More than half a year ago, my family went through big changes and I collapsed in face of the lifetime upheavals! Things did not improve even with psychiatric medications, so my son urged me to leave the land of grief to come back to Canada, as I am a Canadian citizen and my mother, sister and brother all live in Toronto. In September 2019, I stepped on this land again after a departure of over twenty years.

Though nurtured by the loving care of my mother, brother and sister at home, I continued to feel very depressed. I ate all day long without tasting anything; I lay in bed day and night but remained sleepless; I took prescribed sleeping pills, sedatives and antidepressants without relief. Life was very painful then, and at one time, I couldn’t sleep for four days and nights!

Seeing my despondency and the family’s helplessness, my sister who once took part in CCM’s activities urged me to give CCM’s Linkage counselling service a try. So about three months ago, I stepped out of the house to enter the doors of CCM. CCM’s Linkage provides one-to-one counselling service; the professional counsellor was very considerate and the help I received was right on target.

Meanwhile, I sensed that the staff at CCM was very attentive to my needs in recommending the weekly gathering “Come and See”, the contents of which also met my spiritual needs. After that, I also joined the Stretch Delight program twice a week when participants followed the instructor to stretch along with the music. In addition, participants stayed for refreshments once a month, and slowly, I was able to talk again! Following that, I signed up for CCM’s watercolour class. I have never learned how to paint before, but on trying, I realized that water colour brings out my appreciation of nature. As the sun beamed into the painting room, I found myself capable of focusing completely on the painting! Later on, I was attracted by the theme of a meeting of Women’s New Era: How to come out of grieving. From then on, I also joined the weekly meeting of Women’s New Era and met a group of sisters. I hope that I’d be able to join the Tai Chi class next year to increase my activity level.

I have met a number of Christians at CCM; their attentive kindness makes me want to know about the Jesus in whom they believe. As a result, I have begun reading the Bible to learn more about the God of these Christians’ faith.

Before, my face was dull and expressionless; I was sleepless and I could taste nothing. Now, my sleep and appetite are back and I can have a life and interact with people normally. Seeing how I came out of the haze, my family believe firmly that I took the right step coming to CCM! As they rejoice for me, I also experience genuinely the holistic care nature of CCM’s social services.