Sunrise Health Centre

Hope For Our Community

HIV and AIDS is a fact of life now. We can not pretend that it does not affect us. At least every one of us has had a relative who has been impacted by this disease. The toll of HIV and AIDS on households is severe.

Although no part of the population is unaffected by HIV, it is often the poorest that are the most vulnerable to HIV and AIDS and on whom the consequences are most tragic. In many cases, the presence of AIDS means that the household will dissolve, as parents die and children are sent to relatives for care and upbringing. It is hard to comprehend the trauma and hardship that children affected by HIV and AIDS are forced to bear in the city and all over the country. Not only do HIV and AIDS forecast a situation where children lose their parents or guardians, but many times it means losing their childhood as well. Our Educational system is overwhelmed. Fewer children will receive basic education. HIV and AIDS do not only affect pupils but teachers as well.

HIV and AIDS affect the work place, the church, and the military barracks; it affects every human social infrastructure. It is a cancerous monster. The ramifications are seen everywhere; we live with the effects daily. Peoples’ life expectancy has been halved in our country. Be assured, the list of its impact is baffling and endless. What are the answers to the ravaging impact of AIDS? No one knows the complete picture of what is; and we still have no answers to the many questions being asked. We have to keep praying for answers, even the cure, hopefully. However, this is the greatest opportunity for us as a church.

For the past ten years Dr. Lazarus Chakwera and the leadership of the International Christian Assembly have aggressively advocated for a proclamation of a holistic gospel. This is the type that does not just touch hearts of the people. But it is one that ministers both to the spiritual and physical needs of the people. The Sunrise Center is an embodiment of such a quest. The center is a dream that manifests hope for all. Various interventions at the center include the rehabilitation of the people struggling with the abuse of drugs. It shall also include schools and hospitality entities. The Sunrise Center will also provide health facilities for the communities around. You may be saying “how can I participate I am also part of those affected.” That is why the ministry becomes meaningful. Because we need to understand that it is from such vulnerability do we exercise the giftings and grace God has given us.

In July 2007, we instituted an important sector of the health ministry of the International Christian Assembly. We launched the “HIV Pastoral Counseling and Testing” wing of the Sunrise Ministries. This ministry will be unique in that apart from performing the normal activities of a regular Voluntary Counseling and Testing Center, it will be pastoral in nature. The center aims to offer unique services to the community and will give hope, reconciliation and purpose for life that only God can bring. We aim to be a beacon of light for the people that feel devastated, hopeless and helpless.

The HIV Pastoral Counseling and Testing Ministry will offer others services such as counseling in Reconciliation, Grief and Loss, Death and Dying, Hope in Hopeless situation, Pre-marital Counseling, Marital Counseling, and many others. The church, which means all of us that call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, will participate in creating an atmosphere for hope, acceptance and healing for our community that has come to the crossroads pregnant with colossal ramifications.

The HIV Pastoral Counseling and Testing ministry is an ICA intervention. It means we, the ICA, are responsible to raise awareness, and resources for its success. The following team was set up to help set up and spearhead the functions of the ministry.

* Dr. E. Some
* Dr. Victor Madhlopa
* Dr. Damas Ngoma
* Mr. Kamala
* Mr. Buxton Namizinga
* Ms Lazaro
* Rev. Gideon Phiri
* Dr. Enson Lwesya

* Praying for the intervention.
* Offering counseling on voluntary basis to many who will come for counseling and testing.
* Providing materials that will always be used in the process of testing. i.e. reading materials, cotton wool, sharps, and other materials as you feel led.