Spreading love.

Yesterday afternoon, I went with the Pastor's wife of my church, Mrs Cristiane, to visit residents at a Nursing Home. Prior to the visit, I was given a list of the first names of all the residents of the section we were going to visit. This was so I could buy, wrap and present them with a gift individually. For those who could still read, they were presented with Bibles. The others received bath/shower gift sets, and pampering gift sets. Each one was wrapped with love and a sincere prayer for God to bless them and above all lead them to accept and know Him.

Our time spent there was enjoyable and precious. We talked with them, laughed and sang with them. We also felt their pain. For those who could not speak, through their eyes, I could see a cry for help and for the pain to end. If we were allowed to, I would have laid hands and prayed for their healing and freedom. But that did not stop me from praying within me and they will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers.

Those who received the Bible said “thank you for the beautiful gift”. Beautiful indeed, is the Word of God. Another precious gift given to all was our time. The time we took to sit with them, listen to them and comfort them with words of love and hope. Below are some pictures I took whilst preparing the gifts and also of our visit to the Care Home :)

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You CAN change

Among your friends, your miss popular. All the guys want you, not because of your intelligence (which you hide) but because of your pretty face, the way you dress and walk.

Your loud, care free and up for anything. But at home, behind closed doors, you cry, cry yourself to sleep. You even contemplate slitting your wrists as a way to let out the pain and anger you feel inside.
You want to break free, to find yourself, but you don’t know how! You think this is all there is to life but I tell you it isn’t. You can be free, you can change!

Do you want to know how? Watch this video and listen to the story of a young friend of mine, who was once like the girl mentioned above. Learn from her story and next time, it could be your story I am posting on here.

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If your walls could speak, what would they say?

“Tears of pain cried every night because you wish you did not have to live one more day in this miserable world. The countless nights you stay awake because you suffer gravely with nightmares and panic attacks. Never ending complaints about how you wish you were born into a different family and how you long to fit in with the popular crowd at school”. Are these things your all would speak? Well, they were words my walls once spoke but now they sing a new song.

My walls say, “Tears of joy for victories overcame. Sounds of laughter that fills the room. A profound belief in better and glorious days to come. Confidence in who she is and above all, an ever growing relationship with an unseen but True Love that is the reason for her happiness, joy, peace and strength."

No matter what the writing on your wall is today, tomorrow your wall can be singing a new song.

You have more power over your life than you think. If you desire a better life, a new you, you can achieve this. You have to take the decision to change; no one can do that for you. The best advice I can give you is to place your entire life in God’s hands, with no reserves and trust in Him.
Then, “God will wipe away every tear from your eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away…Behold, He makes all things new.” – Revelation 21:4-5

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Part time lover

He captured your attention that day and from then onwards he’s all you could think about. Was it his swagga? The way he spoke perhaps? Or the way he walks? It’s hard to pinpoint but there’s something about him that even at the sound of his name, it makes you go “ooooo”. You began to find out all you could about him. His likes, dislikes, who he rolls with and you even started to become interested in what he likes just to capture his attention, and it worked.

Not long after you started dating and your interest in him grew. However, within time, he wanted to take things further, get more serious, but you said you weren’t ready. You were happy with being strangers by day and lovers by night. Your best kept secret, no strings attached. When you had nothing to do you’d call him. When no one was available you would visit him. Basically he was your convenience in your time of need. Nothing more.

He wasn’t worth mentioning to your family or friends. After all, he’s just your part time lover. You occasionally turn to him when you crave some love and attention. You say you love him but the circumstances do not allow you to have a true relationship so you treasure the intimate times you share but know you cannot get fully attached.

But he’s starting to get tired. No he is tired. He’s a man after all and has feelings too. He’s been patient and understanding but enough is enough. He gives you an ultimatum. You commit to him or it’s over. No more playing around. You say he’s insensitive and being unreasonable but you’re the one being unreasonable. You can’t expect anyone to tolerate such treatment. You wouldn’t want to be someone’s part time lover so why make them yours?

Why treat God that way too? All those promises you make about changing your ways, those facebook statuses you post saying “ I love Jesus”, are diminished the moment you replace Him when something more appealing comes along, be it a rave, a friend, a thought, a feeling and even a guy. Don’t you know action speak louder than words?

Quit playing games and make a firm decision. Either you want to commit 100% of yourself to God or you don’t. Stop treating Him like a part time lover.

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Reaching out - selflessness

As I walked through the corridor of Churchfield Park Care home, I heard someone shout me with excitement. When I turned around I saw it was Shirley, one of the residents I met on my second visit to the home but had not seen since then. I was surprised that she even remembered me. We spoke about our weekend and what we had been up to lately. She was so warm and lovely. A thought came to to my mind "When you show kindess to someone and give them the time others don't vie them, they will rememeber you". I learned some new things about Shirely. She spent all of her adulthood caring for her father and her disabled brother. She never married nor had children. I could not comprehend the loneliness she must have felt, all those years alone and even now. Never having someone of her one, never having a soul mate, a partner. All of her life was spent serving her family. She was selfless and deprived herself of her own happiness to make her family happy.


