Healthy Fears...the City's and Mine

By Demitria Gallaread, Grace Fellowship Community Church

I am not a go getter. I am also not a public speaker. But this past year, I have had the opportunity to work with Grace Urban Ministries to develop a presentation on the city’s health programs, Healthy San Francisco and SF Health Plan.  To date, I have given two presentations; one here at my church, Grace Fellowship Community Church, and one at UCSF’s Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at a seminar for African-American leaders about church-based health ministry. At both events I inevitably experienced a turning stomach, a rapidly pounding heart, and an almost humorous anxiety. The feeling of inadequacy was not a dull pain but a jarring throb, and keeping confidence in the message was a constant struggle. But, despite the fear that accompanied me throughout the project, I have miraculously come out on the other side and the journey has, without doubt, enabled me to see God’s work in my life.

This project completely took me out of my comfort zone. It opened me up to a world of abilities I had not thought myself capable of, while also developing me as an adult, both inside and outside the walls of my church. Along with my personal growth I have also received the chance to gain a better understanding of how the struggle for healthcare justice fits within the larger mission of the Church. God calls us to seek the shalom of this city. This is not a call to seek the city’s economic success, or to gain power and authority within the political realm but, rather, to embrace our human brothers and sisters and to make sure they are cared for.

“Love” is another word that comes to mind, and not a Valentine’s Day kind of love, but a love that is synonymous with Jesus Christ. Jesus gave his life and he asks us to likewise, even if it simply means giving away our coat. This can come in the form of time, our knowledge, our money, and our words. It means pursuing the welfare of people in the city, advocating for the health of those who lack adequate resources to address their physical infirmities and, therefore, fear for their lives. Healthcare is only one way that we as a church can practice submitting ourselves to God’s heart…by offering the time and tools we’ve been given, to walk alongside our brothers and sisters… but it is a significant one, and one that continues to call for our attention.