On September 26th and 27th, 2026, the Exuma District of churches came together for a health emphasis weekend under the Theme: Health by Choice, Not by Chance. Elder Shandera Smith-Williams, Health Ministries Director for South Bahamas Conference, led this initiative organized by Dr. Deval Rolle, Health Ministries leader at Mount Thompson SDA Church.

On Sabbath morning, there was a captivating presentation and discussion on ‘Nutrition and Lifestyle Diseases: Treatment and Prevention.’ Members learned how to use dietary and other lifestyle strategies to prevent, treat, and reverse illnesses. This segued into the Divine Hour, where Elder Smith-Williams connected how our mental health affects our spiritual, emotional, and physical health and overall quality of life.

The afternoon session was powerful, led by Elder David Williams, who presented on Financial Health-The 10 Commandments of Money Management in Christ. He engaged members on how to honor God with their finances, how to use budgets, encouraged charitable giving, and preparing wills with leaving funds for the church and ministry as well as many other practical and useful tips.

Sunday was the highlight of the weekend as we hosted 2 cooking classes with our food demonstrators being Ms. Katherina Smith, Elder Shandera Smith-Williams, and Pastor Jon Dorsett. There were over 30 people who attended from the church, but mostly from the community. They enjoyed the economical, healthy, and delicious foods prepared and went away with knowledge and skills on how to prepare these dishes. They were also given health and nutrition information on the dishes they excitedly sampled.

A big thank you to the Exuma District of SDA Churches, led by Pastor Jon Dorsett, and especially to our Health Ministries Director, Elder Smith-Williams; Elder David Williams; and Ms. Katherina Smith, empowered by God for making this event a success.