Adventist Health (South Pacific Division) has appointed Carly Moore as director of the Community Health Education Presenter (CHEP) training program.
Mrs Moore will spearhead the redevelopment of the program, which is used to teach church members how to present health messages and conduct cooking demonstrations to reach their local communities.
The announcement comes following CHEP training founder Sibilla Johnson’s decision to step away from the role after 20 years, and as the course faces reaccreditation in 2021.
“I am very excited at the potential of CHEP training to empower a new generation who are passionate about the health message,” said Mrs Moore, who has a nursing background and a master’s degree in Health Practice (Professional Health Education).
Through her work in the healthcare industry, Mrs Moore became increasingly interested in preventative health. While interested in nutrition “for as long as [she] can remember”, it was during a Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP) Summit in 2010 that the mother-of-two discovered the “enormous benefits” of a wholefood, plant-based diet.
“We have been created with an enormous capacity for healing—our bodies are amazing!” says the mother of two boys. “I believe that CHEP enables our church members to teach and equip people in their local communities to choose an abundant life. It empowers us to share simple strategies people can implement to improve their own health.
“Jesus said ‘I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly’ (John 10:10). I’m humbled to be able to help share this beautiful, life-giving message.” [pullquote]
The CHEP training program was developed by Mrs Johnson following a request from the Victorian Conference to update the existing Vegetarian Cooking Demonstrator course, developed by Sanitarium Health Food Company. After achieving accreditation in 2006, the program obtained a five-year Australian Standards and Qualifications Authority certification in 2016.
More than a thousand people across Australia and New Zealand have completed CHEP training, with a group from Solomon Islands becoming the first Pacific cohort to graduate from the program last year. Church members who complete CHEP training receive a Certificate IV in Community Health Education from Avondale College of Higher Education.
Although stepping away from her role as director, Mrs Johnson will continue to conduct CHEP training across the South Pacific as part of Adventist Health’s 10,000 Toes campaign, with programs already scheduled in Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Vanuatu in 2020.
In reflecting on the development and progress of the CHEP training program, Mrs Johnson said she is “very thankful for God’s leading over so many years”. She is also excited at Mrs Moore’s appointment as program director in the lead up to the reaccreditation.
“She is the right person that God will use to move CHEP forward into this new chapter.”
