MOUNT SALEM, St James — Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has commended the Seventh-day Adventist Church in western Jamaica for its relentless spirit of care and volunteerism to the community.

He then offered that the church is doing the work that the Lord wants it to accomplish.

“You provide food for the soul, you also provide guidance for the body and mind, and I believe that is what our ‘Supreme Leader’ wanted for us here on earth, and I want to recognise it,” said Dr Tufton as he addressed the Service of Installation for the newly elected officers, directors and executive committee of the West Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (WJC) in Mount Salem recently.

Dr Tufton expressed gratitude to the church for coming to the aid of the Cornwall Regional Hospital shortly after it spiralled into a national crisis last year.

“I consider this an important opportunity to express my appreciation on behalf of the government of Jamaica to the 13,000 or so people who work in public health and for the support that we have gotten from the WJC with the Cornwall Regional Hospital,” Dr Tufton stressed.

In January 2017, the news of noxious fumes affecting healthcare practitioners and patients at the hospital made headlines across the country. Several departments at the facility were subsequently closed.

Recognising the crisis, the hospital’s closest neighbour, the WJC, assisted by volunteering the second half of the church’s main auditorium to accommodate numerous hospital wards along with the Physiotherapy Unit. The newly built Skills Training Centre at the WJC’s facility was also made available to the hospital to accommodate their daily outpatient clinic.

In his response after the prayer of dedication and the signing of the Leadership Pledge during the well-attended function, Pastor Glen Samuels, president of WJC, challenged the membership of the church to continue its effort “in the salvation and support for humanity.”

“Our number one priority in West Jamaica (Conference of Seventh-day Adventists) is preaching the everlasting gospel in its full and free context, for that cannot be secondary to anything else,” he argued.

Samuels also expressed his concern for the state of the society and its future, especially of the young people, as he issued a charge for the church to become more engaged in making a difference.

“Our buildings are too expensive to be opened only two days per week. From St James to Hanover, we must find volunteers to offer services to the people of our region,” he stressed.

He commended the membership of the Kings Seventh-day Adventist Church for their evening-class programmewhich, he noted, has helped countless individuals to be successful at achieving passes in their examinations.

Pastor Samuels also cited the success of a senior citizen who achieved noteworthy successes in the recent sitting of the CXC examinations.

“The Kings Church taught him that he is not too old to try,” Samuels stressed.

The newly installed team of administrators, departmental directors and the executive committee were elected to serve for the next four years.