Every Thursday night around 6:30 p.m., the residents of Songbird Lodge have plans. Bianca Monge, Philip Jorgensen and other Howard Payne University students will be stopping by to visit and share life together.
Monge and Jorgensen are student leaders for Howard Payne University’s Baptist Student Ministry Senior Adult Ministry, and they take HPU students to Songbird Lodge simply to spend quality time with the residents.
“Sometimes we go in and tell them about the weather, sometimes we go and listen to their truly amazing stories and sometimes we just smile at each other,” Jorgensen said.
Monge, a junior elementary education major from Fort Worth, has been a part of the BSM Senior Adult Ministry since her first semester at HPU.
“I have come to form such sweet relationships with some of the people there,” she said. “We pour love onto them, but I feel like I receive so much more back from them.”
The goal of the ministry each week is to make certain each person coming in contact with an HPU student feels loved — and knows that Jesus loves them as well.
Jorgensen, a junior cross-cultural studies major from Dallas, loves to hear the stories they share with him.
“Honestly, I just feel so blessed to get to listen to these people,” Jorgensen said.
There are numerous nursing homes in the Brownwood area, and eventually Jorgensen would like to have other teams that visit them on a regular basis.
At the funeral of an elderly woman dear to Monge, the student met an HPU alumna of 16 years who had been involved with a home-bound ministry during her time at the university. The alumna had befriended the same woman during that time and had continued to stay in touch with her.
“It was such a blessing and encouragement to know that for the past fifteen years this elderly woman had been cared for and loved on by different college students,” Monge said.
Monge wants to see the BSM Senior Adult Ministry continue long after she graduates, to know that the residents with whom she built relationships will continue to build relationships with other students.
Jorgensen and Monge’s weekly commitment spent with the residents is an outgrowth of the love and passion they share for this ministry.
“I love getting to share their lives with them,” Monge said. “It is an absolute blessing to learn about and be involved in the lives of some amazing individuals God has created.”
Pictured above: HPU students Philip Jorgensen and Bianca Monge visit with Ina Hood during a weekly visit to Songbird Lodge.
