BY MARCIA LEWIS | June 2019
Sunday, 9 June 2019, marked Croydon’s 5th Annual Inter-Faith Bike Ride and Picnic in the Park. Croydon Seventh-day Adventist Church members were out in full force to show their support with representatives from the Health and Lifestyle Team, Social Team, Mental Health Team, Prayer Ministry Team, and Men’s Ministry Team.
Croydon SDA Church make a big impact at 5th Annual Inter-Faith Bike Ride and Picnic
Cyclists set off on the Bike Ride at 10:00 am from Croydon Sports Arena. The route was designed so that they would visit five places of worship before ending at Park Hill to participate in a picnic organised by Faiths Together in Croydon.
This event was a great opportunity to join forces with other faiths, not only to participate in the bike ride and picnic, but also to share God’s health message with our community. We hosted a mini health fair which included health counselling and a series of health screening checks (such as blood pressure, Body Mass Index, blood glucose tests, etc.) for anyone who wanted to take up the opportunity. The Mayor of Croydon was one such person who used our screening checks and he took the opportunity to reminisce on his previous visit to the Croydon Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Mayor spoke positively about our community work, and in particular, our annual ‘Prayers for Croydon’ initiative, to specifically pray for individuals, groups, and professionals in our Croydon community for the whole month of December.
On such a fun and active day, the children could not be forgotten. They were able to enjoy the music, movement and stretching sessions, egg and spoon races, and the sack race. Giant Jenga and a variety other giant board games were also available.
Each of our screening stations was generously furnished with literature on God’s 8 laws of health, and of course, spiritual books and tracts. We had a red gazebo which was perched on a slight gradient in the park, which began to attract the odd jogger and walker and slowly but surely members of the public started to drift in our direction, and by 2:00 pm we had several participants start making their way around each health screening station. Also joining us for the day were colleagues from the NHS organisation, OASIS, a group offering support to young people with their emotional and mental wellbeing.
To top everything off, our Social Team had brought along that favourite of favourites – a Tug of War rope. The men lined up to take on the women, heels were dug in and grips were tightened, and then the unexpected happened – the women leaned back and heaved the men over the line! In shock, the men requested a re-match that unfortunately for them, resulted in the same outcome, and that’s despite them receiving additional assistance from members of the passing public who sympathised with their first loss!
A wonderful day was truly had, not just for the team but also from the feedback we received from the general public who commended us on the work we were doing. Faiths Together in Croydon have expressed a desire for Croydon Seventh-day Adventist Church to participate in the event next year, so look out for us. We hope to see you there too!