CARIBBEAN UNION CONFERENCE HEALTH MINISTRIES DEPARTMENT Strategic Plan 2016-2021

Presentation to the CARU 2016 Yearend Executive Committee

By

Pastor Alexander Isaacs, MPH, MCHES

Health Ministries Director

THEME

Every church a center of hope and health: Every Member Transformed by His grace to heal and serve.

MISSION

The mission of the Health Ministries Department of the Caribbean Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is to foster a healthy lifestyle among church members and the communities which the church serves through health education, and the promotion Christian temperance, healthful practices, and all aspects of Adventist health evangelism as may be appropriate.

VISION

The vision of the Health Ministries Department of the Caribbean Union Conference is for every member to achieve abundant health and every Seventh-day Adventist church to become a center for health and wholeness where church and community members alike can seek to reach their full potential for wholeness.

STRATEGIC ISSUE

Enhancement of health and family life

GOALS

1. To endeavor to make every local SDA Church acenter of hope and health.

2. To enhance the health and well-being of the SDAChurch membership by highlighting the church’s philosophy of health and holism with application todaily living.

GOALS (Contd.)

3. To continue focusing on health/medical evangelism as an effective tool in conducting health education programs in the SDA Churches and the wider community.

4. To foster continued collaboration with national Ministries of Health, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, and other interest groups, to design and implement projects/programs that promote health, wellness, and mental/emotional health, and prevent, reduce, and control non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

OBJECTIVES

1. By the end of the quinquennium 75% of the SDA church membership, including new converts, will be targeted for education in the SDA lifestyle.

2. During the next five years 80% of the health secretaries in the churches within the Caribbean Union Conference will be trained toexecute their functions in a competent and professional manner.

3 By the end of the second year of the quinquennium, a local chapter of the Adventist Health Professionals Association (AHPA) will be either reactivated or a new chapter formed in each Conference/Mission in the Caribbean Union.

4 During the quinquennium, the health ministries department of the union will conduct a minimum of two health advisories/workshops for health directors from the conferences and missions.

5) By the end of the first year of the quinquennium, each Union institution will be encouraged to set up a health committee or revitalize an existing one to plan and coordinate in-reach and outreach health education programs.

6) By the end of the third year of the quinquennium, the Health Ministries Department of the Union will develop a health evangelistic sermon series as well as set of health lessons for use in evangelistic campaigns.

7) By the end of the first year of the quinquennium the Hands Across the Caribbean initiative will be strengthened and expanded to include all the fields within the Caribbean Union.

8) By the end of the third year of the quinquennium, the non-formal health education curriculum developed by the Inter-American Division will be implemented in the churches in the Caribbean Union.

9) By the fourth year of the quinquennium, the Health Ministries Department of the Caribbean Union, working in collaboration with the Caribbean Union Adventist Health Study Committee (CARUAHSC), will design and implement a Caribbean-wide Adventist health study.

10)By the second year of the quinquennium, the Caribbean Union Health Ministries Department will collaborate with the IAD Health Ministries Department to develop and implement a healthmodel that can be used by Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).

11)By the end of the second year of the quinquennium, the Caribbean Union Health Ministries Department will collaborate with PAHO/WHO, Loma Linda University, the IAD Health Ministries Department, and the Guyana Conference to implement select areas of the Ministry of Public Health (Guyana) national Mental Health Strategy 2015-2020.

12. During the quinquennium, the Health Ministries Department will host at least one health summit and encourage fields within the union to host a health summit in alternate years.