Carlos joined his life group two and a half years ago, and enjoyed going to see his friends at life group every Thursday. These small weekly gatherings were his chance to get out of the house, socialize and dig deeper into the weekend teachings at Grace Church. Then a stay-at-home advisory was issued in Massachusetts due to COVID-19, and Carlos was disappointed he would no longer be able to go out and see his friends in person regularly. Carlos says, “The only thing I did was pick my son up from work each day and occasionally go for a short walk in my neighborhood. I missed my life group!”
When his life group moved their life group meetings online with video calls, Carlos was not afraid to give it a try, even being 87 years old and not having his own smartphone or laptop. Instead, he borrowed his daughter’s laptop, and with her assistance, was determined to figure out how to use technology to see his friends’ faces again. When he successfully hopped onto his life group’s online meeting for the first time, it was like his world opened up again, both socially and spiritually. “Everyone cheered me on to welcome me. I was so happy and had no problem seeing or hearing on the video call! It’s expanding my knowledge of the Bible by being able to continue to have discussions with my life group about the weekly services.”
Now Carlos sees his friends virtually each week and he is glad he wasn’t deterred by technology. He says, “It feels very good to use technology to stay in touch! It’s keeping me grounded and positive being able to still meet virtually each week.”
Interested in joining a life group? Sign up for an online group here!