For the past two years, people walking into the foyer of the Central Spanish church in Los Angeles on Sabbath mornings have found opportunities for free health screening.

A group of health professionals and other members dedicate two hours of their time prior to the weekly worship service to dispensing health information and doing health screening. Above all, volunteers at the screening table convey a sense of caring to people who stop to learn more about their health.

The team, led by Ebenezer Chambi, M.D., consists of the church’s health ministry leaders, two doctors and four nurses. “We also regularly receive help from non-medical volunteers as well as from other leaders,” he said.

“Our screening has touched nearly every member. Statistics indicate that one in three Hispanics is overweight, but we have seen a consistent decrease in weight problems in our congregation since we began this screening and awareness program. We want to help other Spanish churches in our conference to experience this as well.” In fact, Chambi is planning similar programs in three Hispanic Adventist churches nearby.

Carmen Portillo is a greeter who invites people to participate in the screening. She said, “Sometimes we simply ask if they want blood pressure screening; they usually do.”

Alma is disabled and can’t walk, noted Vilma Pimentel, the church secretary, “so we bring her to church and take her home. She has very high blood pressure and needs to be monitored on a regular basis. We have referred her to a free clinic nearby, and helped her get there.”

Dr. Chambi noted, “We hope to build up local health ministry leadership and to create a healthy lifestyle approach for a city environment. People in the city tend to eat more processed food and often have jobs with less access to fresh air and sun. We located 10 of the most beautiful outdoor places and encourage people to try to visit at least one of them a month.”

Chambi presents a weekly health segment on a news program on a Spanish TV network. In addition, a Christian radio program host invites him for extended interviews on a monthly basis because, according to the physician, “They like the Adventist philosophy of health.

“The weekly screenings at the church usually require little waiting time for service, as might be the case at a large city health fair, for instance,” Chambi pointed out. Having access to our free health service also helps reinforce health principles and practices in people’s minds.

“Another advantage of a Sabbath health ministry at the church,” Chambi added, “is that we have a consistent source of good quality volunteers.” In addition to heightened awareness among the 50-200 church members and visitors the team sees weekly (an estimated 10 to 15 percent of whom are from the community), the team is thankful for the blessing of seeing visitors become regular church attendees.

Most recently, two individuals have requested Bible studies as a result of the screening ministry; an additional six now attend church services regularly. One team member belongs to the church’s department of outreach to facilitate linking with ongoing outreach.