A total of 150 elderly people have benefitted from the Pentecost International Worship Centre (PIWC) West Hills Women’s Ministry’s ‘Care for the Elderly’ programme.
The number, including widows and widowers from all districts of the Church of Pentecost (CoP) in the Kasoa Area, were freely screened and presented with items including bags of rice, bottles of oil, drinks, and tomato paste among others.
For the health screening, services offered included blood sugar tests, blood pressure tests, eye screening as well as the provision of free medications for persons who needed them. Beneficiaries were also educated on general healthcare issues.
The Women’s Ministry Leader, Deaconess Linda Mante indicated that the ‘Care for the Elderly’ programme was initiated three years ago under the leadership of the District Women’s Ministry and the Leadership of the PIWC West Hills.
She explained that the programme focuses on bringing joy to the elderly during the Christmas season.
“We aim to spread warmth and cheer by providing Christmas goodies to elderly individuals, ensuring they feel valued and cherished within our community. This year, we added a free health screening to our package,” she added.
Deaconess Mante stressed the need for other churches, ministries, corporate bodies and individuals to emulate and organise similar programmes to ensure the honouring and caring of the elderly.
“As Christians, Proverbs 23:22 reminds us: ‘Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.’ These programs offer crucial social interaction and emotional support, expressing care and gratitude while fostering unity and compassion within our broader society,” she added.
The Women’s Ministry Leader further underscored that her ministry under the leadership and support of the district Pastor, Philip Pascal Asiedu was committed to continuing the ‘Care for the Elderly’ programme in the coming years.
“Our dedication to this initiative stems from our core values of compassion and community service, and we aim to sustain this meaningful tradition to continually uplift and support the elderly within our community,” she added.
Deaconess Mante used the opportunity to encourage all and sundry to get on board through sponsorships to enable them to expand their resources, and provide more substantial assistance and care to a greater number of elderly individuals within their community.
Chairperson of the Planning Committee for the ‘Care for the Elderly’ programme, Cynthia Bonsah noted that they included the health screening to give persons who couldn’t afford checkups the opportunity to do so.
She was also hopeful that the Ministry would be in subsequent years continue with the gesture to impact more lives.
Deaconess Salome Annoh, Lead, Health Team for the programme said humans degenerate as they grow old so they needed screening to be able to find out if something was wrong.
“So that’s for intervention if we find something wrong, then we try to solve it as early as possible to prevent complications,” she added.
Ato Richardson, a beneficiary of the programme from the CoP Mandela Assembly said he was extremely happy to be there and thanked the Ministry for the gesture, urging the leadership to continue in the years to come.
A widow, Vida Mensah from Ebenezer 1 Assembly in the Kakraba District of the CoP blessed the Ministry and similarly encouraged them to continue organising the programme
