– SDA Community Service programme brings relief to many

DURING the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic many non-governmental organisations have stepped up to the plate to join the fight against the virus, and to assist

families and households who find themselves in troubling situations due to the impact of the health crisis.

In doing their part, the Guyana Seventh Day (SDA) conference has expanded its community outreach programme to a number of rural communities across the country to assist families and households that have suffered some form of financial loss during the pandemic.

Pastor Andrew Chichester, Community Services Director of the Guyana SDA Conference told the Guyana Chronicle on Thursday, that the conference with the assistance from the United Kingdom Chapter of Adventist Guyanese (UCAG), over the past few weeks was able to distribute some 160 hampers to several residents in Angoy’s Avenue Berbice, Ituni and Kwakwani.

Additionally, Pastor Chichester noted that the conference will be taking its programme to other remote areas across the country, including the hinterland regions. “We are scheduled to have some more in some remote areas, which will be sponsored primarily by the Guyana Seventh Day Adventist conference like Orealla, Siparuta, in the Corentyne River, Leguaan and other parts of the country including the interior districts.”

Cognizant of other trials persons might be facing aside from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chichester noted that the conference was able to reach out to a few persons who lost their homes to fires during the health crisis. He noted that in those cases the conference would visit those fire victims to assess their needs and would gather as much as they can to bring relief to those families. “We make visits to see what the needs are and try to see what best we can do in the circumstance because this is all part of the community services outreach programme and once there is a disaster, once there is a situation of that nature, we try our best,” the pastor said.

He added that the conference has also launched the ‘Buy One More’ (BOM) initiative to urge church members to always keep their neighbour or brother in mind. “One initiative is that we try to encourage all our members and everybody [at large] when you go to [shop] for groceries or so there is an initiatives called ‘buy one more, (BOM)’ so that while you are catering for yourself at the time you are making the provision for others who are less fortunate,”
In the current health and economic crisis he noted that all stakeholders have to be their brothers’ keepers, “We have to look out for each other…we have to share because there comes a time when I may have a need myself and I would obviously want someone to help.”