Silver Spring, United States …. [Taashi Rowe/ANN]
Two Seventh-day Adventist church regions are working together to organize a week-long health seminar in January. For what will be the fourth successive year, the seminar aims to equip health workers with the tools to reach an ailing world.
Health is one of the most important evangelistic ministries in the church, said DeWitt Williams, Ed. D., director of Health Ministries for the North American region of the church. Both North American and Inter-American regions are producing and hosting the event.
“The Adventist health message has been vindicated and validated by science,” said Williams. “On average, according to studies, Adventists live six to 12 years longer because of our lifestyle.”
The 2005 event, titled “Empowering Health Leaders to Reach the Unreached,” is open to pastors, health ministries directors, health care professionals, personal ministries directors, community service directors, youth leaders and anyone else who wants to lead a health ministry.
Courses will address healthy cuisine, emotional, mental and physical health, as well as finances. There will be instruction on: vegetarian cooking, forgiveness, regeneration, depression recovery training, a coronary health improvement, as well as lifelong weight management and other topics.
Pastor Jan Paulsen, Seventh-day Adventist Church world president, will be the keynote speaker at the conference. Other participants are expected to include Pastor Mark Finley, director of the church’s Center for Global Evangelism and speaker/director of the “It Is Written”,television ministry as well as Dr. James Kyle II, named in August 2004 as dean of the Loma Linda School of Public Health and chairman of its department of health administration.
Health seminars can be one major way for churches to have real impact in their communities, Williams said. “Last year we drew over 450 people,” he said. “Some have taken the knowledge they gained from the seminar and opened health clubs, or written books.” He noted some were so impressed by the information they received that at the last seminar 100 people registered onsite for the next seminar.
Williams said he is surprised that health ministries are not more central to evangelism. Hosting a stress seminar is a less threatening way to introduce members of the community to the church, he observed.
“Not everyone will come to an evangelism meeting,” he continued, “but everybody has a body and all are subject to pain and disease and …
many will come to a health program.”
With this year’s theme to “reach the unreached,” Williams said churches can follow Jesus Christ’s method of meeting the community needs before evangelizing.
With many of the courses have PowerPoint and manual, some on VHS and DVD, attendees should come away from the seminar thoroughly equipped to go back to their communities and share.
For more information visit Adventist Plusline at www.plusline.org.
Copyright © 2004 by Adventist News Network.