Ektrepho Inc

   In every season of life, regardless of age or location, it is so important for Christians to nourish their souls by having regular opportunities to worship, learn, and spend time with Jesus.  Sadly, many of these seniors residing in assisted living facilities or nursing homes do not have access to church services or times of worship. These seniors are spiritually hungry, lonely, and forgotten. That's where Ektrepho steps in! Ektre-what? Ektrepho. Ektrepho is a Greek word that means to spiritually nourish. That's exactly what our ministry does! Ektrepho provides worship services, Bible studies, and devotional times to seniors in assisted living facilities. 

   When Ektrepho's founder, Lauren, was in middle school, she started going to the Mary Culver Home, a nursing home for elderly blind women in Kirkwood Missouri. She would play and sing hymns for them. Fast forward to the pandemic…all of the churches who were doing worship services for them dropped out, and never came back. So in 2021, she started going there once a month to lead a worship service for them. The residents had the most positive comments: thank you for coming…we love it when you are here…I used to go to church every week and I really miss going now. God used those comments to give Lauren a lightbulb moment. This was not just a need for them; it’s a need for so many seniors across many nursing homes. Ektrepho was born to meet this need in the community. 

   We launched in April of 2024 and currently serve in seven assisted living facilities across St. Louis county.  The positive response has continued since our launch. The activities directors in our various homes will report back and tell us how much the seniors love the worship times. 

   What Ektrepho has accomplished in a short period of time is truly remarkable. We can’t count the smiles. We can’t count the number of thank yous we receive after we lead a service. We can’t count how many seniors know all the words to their favorite hymns. Yet, we want to highlight that Ektrepho’s work is ultimately God’s work. We have seen this ministry impact seniors’ lives in so many great ways! 

  We have seen seniors’ lives impacted through the power of music. There are seniors who have had strokes, have trouble speaking, or can't remember that their birthday was last week...yet they sing along to their favorite hymns. 

   We have seen seniors’ lives impacted through the power of prayer. Whether we pray with the seniors as a group or one on one...in those moments, they know they are loved and cared for.

   We have seen seniors’ lives impacted through the power of God’s Word. The seniors are engaging in God's Word, asking great questions in the Bible studies, and intently listening to the sermons and devotionals.

   We have seen seniors’ lives impacted through the power of relationships. We love the seniors we am blessed to serve. We enjoy the relationships we are building. We know from conversations that these relational bonds also mean so much to them. 

   That's Ektrepho's story. Seniors benefit from this ministry and it is truly a blessing to see that influence in their lives. We hope you support us as we continue this great mission to provide spiritual nourishment to seniors.