Section A: Critical Events in the Lives of Older Persons
According to Melvin A. Kimble there may be three critical events in the lives of older persons: crisis of meaning, life-review, suffering and dying.
1. Crisis of Meaning.
Kimble first points out that meaning of life is universally significant to everybody. He maintains, "Increasingly more people today have the means to live, but no meaning for which to live. An individual throughout her or his lifespan is motivated to seek and to find personal meaning in human existence."1)
And then he mentions the meaning issue is typically important to the elderly people. He indicates, "The shockingly high suicide statistics among older adults provide a disturbing commentary on the apparent 'existential vacuum' that many oder adults experience in their last stage of life" since "this state of inner emptiness appears to be one of the major causes of depression and despair."2)
Finally the author points out the lack of symbols which "facilitate confrontation with and acceptance of the natural process of aging and dying," so that the elderly may have "the expression of guilt without absolution, of isolation and alienation which have forgotten God's covenant promise and relationship as well as its expression in the household of faith, and of suffering that is void of meaning and only devalues and debases the sufferer."3) Kimble asserts the necessity of helping the elderly to connect God's unconditional love and "life's ultimate meaning."4) He explains, "Older persons need a sense of meaning in order to continue to struggle and cope with the eroding and debilitating diminishments that aging and growing older eventually introduce."5)
For this reason he maintains that the "faith community is the proclaimer of that message concerning the meaning of life."6)
2. Life-review
Kemble explicates the term "life-review" as a "past scanning function that reclaims the past."7) In this respect everyone has life-review throughout entire life. The older persons have the critical moment in life to scan what has been going on in their own life. However, they have memory loss which is the stumbling block for them to integrate meaning from past events.
The author asserts, "Life-view has proven to help maintain a higher level of functioning, an increase in mental alertness, a greater sense of personal identity, and a reinforcement of coping mechanisms."8) But he admonishes, "Persons who reflect deep feelings of being depressed, for example, should not engage in this process, but referred to an appropriate professional counselor."9)
Kemble points out the importance of life-review as revealing "God's presence in people's lives. Faith is the recounting of God's presence and love in the journey through time."10) He maintains we need "responsive listening as a person shares the story of his or her life," lest that a life-review process may not end with a "sentimental journey back through time."11)
3. Suffering and Dying
Kemble acknowledges suffering and dying is a natural and inevitable phenomenon. But he believes that "it is possible to fashion positive meaning out of unavoidable suffering, meaning that even ennobles the sufferers."12) So he maintains we need challenge the elderly to hold up "faithful endurance and patience in suffering."13) He points out the important role of rites and rituals, such as sacraments, prayers, and anointing with oil, through which the elderly may understand "suffering within the declaration of God's sustaining love."14)
The author asserts older persons should be challenged to confront their own dying and death. First, they need accept dying and death as a "natural part of the created order of life."15) And then pastoral care-givers need assist dying older persons to "prepare spiritually for death" and to conclude life not as a "destructive negation of its meaning."16)
Section B: Coping Resources
1. Concerning crisis of meaning.
Coping resources to overcome crisis of meaning may be intergenerational programs, learning programs, and worship programs.
a. intergenerational programs.
One of the characteristic factors the older people feels this crisis is that they are segregated by younger generations. So Carlson suggests: ① "bringing youth and age together"17) to connect the generations, ② "supporting adult children with aging relatives"18) to connect each generation in a larger concept of family, ③ "helping grandparents with their opportunities and challenges" to make them grow as support groups rather than the supported19), and finally ④ "developing extended families"20) through the congregation to "bring generations together in a natural, meaningful way."21)
b. learning program.
Life is a lifetime process. It is no exception for the older people. Carlson suggests several programs for older learners: ① "learning at home" providing solitary learners with "increased access to learning materials, such as books, newspapers, television, and computers,"22) ② "individual mentoring" for older persons, for example, to "work with younger people such as confirmation students,"23) ③ "organized classes,"24) and finally ④ "camp 60"25) more or less.
c. worship programs.
Many of older people can hardly go to church every Sunday. So they need special care such as "private worship in home environment,"26) special "worship through celebrations and ceremonies."27)
2. Concerning Life-review.
Life-review needs careful and responsive listeners such as pastors, peer-groups, volunteer care-givers, and professional counselors. I believe pastor needs to organize the elderly ministry committee which supports older persons to recount their own past with integrity and meaningfulness in relationship to God's love and grace.
