As part of the Northern California Conference’s journey to organizational health, and thanks to a generous gift, the conference directors and officers were able to fund seven community-relevant and mission-driven proposals.
James Lim, director of Health Ministries said, “With the approved funding we are able to offer ten medical and dental clinics in which services are free to the community.”
The Woodland church was the first to host one of these clinics in July. Based on identified community needs, they focused on three main areas of service: dental, vision, and stress management.
With almost 80 volunteers, the church united to serve 170 clients from their community. Daniel Garza, the pastor, explained, “People lined up as early as 4:30 in the morning coming from all faiths and walks of life.
Vitaly Polovin, traffic flow director for the day, explained, “The clinic was a success in that it got down to the core of Christian ministry: Uplifting humanity by helping those in need and pointing to Jesus. It appears that selfless acts, like this clinic, get people's attention and cause them to stop and think: Why are these people giving of themselves to others so freely?”
Brian Radut, church media director, added, “The health clinic was a great blessing to the city of Woodland and the Woodland Adventist church. You could see the joy on each volunteer and visitor's face as they witnessed God's love in tangible form.”
As reported, many community members asked, "Why are you doing this? We cannot imagine a world where services like this are provided free with no strings attached."
