Christians may discover that their own lives grow as a result of their service and that not only others require their assistance.
A female believer with the surname Jin often traveled with Sister Qing (pseudonym) to visit an elderly sister in her 90s who lives alone.
Unlike other people who talked, prayed, praised, and read the Bible with the senior one, Jin first went to check the refrigerator and the kitchen and cook food for her if she had not eaten. Then Jin was engaged in knowing if leftovers in the fridge were bad, taking out the trash, and cleaning up. In addition to making meals for the elderly, she sometimes came over with her husband to do some maintenance work, such as installing light bulbs in the dark bathroom or making large custom-made curtains for her.
One Saturday afternoon, Jin took tools out of her bag to cut the old sister's nails after cooking for her and cleaning up the kitchen.
Jin recalled the first time she met the old sister. “At one point last year, we went to the church to attend the youth gathering. When it was almost 9 p.m. after the meeting, I saw this old believer who walked very slowly, maybe because it was dark. So with Qing, I sent her home, worrying about her. I had never seen her at the gathering in the past year and later learned that the old one usually went to another church. I believe this was God's plan.”
Never thinking about visiting her again after leaving her home, Jin suddenly remembered this elderly Christian, deciding to pay her another visit at Christmas. During that time, the senior one could take care of herself, so they didn't have to do much, occasionally bringing some food or simply helping with cleaning.
Some female church members ordered and delivered food for the elderly believer when Shanghai was locked down due to COVID-19 from March to May last year. After the restriction was lifted, Jin invited others to visit her again. During this period, as the senior one fell at home and was admitted to the hospital, they also went to accompany her to the hospital.
After that, the elderly believer's physical health worsened, and she couldn't take care of herself. Jin cooked some dishes for her and did some cleanup when she found she had nothing to eat. As Jin was worried about her, she often went to see her when she was free.
Jin said frankly, "I don't do household chores at home most of the time, and my husband cooks food. After retirement, I spend a lot of time outside singing hymns and dancing with other Christians."
With the help of these family members, the older one slowly got better and was able to sing and dance again when she was visited.
In addition to being willing to do things that Jin wasn’t used to doing, Jin experienced a change in her relationship with her daughter.
The elderly one had a great weakness, as she always quarreled with her little daughter. Getting to see her own issue, Jin thought that she was also very strict with her daughter, resulting in a tense relationship. She admitted that before she believed in the Lord, she had very high demands on her daughter, always criticizing and blaming her, which made her feel unloved.
Jin would not like to follow the old sister’s path: “I’m a stubborn person and used to think my daughter was wrong and that I had no problem. I was aware of my own issue, so I started to apologize to my daughter, asking God to give me wisdom and teach me how to get along better with my daughter."
"I also thought Heavenly Father loved me so much with many problems, but why can't I love and tolerate my daughter?I realized that I needed to learn patience, waiting, tolerance, and trust. Jin reflected on herself, full of hope, believing that her daughter would also change."
She emphasized that she was very grateful to God for providing her with this opportunity to serve this elderly Christian because she sees her life growing in service through her own efforts.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
基督徒参与服事之后常常会发现，不是因为别人需要我们的帮助，反而是我们在服事中自身生命会成长。（==当summary）
金姐是一位基督徒，已经退休了。她和晴姐一起搭伴服事，经常去探访一位90多岁的独居的老姊妹。
每次探访老姊妹，其他人比较多的时候是陪老姊妹说话，或者一起祷告、赞美、读经。金姐呢，来了之后首先去看看冰箱和厨房，问老姊妹是否吃饭，没吃的话就到厨房给老姊妹做饭。然后检查冰箱里是否有发霉的剩菜、收拾垃圾，打扫。除了特意过来给老姊妹做顿饭，她有时跟丈夫一起过来干一些检修的活，比如给黑暗的卫生间安装灯泡，或是为老姊妹安装定做好的大窗帘等。
一个周六的下午，金姐先是为老姊妹做饭，收拾了厨房之后从包里拿出工具给老姊妹剪指甲。
金姐回忆了初次与老姊妹的见面，“去年的一个晚上，我们去教堂参加青年聚会，聚会结束以后差不多9点钟了。天已经黑了，出了教堂我跟晴姊妹看见老姊妹。老姊妹一个人，估计是天黑看不清楚，她走得很慢很慢，我们看着很担心，就跟晴姊妹把她送回家。我们这样认识的，此前一年多的聚会从未见过这位老姊妹，后来得知老姊妹平时去另外一个教堂。我相信这是上帝的安排。”
第一次见面，将老姊妹送回家之后，原本也没有想过再去探望。一两个月之后突然有一天，金姐又想起这位老姊妹，于是就跟晴姐妹一起约定圣诞节再去探望。那段时间老姊妹生活可以自理，所以她们过去也不用做什么，偶尔带一些吃的东西，或者简单帮助打扫。
等今年三月到五月，上海疫情封控了，有热心的姊妹们默默地帮助老姊妹订餐送菜。解封以后，金姐跟大家又陆续约起探访。在这期间，老姊妹在家里摔了一跤，还进了医院，她们也是亲自去医院陪护。