3. Concerning Suffering and Dying.
The suffering or dying elderly persons may be in home boundary. Donald Clingan suggests such services as ① "telephone reassurance", ② "tape ministry", "visitation", ③ "companion services" as simple visit or social contact, ④ "home chore services", ⑤ "minor maintenance and repair services", and ⑥ "parish nurse services."28) I believe that listening not simply is bound to physical hearing but includes responsive loving and care giving which enables the cared to find God even under suffering and dying situation.
Section C: The Minority Elderly
1. Description
Dr. Maldorado characterizes the life of the minority elderly in one sentence, "The ethnic minority elderly is a very special population which has long struggled for recognition both within its own communities and especially in the broader population."29)
The marginality of the ethnic minority elderly is social, political, and economical "throughout their lives, especially before the reforms of the 1960's...Their lifelong experience of marginality apparently generated coping resources and skills which helped them survive the pre-civil rights era."30) For this reason Dr. Maldorado suggests that their accumulated know-how to overcome marginality may be helpful for the white elderly.
Dr. Maldorado understands "racial composition has been a most significant factor in their lives" with the experience of "being nonwhite in a society historically dominated by the white population."31) Racial issue has not worked solitarily but with socioeconomic factors. For this reason he wants to pay attention to the larger context of historical and social reality.
Dr. Maldorado points out, "Extreme financial limitations and poor health reflect their reality; lower educational attainment and lower status employment histories provide limited resources for old age."32) In old age the ethnic minority are now confronted with the consequences which has been socially and economically marginalized by the mainstream society.
Dr. Maldorado divides pre- and post-civil rights period. In the pre-civil right period the ethnic minority had to suffer "personal prejudice, housing and educational segregation, and discrimination in the business and work place" and now "enter old age with all of the socioecomomic limitations produced by those experiences."33) After the civil right movements they "turn to the minority family, the elderly recognize the financial limitations of that unit and refuse to impose an even greater load upon it. Thus, they turn to the formal human service system. However, their experience there is not necessarily positive."34)
According to Dr. Maldorado, as the ethnic minority elderly "confronted serious physical and material needs, they turned to personal adaptability and ingenuity. They developed practices of mutual assistance among friends and neighbors, and found the minority church to be an extended network of helpful colleagues. But most of all, the minority family, especially in its extended form, emerged as an important vehicle for meeting the immediate needs of its members."35)
Dr. Maldorado also indicates that the ethnic minority elderly have had "internal conflict, emotional stress, personal pain, and broader questions of meaning and justice."36) The historical context of racial discrimination "challenged the person's pride, self-respect and mental health."37) The ethnic minority elderly had the "pain experienced in not being able to provide as fully for the needs and dreams of one's family."38) They had to struggle to find "meaning in a world-known to be unjust and painful."39) They also "faced other stresses of life which are more universal such as illness, death, separation, loneliness, intergenerational tensions, and marital and family crises."40) So they had to develop a "strong sense of worth and purpose which translated into a strong determination to survive"41) through religious faith, faith communities, religious activities, ethnic minority communities, and family the most important part of all the resources and the center of coping all the obstacles.42) Especially family is the greenhouse to nurture and help them "cope with the b갬der society," provide an "important sense of identity," pride, motivation for each individual "willing to face many indignities and to work in humble positions in order for the family to make it."43)
2. How their experiences might be helpful in ministering to them as well as to the Korean elderly.
The study of Dr. Maldorado illuminates how we Korean pastors minister for their elderly people's sake. They as minority were marginalized by this society, racially discriminated, socially and economically inaccessible to resources. They had to struggle with such problems as language, job opportunity, pride, self-respect, health, and so on. For the Korean elderly family is the center for survival, identity, pride, and motivation. The concept of family is very similar to the Hispanic version. I believe that they astonishingly have much more shared experiences with the Hispanic elderly than any other ethnic group.
However, the role of church is as much important as family to the Korean elderly. According to the statistics of GBGM over 80 % of Korean population go to church. When they came to America, they were first introduced to family or pastor and church without which they could not seek job or do business. Before the civil rights era, their dependence upon local churches might be higher than now since Korean society had extremely limited resources and since its ethnic churches was the very center of almost all resources. By help of church the strong support system Korean could survive and even prosper.
At another level, the Korean elderly has had Noh-in-hoi (the elderly assembly) for the purpose of fellowship. It is not quite stronger than family or church but consists of the partial texture of the Korean elderly. In addition there exists no elderly assembly in small cities like Lubbock.
