesus with her new client.
“Make-up can hide the scars on the outside, but only Jesus can heal the
scars on the inside,” the beauty consultant of 29 years told the woman.
It was a message Hardin had come to New Orleans to deliver. Along with 17 other
senior adults from Immanuel Baptist Church in El Dorado, Ark., Hardin was participating
in hands-on ministry sponsored by the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminarys
Senior Adult MissionLab. The MissionLab offers custom-tailored programs matching
the needs and abilities of senior adult ministry groups with appropriate mission
opportunities in the New Orleans area.
For Hardin, her hands-on effort involved makeovers at the Brantley Center.
“The makeovers werent a ministry of outside beauty but one of the
true beauty of Christ,” says Toni Wimberly, director of the Senior Adult
MissionLab, explaining the far-reaching impact of senior adults who use their
years of experience in a variety of missions projects.
“Youll never know the impact this trip made on myself and the senior
adults who went,” says Kay Ruddell, Immanuel Baptist Churchs senior
adult ministry coordinator and a womens ministry student at New Orleans
Seminary.
Indeed, the ministry was so successful that the seniors from the Arkansas Baptist
church already have booked their next trip this time with 50 senior adults.
Brantley Baptist Center Executive Director Tobey Pitman says the “ministry
of makeup” was a vital ministry for the ladies who stay in the shelter.
“The most simple everyday things that we take advantage of are valuable
to homeless people who have very little,” he says. “Sample perfumes,
lipsticks and other makeup may seem like trinkets to most people, but it is
a very effective way to minister to our ladies.
“These items give them dignity.”
In addition to visiting with the residents at the Brantley homeless shelter,
the Arkansas senior adult group made beds, fixed old towels and sheets and led
the midweek worship service, resulting in two professions of faith.
That same week, another ten senior adults from Central Baptist Church in Magnolia,
Ark., worked at another inner-city Baptist mission, the Carver Baptist Center.
There, they ministered to children in the after-school programs.
The children had a real impact on the senior adults from Central, says Lori
Story, Central Baptist Churchs senior adult leader.
“The missions experience opened our seniors eyes to the needs in
the world and has given them a real heart for ministry for God,” she explains.
The groups enthusiasm also has generated excitement in their church at
large, she says, noting how the entire church has benefited from seeing its
oldest members hearts soften before the Lord and with each other.
Like Immanuel, Central Baptist Church already has booked a second trip, with
more than twice the number of participants expected to come.
In addition to working at the Baptist missions, both church groups ministered
to the homeless and to wayward teenagers who congregate on the streets in the
French Quarter. The young, pierced, and colorfully-hair-styled teenagers, politely
addressed the seniors as “maam” and “sir” and were
receptive to those who approached them, the volunteers report.
That was a different reaction than is usually seen to other teenagers or young
adults who try to reach out to the street kids, Wimberly says. The normal attitudinal
barriers were nonexistent, she says. Indeed, the generation gap actually seemed
to work in the seniors favor, she notes.
The response was so strong to the seniors outreach that both Arkansas
groups have indicated they want to stay out longer in the French Quarter the
next time they come, Wimberly points out.
More than that, the experience has shown the senior adults to look for opportunities
in their own backyard, Ruddell says.
“God truly used MissionLab to show me that we have a mission field around
Immanuel Baptist Church in El Dorado,” she emphasizes. “Lives were
truly changed that week for eternity.” (BP)
(For information on giving senior adults and youth opportunities to become
involved in mission work in New Orleans, call MissionLab New Orleans at 800-662-8701,
extension 3241 for senior adults and extension 3364 for youth, or visit online