SEVENTH-DAY Adventists across the country will from Sunday embark on its annual ‘Ingathering Campaign– a community service outreach during which the church solicits funds from the community to help with its humanitarian programme.

Last year, the church spent well over $55.3M in humanitarian assistance, which includes construction of homes; school-feeding programmes and other assistance.
Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Director of Community Service of the Guyana Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Pastor Jumoul Sancho, quoted John Holmes, who said, “There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.”
He said this is exactly what the annual harvest ingathering of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is all about. “Your generous contributions in the past have enabled us to reach down and lift thousands of persons throughout Guyana in the past.”

According to Pastor Sancho during 2017, the church was able to build and renovate 10 houses for homeless persons and a few bus sheds in several communities. “Our 223 congregations in Guyana have given out more than 6,000 food hampers to the needy; 30 churches conducted weekly feeding programmes for schoolchildren and the elderly; moreover, we have had free health fairs conducted in several communities,” Pastor Sancho said.

He added that “many of our churches have also offered relief for fire victims as well as medical, education, transportation and welfare assistance.” This year, he said the church’s desire is to lift more persons higher and as such, is inviting to once again give generously and “help us bring hope to [the] hopeless.”

Meanwhile, Pastor Sancho gave a breakdown of how the funds solicited last year were used:

30 weekly Feeding Programmes  $ 28,800,000
Over 10,000 Food Hampers Distributed  $15,300,000
10 houses built and renovated  $ 6,000,000
Fire Victims Relief  $ 1,800,000
Education Assistance  $ 1, 225,000
Three Bus Sheds  $ 250, 000
Medical Assistance  $ 1,000,000
Transportation Assistance  $ 960,000