On the whole the study of Dr. Maldorado is very helpful for constructing the theology for the Korean elderly, and the skills and experiences of the Hispanic elderly are the resourceful data for the ministry for the Korean aging.
Section D: The Ministry of the Church with the Elderly
I select "nurturing lifelong learning" suggested by Donald Carlson. According to him, there are several ways for the elderly to learn such as "learning at home," "individual mentoring", "organized classes."44) The ways applicable to my congregation are organized classes and learning at home. I plan to provide elderly internet education to the Lubbock Korean any of whom has no opportunity to learn computer and internet at all.
They are inflicted by lonelieness which is further precipitated by lack of information. The Lubbock Korean elderly have no chance to watch Korean drama or news via TV channels and to hear radio broadcasting while the Korean elderly in metropolitan cities such as L.A., New York, Chicago..., and so on. Even Korean newspapers are delivered a few days or weeks later. For this reason internet education is significant for the Lubbock Korean elderly. They think difficult to learn computer, so that they hesitate to move on. As I believe, internet skills are very simple, and they can learn without much difficulty.
In addition after retirement they are deprived of social activities. They may be imprisoned at home or prone to meaningless time killing. Their lonelieness will be aggrevated. Via internet they can, however, get information they need, meet friends all over states or countries, participate in Christian mission such e-mail counsel, e-mail prayer. Even if unable to church because of health problems, they can enjoy learning at home, reading/hearing/watching sermons on the internet.
For this specific ministry I'd like take the follow-ups of Carlson: ① "surveying needs", ② "determining content", ③ "locating leaders", ④ "time and length of courses", ⑤ "location of courses", ⑥ "promotion of courses", ⑦ "evaluation."45) I think all those follow-ups applicable to facilitate the internet ministry of the Lubbock Korean elderly.
There are approximately 25 older people outside my congregation. I suppose most of them are unfamiliar to telecommunication via internet. Some of our elderly educated in internet will be able to help them learn and communicate with one another. They can retrieve pride, self-esteem, and meaningfulness by doing the internet ministry for God and neighbors.
1) Melvin A. Kimble, "Pastoral Care" in AGING, SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION, edited by Melvin A. Kimble, Susan H. McFadden, James W. Ellor, and James J. Seeber, Fortress Press, 1995, p. 137.
2) Ibid.
3) Ibid., p. 138.
4) Ibid.
5) Ibid.
6) Ibid., p. 139.
7) Ibid.
8) Ibid.
9) Ibid., p. 140.
10) Ibid.
11) Ibid.
12) Ibid., p.141.
13) Ibid.
14) Ibid.
15) Ibid., p. 142.
16) Ibid.
17) Dorsia Carlson, ENGAGING IN MINISTRY WITH OLDER ADULTS, The Alban Institute Publication, 1997, p.23.
18) Ibid., p. 25.
19) Ibid., p. 28.
20) Ibid., p.30.
21) Ibid., p.31.
22) Ibid., p.28
23) Ibid., p.39.
24) Ibid.
25) Ibid., p.43.
26) Melvin A. Kimble, "Pastoral Care" in AGING, SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION, edited by Melvin A. Kimble, Susan H. McFadden, James W. Ellor, and James J. Seeber, Fortress Press, 1995, p. 236.
27) Ibid., p. 237.
28) Richard H. Gentzler, Jr. & Donald F. Clingan, AGING: GOD'S CHALLENGE TO CHURCH & SYNAGOGUE, The Discipleship Resources, 1996, pp. 90-92.
29) David Maldorado, Jr., "A Framework for Understanding the Minority Elderly," Low-Income, Minority and Rural Elderly, edited by E. O. Schuster (Ypsilante: Geriatric Education Center of Michigan, 1989), p. 2.
30) Ibid., p.2.
31) Ibid.
32) Ibid., p.4.
33) Ibid., p. 9.
34) Ibid.
35) Ibid., p. 10.
36) Ibid.
37) Ibid.
38) Ibid.
39) Ibid., p. 11.
40) Ibid.
41) Ibid.
42) Ibid., pp.11-13.
43) Ibid., p.13.
44) Dorsia Carlson, ENGAGING IN MINISTRY WITH OLDER ADULTS, The Alban Institute Publication, 1997, pp. 38-39.
45) Ibid., pp. 40-43.