Practical help and spiritual support, hope and love. All are available in abundance in the Millennia Building, Aldo Moro Road, Marsa now that Malta’s first UCKG Help Centre has opened.
It may not be obvious from the name but a UCKG Help Centre is a church with a difference. What makes it different is the fact that the help centre is open for prayer services seven days a week as well as running support groups for the local communities. There are groups for youths and the over 50s, the sick, abused women, lone parents and prisoners and their families.
Motivated by compassion and love, it seeks to help people where they are with whatever problems they face, irrespective of any faith or belief system they follow. When the answer is ‘none’, the UCKG Help Centre still provides kindly support and practical advice from a Christian standpoint whenever people turn to it and seek help.
The UCKG Help Centre was formed in the Pentecostal tradition in Brazil over 40 years ago. Initially set up to help the poorest of the poor, the organisation kept growing and now has a presence in over 100 countries.
It reached Malta a year ago. Such is the enthusiasm it attracted that it moved from a monthly meeting to a fully fledged help centre. The formal opening took place on January 19.
The approach is to give practical guidance on how people can tackle their particular situation
The Malta branch in Marsa provides prayer services at 10am, 4pm and 7.30pm every day. Each day of the week has its own theme, so that all the more important aspects of life – from healing to financial well-being and family matters to personal development – are covered every seven days.
The long-term aim is to provide the full package of community support groups that are available in established help centres around the world.
The Malta Centre is starting with a 24-hour telephone helpline on 2767 3377 and 9992 2799 and groups supportingthe sick, prisoners and their familiesand youth.
The helpline is manned by volunteers who have overcome severe personal problems with the help and guidance of the UCKG Help Centre and then gone through its specialist training programme.
Unlike some helpline services, the approach is to give practical guidance on how people can tackle their particular situation rather than simply listening.
Every member of the helpline team is well equipped to empathise with the caller’s pain and make sure that the conversation gives them a feeling of relief.
Problems are assessed from a practical perspective and the Christian element is mainly evident from the team members’ commitment and their perspective that there is no problem without a solution.
Similarly, the Patient Care Group and Rescue of Dignity Group (ROD) for sentenced and remand prisoners and their families are run by trained volunteers under the guidance of a pastor.
People with little or no family support can find illness particularly difficult although it is not easy even for those with big families and many friends.
Conversely, families and friends can find it hard to cope when someone becomes suddenly sick or is involved in a serious accident and progress is slow. Patient care volunteers provide company and a listening ear. They make regular visits to patients in hospitals, hospices, nursing homes or private homes and will also be there for the patient’s family if needed.
Support can be provided over weeks, months and even years.
ROD volunteers follow a broadly similar process using letter-writing and prison visits and can make all the difference when it comes to turning lives around. The volunteers also work with prisoners’ families.
The Victory Youth Group (VYG) is for 14- to 23-year-olds and provides a route through the exciting yet challenging maze that is youth.
It’s no secret that the young are eagerto learn and are game for new challenges, yet, they are easily bored and vulnerable to pressures from peers and others that sometimes have devastating consequences. Under the guidance of trained and checked pastors, the VYG provides trustworthy moral and ethical advice for the young along with mentoring and often role models.
Youths are encouraged to excel in their studies, be themselves and think positively regardless of any past problemsor issues. Activities at the twice-weekly meetings include singing, dancing, drama and sports competitions and there are fun days out and drop-in, one-to-one advice sessions.
Like every other country, Malta is not short of human problems and moral challenges, however, now that the UCKG Help Centre is here, it is keen to do all it can to help people turn their lives around and to enhance the national happiness quotient.