Karen’s smile lights up the room as she comes in to visit Mr. Li, who has been sitting alone all morning. “Hello, Li Yeye!” “How are you, today?” she asks.
Mr. Li is an 80-year old man suffering from dementia. He lives in a nursing home and has few visitors each week. His son loves him dearly, but has a busy job and cannot visit him every day. The nursing home staff does what they can for Mr. Li, but there are too many seniors for the staff to interact regularly with each one. The dementia has robbed him of his recent memories, and so Mr. Li spends his lonely days in a world that existed 40 years ago.
“Would you like to sing a song, Li Yeye?” asks Karen, still smiling from ear to ear. Karen is a trained senior care caregiver, gifted by God with a loving and cheerful heart. She loves the Lord and she loves to serve people in need. She works for my in-home senior care company, which is in business to improve the lives of the seniors and their families in China by providing in-home physical, emotional, social, and spiritual care.
The senior population in China today is almost as large as the entire population of Brazil. This means that if China’s seniors were to form their own country, they would become the world’s fifth most populous nation. And that’s using today’s numbers. The UN projects the number of seniors in China will more than double in the next 40 years.
But the population growth rate is not consistent among age groups. The growing population of seniors will see fewer young people to take care of them. China’s one-child policy[1] has created the so-called “4-2-1 problem”, i.e., four grandparents, two parents, one child. This challenge for Chinese society presents an opportunity for Chinese Christians to demonstrate God’s love. There is a growing need for Chinese Christians to serve as caregivers for seniors.
There are many good reasons for Christians to show compassion for the seniors in their community, but the best reason is because it reflects the heart of God (Ps 68:5, Jas 1:27). Many seniors are suffering from loneliness and depression. They do not have the spending power to enjoy the benefits of China’s economic growth, nor do they have the opportunity to engage in meaningful work. Very often, their adult children live in other cities or other countries, so they have very little interaction with people who truly care for them. But they have a Father in Heaven who cares for them, and Christian caregivers can express his love with their words of encouragement and their acts of service.
It is common for non-Christians to avoid senior care because it can be uncomfortable. Seniors with dementia or incontinence can pose special challenges to caregivers. As a result, many people who have the time and skills to serve seniors choose not to do it. Christians, however, are people who believe that whatever they do for “the least of these”, they do for Christ himself. Christians don’t shy away from people in need, even if their behaviors are difficult to manage, or their bodily functions aren’t working properly. And at the end of the day, when caregivers realize they made a difference in a senior’s life, there is a reward deep in their hearts which the world cannot understand.
With so many seniors in need of care today, Chinese Christians should take the lead to meet their physical and emotional needs. Beyond that, they can offer hope for seniors’ spiritual needs as well. As people grow older and face the reality of their own mortality, they need to hear the gospel message of forgiveness and eternal life. They need hope; they need love; they need faith. Christian caregivers build trust and share their hearts with the seniors they serve, and many of China’s so-called “silver-haired group” will enjoy the blessings of salvation. The fields are “white” for harvest!
Seniors’ adult children will also be impacted by Christian senior care caregivers. Remember Karen? One day, Mr. Li’s son pulled me aside and asked, “Where did you find someone as nice as her?” I told him I met her in church, which opened up the opportunity to share with him about the love of God expressed in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Becoming a caregiver for seniors is not difficult. Many cities in China have at least one church which provides training for caregivers. Online resources for senior care are abundant (although many good ones are from overseas and not available in Chinese). There are also private businesses, like my company, which are looking for good caregivers and provide quality training.
The challenges are real, and the opportunities are great. Will the church of China step up and meet the need?
Image credit: Paul deMena.
Paul deMena
Paul deMena, together with his wife and children, have lived in Wuhan since August, 2000. He leads an international team working in the areas of international education, family medicine, and counseling. Paul studied chemical engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology and worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Division before going …View Full Bio
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