In Malawi, Dorcas Society Reaches Out to Support Health Centre

The Biwi Dorcas Society of the Central Malawi Conference, based in Lilongwe, proved that a friend in need is a friend indeed. As part of their response to community service, the women, led by Elizabeth Khonje, recently 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, and regular water buckets.

Leaders connected to the initiative said that although the gesture was spiritual, it was also complementary to government efforts to provide good health care to its people. Gifts were presented to the hospital staff by the district Personal Ministries director, Godfrey Limwame, and Dorcas district leaders Elizabeth Fulutuna and Annie Lopanda.

Receiving the donation on behalf of the Health Centre was Emma Angasi, serving in the nursing department of the facility. In her remarks, Angasi 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 many clinics and health facilities around us, but you chose to come to us. We are not taking this for granted,” she said with a broad smile. “I am particularly happy, bearing in mind that you are the first to donate items to this Health Centre since its inception a few years ago. I believe that God moved you to choose this Health Centre because the choice of materials you brought today fits our needs well.”

The facility has been facing challenges of general sanitization. Speaking about this, 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 spend 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, 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 her only source of hope and encouragement to her,” Khonje said. “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 center staff members to have unwavering faith and trust in God during these difficult circumstances as joy, she emphasized, 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,” she said.

The original version of this story was posted by the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division Adventist Echo.