At the Immanuel Senior Care Center in Elstal, about 18 miles outside Berlin in the German state of Brandenburg, 26-year-old Sharoon Masih moves between the kitchen and the common room carrying trays of food with a generous smile and the willingness to strike up a conversation.
Officially, Masih works as a service assistant, serving meals, helping residents with personal hygiene, and providing general care. But his job frequently also requires meeting relational needs. “The elderly people are always inviting me over,” he said. “They want to talk. They want to tell stories.”
And sometimes they want to hear his.
From Pakistan’s Punjab province, Masih arrived in Germany in 2018 as an asylum seeker after facing persecution for his Christian faith. Before starting his position in Elstal in 2021, he faced a period of instability, including a denied asylum application and the threat of deportation as he awaited his appeal. Through a local church in Berlin, he found both spiritual and practical help.
A pastor encouraged him to pray, wait, and entrust his future to God. Within weeks, a connection led him to the care home. Within a month, he had a job. Within a year, he had secured residency.
Masih said his journey has shaped the way he approaches his work today. The sense of being a stranger in a new land helps him connect with residents who often feel like strangers themselves—isolated in their rooms, distanced from family, and navigating the numerous psychological, emotional, and physical dislocations that can come with old age.
“My experience taught me what it means to be alone,” Masih said, “but God used that experience and led me to this profession to be a bridge.”
In stories like Masih’s, two of Germany’s most notable demographic shifts converge as its growing aging population meets its freshest newcomers. Among the refugees and migrants filling the role of caregiver to older adults are many Christians like Masih, from Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, and elsewhere. They’re not only providing for physical needs but also bringing their faith, culture and spiritual presence into Germany’s care homes.