 I'm your host, Sharon Thomas Yarbrough. Welcome and thank you for joining Sister Power. Our topic for this episode is Impact Your Health, amen, free clinic in Honolulu. Adventist medical evangelism network is acronyms for amen. Despite the recent rollout of the Affordable Care Act, there are still 40 million Americans without health insurance and 100 million without dental coverage. We don't have to travel overseas to find a need when there's a mission field in our own backyard. Today, Sister Power would discuss bringing life by providing free professional health care with a VIP guest, Bill Watson Payne, Senior Pastor of the Honolulu Central Seventh Day Adventist Church. Welcome to Sister Power, Pastor Payne. Thank you, Sharon. It is great to be here. Thank you for having me on your show. Thank you for coming. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background. Well, I am from the beautiful island of Jamaica, and I left Jamaica when I was 11 years old. I lived in New York, lived in Vermont, lived in Texas, Michigan, and I think my favorite place, Hawaii. Absolutely. And you've been at the Honolulu Central Church for how long? I've been at the Honolulu Central Church since February of 2016. That's a short time. It is a short time. But that's not my only experience with Hawaii. I first came to Hawaii in 1996 where my wife was in the military, and so we were pastoring in Houston, Texas, and she called me and says, I'm on orders to go to Hawaii. And I said, hmm, pack your bags. Let's go. So we came to Hawaii in October 1996, and we pastored until 2006 here. Then I went back to stateside, worked on my MDiv and D-Min, and came back here in 2016. We're so happy to have you. And if no one has told you, you and your lovely wife, Audrey, you have done a remarkable job in leading the church forward. Thank you so much. Thank you for that. Thank you. Praise God. Oh, praise God. Yes. And what we're going to talk about today is health care, which is just very important in the state that we're into right now, and tell us about the movement at Venice Medical Evangelism Network of like-minded medical professionals who are committed to restoring the body and reclaiming the heart. Yes. Yes. I first learned about this group in 2000 and late 2016, and I heard about what they do. And so I called and inquired about their services. And a few months later, the doctor, Dr. Vin Trinh, he came to Hawaii on vacation. And so I invited him to our church, and he came and he checked out our facilities. And he says, this would be an ideal place. We have three stories on one building, and then we have our huge sanctuary that seats a thousand, and then we have that huge open area where we can do different things. And so he was excited. And he says, we can do this. We don't have to go to the convention center or different places. We can do it right here on our campus. And so I got even more excited because being there, it would be less expensive for us. And so in a few months, December of 2016, he went to America Samoa, I'm sorry, 2017. He went to America Samoa, and they were able to service 300 people per day. And so over four days, they were able to see a little bit over 1,200 people, medical, dental, and fitting them for eyeglasses and so on. And so what a tremendous ministry. The need is there. There are so many of our people who are underinsured and don't have insurance at all. We have a huge homeless population here in Honolulu, the state of Hawaii. But we can only, we're only servicing Oahu. But this is, it was so exciting to me, exciting to me that we can reach some of our people. We can do what Jesus really wants us to do. He says, you know, I was naked and you didn't clothe me. I was hungry. You didn't feed me. I was in prison. You didn't visit me, you know? And so for those who have this need and the health care, so important. So many people are at risk, families are at risk, children are at risk. And so we want to be able to service from the kupunas to the keikis, you know, everybody. We want to be able to service the entire family and anyone who comes, we will not turn away anyone, you know? And so I'm excited about that and just not only that, we would like to provide service in where if a person wants a haircut, you know, we could provide that. If a person wants some spiritual counseling, we provide that. If they want some counseling, some other areas, we'd like to provide that. And this is where our community professionals will come in. Our community professionals who are willing to service and give back to the community, there won't be a paycheck for this one, but it's something that they're saying, we want to give back to our community and we want to offer our services. I'm glad you bought that up about, it won't be a paycheck. So people are volunteering their time. And I read some time ago that one of the secrets to success is volunteering. Share how medical and non-medical volunteers can register. So the Amen website is AmenFreeClinic.org and I went on that website myself and I went through and I registered and you can register as a professional or a support staff. So whether you're a professional or not, you can volunteer your services. We will need people to fulfill some 14 different categories of support. So we will have areas that if I could just, can I, you mind if I just say a few of the list? Please go to, and I want people to take note. And also look at the beautiful sanctuary where we worship every Sabbath. Yes. This is where people will be coming to the free clinic and you'll have health lectures. So let's go through the list of the volunteers of medical, now this is on the medical side of volunteers. Yes. Yes. Well, let me, let me say all 14, let me list all 14 and people can say, hmm, I can help in this area or, you know, that one, I'm not so, I had a lady who called me yesterday and she says, pastor, I am not a professional, but I'm retired and I have time. So we will need some 20 to 30 people who will help us to set up and break down every day. Every day. Well, before you go on the knees, give us the dates. All right. Excitingly, this is August 23 and 24, which is a Thursday and a Friday, and 26 and 27 Sunday and Monday. And it will be held at 2313 Nuanu Avenue, right beside the Royal Muslim. Okay. Yes. That's our, our church is located adjacent to the Muslim. Okay. So let's hear the list. All right. Of course, we will have people who are helping with registration. That's going to be a huge, seeing 250 to 300 people per day, huge registration. If that's