Over 400 church members, including health professionals, 80 pastors and 100 SDA school directors and science teachers, were trained in the principles of healthy living and outreach, at the Missão & Cura (Mission and Healing) program, near Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The program launched in 2013. It runs during the carnival holiday week and has attracted almost 1,000 participants attracting many health professionals (medical doctors, nurses and others) since it was started. Drs Fred Hardinge and Viriato Ferreira, associate directors at the GC Health Ministries have been frequent teachers since the program started. Ferreira says that “this is one of the best initiatives we have in the Church, to train members and help them enjoy and share the health message in a Christ-filled manner”.
“There is no place in the world I have visited that serves such exquisitely prepared, delicious, quality vegetarian food. It is a wonderful example to each attendee that you do not have to sacrifice flavor or eye appeal to eat healthy food,” says Hardinge.
“We now need to reach every church member and student in our conference” says Pastor Sidionil Biazzi, recently elected for his fourth term as President of the Paulistana Conference, one of the 4 conferences in the Sao Paulo region. This conference is a pioneer in health ministries in Brazil. Biazzi is a co-founder of Clinica Adventista Vida Natural, a pioneer lifestyle center in Brazil which has helped thousands of people from around the world find physical, emotional and spiritual healing.
The conference team put much emphasis in experiencing, teaching and sharing God´s principles of health with church members and communities. “In 2015 we plan to have every pastor and every school worker spend one week at our lifestyle center, free of charge. This is the best way to give them an opportunity to experience God´s gift of a healthy lifestyle so that they can share it with the church members and students” says Biazzi. The Paulistana Conference has over 33,000 members and it´s school system – elementary, middle and high school – counts over 14,000 students and 500 workers.
We are greatly inspired by seeing God´s leading in such a mighty manner through dedicated servants who catch God´s vision for His Church in these last days. Maranatha!
