On 9 July, 2019, I visited the Xanadu nursing home again, located in Qianshan, Anshan, Liaoning province.Through this visit, I was pleased to find that many elderly brothers and sisters were living a life full of happiness and joy by the grace of God.
They were spending the rest of their days peacefully under His grace.
According to brother Su Shengbao, the nursing home director, apart from one worker, every one in the home is a Christian.
Every week from Tuesday to Sunday, the nursing home usually holds gatherings for Bible reading, prayer, singing hymns and sermons delivered by pastors. Additionally, preaching and sharing the Gospel in the Lühua Street Church in Anshan happen at the same time.
I had the good fortune to speak with some residents at the home. An elderly sister aged well into her seventies was moved to tears talking about God and his grace. She told me that her children work far away from her and seldom come back to visit her. She lives at the home, reads the Bible, prays and sings hymns with the other brothers and sisters. While she talked with God, she surrendered everything to him, and felt an intimate relationship with the Lord.
The elders, pastors and volunteer preachers from the Anshan Lühua Street Church also visit the home to preach, share the Gospel and conduct baptism ceremonies according to the arrangement of the home and the mission of the church.
Xanadu Home provides a safe haven for the old to spend the rest of their years and ensures their welfare. The nursing home follows the nursing home administration model. The expense varies according to the conditions, locations and needs, and the prices per month range from 800 yuan per person to 2,000 yuan per room. Such prices are below average in the nursing home industry. Each person only needs to pay 400 yuan for meals for the entire month. The overhead costs are born by the nursing home.
Anshan Street Church always attaches great attention to the brothers and sisters living in the home. During traditional Chinese festivals including Spring Festival and Christmas, the church usually brings presents for these elderly people similar to the Christians in the church. During harvest season, the residents are offered some fruits and vegetables that are grown in the courtyard of the home.
In terms of medical facilities, the home, integrated with the local traditional Chinese medicine hospital, has a medical room equipped with some basic first-aid equipment and medicine and a qualified medical caregiver. It also provides areas for reading and fitness facilities.
The home also tries its best to offer wholehearted care to enable these elderly people to spend their remaining years. A young female server said to me that they treated these old people as if they were their parents, and they also made friends with them despite the difference in age. Sometimes they shared thoughts that they never had talked with their family about. Director Su and the volunteers also counselled, comforted and helped these elderly people when they were in trouble.
The home also took into account to their ideas, arranging their rooms according to their living habits. I also found that the sisters' rooms were not only clean, but also had some planted flowers and grass. Some even hung some pictures on the wall and usde accessories to decorate, which showed their life style and characterized their vitality of life.
- Translated by Cindy Tan
