Afraid to be the subject of gossip

A new Elderly Care Project started in Mateuti last month. It is the first centre to be open to the elderly throughout the year.

MR. SASHA

Around 20 elderly now receive a hot meal five days a week. One of them is Mr. Sasha. He lives alone and has neither wife, brother, sister nor other family member to take care of him. He has problems with his legs, and can hardly walk.

Because it’s so silent at home (he has neither visitor, radio nor television) he often sits at the edge of the road, so that when village people walk past, he can talk to them.

Before he received food from the church, he struggled to find something to eat. When asked how life was for him this past winter, he said that he had been very hungry every day. "Now my life is much better," he says, making reference to the hot meals and home visits from members of the church.

MR. ION

Mr. Ion is another man who receives a hot meal from the Elderly Care Project daily. He is invalid after a terrible accident at work. His fingers are swollen and he can’t use his hands very well. He can also only see with one eye. His wife and child left him some years ago, and because he can’t work anymore, he often feels alone.

Despite his hard life, he recently found new joy. After a few weeks of visiting Mr. Ion at home to deliver hot food and give him company, team members invited him to church. He went once, and since then has never missed a service!

“Each time I learn something new," explains Mr. Ion. "I don’t know how to pray or where I have to read in the Bible, but I know that God cares for me.”

GETTING TO KNOW THE ELDERLY CARE PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS

While helping the sisters deliver the meals to the elderly at home one day, Alida learnt a lot about them. "Every morning they prepare the hot food for the elderly - sometimes soup, sometimes macaroni, sometimes something else," she said. "Once the meals are ready, they split into two groups and visit the elderly at home because only three are mobile enough to walk. It’s a lot of work, considering they do this every day!"

One of the sisters was afraid when she started this work. "The village is not so big," she said, "and people like to gossip about each other. I was afraid that I would be the subject of their gossip! But I decided to stay strong, because the work for the Lord is so much more important than the words of other people!"

Now she likes the work, and has heard that people only speak good things about her and the work of the church in Mateuti. Since the start of this programme, three elderly have started attending church regularly. "Probably by the end of the summer there will even be a baptism," exclaimed a sister. "If that’s not a big miracle!"

 

For 20 Euros a month you can support an elderly to receive every day a hot meal. Would you like to help elderly like Ion and Sasha, please send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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