WHAT IS GRIEF CARE?

It’s difficult to lose a loved one. Someone you cared about and may have even seen on a daily basis is now no longer with you. It’s a drastic change and it can feel hopeless. That’s why grief care is important. Grief care is a ministry to reach out to people who are hurting. Whether it is right after the loss of their loved one, or when they are going through difficult stages in their grieving process such as holiday grief, grief care is important to the wellbeing of the person who is grieving.

How can you help comfort someone during grief?

You do not have to be a professional to participate in grief care. Essentially, grief care is providing support, comfort and encouragement to someone who is grieving the loss of a loved one. Some ways you can support a person through grief include:

• Sharing encouraging scripture and reminding them that they are loved by God
• Sending them encouraging letters
• Preparing meals for them
• Listening to them when they need to talk to someone
• Helping with chores and errands

Grief care requires you to sacrifice your comfort

Talking about death and grief can be messy. It’s rewarding to see the long-term effects of supporting someone through grief, but the initial process can be uncomfortable. Take a step out of your comfort zone to support the person. Listen to them and really take in what they are saying. It’s easy to want to do a lot of the talking so that you can give advice, but a lot of times the person just needs someone to listen to them.

Grief care can be rewarding. You often get to see their progress and how your support has helped them gain their life back after the loss. However, sometimes, when you help someone through grief, you don’t hear from them after the process is over, and that’s okay. You were meant to be in that person’s life for that season, and now that you have served your purpose, it’s natural for your relationship with that person to fade.

Grief care is a ministry of the Lord

It’s easier to minister to someone who knows the Lord and who’s loved one was saved. You are able to use scripture to comfort them and point them towards healing. Even if the person is angry at God for their loved one’s passing, you have that spiritual foundation that you can build on. There may be anger or resentment present, but because the person knows the Lord, you are able to use that as a basis of encouragement. If their loved one was saved, you can remind them that they are in Heaven now and that they can find hope and comfort in knowing that.

It’s a lot harder to comfort someone with scripture if their loved one was not saved because their isn’t that hope and peace that comes from knowing they are with the Lord after death. However, it is still important to share Jesus with them through grief care, especially if the person you are comforting doesn’t know the Lord themselves.

How should I minister to a non-believer?

It’s okay to answer their questions about whether or not you think their loved one is in Heaven and to be honest about your beliefs as a Christian, but you should always lead the conversation with love and the reminder that God is gracious and is far more knowledgeable about where their loved one is than you are. Additionally, it is not appropriate to flat out say that their loved one is in Hell if they were a non-believer. Instead, continuously remind them that they are loved by God and that He is merciful.

Grief often makes people look to spirituality, whether they are Christians or not. Providing grief care is a great opportunity to share the gospel with non-believers because their hearts are often more open to faith and scripture during this time.

Recourses for grief care

Here at Grief Care Fellowship, we want to equip you with what you need to effectively minister to those experiencing the loss of a loved one. We have many different resources to help you with grief care, including a holiday grief seminar and grief support training.

Please contact us, today, if you have any more questions about how you can support people through grief.