That’s Where I Met Gladys
Story by TAP Partner, Lisa Alfonsi (serving in Peru with her family)
This past week, we had the opportunity to go to a government residential facility for older adults who have no living relatives to care for them. That is where I met Gladys, and her story has brought me to tears many times since meeting her, because really, her story could happen anywhere in the world, most likely it does. For me, it was a wakeup call as I asked myself so many times that day, “where is the church”?
You see, in Peru, culturally most families care for their elderly family members between the family as best they can, but some people find them in a situation where there is no one to care for them. Maybe they never married or had kids, or maybe they outlived their family… Often, this is how they end up in a place like this.
When I met Gladys, she shared with me that she never married or had kids, but that her life was dedicated to the Lord and she spent most of her Sunday in church serving others and attending her church service and bible study. During the pandemic she fell and ended up in the hospital. With no one to care for her, she ended up in this residential facility, which has cared for her basic needs, food, a bed (in a room shared with 11 other women), clothing, but very little more. Really, when she went into this facility, she not only lost her ability to live an independent life, she lost almost everything. No access to a phone, no privacy, not even the ability to choose what she wanted to watch on TV since there is just one for everyone. She also lost her church family and the things that drew her close to the Lord. No bible study, no worship music, no church. The only thing she has left is her personal relationship with the Lord, who gives her strength and peace each day is what she told me. Of course this is great, but no person is meant to live life alone….
We talked about what she missed most, and it was worshiping with others and her church family. I asked if we could worship together as I looked for some songs on my phone. She chose “How Great Thou Art”. So there while other activities were happening around us, we sat and worshipped together. The first time in over 2 years she had worshipped with another believer. My heart broke. Wondering “where is the church?”!!! She shared that since the pandemic, she didn’t even know if her church was still there, and who was still alive etc….(here in Peru, most everything was still virtual until 2022.).
“Where is the church”? I kept asking….Then God spoke to me, WE are the church….We need to do something. So, we are searching for contacts to her church denomination to see if we can communicate with them. We also plan to have a connection with her personally as a family. And our church who has a program called “adopt a grandparent” will begin to make personal contact with her.
WE are the Church and WE can do something for people like Gladys whose family IS the church. The story may not be the same but I am sure there are people where you are who also are feeling lonely and isolated. I encourage you to go out and find someone who you can be the church to. I am SO glad I took to the time to meet Gladys –to hear her story and hope we can help her recover some of the things she has lost.
Can you please be praying for Gladys? Pray she is able to re-connect with people she congregated with? That she can make new friends through our program. That she can feel loved by God in special ways that she knows is from our loving Father especially when she feels alone.