Southern Union, Brazil and UPeU Chile | South American Division
Source: The Health Connection Newsletter | 3rd Quarter 2022
On June 25-27, 2022, the Southern Union of Brazil held its first Lifestyle Coaching Skills (LCS) workshop in the country. The workshop was led by Dr. Katia Reinert, GC HM Associate director, and held at CATRE (Adventist Retreat Center) in the state of Santa Catarina with nearly 100 attendees. These were union and conference health coordinators, pastors, and health professionals from various states eager to learn coaching skills for use in health ministry projects. “The timing could not be more perfect,” noted the Union health coordinator Danielly Canabrava. “We are launching health clubs in various cities, and the coaching approach is exactly what we needed to make this an effective ministry for those invited.” Weeks later Dr. Reinert went to Peru to lead the same workshop for the theological Seminary at the Adventist University in Peru (UPeU) on July 15-17, 2022. The attendees were all seminary students and conference leaders who brought local pastors along with their health teams. Nearly 200 attendees completed the course and showed great enthusiasm to use the newly acquired skills in upcoming evangelistic projects. Pr. Walter Alana, Seminary Dean, expressed his vision of a collaborative comprehensive health ministry effort with local conferences where students would participate. “We cannot wait to see how God will bless the efforts. The coaching approach to lifestyle change is what we needed to take the evangelistic health outreach to the next level.”