“You are a declaration for God!” Encouragement to seniors that later years can be fruitful years
by Christine Leow // December 14, 2020, 11:11 pm
Isaiah Chng has worked with hundreds of elderly people, helping them age actively. He believes that God has great plans for each older person to be used by Him. Photo by Emilyn Tan.
Isaiah Chng has good news for seniors.
Chng is the founder of social enterprise ProAge, which helps people age well, and the man behind charity Empower Ageing, an organisation that seeks to improve the quality of life of the elderly,
“Age 60 and above is your prime time! It is when you can make the most significant impact in your life,” said the 37-year-old who works and interacts with seniors.
“I want to grow old. I’m looking forward to growing old! There will be a lot of time, you have a bit more finances, you have more network and can do more things.”
The champion of ageing well was speaking on a panel with septuagenarians Jeffrey Goh and Dr Florence Tan on Zoom chat show Salt&Light Family Night on December 8.
The topic of discussion: Thriving in the golden years.
“Age 60 and above is your prime time!”
Goh is a retired army major and teacher who is now a motivational trainer with TrainingLink Resources. He is also a church elder who continues to teach and preach at the age of 73.
Dr Tan worked for 30 years with discipling ministry Navigators as well as lectured for 18 years at the Singapore Bible College. Also 73, she continues to teach and disciple people, in person and over Zoom, and oversees cell groups in her church.
Nearly 160 people joined the evening’s Salt&Light Family Night, some from Malaysia and as far afield as Australia. Almost half were between the ages of 35 and 54, while two in five were between 55 and 59.
Most said they were fulfilled in their current season of life, with more than 40% rating their fulfilment a 4 out of 5, and about a third rating it a 3.
Here’s what the Family Night guests shared about why the golden years are to be celebrated:
1. God wants to use seniors
Quoting Joshua 14:12, Chng shared how God used Caleb when he was aged 85, together with an inter-generational army, to take down the Anakites though they were the greatest of the giants.
“How God thinks about old people and old age is completely opposite to how the world thinks about it.”
“Israel was afraid of giants. They didn’t go into the Promised Land because they were afraid of giants (Numbers 13). When Caleb took on the greatest of the giants, he broke the whole nation of Israel’s fear of giants once and for all.
“That shows how God can strategically use an older person; this is the kind of role an older person can play in the body of Christ. They have so much potential and God wants to use them.”
In fact, Chng pointed out, there are many old people in the Bible.
“As I delved more and more into the topic, I found that how God thinks about old people and old age is completely opposite to how the world thinks about it, speaks about it, looks at it. If you talk about old age, the Lord has all the answers.”
“God used cedar as an analogy to symbolise older people … It was this precious wood that was used to build the tabernacle.”
Reading from Psalm 92, he added: “The cedar tree is the most mentioned tree in the whole Bible. God used the cedar tree as a natural analogy to symbolise older people.
“Every part of the cedar tree can be used – the leaves, the sap, the bark, everything. And it was this precious wood that was used to build the tabernacle.
“So, God really wants to use every older person; not just one or two older persons, but every older person.”
One reason why this is not always the reality for people is because of “this perennial lie that the enemy has sown in the minds of older people and even younger people”.
Said Chng: “It has kept older people from pursuing things. It makes them believe that it’s my time to take a backseat, it’s my time to retire, it’s my time to relax, let the young people go and cheong (work hard).
“It’s the lie that says that old age is undesirable, it is something that limits the older people. If you look at the kingdom as the army, this thinking limits the elite force, the commandos in the army.”
2. Old age bears testimony to God
Chng said that God wants older people to remain useful and be “fresh and flourishing” for a very good reason.
“I have found most satisfying this ‘life on life’ friendship, making an impact with a small group of people.”
“God wrote Psalm 92:14 for older people. You grow old so that you become a declaration for God. This is every older person.”
Sharing from his experience with the elderly, Chng talked about the little things the elderly can do to remain fresh and flourishing.
“Everyone can give. The auntie on the bed can give a smile, a hug. When they start to give, they start to be thankful, they start to come out of their shell.”
Dr Tan is an example of a life that is a testimony to God. In her 70s, she is still discipling people in a method she calls “apartment training”, where she invites them to live with her for up to a few years, cooking, eating, working and even exercising together.
Dr Florence Tan’s life, dedicated to discipling others, bears testimony to God. Photo courtesy of Dr Florence Tan.
“I have found most satisfying this ‘life on life’ friendship, making an impact with a small group of people. That’s how Jesus did it.”
3. Frailty can be reversed
In Chng’s work with hundreds of elderly people, the trained clinical exercise physiologist has had success countering the negative effects of ageing.
“Older people are not meant to be frail. If you’re 80, 90 years old, you’re not (automatically) supposed to be in a wheelchair.
“Frailty can be reversed. We have done that in Science. We have proven that in Singapore and we are bringing that to the community.”
“Older people are not meant to be frail.”
His charity Empower Ageing is looking to slow down the effects of dementia as well.
“This is our way of empowering older people with health interventions.”
To prevent people from ageing poorly, the social enterprise ProAge looks at health and well-being for those from 35 to 65.
“If I want older people to age well, I need to rewind and go all the way back to when they are younger. If I think of the auntie I met in the nursing home, I could have done something with her 30 years before to prevent her from even entering the nursing home.”
The Empower Ageing website has a toolkit of “frailty solutions”.
4. Honour and affirm the elderly
One way to celebrate the elderly is to honour them, Chng stated.
“There is a chronic lack of affirmation for older people, There is a lot of affirmation for children but we never, ever praise an older person.”
“There is a lot of affirmation for children but we never, ever praise an older person.”
Likening life to a marathon, Chng said that, as in a marathon where things start off with a bang, life also begins with a lot of cheering at a new birth. Nothing much happens in the middle. But at the end of a marathon, everyone cheers the runners on again.
“That’s where the older people are at. They need people to cheer them on so that they can cross the finishing into the loving arms of Jesus.
“And so it’s up to us to really cheer them on, affirm them, speak destiny into them, speak dreams into them.”
Jeffrey Goh appreciated it greatly when those he trained affirmed his effort to use Microsoft Teams in his training sessions. Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Goh.
While training a group of some 20 people, Goh confessed that he was new to using Microsoft Teams and welcomed tips from them on how to use the communication platform.
“After half a day, I got the hang of it and every time I did things correctly, they clapped for me. I felt so encouraged!” he said. “At the end it, they wrote a report, ‘This old uncle, he can do it.’ I was so affirmed.”
Goh also spoke with pride about how his son cheers him on whenever he masters new technology. “He says, ‘Dad, well done, dad’.”
5. There is still time to live well
In his final encouragement to the participants, Goh shared the 3Cs of how to look at life and ageing:
No Comparison
“I don’t want all of you to go away and compare yourself with us. You are made differently. You are made unique and special. You need not do the things we are doing. God has a special mission for each of you.”
No Competition
“God doesn’t want us to compete. God made each one of us special to do the thing that He has created us to do.”
No Condemnation
Goh urged everyone not to regret missed opportunities.
“Until you are dead, then you can say, ‘I should have done this’,” he said. “You have time. Don’t procrastinate. Just do it.”
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