This past Saturday, the Joyland fourth to sixth graders and their teachers went to visit Emmanuel Convalescent Home. We arrived at the home to a room full of eagerly waiting residents. We began our program with dancing and singing to the Joyland favorite praise songs, “I’m Gonna Walk,” and “Your Love is Deep.” Then the fifth and sixth grade girls performed a skit on betrayal and forgiveness that led into the message by Teacher Maurice. He talked about how it is hard for us to forgive, how we hurt God, how God forgives us through His Son, and how if we believe in Jesus we can live forever with Him in heaven. The kids and teachers then sang “Jesus Loves Me.” Some of the residents sang along and nodded their heads. We closed the official program in prayer. Then the kids gave the residents their individually crafted flowerpots with the verse John 3:16 attached. The residents were very touched and a few started crying and wanted to hold our hands. Although a lot of the kids were nervous talking to someone for the first time, it was encouraging to see them willingly give their gift and try to love another person. Many of the kids came away with the understanding that there are other needy people in the world and realized that although they were younger than the residents they had a very important message for them: the message of God’s love.

Here are a few quotes from the students who went:

“We visited them because we wanted to tell them about God’s word and compassion. I thought it was a great experience. I felt bad for them and happy I went. I realized that they were very lonely and they didn’t get a lot of love. I would want to do this once a month.”

“It was a good experience for me because I learned to love other people. I felt very good. I would want to do it again.”

The International Student Ministry visited two nursing homes in February, and many of our Berkeley graduate students participated. We sang “Your Love Is Deep” and “Amazing Grace”, performed beautiful musical pieces, and talked and laughed with the grandpas and grandmas. It was a great time for both our group and the elderly. Their smiles, nodding, clapping along to our songs and music, friendly faces, and joyful laughs still linger in my mind today.

Having been a volunteer at another nursing home in Oakland for half a year, I’ve learned about their lives. Each one of these dear grandpas and grandmas has their own unique story, and they are so eager to tell it. Many of them, especially immigrants, experienced hardships for most of their lives. I’ve learned about loneliness and dying. All of the elderly suffer one kind of illness or another, and many of them are confined to either their wheelchair or their bed. Many of them feel depressed because they feel they are useless and unloved. In fact, I’ve seen a bed being cleared because a grandpa passed away a week before.

It’s often depressing as I got to know some of the grandpas’ and grandmas’ stories, and their conditions and depression sometimes make me feel discouraged. Amazingly, in every nursing home that I’ve visited, I always encountered Christian grandpas or grandmas, and they are the ones who are the most joyful, often smiling and laughing. Their faith often inspires and encourages me as they are also facing illnesses and death. One 97-year-old Chinese grandma always tells me how God has blessed her life and others, and she’s always smiling and praising God. At her old age, she goes around in the nursing home and tells people about Jesus. I’ve learned from her that Jesus’ light has already been shining in her nursing home. Jesus is calling us to share with the elderly more of His love, to put smiles onto their faces, and to let them feel our caring touch. I want to tell them that no matter what kind of state they are in, they are not useless and abandoned, but they are precious sons and daughters of God.

Normally, I really hate Valentine's Day. I had spent too much of my time as a youth and in my college years feeling sorry for myself that I didn't have a "valentine." (What a waste of time.) I wasn't able to be here last year for our first Valentine's Day of Compassion because I was away on a business trip. So I was really thankful to be able to go this year to the Salvation Army Homeless Shelter. I met a woman there who was a mother of 2 and who shared a good part of her life story with me in less than 15 minutes. I hadn't wanted to make her feel uncomfortable by asking her any questions that were too personal. But she shared a lot anyway. I learned that she had had a hard life, moving to the Bay Area from Southern Cal when she was just 16 and basically took care of herself. I learned that when she was in her 20s, she got involved with some bad people and into some bad situations. I learned that she was in recovery now and had been clean for 9 months now. Through all that she shared, I saw what a hard road she had followed and how much she was in need of love and care and honestly, just some kindness in her life. She seemed so happy that our group was there, dancing with a little oomph to her step when we danced to a few Joyland songs. And was just as excited about the cupcakes as her kids were. I wished that I could have kept talking to her, finding out more about her and being able to have the time to develop a real relationship with her. I met several other people and couples with young children at the shelter and with all of them, I could only think one thing "just not enough time." I wanted to spend more time with them and wanted to really know them and be able to serve them. Near the end of my time with this woman, she told me that this was the best Valentine's Day she ever had. I told her, actually, this was the best one for me too.

The visit to Lakeside Park this past Valentine's Day of Compassion was a very special time for me. I was worried how much of the message they could actually understand, but I was most touched by was how attentive the residents were during the entire message. Many of the elderly folks in the room listened with sharp attention during the message, looking straight at me with eager eyes the entire time. One particular lady sitting in the front row was even so responsive as to be asking questions like, "God is our Father?" or "Why did Jesus die for us?," during the various parts of the message. The mingling time afterwards was also memorable as well, as I had several lively conversations with the elders there. I could tell that they really appreciated our presence and were responding warmly, constantly thanking us and commenting on how beautiful the flowers we'd brought were. All in all, I was so uplifted by the experience of visiting Lakeside Park. I'm really thankful for the opportunity to share the Gospel—the greatest love story—with them and felt like the visit was a gift that God had prepared for me. I'm grateful that on this Valentine's Day I could share about God's love with those who really need love instead of taking orders from this world's culture and spend the day focusing only on me and my wife and our little marriage. This was definitely a far richer experience, and I can say this was the best Valentine's Day I've ever had. I really look forward to the next time when we'll be visiting these folks again.

The idea of transforming the traditional Valentine's Day into a "Valentine's Day of Compassion" began last year at our church. What could be more a meaningful way to celebrate the day of "love" than to share God's unconditional love with the less remembered members of our community? CSUEB Koinonia visited a nearby elderly care home that our Praxis members have been regularly visiting. Together, we sang a couple of fun Joyland songs, talked with the elderly, and shared the message of God's love. As soft piano music played in the background, a couple of us even danced with one of the grandmothers there! Another grandmother shared with me her life story while firmly holding onto my hands for the entire length of our conversation. As I saw how delighted they were by our mere presence, I felt my heart filling with gratitude that we were able to share God's love together on this day. I was also reminded of the truth that each of us is precious to God, no matter our age or walk of life. And on a day that commemorates "love" with mere chocolates and flowers, I'm thankful that we were instead able to celebrate the highest form of true love - the unconditional love of God.