The Biwi Dorcas Society from Central Malawi Conference, in Lilongwe, proved that a friend in need is a friend indeed. As part of their response to community service, the women, lead by Shepherdess Elizabeth Khonje, donated much-needed items to Biwi Health Centre. The group included women from Mchesi, Area 22 and Biwi Seventh-day Adventist Churches. Among the items donated were: hard and soft brushes, brooms, mops, COVID 19 specialized tap buckets including regular water buckets. Although the gesture was spiritual, it was also complementary to government efforts to provide good health care to its people. The gifts were presented to the hospital staff by the district Personal Ministries Director Elder Godfrey Limwame ,assisted by District Dorcas leader Mrs. Elizabeth Fulutuna and her counterpart Mrs. Annie Lopanda.
Receiving the donation on behalf of the Health Centre Senior Officer Mr. Dzoole was Mrs. Emma Angasi, a Matron in the Nursing Department of the facility. In her remarks, she thanked the women and their leadership for the kind gesture. “I am very grateful to you, my fellow women, for coming to see us. You could have chosen to go to any other place, as we have a lot of clinics and health facilities around us, but you chose to come to us. We are not taking this for granted” she said while smiling from ear to ear. “I am particularly happy bearing in mind that you are the first to donate items to this Health Centre since its inception some few years ago. I believe that God moved you to choose this Health Centre because the choice of materials that you brought today fit well into our needs.
The facility has been facing challenges as far as general sanitisation is concerned. Speaking on this Mrs Angasi went on to say, “The buckets will go a long way in helping us as we fight against the Coronavirus. I can assure you that patients will no longer be spending a lot of time in the queue waiting to wash their hands as we now have adequate buckets to use. Those delays are a thing of the past.”
In response, Mrs Elizabeth Khonje shared some words of encouragement from Luke 7:11-19. She emphasized the need to trust and have faith in God. “Jesus had compassion on the woman seeing that her dead son was the only source of hope and encouragement to her. He was the only son of the widow, her only hope and source of joy. His death was a great loss to her, but when all seemed lost, Jesus Christ’s compassion brought back joy into her life.” Through these words, she went on to encourage the health centre staff members to have unwavering faith and trust in God during these difficult circumstances as joy comes in the morning. While we pray for strength, comfort and healing, we are all encouraged to do our part in meeting the needs of our communities.
Written by: Benjamin Lopanda, Mchesi SDA Communication Secretary
Photo credits: Benjamin Lopanda
