Located in Qingliu Church, Chuzhou "Glory" Christian Home for the Aged has been in service for more than half a year, since the trial operation started on the first day of 2016 in Anhui.
The facility has a six-storey comprehensive building with 150 beds, and there is an area allocated for medical facilities, canteen, offices, dining areas and activity center which would serve seniors and the disabled who cannot take care of themselves. The president says that the local church wants to run the home as a window to serve the society and to show Jesus' love by serving seniors.
Currently, thirty seniors have moved into the home with two thirds of them unable to take care of themselves and in need of nurses' assistance.
Sister Kong, the vice president of the home, tells CCD that there are ten nursing staff employed in the nursing home: six hold the qualification certificate for junior professional in senior care, including her.
She had served in the church since 2008 and joined in the preliminary work of the home on July 1, 2015. She headed to places like Hunan, Nanjing and the northeast China to study and research with the church staff; acquiring her certificate last November.
When they started to serve the seniors in the beginning of 2016, she confessed, "I really see it's God who is working."
"According to the Chinese traditional concept, a large percentage of seniors live at nursing home to spend their retirement life. Normally, seniors whose family cannot handle them will also be sent to the elderly home."
The nursing home residents are mostly above 60 years old, Christian or non-Christian, including a 39-year-old brother who can't be taken care of by his sisters who busying with work or by himself due to his genetic disease.
All the nursing staff are sisters from the church. "They must have love and patience."
Besides assisting seniors in meals, washing their body, helping them with defecation and cleaning, the nurses perform dances for the elderly residents, teach them two hymns and make prayers before meals. When it comes to Sunday services, since some of these seniors cannot take part in the actual service due to the inconvenience of sitting in wheels, the seniors will worship in a room and watch the video sermons and sometimes share grace under the guidance of Kong. Kong continued that recently, the home needed an accountant to take charge of financial affairs and she called a sister to help out. To her surprise, that same sister recommended a female accountant that would solve her problems thanks to her prayer before she could say anything to her fellow sister.
Later, she made an appointment with the referred accountant in hopes the sister was correct regarding the chief accountant.
It turned out that the recommendation met her expectations. That sister, who has been Christian for years, desired to serve and she was willing to work as an accountant for free.
She also shared another amazing testimony regarding their director of a nutrition department which is now working for the nursing home for eight years, an elderly brother who was close to retire came to the aged home to do nutrition work.
"We have many difficulties and sufferings, but we really see the Lord is working." Says Kong.
She adds that it's bittersweet to get along with these seniors. There's an elderly man over 70 with Alzheimer's disease, who smoked and drinked before moving into the nursing home.
After living here, he often asked the staff to give him money to buy cigarettes, while the staff gave him candies then he left.
Once he went downstairs to beg for money, Kong gave him ten yuan. Unusually, he sang a song, "Thank you, for giving me love..."
"Imagine this, an old man at the age of over 70 was singing a song there", Kong says, "I have felt joy, much joy, with these seniors although there is suffering."
There was also a senior who believed in Islam but was baptized this Easter. Five other elderly people also received baptism with him. "There were thirteen seniors and eight who didn't believe in the Lord. Finally, six received baptism that Easter." Kong says.
Having experienced God's works, she came to realize that she should preach the gospel where she stands and work not to make profits, but to move these seniors with deeds and love them to demonstrate Jesus' love which would move them to believe in Jesus.
