Think Healthy with Myanmar Refugees

Forging Community Bonds

previousnext

Andrews University schools of Nursing, Social Work, and Population Health, Nutrition, & Wellness and the Office of the Provost collaborated with ASAP Ministries and the Battle Creek SDA Tabernacle on Sabbath, Feb. 29, 2020, to share hope to members and friends of the Burmese SDA church. The group sought to address needs identified by Shirley Finneman, the Battle Creek Tabernacle Community Services Director, which included information on effective parenting, healthy nutrition and relationships. Bill Wells, the Refugee Program Coordinator for ASAP Ministries, was instrumental in training the team on working with refugees and in planning and implementing an impactful program for this people group. The program was entitled “Think Healthy!”

Shawna Henry, one of the organizers said, “The students have been planning, preparing and praying for this group of people all semester. They were thrilled to meet the people for whom they had been praying and to form caring relationships with them.” Approximately fifty church members attended the day’s events—almost 60 percent of them were under the age of eighteen. 

The excited team departed for Battle Creek at 8:45 a.m. on Sabbath morning. Upon their arrival, the group was warmly welcomed by the worshippers. The Andrews group sat interspersed about the worship room for Sabbath School. The local teens were engaged as the nursing students led the lesson study time. Benjamin Kipzanang, MDiv student, preached.

The group of refugees from Myanmar has worshiped at the Battle Creek SDA Tabernacle for more than five years. They initially worshiped as part of the English-speaking congregation. Finneman discovered that many of the adults did not speak English and could not understand the key elements of the service. With the blessing of Pastor Benardo and church members, Mrs. Finneman and Pastor Cin, also a refugee from Myanmar, worked to develop the local Zomi congregation.

The team enjoyed sampling the local cuisine at the potluck. The afternoon program consisted of seminars as well as health screenings. Stephanie Biscette, social work MSC alumnus from Andrews University, lead the parents in a session on how to become better parents. Katelyn Campbell, a final year dual major MDiv/MSW student, taught meaningful methods of managing emotions. Two seminars geared toward the younger participants, Healthy Relationships for the teens and Healthy Kids for children under thirteen, underscored the importance of healthy choices. Participants appreciated the health screening session run by the six nursing students, who were supervised by Tonya Fisher, MSN, NP-C, assistant professor of nursing. The screenings included blood pressure measuring, vision screening, and body composition. Nutrition students provided a demonstration on vegetarian hummus wraps, as well as diet counseling. The kids were engaged in health activity stations.

Kelsey Rose, a senior nutrition and dietetics student said, “Helping out today at the Battle Creek SDA church was very impactful for myself as well as for the community members. Teaching them healthy snacks—it gave them options and teaching them what to eat and why. The younger generation that we were educating was very into it and requested seconds of the healthier snacks. It warmed my heart to see that the next generation wants to be healthy and what we are doing is making an impact.”

Heather Jurek spoke on behalf of her other nursing colleagues and reflected, “Overall it was a good experience. And I feel like we did have an impact on the community. We shared some facts of information with them, but we also showed them that we care about them.” 

As we look back and remember how God paved the way for us to initiate this program, we can’t help but be both overjoyed as well as humbled that God chose us to partner with him. Adventist Community Services Leader Shirley Finneman summarized the day perfectly, “What a priceless day. A God-molded day! It was so heartwarming to see everyone just working together to make it work.”

Using an interdisciplinary approach to community engagement proved to be effective. Andrews University has the people, skills and resources that can have a deep impact on our neighbors. Our students’ learning can be enhanced as we intentionally collaborate with community partners to address identified needs. 

Bill Wells reports, “It’s amazing to see what God does when we work together as the body of Christ. Through our many gifts and talents God arranges his church to be a blessing. As experienced this weekend in Battle Creek, where so many differently-skilled persons came together to serve, the harmony of service was a blessing to all.”  

When we truly seek to follow the mandate of Christ, and make a difference in the lives of “the stranger,” “the hungry,” “the poor” and “the oppressed,” then we shall receive the blessing of Isaiah 58:10–12. 

¹⁰ And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:

¹¹ And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

¹² And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in.