May 25, 2015

My Heart Is Deeply Moved by Seeing Christ’s Method in Action

Today I went through the entire Health Expo, a two-week free clinic organized by Adventists in a shopping center in Chitungwiza, a city near Harare, Zimbabwe.

What an inspiring experience!

This is not an exhaustive list but these are thoughts from a heart deeply moved and fulfilled by seeing Christ’s method in action.

Hundreds of people were being guided and processed through numerous health stations and booths. There were adults and children, the aged and infants. There was calm cooperation and registration, health education, treatments, and even referrals for free surgeries done by volunteer surgeons and teams.

I saw special facilities for instruction of the deaf. I was overwhelmed by the joyful gratitude displayed by the hearing impaired that they were included in this great event. One had to be present to experience the moment.

Physical therapy, occupational therapy, chair massage. Most of the attendees had never before experienced the caring “ministry” of touch, and their faces glowed.

A courageous and dedicated group is caring for 17 drug addicts in various stages of withdrawal. They are temporarily housed in a nearby hostel for 14-plus days of observation, treatment, and counseling. Some were already able to express appreciation; others not quite there yet. I was struck by the determined, sacred commitment clearly demonstrated by all the volunteers, and am especially so in this challenging area.

Ongoing Health Expo proves to be an Acceptable Invitation to Revelation of Hope Series in Harare, by Dr Ted Wilson, President – General Conference of SDA.
Posted by Southern Africa Indian Ocean Division of Seventh-day Adventists on Saturday, May 23, 2015

Visit the free clinic that has treated more than 20,000 patients in a shopping center in Chitungwiza. Video courtesy of SID

The dentists, led by an orthodontist, treat an average of 150 patients per day. There is an eye service, pediatric wellness initiative and clinic initiative and, of course, the voluntary pharmacists giving out needed medications.

The quality of care is remarkable; the cleanliness and thoroughness commendable. What a wonderful and representative initiative — a picture of comprehensive health ministry.

Some limped in on crutches. Some came on wheelchairs. Others ran (some of the children in both directions!). Some just walked. The furrows of care in many brows told their own stories. So many attested to their deep gratitude for not only the physical care, but for the spiritual support.

So many stations: lifestyle instruction, healing interventions and, for some, only the solace that some really cared enough to be there for them.

But wait. There is something more. The radiant glow and expressions of fulfillment in faces of those scores of volunteers, working on their vacation time, almost squealing with delight: “We are so proud of our church!”

Dear exemplary and appreciated volunteers, planners, managers and, in fact, the entire Zimbabwe Union Team, your church is proud of you and grateful that despite your weary bodies and aching feet, you are extending the healing ministry of Jesus. Only in the Kingdom will the rest of the story become fully known! Maranatha.

So, what does comprehensive health ministry really look like? It looks as if Jesus has been here. That’s what Chitungwiza Town Center is beginning to resemble!

101 Baptized to Fill One-Week Church

By Andrew McChesney

Exactly 101 people were baptized in the Zimbabwean town of Darby on Sabbath, May 23, to fill a brand-new 200-seat church that was built in just six days.

Construction of the church started in a vacant land plot last Sunday as part of a Seventh-day Adventist “zunde,” a combination of a barn-raising and a workbee where local church members got together for a week to build a church during the day and hold evangelistic meetings at night.

Adventist Church leader Ted N.C. Wilson visited the site in Darby, near the central city of Kwekwe, with Paul Ratsara, president of the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division, and other church leaders last Sunday, May 17, and again on Sabbath.

“We dedicated the church and a baptism was held in the afternoon for those who were prepared,” Wilson said. “Soon the church will be filled. I was really impressed! God is doing wonderful things in Zimbabwe.”

The 101 baptisms were the result of weeks of Voice of Prophecy lessons that culminated with the evangelistic series last week.

Dozens of Adventist preachers are joining Wilson in holding evangelistic meetings at several hundred sites across the country from May 17 to 30 for a “reaping time,” a call for baptism after local church members conducted 5,000 small Bible groups in recent months.

Adventist volunteers have also organized a free clinic in a shopping center adjacent to the field hosting the largest evangelistic meeting in Chitungwiza, a city near the capital, Harare. More than 20,000 patients have received free healthcare, and many of them have joined the evangelistic meetings in the field, where the nightly crowd tops 20,000 people.

The combined free healthcare and biblical presentations are part of an Adventist Church initiative known as comprehensive health ministry, which seeks to follow Jesus’ earthly example and meet people’s physical and spiritual needs at the same time.

About 30,000 people are expected to be baptized when the evangelistic meetings end on May 30.