Specialists in various fields of medicine and dentistry have volunteered their services for free during the Iglesia Ni Cristo’s Lingap Laban sa Kahirapan (Aid to Fight Poverty) on Sunday, July 15, at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila.
These specialists volunteered their services as they heeded the call of the INC Executive Minister Brother Eduardo V. Manalo to help Filipinos in need of medical services which cost a fortune which cannot be afforded by the poor.
Dr. Serge Santos of the Felix Y. Manalo Foundation said that the INC event in Manila on Sunday has a lot of volunteer specialists, including those from pediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, surgery, ENT, ophthalmology, anaesthesiology, dermatology and even rehab medicine.
For dental services, there are ortho-surgeons, aside from general dentists who are also offering their services for free.
Aside from them, hundreds of nurses, medical technologists, and radiation technologists (radtech) have also volunteered for the one-day charity event of the INC.
Santos, who is also an INC minister and a cardiologist, said that these INC doctors, dentists and other medical and para-medic personnel are always ready to help when the INC conducts its medical-dental missions.
-Open to all-
“Kapagka po nagsasagawa ng medical mission ang Iglesia Ni Cristo, ang unang-unang tumutugon sa panawagan ng Pamamahala ay iyong mga boluntaryong kapatid na mga doktor, dentista mga paramedico, med-tech, rad-tech, nurses at ang mga accredited first-aiders natin na mga kapatid. (When the INC conducts medical missions, the first to respond to this call by the Church Administration are the volunteer doctors, dentists, paramedics, radtechs, nurses and accredited first aiders who are brethren),” Santos said in an interview.
“At pagkatapos noon, mabibigla kayo kasi hindi lang po mga kapatid ang tumutugon. Napakarami ang sumasama sa amin sa mga lingap na hindi rin po mga kapatid. Eh bakit po? Dahil ang tinutulungan, hindi naman po mga kapatid lang kundi lahat po ng tao. (After that, you will be surprised, because not only brethren respond to the call. There are many other volunteers who are not INC members who also come with us. Why? Because we are helping all people, and not just INC brethren),” he explained.
Santos said that in the INC medical missions, volunteers serve everyone in fulfillment of God’s teachings as written in the Bible to love others as you love yourself.
“Now the question is why do we do it? The answer as I said is simple. The Church or the members of the Church reach out to help other people because it is God’s will and commandment as written in the Bible: Love your neighbor as you love yourself,” he said.
Santos said that the Church Of Christ has been doing these socio-civic activities to help not just the brethren but the community as a whole from the start of the administration of the INC’s first Executive Minister, Brother Felix Y. Manalo, to Brother Erano G. Manalo and up to the present leadership of Brother Eduardo V. Manalo.
“The Church has expanded not just ecclesiastically but in various ways, so we perform, we do our outreach services – our Aid to Humanity and Aid to Fight Poverty — across the globe in almost all countries now,” he noted.
Free medical services that can be availed for free in the July 15 Lingap Laban sa Kahirapan or Aid to Fight Poverty of the INC include blood tests, blood typing, ultrasound, genetic screening, pregnancy testing, x-ray, 2D echo, electrocardiogram (ECG), and minor surgical procedures such as warts and cysts removal, and circumcision.
Also available for free are the following specialized services: internal medicine for adults, pediatrics, and OB-gynecology.
The INC, in cooperation with the Felix Y. Manalo Foundation, are also distributing medicines and vitamins for free to the public in the venue.
Food parcels will also be distributed.
Aside from providing medical and dental services, among the highlights of the event will be a Bible exposition.
The “Lingap Laban Sa Kahirapan” charity event on July 15 comes after the recent Aid For Humanity missions carried out in June in Africa, specifically in Malawi and Kenya. These aid missions come following the record-breaking “Worldwide Walk To Fight Poverty” held in May 2018 simultaneously in more than 300 sites across 18 time zones.
The Iglesia Ni Cristo continues its mission of sharing the gospel, and helping those in need, to the best of its ability. The INC organizes socio-civic activities, such as the Lingap Sa Mamamayan (Aid For Humanity), primarily through the Felix Y. Manalo Foundation, not only in the Philippines but also around the world.
July 27, 2018 marks INC’s 104th anniversary, and its 50th year in the West, as it celebrates the establishment of its first overseas mission in Honolulu, Hawaii followed by its congregation in San Francisco, California in July 1968.
The Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) or Church Of Christ is a global Christian Church that upholds Bible-based Christian teachings. It maintains 7,000 local congregations and missions in 143 countries and territories and its membership consists of 133 ethnic groups and nationalities. (with INC-PIO release)
