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Something Old, Something New…
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Grandparents have a God-given role in
their grandchildren’s lives
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by Pili Galvan-Abouchaar
Are
you a grandparent who is concerned about
the spiritual welfare of your
grandchildren? If you are, you are not
alone. It only takes a brief look at the
circumstances of the modern world to draw
the conclusion that your grandchildren
won’t be growing up in the world you did.
Grandparents have a God-given role in
their grandchildren’s lives as Moses
defined in Deuteronomy 4:9:
“Take
heed and be diligent not to forget the
things which your own eyes have seen. As
long as you live, do not let them pass
from your memory but teach them to your
children and to your grandchildren.”
As grandparents, you have
a great influence in the lives of your
grandchildren. Just like youth workers,
you often complement the role of parents
without having the responsibility of being
the primary authority figure.
Similar to youth workers, grandparents
seem to have time to spend with youth that
other adults generally don’t. You can just
be there. You know how to play and, at the
same time, you are responsible adults.
Yes, you can trustingly ask him. But trust
more in him who is ever with you. Answer
his gentle invitation to join him in
resting in the security of knowing that
you are a dearly beloved son or daughter
of the heavenly Father.
You
can also be a role model to your grandchildren
as youth workers often are. Teenagers,
especially, look for role models. Yes, they
usually look to someone who is young and cool.
They know that Grandma and Grandpa aren’t
interested in the latest trends or fashions and
nor do they understand all the new technology or
latest music. Oddly, you can be a role
model simply because you don’t conform. You are
above the pressure to fit in. You don’t care
what other people think. You are independent and
in charge of your own time. And that makes you
cool!
Not all youth workers can be grandparents, but
all grandparents can be youth workers.
Grandly is a “youth workers” organization, made
up of grandparents! It is just one more way that
Kairos does youth work like no other
organization.
Grandly: one of the newest, oldest, and coolest
youth work organizations on the planet.
Pili
Galván-Abouchaar is the Program Director of Grandly: The
Strategic Grandparents Club. Pili is
from Xalapa, Mexico, has a degree in
Industrial Engineering, and began her
professional career as a quality control
coordinator. She has done missionary work in
seven countries across three continents. She
became the first program director for
Grandly-The Strategic Grandparents Club in
February, 2016.
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About Grandly: The Strategic
Grandparents Club
Grandly: The Strategic
Grandparents Club is a
program of the Sword of the Spirit.
This program was founded in 2016 by
Mike Shaughnessy as a resource to
equip grandparents to share their
faith with their grandchildren.
Grandly teaches grandparents to
“Think, Pray, and Act Strategically”
in the lives of their grandkids. It
recognizes that grandparents occupy a
special role in the lives of their
grandchildren, and if properly
trained, can make an outsized impact
on their spiritual lives.
As a youth minister, Mike knew the
difference grandparents could make in
the lives of their grandchildren. He
wondered if it could happen more
often. It wasn’t that they lacked the
faith. What they lacked was a
strategy. If grandparents learned how
to think, pray, and act strategically,
the way youth workers did, something
marvelous would happen. It has.
Strategic grandparents have become
missionaries to their own
grandchildren.
We equip grandparents to be “youth
workers” to their own grandchildren.
When we ask grandparents, “What is
your biggest concern?” Most answer
“our grandchildren,” not their
retirement or the next vacation. Many
see that their grandchildren are not
getting the spiritual and moral
formation they need, and feel equally
unable to address that need. We
currently equip grandparents to be
youth workers through two venues: our
website (grandly.org) and our “Do It
Grandly” Seminars.
Our website reaches a network of
grandparents who are interested in
learning how to think, pray, and act
strategically. We publish bi-weekly
online articles that provide
encouragement, motivation, and
practical tools on how to pass on
their faith to grandchildren. Through
our “Do It Grandly” seminars, we help
grandparents to grow in their
relational skills while providing
insight into contemporary youth
culture, giving them valuable tools
for building impactful,
Christ-centered relationships with
their grandchildren. These seminars
provide a way for Sword of the Spirit
grandparents to re-enter internal
(their own grandchildren) and external
(their own peers) mission. Grandly
has hosted five seminars this past
year in Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland,
and Ireland.
For access to inspirational articles, sign up for a free membership at www.grandly.org.
Interested
in hosting a seminar
in your local community or
learning more? Please email Pili
Galvan Abouchaar at grandlydirector@gmail.com.
Grandly
is recruiting 10,000 youth
workers, all of whom are over the
age of 55!
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top illustration (c) copyright
by Grandly:The Strategic Grandparents
Club
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