Do you know about our Leaves for Healing Ministry Team?
Pastor Caleb is on his study week, so we have a guest post from Kathryn Wiggins:
October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month. Miscarriage is not uncommon—with 1 in 4 women experiencing it—yet it is often a private grief as couples feel alone while processing their loss. Pregnancy loss opens up an unknown world of grief where the primary emotions can be shame, despair, confusion, and disappointment. Couples do have each other, but they tend to process it differently. Moms struggle with understanding why their bodies didn’t “work” right, and can blame themselves, while dads try to sort through the grief while also caring for their recovering wives and other young children. Both together grieve this child they never got to know, while not sharing this profound loss with very many people. It is clear that a unique support system is needed for this unique type of loss.
Last year, three couples in our church (Madison and Liz Taylor, Seth and Claire Winchester, and John and Kathryn Wiggins) came together to ask the Session to create a POPC ministry team designated for the purpose of walking with couples through the grief of pregnancy loss. The ministry team is called “Leaves for Healing,” a name chosen from Ezekiel 47:12: “And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” All the couples on the ministry team have experienced losses, and our faith has been strengthened through that grief by God’s tenderness to grow us in those trials. We aim to see that our “leaves” of growth now tenderly help others walk through their grief at losing their children in the womb. We are here to listen to you, grieve with you, pray for you, bring you meals, and remind you God is good and He loves you even though this suffering is painful.
If you would like to contribute to this ministry, the team is collecting $30 restaurant gift cards to give to the families being ministered to. If you would like to contact the team, you can contact Kathryn Wiggins at 601-218-7684 or kathrynhwiggins@gmail.com or John Wiggins at 662-736-3424 or johntwiggins@gmail.com.