Best wishes to the Holst Family

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Editorial

Our War Cry team was saddened to read that Dame Alison Holst has been diagnosed with dementia and is hanging up her apron. War Cry has been sharing Alison and her son Simon’s wonderful recipes with our readers for a number of years; recipes provided at no charge to signal the couple’s support for the Army’s work.

For most of my life, many of the recipes I’ve used have been Alison’s. They’ve always proved trustworthy, wholesome and popular with the family.

There will be War Cry readers confronting the challenges of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Dr Benjamin Mast, a US professor in Geriatric Medicine, says that offering spiritual comfort to people with dementia involves ‘approaching them in empathy, love and gentleness’. To help people stay connected to their faith tradition, he recommends the following:

• Listening to or retelling parts of the person’s story, including their story of faith.
• Using multisensory input (sights, sounds, touch, smell) to prompt spiritual remembering.
• Incorporating music, especially well-known songs and hymns the person sang and heard many times earlier in life.
• Recounting familiar Bible passages—these words of hope and encouragement are a vital connection to people’s faith journeys, even into advanced dementia. Use the translation the person most used during their life.

Most importantly, Dr Mast says, ‘Do whatever you do in love.’ He adds, ‘Recent research on emotional memory suggests that even when people with dementia cannot remember what we said, they can remember how we made them feel.’

I’m sure you’ll join me in praying that the Holst family will know God’s peace and continue to enjoy good times together. We thank Alison for a legacy that will continue as we keep passing on our favourite Alison Holst recipes to our own children.

Christina Tyson
Editor

Bible Verse

Luke 6:38 The Message
‘Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.’
Ruka 6:38
‘Hoatu, ā ka hōmai ki a koutou; he mēhua pai, pēhi rawa, oioi rawa, purena tonu tā rātou e hōmai ai ki te kokoru o ō koutou kākahu. Ko te mēhua hoki e mēhua ai koutou, hei mēhua ano tēnā ki a koutou.’