These men believe that retirement doesn't mean that their journey has come to an end.

A few weeks ago, around 50 men descended on the tranquil campus of St. Francis Springs Prayer Center, near Greensboro, NC. They were unified by a shared belief: that being of retirement age doesn't mean that they have nothing left to offer to a hurting world.

As they progressed through their time together over a powerful weekend, their journey culminated in a beautiful ceremony of validation and initiation.

But this story starts more than three years ago.

Back in 2023, several older men in the Zoweh community banded together with a refusal to throw in the towel. Some were retired; some were approaching retirement; all believed that their most important mission yet might still lie ahead of them.

Thus was born the Zoweh Elder-Sage Initiative.

Featuring a robust year-long apprenticeship program, the Elder-Sage Initiative seeks to endow men in their 60s and up with the healing and training necessary for a very important mission: to offer encouragement and guidance to a younger generation full of hurting and lost hearts.

The Elder-Sage Initiative has since expanded to include more than 100 men, who are partnering with God to guide and encourage younger men in Zoweh's small group spaces and weekend events, as well as in their own communities, churches, and families.

The gathering of Elder-Sages last month signified a watershed moment for this inspiring community of dedicated men, as many of them marked their role as Elder-Sages through a ceremony of laying down their sword and being bestowed with a staff — symbolic of both their status as an elder and their growing wisdom as a sage.