Yes We Care 2008

In a nutshell, the Yes We Care campaign is about participating churches going out to the community & give a little something back by helping homeowners (usually the elderly or less fortunate) around their homes with tasks like cleaning up rubbish, gardening, etc etc. A few of us at CCCB got involved with Yes We Care 2008 today. We gathered at church for a debriefing, & were then split off into 3 groups (mine had myself, Man Kit, Uncle Mike & his wife) & each group got assigned 3 different homes. Each group were given some umbrellas before heading off to respective destinations. I was reunited with my old lost umbrella, I had lost it more than 1 year ago & had thought I accidentally left it on a bus, but it turned out I left it at church.

The home we were delegated was a double-storey house in the Western suburbs. The house was not bad at all - certainly not to be sneered at by any means (I'd be happy to own a house like that). The homeowners were an elderly Asian couple (Chinese Malaysian, to be exact). We greeted them at the start, & gave them some Christian tracts. They got us to do some gardening for them, mainly clearing their garden. We basically pulled out weeds, ferns, & dead leaves (lots of brown ones). The rain did affect what we were able to do - it made it more difficult to get a proper grip when we were pulling out some unwanted plants. And speaking of rain, I (rather guiltily) wished I could have been tucked in bed as I would have enjoyed the sleep.....

We did what we could with the garden. None of us were gardeners, although Man Kit's father is one & it was obvious that Man Kit had some of his dad's talent. In fact, I think I was the worst gardener out of the lot. But hey, I did my fair share of work. It was quite hard work, & it involved lots of squatting for prolonged periods, so that caused my legs to be numb - especially my right thigh, left knee & right foot. It hurts every time I stand up or walk. A reminder of my woeful lack of fitness.

Anyway, our efforts were appreciated by the homeowners. The lady gave us some home-made pastries as a sign of thanks for our work. I took the roll of pastry home & had it for lunch. It was tasty (it looked like sausage roll, but the contents included chicken & potatoes).

I was encouraged that the lady was a Christian; she attended a church in the Southern suburbs. Her husband is also a Christian; the lady informed us that her husband is not well, which was sad to hear. But anyway, I was heartened when she said she has been praying to God to look after them & send someone to help clean up their garden, as they are not able to upkeep it due to old age. (And ironically, her children were involved with Yes We Care elsewhere, so they couldn't help the couple out). It turned out that we were the ones who were sent to help them with their garden. Poor lady & poor husband. But I was glad that we were of some help, & glad that God gave us the opportunity to help them. It's because of God that we are able to help out. And I pray that God will bless & look after this couple.