About 65 participants attended Southern New England Conference’s (SNEC) first Health Ministries camp meeting, some coming from as far away as upstate New York and Pennsylvania.
Many of the participants were leaders looking to connect with others, to learn how to collaborate with others in health ministry, to gain knowledge, expertise, and inspiration, or just to spend time with others who are passionate or curious about health ministry.
“The purpose of this camp meeting was to gather people together and cast the vision for health ministry,” says Tom Dombrowski, SNEC Health Ministries coordinator. “Health Ministries play a vital role in creating an outward face for the church to engage the community,” Dombrowski explains. “The specific vision for this camp meeting was to awaken the church to the specific needs in the community on a large scale.”
Keynote speaker, Eric Walsh, MD, DrPH, brought an array of facts as well as personal and professional insight into the major issues facing young people, adults, and American culture in general, from the physiology behind addictions and the deleterious effects of legalizing marijuana, to practical ways that churches can meet these needs in their local area.
Laura Harris, BCDNM, PhD, presented an afternoon seminar on home remedies focused on enhancing immunity, with detailed explanations and visuals of the body’s response to viruses and other undesirables on the cellular level.
Beverly Williams, LMT, and her Healing Hands team provided very welcome demonstrations of chair and hand massage and took initial steps to recruit and train new members for the team.
“My goal is to have a Healing Hands team at every church, or at least in every district, who are ready to serve health fairs across the Southern New England Conference,” says Dombrowski.
“We need to have a Health Ministries camp meeting for the entire Atlantic Union,” said attendee Debbie Cox, New York Conference Health Ministries coordinator, as the weekend finished.
Dombrowski, local SNEC Health Ministries teams, and even a few Health Ministries leaders from beyond SNEC boundaries continue to pray, plan, and work together for strong, effective, and united health ministries.
