By Sharon Mager, BaptistLIFE Correspondent
SILVER SPRING, Md—Georgia Avenue Baptist Church’s Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU), partnering with Embrace Silver Spring, will host a free community health fair from 10 am to 2 pm on August 2. The theme is “Love Thy Neighbor.”
“We want to show our love by ‘doing,’” said Helen Corrothers, project manager of the health care fair. “By providing health care resources and screenings, we can demonstrate the love of Jesus and be a blessing.”
The church plans to offer an assortment of medical screening opportunities and referral information including blood pressure screening, cardiovascular health resources, tobacco cessation and cancer information, men and women’s health information and resources and more.
Corrothers said the community is diverse with a large immigrant population and many are unaware of the available services and hesitant to ask for help.
For example, she said, many people don’t know about Holy Cross Hospital’s Health Center, which treats uninsured adults for a variety of health issues and offers preventative care including vaccinations. Staff at the clinic speak English, French and Spanish, and offer interpretation in other languages if necessary.
As a member of the Embrace Silver Spring Project Team for Prayer Support, Corrothers said one prayer focus is for churches to begin or increase doing servant evangelism in their communities.
“Here, at Georgia Avenue we wanted to both pray and act in this regard,” she said.
“We believe we have a moral/faith obligation to show concern for others,” Corrothers said, quoting Matthew 25:36-40, “I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
There are still opportunities for vendors to participate in the community fair. For more information, visit the church website and download the registration form.
For more information about the community health fair, email helencorrothers@yahoo.com.