not organized, it'll be chaos. So we'll have computers and, and people sitting out there to register people. All right. We have the medical clearance team that person needs to be a physician, a doctor. Also the dental director, that person also needs to be a dentist. We have the medical director, they're asking for that person to also be a physician. Then the vision director, that one, that person must be an optometrist. And so we have these professional areas. The sterilization director, that person must be 18 or older. We also want to have someone who helps us to control the crowd. Then we have 250, 300 people lining up to be service. We need to be able to tell them where to go. Some are in a waiting area. So that our church sanctuary will be primarily the waiting area. And while people are there, we're doing financial seminars. We're doing any other health lectures on different areas. So we want to, to feed the mind, you know, the body and the spirit, you know? Also central supplies, this is a person that, if dental needs something, they will dispatch someone to get that. And so we'll have that also a director for the volunteers. As pastor, I will be interfacing with everyone, but I can't do everything. And so I need the help. So we need someone who can be our volunteer director. Food services. This is something that we want to be able to give people healthy foods. And people are there almost a half a day waiting to be serviced. And so we'll need to give them something to hold them over. A plant director. So we have our bathrooms and the facilities, just someone to help take care of those. We'll do in-house. We'll find someone in-house for that. Our marketing. And you know, someone reaching out to the different organizations, that is going to be key. Because there are supplies that we will need. And we may need to knock on the doors of Home Depot or Walmart or Lowe's or have written a letter to one of the airlines requesting, because the doctors who are coming, they're going to be bringing a lot of supplies. They're bringing, expecting to have 10 to 15 chairs for the dental chairs. And so they're bringing all of that supplies in. And that needs to be shipped. And that's going to be extra cost. And so I'm reaching out to one of the airlines to see if they will help us out with that. Also someone for chaplaincy. We know that people need spiritual care. Not everybody believes the same, but this is not about believing the same. This is about the fact that people have that spiritual need. They may need a prayer or they may not. They may need some counseling. They may be going through a rough time medically, relationally, just personal. So we want to be able to meet the needs of the entire person. And then also hospitality. Just really, people want to come and they see smile in faces. They want to come and know that they're at the right place. They want to come and know that, you know what? I've had a bad week or I've had a bad day. Or my morning just did not start all right. And come in and someone's smiling and say, how are you doing today? We're glad that you're here. We want to serve you. How can we do that? So those are the 14 areas that we will be asking for volunteers. And at a particular time, I'll need to meet with all these individuals. And since the A-Men team, they're in California, we will have them online. And they will give us directions. They will give us information before they finally do come here in August. This is exciting. This is something that's needed. I don't think this is ever. Not that I know of. Pelt here in Honolulu, this freak type of clinic? And this is a clinic and not a fair. And so in terms of a clinic, you're actually doing the medical work. And you will now need to refer, let's say, you do encounter someone who does have a condition that needs servicing right away. We will need to refer that person to a local hospital where they can be cared for beyond what the clinic can do. So this is not a fair just to do a blood pressure check and so on. But people will be outfitted with eyeglasses. People will be, their teeth will be cleaned. If there's extraction that needs to be done, that will be done and so on. So it's a full on medical clinic. OK. Well, we will talk further about this. We're going to take a quick break and come back and talk about the freak clinic. All right. I'm Andrea Gabrieli, the host for Young Talent's Making Way here on Fink Tech, Hawaii. We talk every Tuesday at 11 AM about things that matter to tech, matter to science, to the people of Hawaii with some extraordinary guests, the students of our schools who are participating in science fair. So Young Talent's Making Way every Tuesday at 11 AM only on Fink Tech, Hawaii. Mahalo. I just walked by and I said, what's up? Back to Sister Power and our VIP guest is Pastor Payne. And we are discussing impact your health. Amen, free clinic in Honolulu. And this is exciting that we're going to have a free clinic here in Honolulu for vision and for medical. And before the break, we were talking about the volunteers that you need, medical and non-medical volunteers. Now will the, let's say, clients, will they need to make an appointment? No, but they can. It's nice if they do. They can go on the website and click that they're patient, that they're coming to be serviced. So you can, the same website, you can volunteer as a professional or volunteer as a non-professional. But you can also click where you want to set an appointment for one of those four days. And again, those days are October 23 and 24. That's a Thursday and a Friday. And August 26 and 7, a Sunday and a Monday. And so they can go on the website and choose one of those days when they would like to come. What we are wanting, we want to involve, this thing is to, again, is to impact our community. There are a number of people, and I believe you may have some statistics on this, there are a number of individuals who are without health care. 6% of the population, they are uninsured. We have approximately almost 5,000 homeless people in Honolulu and approximately 8,000 people statewide. So the free clinic is needed. Definitely, definitely. And we won't see everyone. We won't be able to see everyone because of the capacity. However, the more doctors we have, the more we can service. The more dentists we have, the more we're able to service. The more volunteers we have, the more we're able to service. And it is my prayer that people will, when they see the show, that they will think about, have I given anything back