After speaking with Shirley I spoke to another lady called Bridgette. I had never seen her before so I assumed she was new. She told me she had been there a week but was going home on Saturday. She was put in the home to have a rest and be cared for. Her son recommended it. She lives alone and admitted at times she struggles but enjoys having her independance and her own space. Bridgette is originally from Ireland. She moved to London to train as a nurse. Whilst on her training course, she attended church. She told me that for them to attend church on sunday mornings, it meant that they could not have breakfast. The matron was against them going to church so out of spite didn't not allow those who went to church to have breakfast. Breakfast was during the time of the service. Bridgette did not care though. She said she would rather go without breakfast than miss church!


She faced many prejudices in life, due to her faith. But her love of serving God and others out shone everything. She told me how she loved to go and clean the church, prepare things for the service, serve coffee and whatever needed doing. As she was a single women, she wanted to dedicated her time serving others. This reminded me of a verse in the Bible thats says "He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord" - 1 Corinthians 7:32.


She later married a Geordie man (as she put it) and then again she faced a lot of prejudice. People did not understand why he had married an Irish woman when he was from Norththumberland (near Newcastle). When she talked about her marriage, she said, "the amount of time I spent with him was nothing compared to the amount of time I have been without him". He died 35 years ago and she never re-married since. She did not want to as he was the love of her life. So after his death she went back to her first love, helping out in her local church. Now she is retirement and is somewhat immobile and spends all her time at hime. She has a son who is close by and who she attends church with. She is not able to go and help as much as she would like due to not being able to walk properly, but she does what she can.


After I spoke with Elouise. I noticed something different about Elouise. Remember I previously wrote in another article that the first time I spoke with Elouise, I noticed her communication skills and her speech were quite and as a result of a stroke she suffered 10 years ago? Things don't register in her brain very well and it takes time for her to respond back? Well, she was communicating well with me today. Everything I said she replied back, so much faster than usual and I understood everything she said. I have been praying for Elouise and I have seen changes since I prayed for her. I was so amazed, I couldn't believe I was speaking to the same person I met a month ago. More is still yet to come and I cannot wait to witness her complete healing and to share it with you all.


I learned alot about having a spirit of servitude today. And it made me think how I have been serving others. How has my time been spent and how my attitude towards life and people has been. I am really grateful to have the opporunity to elarn from tese wise women and I look forward to may more experiences with them.


Proverbs 23:22 "Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old."


Sibon Phiri

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Reaching out

Stepping into unfamiliar territory can be daunting. Not knowing what to expect or how you will fit it creates anxiety. How do they live? What are they like? Were questions running through my mind. Such thoughts to suggest they were different species from another planet. But no, they weren’t. They are just like me and you. They are often forgotten about, considered a burden to some, despised and lonely. They are the elderly community.

Today I visited Churchfield Park care home and spent the morning with some of the residents there. I came across a mixture of elderly people but all had an interesting story to tell, experience and wisdom to pass on to me. Ronald, Ralph, Elouise and Jean are the ones I got on very well with and spoke with for quite a while.

Ronald had a very good sense of humour. He has served in the Army in Germany. He told me all about his hobbies and the places he has travelled. I really liked Ronald and he had so much to say. Ralph was quite reserved but we did speak for a while. He doesn’t like being in a retirement home, not because it is horrible but because there is nothing for him to do but watch TV and play board games every day. He misses the freedom he once had. He misses being able to go to different places and work. Elouise treated me like I was her granddaughter. She took my hand and sat me down. She showed me photos of her daughter, granddaughter and great grandson. She suffered a stroke 10 years ago and although she recovered physically (she can walk with a frame and move about) her communication skills, notably her speech were affected. When you speak to her, it takes a while to register to her brain and then for her to comment back. She was very frustrated because she could not say the words properly. I emphasized with her as I suffered with a speech problem since birth and trying to get your point across with delays can be frustrated. I see she is an intelligent woman and very bubbly. She wants me to come back and I will.


Then there was Jean. She is an intelligent woman who had a good job. She does not complain much because she is grateful to be alive. She is grateful for being in a home as she was struggling to take care of herself. She showed me photos of her granddaughter and her new great granddaughter who was born 3 months early. She was worried about her but I told her to believe and have faith that she will be ok. I made a prayer for her great granddaughter too.

All in all, I enjoyed my time at the home today. It was an overwhelming experience for me and I learned a lot. They were not particularly impressed that I had not yet got my driver’s licence as I should have one at my age. I see this is something for me to work on. From all of them, I learned the importance of making the most of my life whilst I am young and grabbing hold of opportunities that come my way. What I loved about them all was how gracious they were. They answered the care home workers as Ma’am or Sir, even though they were younger than them. They had manners and charisma that nowadays is rare to find in society.


I look forward to going back next week and every Tuesday from now one. I will also be helping with coming up with different activities for them to do throughout the day, to make their day more exciting and enjoyable. I am very grateful for this experience.

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