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The body of Christ came together in a beautiful way this week in International Connection, the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at RBC.  In order to make a Health Fair work, I was in need of healthcare instructors to deliver short talks on general good health habits to our internationals, and I also needed translators to assist in the lower level classes.  With the precision of a physically fit body, and by God’s grace, it all came together!  Students were divided into 3 groups, depending on their level of English.  Everyone rotated through 3 different seminars on health on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, instead of their regular English classes.

In the two days of health seminars, we featured a registered dietician, nurses, a dental hygienist and a representative from Medicare/Medicaid.  Students had their blood pressure taken, learned what those numbers mean and how to improve them.  They were also given vaccination schedules for their families and talks on general preventive medicine.  The dietician gave talks on eating appropriately from the five food groups and dedicated all of Wednesday’s seminars to diabetes education.  The dental hygienist used student volunteers to act as “teeth” as she used a giant brush to demonstrate proper brushing habits and a jump rope for flossing!  With our ESL students, the more demonstrations and visuals one has, the better!  The rep from Medicare/Medicaid spent time emphasizing how to live an active and fit life.

In addition, we had RBC attendees come alongside our presenters to translate into Spanish (our largest language group) all of the details of this important information.  They also spent time one-on-one with some of the students who had very specific questions for our health care professionals.  It was a beautiful thing!

I was blessed to have a very robust turnout for this unique event which leads me to think that it might be wise to have this on an annual basis.  I will be looking for more ways to serve our international community in the future and welcome any ideas that the church gives me in this regard.

Susan Morinaga
Director, International Connection

Click here to learn more about International Connection and our ESL program at Reston Bible Church.