to my community lately? And we enjoy the lifestyles that we have as professionals, as people who are well to do. But we look at those who have need. And how can I, as an individual, give back to my community? Well, this is one way in which if you need to take, perhaps, a vacation day or so, and said, you know what, I'm going to take one day, and I'm going to volunteer for that day to help out this health clinic. There are families that have the multigenerational families in Hawaii. Because of the cost of living, multigenerations are living together. So you have grandma and mom and the keikis, the children, the teenagers, they're all there. And sometimes, they don't have care. And so we can bring that whole family in to be serviced. And when that family comes, sometimes, I have seen it where a child is, we say, squinting. They're trying, it's very hard to see. And not realizing that that child needs glasses, but that the family don't have the funding to be able to go down, take an exam, and then to be outfitted with glasses. The amen team will be bringing glasses for that and outfitting anyone who have that need. And so they're just these different areas. And so if people are wanting to give back to their community financially or physically, come in. If you are a pastor or a clergy and you want to give spiritual care, if you are an individual who is your professional, your psychologist, and you'd like to offer your service to do, we can have a room for you where you can help families that are in need of care. You know, listening to you, Pastor Payne, this is the time in August where I think all the churches should come together. I think so. This is a time that the sororities should come together, the fraternities to come together, the Rotary Clubs can reach out. There's so much that's needed here. And then we can just all come together and put smiles on people's faces. I have a question for you. What do patients need to know? Amen do not require proof of insurance or employment, right? Is there any type of? We would like for them to have an ID. That way that they're recorded in the system that they are. We can put a name and we know that often many of them will not have addresses. But if they have some kind of ID of some sort to be able to, because let's say they won't be able to get their glasses that day, all right? So they will be fitted for the glasses that we tested. So in about two to three weeks, those glasses will come back. And I will need to be able to get in touch with that family, that individual, or tell them to come check back with us in three weeks or so and to be able to fit your glasses. And so that is a part of the system. So they will have to register. They will need some information on them. Just like the food bank, a food bank, often a person come and they have that need. Because we get food from the Hawaii food bank, then we do need to record that X number of persons. And here's their name. We don't take social security number and all that kind of stuff, not that. Just having some kind of indication of an ID of that person. So this is a time that I did see on one of the social medias that a gentleman goes out and he gives free haircuts to all of the homeless. And one lady on Monday, she owns a restaurant. And on Monday, she feeds the homeless. So what Honolulu Central Seven Day Adventist Church is offering to our community is a free clinic for four days. So let's go over, before we close, let's go over the needs. Well, we did go over the purpose. And let's go over that again. Go over the needs that will complete this free vision, free clinic vision, I should say. So what we're trying to do is to carry out the mission that Christ would have us to carry out. To reach those who are in need. Not everybody have a need. But those who are in need and come, we want to serve them. We want to serve them by lots of people have dental needs. And so we'd like to satisfy that. Lots of people have other medical needs. We'd like to let them know where they are. If a person come and they're at risk, the doctors will do A1C tests to help them to really see where they are. Are they diabetic? What are the things that they need to really look at? Educate, educate, educate. This is what this is all about. We need to educate the mind. We need to let them know that they're those who love and care about them. And that's why we're doing all of this. And so now bringing in all the volunteers from different churches and organizations and hospitals who are willing to help us come together. We can service about 1,200 people or more. Well, let's show a picture of the church on the outside where people will be lining up. And this is Honolulu Central Seven Day Adventist Church, 2313 New Anu Avenue. And this is where the free clinic will start, right at this beautiful location. We have a huge Lanai area, and there the computers will be set up, and people are able to come in and register. And from there, they will then go into the sanctuary where different things will be happening, whether a seminar on finances, a seminar on spiritual care, different things will be happening that they can take part in when their names are called for medical, and their names are called for dental, names are called to be outfitted with glasses. All those different things will take place there. And I also know there will be HIV testing. Yes, yes, yes. Quite interesting. That's very interesting. I'm so glad we're having, I'm calling on all of my friends to come out and help. Thank you, thank you. I think this is so needed. I think that if you're retired, as you're speaking, and you have a few hours or a day to lend to the Amen Clinic, I would ask you to come out and volunteer. Before we close, I want you to look into that camera and give us that last word on the people and the needs of purpose and why people should come. Yes. I appeal to you, those who are listening and watching this show, that as you have been blessed, we're asking you to give back, whether it's monetarily or with your time. If you're a professional and you're able to give your services during this time, August 23, and 24, 26, and 27, please go to the website. It is amenfreeclinic.org and register as a professional or register as an individual who will be a support staff. We need you. We need the people to come together so that we can service our community. Thank you, Pastor Payne. Thank you. Thank you so much. It's been my pleasure being here. Audience, for spending part of your day with us, oceans of aloha, peace, and love.