之后老姊妹身体状况越来越差，后来基本上都不能自理了。金姐有时候看到老姊妹没什么吃的东西，就会帮他烧一些菜，然后帮她打扫一下卫生再走。后来因为担心，有时间就会过去看看，烧个饭再走。
金姐坦诚地说：“在家里面我基本是不怎么做家务的，家里面都是丈夫烧菜，我退休后更多的时候是在外面跟姊妹们一起唱诗赞美跳舞。”
在弟兄姐妹一次次地探访中，老姊妹身体也渐渐康复了，见面的时候又能唱又能跳了。
除了心甘情愿去做自己平时不愿意做的事情，第二个重要的改变是与女儿的关系。
老姊妹有一个很大的软弱，她总是跟自己的小女儿吵架。这让金姐看到自己的问题，她想到自己对女儿也特别严格，也会跟女儿的关系很紧张。金姐承认在没有认识主之前，她对女儿的要求非常高，总是批评、指责女儿，这让女儿感觉不到爱。
金姐不希望自己走老姊妹的路，“我是比较固执的人，以前总觉得我没有问题，问题都在我女儿身上。现在我看到我自己身上也有问题，开始学习跟女儿道歉。我也求上帝赐给智慧，教我怎么与女儿更好地相处。”
“我也反思，其实我也有很多问题，但是天父还是那么的爱我！为什么我就不能去爱、去包容我的女儿呢？我意识到我需要学习忍耐、等候、包容、相信。”金姐反思自己，同时心中也充满了盼望，她相信女儿也会改变。
金姐反复强调自己很感谢上帝为她预备了这个服事老姊妹的机会，因为比起自己的付出，她更多看到自己的生命在服事中成长。
见证 | 服侍别人自己生命被更新——退休姊妹坚持一年多探望照料一位独居老人
Christians may discover that their own lives grow as a result of their service and that not only others require their assistance.
A female believer with the surname Jin often traveled with Sister Qing (pseudonym) to visit an elderly sister in her 90s who lives alone.
Unlike other people who talked, prayed, praised, and read the Bible with the senior one, Jin first went to check the refrigerator and the kitchen and cook food for her if she had not eaten. Then Jin was engaged in knowing if leftovers in the fridge were bad, taking out the trash, and cleaning up. In addition to making meals for the elderly, she sometimes came over with her husband to do some maintenance work, such as installing light bulbs in the dark bathroom or making large custom-made curtains for her.
One Saturday afternoon, Jin took tools out of her bag to cut the old sister's nails after cooking for her and cleaning up the kitchen.
Jin recalled the first time she met the old sister. “At one point last year, we went to the church to attend the youth gathering. When it was almost 9 p.m. after the meeting, I saw this old believer who walked very slowly, maybe because it was dark. So with Qing, I sent her home, worrying about her. I had never seen her at the gathering in the past year and later learned that the old one usually went to another church. I believe this was God's plan.”
Never thinking about visiting her again after leaving her home, Jin suddenly remembered this elderly Christian, deciding to pay her another visit at Christmas. During that time, the senior one could take care of herself, so they didn't have to do much, occasionally bringing some food or simply helping with cleaning.
Some female church members ordered and delivered food for the elderly believer when Shanghai was locked down due to COVID-19 from March to May last year. After the restriction was lifted, Jin invited others to visit her again. During this period, as the senior one fell at home and was admitted to the hospital, they also went to accompany her to the hospital.
After that, the elderly believer's physical health worsened, and she couldn't take care of herself. Jin cooked some dishes for her and did some cleanup when she found she had nothing to eat. As Jin was worried about her, she often went to see her when she was free.
Jin said frankly, "I don't do household chores at home most of the time, and my husband cooks food. After retirement, I spend a lot of time outside singing hymns and dancing with other Christians."
With the help of these family members, the older one slowly got better and was able to sing and dance again when she was visited.
In addition to being willing to do things that Jin wasn’t used to doing, Jin experienced a change in her relationship with her daughter.
The elderly one had a great weakness, as she always quarreled with her little daughter. Getting to see her own issue, Jin thought that she was also very strict with her daughter, resulting in a tense relationship. She admitted that before she believed in the Lord, she had very high demands on her daughter, always criticizing and blaming her, which made her feel unloved.
Jin would not like to follow the old sister’s path: “I’m a stubborn person and used to think my daughter was wrong and that I had no problem. I was aware of my own issue, so I started to apologize to my daughter, asking God to give me wisdom and teach me how to get along better with my daughter."
"I also thought Heavenly Father loved me so much with many problems, but why can't I love and tolerate my daughter?I realized that I needed to learn patience, waiting, tolerance, and trust. Jin reflected on herself, full of hope, believing that her daughter would also change."
She emphasized that she was very grateful to God for providing her with this opportunity to serve this elderly Christian because she sees her life growing in service through her own efforts.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
Retired Believer Grows as Caring for Lonely 90-Y-O Christian
