Thanks also to Charlene McWilliam, RN, for teaching this excellent session.
And last but not least, thanks to Sue, from PBC in Palo Alto, for sharing her experiences with Operation Mobilization and how CHE impacted a Dalit region in Southern India.
As you may know, the best medical care is to prevent the disease before it occurs. At our clinic and in the villages, our team of nurses, Tanzanian doctors and laypeople are preparing to combine curative medicine, which seeks recovery from existing diseases rather than preventing diseases, with preventative care through health education.
One-half of those who die in the villages of developing countries are under five years of age! Most of these deaths are due to a combination of malnutrition and infection. In addition, diarrhea and gastrointestinal diseases abound, due to contaminated water and food, improper waste disposal, and poor hygiene, sanitation, and nutrition.
Through LifeWind and our Tanzanian partner our goal is to establish a community development ministry to address these issues in a practical way and whose purpose is to bring together Jesus’ Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) and the Great Commandment (Matthew 25:37-40). This is accomplished by training community members as Community Health Evangelists (CHEs). The program is designed to be transferable, multipliable, and ongoing. In addition to the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, Jesus made a startling statement in Matthew 25:34-40. He asserted that as we give food and drink to those in need, take in strangers, clothe the naked, look after the sick, and visit those in prisons, we are doing these things to Him.
