Rômulo Luz was surprised by the group the same day he made a request to God.
In a literal answer to prayer, Seventh-day Adventist youth in Barra do Garças, Brazil, made an immediate difference on June 13 in the life of a senior citizen who that morning had prayed for visitors.
Barra do Garças, population 50,000 and located in the interior state of Mato Grosso, is a tourist attraction in the region. Thanks to its own towering “Christ the Redeemer” statue, the city is known as “Rio de Janeiro do Oeste,” the “Rio of the West” in Brazil.
But even being a tourist attraction, life can become lonely for those isolated due to the coronavirus pandemic, as Rômulo Alves Luz, age 60, recently discovered.
In order to help “flatten the curve” of infection rates, Luz has been at home since the beginning of the pandemic. By that 13th day of June, Luz was more pensive and anxious. Ronilda, his daughter, said she was worried because her father didn't even want to eat.
In the late afternoon, he was surprised by a group of young Adventists who, taking all necessary precautions, organized themselves to sing and pray with elderly people in the region. “A few hours earlier, one of our young women received a message from a friend about a man who would like to be visited. We got in touch, called and made an appointment to go,” said Elias Gonçalves, Youth Ministry leader in the city.
While the youth sang and read the Bible, Rômulo wept. He said he did not want to eat because he decided to fast and pray, asking God that someone from the church to which he and his children had previously belonged would visit that day.
“After we left, Pastor João Gusmão continued speaking with [Luz], who asked to be rebaptized. We are very grateful to see how God directs everything and took us to visit Rômulo on Saturday,” Gonçalves said.
Emotional support
Along with Rômulo, the group visited seven other families and intends to continue with the visits: “We [each] wear a mask, we do not enter the houses, we make short visits and try to stay distanced, especially with the elderly,” Gonçalves said.
Psychologist Emilly Dayane Campos Costa said initiatives such as this can minimize the impacts that social isolation causes, especially in the elderly.
“Although the feeling of loneliness is common at this stage of life, the current social situation, which imposes isolation measures intensifies the withdrawal of family and friends and limits the performance of routine activities, contributing significantly to an emotional imbalance,” Costa pointed out.
“Actions such as those of these young people can stimulate the production of positive thoughts, attenuate emotional deprivation, increase self-esteem and rescue the sense of value and belonging, so essential for the quality of life and well-being of the elderly,” she added.
There are other ways to offer help and emotional support to the elderly during the pandemic, according to Costa.
“Words of affection and respect, quality conversations, acts of service, are ways of communicating affection and care to the elderly, in addition to making them feel understood and valued, without necessarily having physical contact,” she said. “Make the calls, make purchases, send a letter, or even write a note, as long as you do it with the proper care and hygiene.”
Costa said if an elderly person reports difficulty in sleeping or taking regular meals, or any other physical problems, medical assistance should be sought.
This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site