付诸行动的爱 Love in Action

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付诸行动的爱
​文/7979同工

一对七旬老夫妇，康叔和康嫂（化名）居住在关丹这座城市。他们居住在环境简陋的廉价屋，由一间教会承担租金，除此之外仅靠政府的福利金生活。关丹基督教会7979全人关怀站初次接触到这个家庭，便心生怜悯。看见这对老人家生活上缺乏，于是教会藉着吗哪食物包介入他们的需要。

几个月前康叔和康婶的精神状况非常良好，只是志工们在探访时已经发现康婶的皮肤有很严重的红斑和发痒问题。两老由于缺乏金钱，常常打包印度煎饼来果腹。吗哪食物包里的米、美禄、饼干和麦片便成了他们珍贵的粮食。

不料，短短几个月的时间，康婶的精神状况大幅度恶化。她疑似患上老人痴呆症，意识迷糊持续多日，逐渐不能下床，并且需要成人纸尿片来解决如厕问题。康叔无奈之下只好把康婶的状况告知志工，并要求提供成人纸尿片。平时坚强的康叔不会无故提出如此要求，志工因此更加心生垂怜。

最近，志工接到噩耗，康婶骤逝了。但最令志工感到震惊的不是康婶逝世的消息，而是康婶真正的死因乃是血癌末期。一直以来康叔都认为康婶只是老人痴呆症，身体上的疼痛看似一般的老人病，以为睡一觉就没事了。原来之前的种种病症都是血癌的征兆，无奈康叔并无察觉不对劲，也没有想过带康婶入院问诊。

对于只能相互依靠的康叔及康婶，生病却没有求医的意识；饮食缺乏营养却无人照料，志工感到相当垂怜及惋惜。“看见老人家如此生活，我们真的是于心不忍。没有人照顾他们的健康，以致自己患上什么病都不知道。我们应当更加关注他们的身体状况，或为他们提供基本的医疗服务，避免到最后一分钟才察觉但已经回天乏术。也只有透过基督的爱，我们才能真切付出实际的行动帮助他们。“志工叹道。

Love in Action
TRANSLATED BY DAWN LI

A 70-year-old couple, Uncle Kang and Auntie Kang (pseudonym) live in the city of Kuantan. They live in a shabby low-cost house which rent is being paid for by the church. They live solely on government welfare. Volunteers from the Kuantan Christian Fellowship 7979 Holistic Care Station were overwhelmed with the feeling of compassion when they first got in touch with this family. Seeing that the old couple were deprived from the basic necessities of life, the church put them in the Manna Food Bag program.

During one of the visits by the volunteers a few months ago, they noticed that although Uncle Kang and Auntie Kang were still in good spirits, Auntie Kang had red rashes on her skin and was suffering from severe itchiness. As they were too poor, they often bought Roti Canai to fill their stomachs. The rice, Milo, biscuits and cereal in the Manna Food Bag became their precious food.

Unexpectedly, in just a few months, Auntie Kang's mental condition deteriorated significantly. Uncle Kang suspected that she had Alzheimer's disease. Auntie Kang was in a confused state of mind for many days and gradually she was unable to get out of bed. Hence, she needed adult diapers to meet her toileting needs. Uncle Kang had no choice but to inform the volunteers about Auntie Kang's condition and requested for adult diapers. Uncle Kang, a person with strong personality, would not make such a request for no apparent reason hence the volunteers empathised with him.

Recently, the volunteers received the bad news of the sudden passing of Auntie Kang. What shocked the volunteers the most was not the news of Auntie Kang's death, but that the real cause of her death was leukemia. Uncle Kang had always believed that Auntie Kang was just suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He deduced that the body aches and pains she was experiencing were contributed to geriatric syndromes and that she would be alright after a good night sleep. It turned out that those were all symptoms of blood cancer. Helpless Uncle Kang failed to notice anything wrong with his wife and it never crossed his mind that he needed to take his wife to the hospital for consultation.

Uncle Kang and Auntie Kang, who can only rely on each other, were both ignorant about seeking medical treatment. The volunteers felt sorry for them as their poor diet was left unattended. "It breaks our heart to see the elderly living like this. No one monitors their health, so we don't know what kind of disease they have. We should pay more attention to their physical condition, or provide them with basic medical services before it’s too late. Only through the love of Christ can we truly help them with practical actions,” one volunteer sighed.

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