Hello World!!!
In my last post, I asked y’all to shout your home church and y’all complied. Thank you kindly! And now I want to take the time to highlight the good work of another church – Bethesda Baptist Church in the Dec…for those of you who live out of state – that is Decatur…where it’s greater! (U, stand up girl!)
In fact, by way of my girl, U, I learned about the church, which has opened up a free health clinic, the House of Grace Health Care Clinic. The clinic offers exams, evaluation by a doctor, lab work and presciption services to low-income, uninsured adults at NO COST. The clinic is housed in a space donated by the Atlanta Belvedere Seventh Day Adventist Church. The church once operated a school in the space. This is also an awesome example of churches working together!
The clinic, which is seeking patients, can treat up to 30 patients on the first and third Monday of each month from 6 to 9 p.m. To qualify for care, you must be 18 years old and have an income at or below 20 percent of the federal poverty level. According to The Champion Newspaper, an individual who earns a monthly income at or below $1805 or a family of four whose monthly income is not greater than $3, 675 would be eligible to receive services for example. Services include: non-emergency primary care services; blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, prostate and HIV/AIDS screenings; and pap smears. A family medical doctor has donated her services and is working with three to five medical assistants. What an example of God’s grace!
Through the donation of space, equipment and personnel, the clinic will be open up to six months with an operating budget of $7,000. However, according to the pastor, Pastor Terrance J. Gattis, the clinic needs to raise $15,000 to $25,000 to fund the annual budget. To donate online through the clinic’s PayPal account, go to http://mybethesda.org/House_Of_Grace.html. Gattis is also seeking an additional doctor to expand the clinic’s services.
According to the Word (Mark 16: 17-18), believers can “lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” I think God is working through this pastor and the Bethesda Baptist Church to provide healing…
If you know of a church which is doing some outstanding work in the community, don’t be scared to shout out the church…I may even write a post about them… 🙂
Any thoughts?
P.S. Shout out to Dr. Benjamin Carson, pictured above, who is director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at John Hopkins Children’s Center. Carson credits his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for enabling him to achieve his stunning success!
Big Shout out to Bethesda Baptist Church. What you are doing with the clinc is a good work. Has the clinic received any Media coverage? I think they should.
This blog’s great!! Thanks :).
WOW, I enjoyed reading about the wonderful work being done at Bethesda Baptist Church. I attend First Pentecostal here in Durham, NC where we bus in between 350 – 500 kids each Sunday morning. We have many kids from the various gangs who attend, teens who have babies and still return, bringing their offspring. We reach the local rest homes, the Latino community, inner city, as well as the hearing impaired. There are boys and girls clubs, youth group, single/single-again group, young married couples, and a group for seniors.
On Sunday mornings, the kids all stay in their classes where there are two teachers, who prepare lessons, songs, arts and crafts, and a snack just for their age group. The kids, you see, at least the majority, come hungry, clean, and sometimes not so clean, so we have to have extra pampers, clothes, etc. to handle any situation we find.
On Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Tuesday night, all services are translated into Spanish. Friday night service is all in Spanish and translated into English.
We are trying to get ready for Easter by mailing 35,000 invitations and I will try and forward you pictures at least a few for I teach one of the kindergarten classes and will be busy in my assigned area but I can at least send you pics of some of what goes on in the area where I am.
By the way, did any body else out there get an Easter dress and shoes and an outfit for Easter Monday other than me. Oh, yeah, one more thing. Is there anyone else out there who uses the word “outfit”?
@ Anonymous, it sounds like a lot of great work is being done at First Pentecostal in Durham, NC. (I love NC by the way!) I can’t believe you have that many kids there each Sunday…I bet that is so much fun for them and y’all. You mentioned the hearing impaired…I think more needs to be done for people who are hearing and seeing impaired…hymnals in Braille, etc…And 35,000 invitations for Easter…Wow! And please send a few pics of your Easter celebrations along with descriptions…I will post them…if you are interested, comment again on this post and I will reply with my e-mail address…
@Lance Montford, I only know of one media outlet that has covered their great work…hopefully, my blog will get the word out and the church will get more coverage!
Jackie,
I just found out about your “shout out” today (5/30/09). This is Pastor Gattis, and I just wanted to say “thank you” from the bottom of my heart. The clinic just served it’s 100th patient, and is now turning away more people than we can handle. We are still in desperate need of another doctor (people just don’t want to donate their time – go figure). So we need more press to get the word out so that we can continue serving those in need. Do you think you could do an “update” on the clinic so that we can raise awareness about the need for another doctor? Any help that you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for the “shout out” and I pray God’s blessing upon your blog!!!
Peace & Love….Rev. Gattis (admin@hghc@gmail.com)
PS – I’m an Omega so I’d be remiss if I didn’t say “what’s up my Sister!!!”
admin.hghc@gmail.com