"Do I have high cholesterol? Am I getting diabetes? How can I reduce my stress?"

Questions like these drove more than 500 people to line up on a Sunday afternoon for free health tests at a large shopping mall in Santa Ana, Calif. More than 80 doctors, nurses, medical technicians and other volunteers administered 15 screening tests during a five-hour period. And, for the first time, eight local Adventist churches in Orange County worked in concert to provide a community outreach.

"We had tried health fairs in our churches. But most of the people who came were Adventists or neighbors who lived close by," says Samuel Nunez, associate pastor of the Santa Ana Spanish Church.

"Our vision is to reach the thousands in Orange County who have no health care. So we began looking at shopping malls. People know where they are. All ethnic groups go shopping. And it is a non-threatening environment," said Nunez, who worked closely with co-chairs of the event Ken Studer, pastor of the Orange Coast Church, and Dr. John Cole of the Garden Grove Church.

Once people arrived at the shopping mall, Pathfinders in uniforms directed them to the health fair site. The 60 young helpers belonged to three different clubs.

When health tests revealed a need for follow-up medical care, volunteers shared information about nearby free clinics. "In some cases, doctors offered to provide specific future treatments at a reduced cost," Nunez reported. Among those being screened, three had potentially life-threatening conditions.

Nunez noted that while many of the medical volunteers were church members, some were Muslims and Buddhists. "At first, they wondered why we were doing this. But those who participated really liked what happened. They also gained a positive view of Seventh-day Adventists and our mission." Orange County has a population of 3 million. Of these, about 7,000 are Adventists.

Advertising was the biggest challenge and the single largest expense. In addition to posters and thousands of attractive four-color flyers, the steering committee placed ads in newspapers and on radio stations using four different languages—English, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese. Other significant expenses included renting the booths and having some lab work done on site. Fortunately, the Pacific Union provided $10,000 and the Southeastern California Conference gave $5,000 toward the project.

"We have some wonderful contacts now," Nunez reported. "The shopping mall charged us $1,000 this year. If we do it again, they will give the space to us free!" However, because an event like the health fair has many expenses, getting enough donations will be one of the deciding factors in whether or not it's a recurring event.

Three Adventist congregations spearheaded the 2003 health fair—the Santa Ana Spanish Church, the Orange Coast Church in Irvine, and the Garden Grove Church (English-speaking). The Garden Grove Spanish, Costa Mesa, Orange, Orange Central Korean and Vietnamese Church in Santa Ana also supported the outreach project.

By Kit Watts