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4 BOCNEWS.comMARCH 2016 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with him. Acts 1038 When I speak of the inner city I am speaking of the place where I grew up in the Denver Metro area. In my family I am the oldest child in a family of eleven children. I dont hesitate to say that we grew up poor and it was something we had to live with. One thing that happened is that I am able to empa- thize with those who are poor and even those who are homeless as we came close to being homeless. We had some hardships such as being hungry and cold when our electricity was cut off in the dead of winter Now when I think of what we went through It is by the grace of God that we survived and none of us really got sick. When it came to health care it was essentially non-existent. The only reason we went for medical care is if we had some type of injury when my moth- er had to deliver children or when one of us really got sick. I grew up really believing that the only time you were supposed to go to see a doctor was when you got very sick or had some type of injury like a broken bone The concept of going to see a doctor to prevent illness was a totally inconceivable concept. We did not have the money for that. The reality of the situation is we live in a country where far to many of us do not have health insurance and too many of us lack some critical health information. The result of this is the fact that too many of us die before our time or we get to the place where we have to live with at times multiple chronic diseases. There is in our world today a tremendous amount of preventable pain and suffering. I have worked as a physician with people from around the world and with the very wealthy and with those who were as poor as I was. I have worked with many people who are the poorest of the poor both in Africa and here in our own country. When I see the poor and sick or potentially sick I fre- quently think of who is going to help these people My mind turns to the fact that we have government agencies that try to help but always with many rules and restrictions. No one is able to give an account of how many have died and suffered due to lack of even basic medical care. I have labored for years to help those who where like me in their poverty. Now one thing I do think of since I am a part of the church is what can the church do to help I have even fantasized about doing into all of the poor- est communities in America and doing what I could to help. The next time you visit a large urban and perhaps even a rural area just get in your car and drive to the poorest neighbor- hoods and ask yourself what can I do to help If you do this you will be thinking like Jesus did when He was here and think about doing good and healing all that are oppressed of the devil. Not long ago I visited a city that had a larger African American population than we do here in Denver. I went to a large church and since I got there late I rushed into the church and did not notice much of the community around the church. After church was over I had time to look at the neighborhood around the church. Was I ever shocked I told my wife we are in the hood This large beautiful church was sitting in the middle of an impoverished community. I had already taken a look at their community outreach program and noted that this church was doing very little for the community. We had heard some stirring music from the praise team had heard a moving sermon but the fact is that we all should have been ashamed of ourselves as the community was not really being helped by our presence I know we have many clinics and hospitals in America but I do not think that these institutions have like the church a strong man- date to help those in need. We should not allow ourselves to be present in an impoverished community and fail to have a robust program to help people. We can do things to help if we have the will to do it. It will take some contact with people in the community. We need to educate and touch our com- munities. I will suggest below some things we can do and I am not suggesting I have all the answers Form a coalition of church- es with the express purpose and plan to address the health needs of the community. Each church needs to have a health committee to plan outreach to the community. The Pastor should be a part of the health committee. Work with health care workers in the city. Have them come to educate people. Have the community come to the church for education and fellowship. Focus the attention of the church and commu- nity on the leading causes of illness such as heart disease high blood pressure cancer diabetes lack of exercise substance abuse pregnancy maternal health HIVAIDS smoking obesity and adoles- cent and child health issues. Reach all age groups. Go door-to-door if needed with health information. Church members themselves should live a healthy lifestyle so they can practice what they teach and preach Pay attention to what is called the social deter- minates of health such as high school graduation rates crime and safety incarceration of people and what can be done to help avoid incarceration and re-incarceration. Maybe teachers law enforcement people and those with legal training can help. I will be sharing some other information on health issues and social issues during the coming year. I trust by Gods grace we can be a blessing to our communities and congregations. HealthMinistryToTheInnerCity Dr. Conner By Byron E. Conner M.D. HEALTH We had heard some stirring music from the praise team had heard a moving sermon but the fact is that we all should have been ashamed of ourselves as the community was not really being helped by our presence 1. CANTON JONES - I AM JUSTICE 2. GOSPEL MIX 2016 3. TIM ROGERS - CHURCHIN 4. REGINA BELLE - THE DAY LIFE BEGAN 5. STRAIGHT GATE MASS - SATURATE US 6. VIRTUE - FEARLESS 7. WILLIAM MCDOWELL - SOUNDS OF REVIVAL 8. JONATHAN BUTLER - FREE 9. WOW GOSPEL 2016 10 ANTHONY BROWN - EVERYDAY JESUS