Can You Volunteer? - Volunteering at Jah-Jireh

“A noble thought turned into action.”

This is how an Awake article describes volunteer work. It also quotes the expression of two long time volunteers as they describe volunteer service as:

“a giving of ourselves: of our time, our hands and feet, our ideas, our ability to help another person, our problem-solving skills, our professional knowledge.”

Many of us have experienced first-hand that “there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.” (Acts 20:35) At Jah-Jireh, we have had many volunteers come in and help us out. Here is an expression from one of them that sums up how they all feel:

“We have sung more than 2000 songs for the residents and enjoy entertaining them. It is good to be able to give something back to the faithful brothers and sisters and if we can bring some joy in their lives, we are only too pleased to be able to do so. Music is good for the soul, and we enjoy singing as much as the residents enjoy hearing the music.”

Although we have many who are employed part-time and full-time to work in Jah-Jireh, we still need many volunteers to help with various roles. Why do we need volunteers? What can you help us with? How do you go about doing this? These questions will be answered in this article.

How Volunteers have Helped

The spirit of volunteering runs deep in Jah-Jireh. Jah-Jireh was originally founded by a wonderful couple who volunteered to care for the needs of a faithful elderly sister. All our trustees are volunteers and have been invaluable in the running of the homes as they offer their time and resources willingly to support it.

Through the years, we have had many dear friends come in and help us by spending time with our residents, encouraging them, entertaining them, and bringing much joy to our residents. When you volunteer to pitch in with these activities, it helps our dedicated staff focus on the daily responsibilities that come with care.

As an example, many friends from all over the world including the ones quoted at the onset, have volunteered their time, talent, and resources to host concerts and virtual events through the pandemic. This has brought great joy to our residents and has helped keep up their spirits at a difficult time.

What You Can Help Us With

Here are a few areas where we need volunteers at the present time:

Social Support Role

In this role the volunteer may be asked to provide support to individual residents at specific times of the day. Social support could include discussing the Day’s Text or other spiritual activity, assisting the resident to take a walk in the garden, chatting about their life, and helping them phone family and friends. They may also be asked to help with group activities.

Visiting Co-ordinator Role

This role would include answering the telephone, booking in deliveries, welcoming and supporting visitors to comply with Covid-19 protocol, and accessing refreshments. This could also include other agreed administrative tasks or spiritual activities (e.g., spiritual coffee mornings).

Meeting Support for Congregation Meetings

This role is to help residents attend and enjoy the mid-week and weekend congregation meetings. The volunteer will offer general support to help residents feel comfortable in the meeting (if necessary, alerting staff if there are any other care concerns) and may be asked to operate the Zoom functions to assist residents to participate.

This is by no means an exhaustive list and there are many other ways in which you could help. If there is something that you think you can help us with, please do write in and let us know.

How You Can Volunteer

If you can help us a few times a week, seasonally or even for a few days when you are off from work or school, please send us an email at info@jah-jireh.org. Please contact us in advance, and we will guide you through the application process to find the best role to suit you.

We are grateful for all your support as we do our best “…to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation…” - JAMES 1:27