This week, my team and I were assigned to work in a retirement home in Granada. I was nervous, because I did not have much experience with nursing homes and I did not know what to expect. As we arrived at the “House of Ancient” we walked into a brightly lit courtyard where we were greeted by one of the workers. Our assignment was to clean the place in the morning was to spend time with some of the residents in the afternoon. Our ministry contact told us that she wanted us to talk to one resident in particular named Barbara who is American and speaks English. She said that the nurses and staff would arrange for us to visit her in the afternoon.
After we cleaned in the morning, we went to eat lunch and then came back to the “House of Ancient”. As we entered the facility, we saw an older lady sitting in a rocking chair. She was dressed in a bright orange dress. We knew this was the lady we were supposed to talk to because she looked American with her blonde hair and fair skin. She smiled as she walked over and greeted us. She said her name was Barbara. She was so excited to have visitors, especially people who could speak English, for none of the nurses and staff knew how to speak English. We sat down in the rocking chairs next to her and began to talk.
Before we met Barbara, our ministry contact shared with us a little bit of Barbara’s story. Barbara is a lady in her 60s and she suffers from dementia. Barbara is from California. Her son dropped her off at this nursing home in Nicaragua because it was apparently cheaper than nursing homes in the states. He took her passport, left his mother there alone, and has not been back to visit her since. When I head that story, my heat broke for Barbara. Here she is, stuck in a nursing home in a foreign country where she does not speak the language. She has no one to visit her and only nurses who she can not communicate with to take care of her. I do not know the details about the relationship between her and her son, but I felt anger towards him. Instead of taking care of his mom or at least placing her in a nursing home in the US, he decided to leave his mom behind in a foreign country.
Barbara is such a sweet lady. She radiated so much joy as we talked to her. She always had a smile on her face and she was full of laughter. Since Barbara has dementia, she thinks that she is 40 years old, that her husband and parents a still alive, and that she still is in California. I am almost thankful for her dementia so she does not have the realize the flirty of h err situation. Barbara loves to talk. She told us all about how she used to be a flight attendant, how she loves to travel, and how she can ride horses and ice skate. She loves her husband and is proud of her only son because he is “smart and driven”. Her husband and son are (or were, we aren’t sure) both business men who are very busy. She asked us about our missions trip and she was so excited for our journey. She asked us the same questions about our trip a couple times because she would forget, but we enjoyed telling her each time because she showed her excitement each time.
During my time with Barbara, I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to share the gospel with her. I was really nervous to do so since I have never actually shaed the gospel with someone I did not know. The next day when we visited the home again, I gathered the courage to talk to Barbara about God. As I struck up a casual convesation with her, I prayed for God to give me an opening to share the gospel with her. She immediately started talking about he parents and how they raised her as a Catholic. I asked her if she had relationship with God and she said yes and that she talks to Him a lot. She says she asks Him for advice and asks Him to guide her steps. As I talked to her Jesus and the Holy Spirit and she was very receptive and happy to listen. I read a couple bible verses with her, told her that God loves her so much and there is nothing she has done or can do to change His love for her. I think she already knew what I was telling her but I could tell she enjoyed talking about God because she was interested and smiled the whole time.
We will be switching ministry locations next week so there is a chance that I might not see Barbara again. However, I constantly think about her and pray about her. I am comforted by the fact that she already knows who God is and that she talks to Him. Even thought she is away from her home, her family and her friends, she still has Jesus to rely on. I pray constantly that she knows Jesus and knows that He loves her unconditionally.
