Time With The Senior Adults

Just about every Friday during the year a group of older members of our church gather in our fellowship hall for lunch and a “program”. The program part is presented by a member of the group or a special guest. The program can be a bible study, a testimony, singing or playing an instrument.

Last Thursday afternoon I got a call from my pastor asking me to be the guest speaker at the Sr. Adults meeting the next day. The scheduled guest had to cancel at the last minute. I’d been thinking about asking to go do something for the group for a while but hadn’t taken the initiative to set it up. The pastor suggested that I sing or give my testimony, or a short Bible devotional. I decided to do a combination of them all and more.

The next morning I took my old man puppet, Sherman, my harmonica and my Bible to the church. First thing I did was a ventriloquist sketch with Sherman. Because I was asked to speak with such a short notice I asked the group’s indulgence as I used a printed script for the performance. It’s the first time I’ve ever done that. The sketch had jokes about being old and the stock market. I used the old “look at that bunch of cows/not bunch, herd” joke. If you’re not familiar with that one ask me and I’ll let you in on it. I got quite a few laughs and everyone seemed to enjoy having Sherman there.

I played 2 of my favorite hymns, “Sweet Hour of Prayer” and “Fairest Lord Jesus” on my harmonica. Finally I gave a testimony in which I about talked about 5 things I have learned over the last year that have helped me be a better Christian. They included: the fact that Jesus still has a physical body today, the importance of living with a Godly perspective, the evidence and components of true salvation, looking for God’s creation of the fruits of the spirit in your life, and God’s sovereignty. I ended by thanking the group for their help and encouragement in my walk with The Lord. I stayed and ate a delicious lunch of roast beef and vegetables with some black forest type pudding for dessert.

I enjoyed my time with the Senior Adults and look forward to going back and speaking to them again. The experience of being up in front an audience of older people exclusively for the first time helped me realize that I am now ready to go to a nursing home to do a show. I’ve wanted to do that for a long time but didn’t think I was ready. Now I know I am. God used my fellow church members to help me take one of the next steps in my ventriloquism ministry.