Worldwide Ministry News
REPORTS Summer 2012 • Vol. 14, No. 2
Dealing Precious Goods
Though surrounded by Mexican drug cartels, God s love prevails ¦ 6
Latest News From: Australia, Norway, USA, and More...
NEWSFLASH
News From OCI Ministries Around the World
Adequately Trained
In May staff from Miracle Meadows School completed a training course in intensive intervention skills. They need these skills to work with children suffering from reactive attachment disorder. The school, located in West Virginia, aims to more effectively meet the needs of students and their families as the staff combine this new training with other progressive changes being made to the program. A student and his adoptive parents also participated in the training, which led to significant improvements that were visible to both parents and staff.
New Staff Housing
Advent Home Learning Center Inc. in Tennessee recently purchased mobile homes to expand staff housing. The school was grateful for an ASI grant, as well as the volunteers that provided their time and equipment; staff and older students pitched in, too. The ministry continues to trust God to meet its needs as the staff strives to minister to boys with different learning styles.
Graduation Celebrated
Brick Blessings
The construction of Vida Internacional s bilingual elementary school, Campos Blancos Educational Center, is well under way. They had the help of two different OCI ministries located in Tennessee: Heritage Academy and Laurelbrook School & Sanitarium. This spring the schools took mission trips to Honduras to pour the foundation and lay brick. The local children were delighted with the progress and helped with whatever they could.
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In June students had a chance to reflect on a year of blessings and look toward a future committed to serving Christ as they graduated from the Granheim Foundations s Matteson Mission School in Norway. The ministry eagerly anticipates the start of another school year in August, as well as events such as Impact Scandinavia and two Inspiration Weekends.
Spiritual Growth
Located in Utah, staff at DayStar Adventist Academy were presented with a unique witnessing opportunity this summer. Through the Castle Valley Farm Agriculture Internship Program, the team came into contact with a Morman who had been studying the Bible with a Seventh-day Adventist pastor for several months; however, the individual desired to leave the Mormon community and find a place to grow in the scriptures and the Adventist faith. The ministry asks for prayers as it continues to reach out to people through its internship program and as the ministry prepares for a new school year in the fall.
Healthy Harvest
Life in Coonamble, Australia, consists of hard work, sports, the rodeo, and heavy beer consumption. While the area has little Seventh-day Adventist presence, Eastward Missionary College worked with church members from 75 miles away to conduct a health expo at the Coonamble Agricultural Show. The team quickly earned the confidence of the community, and about 30 people requested a follow-up. The ministry is also thankful that God held off the predicted rain long enough to harvest 1,550 hay bales, which will profit the ministry s agriculture program.
Start Planning Now!
Join the OCI family in Zambia next June at the annual OCI Leadership Retreat. Hosted by Riverside Farm Institute, the retreat will be an exciting time to meet leaders and staff from OCI ministries around the world, participate in beneficial seminars with uplifting speakers, and hear reports of how the work is progressing in other countries. We hope to see you at this memorable retreat! For more information, contact us at info@outpostcenters.org. Dates: May 30 -June 8, 2013 Optional Excursion: June 9 -12, 2013
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A Fresh Start by James & Heike Clark
Clark’s ABakery at Stone Cave, his nose s Eugene stepped inside
reveled in the sweet, nutty smell of freshly baked bread. While the tasty treats appealed to his senses, he was looking for something a little different. Eugene explained his situation, hopeful that the staff would be able to help. When Eugene had surgery for skin cancer on his face, it left a painful wound; his doctor recommended that he treat the infection naturally. James and Heike Clark, directors of Clark’s Bakery, suggested a natural remedy, and his face soon healed. It was also the beginning of a friendship. Last year the Clarks visited Eugene in his home—a small rented space inside a warehouse. His landlord had left the engine of a motor home running, and the exhaust fumes were slowly seeping into Eugene’s room. As the Clarks chatted with Eugene, James warned him about the smell. Later that night Eugene heeded the warning and left, a decision that he believes saved his life.
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In February, Eugene, now 93, moved in with the Clarks. He also began attending church on Sabbath. The team prays that God will continue to use their bakery and ministry to connect with others, the way they have bonded with Eugene.
Top Left: Staff children at Clark s Bakery see Eugene (center) as an adopted grandfather. Above: James and Heike Clark are dedicated to sharing Christ s love through their bakery.
James & Heike Clark run Clark s Bakery at Stone Cave in Tennessee. Visit www.clarksretreat.com to find out more about this OCI associate member.
President s Perspective
Go to the Great City an enviable one. God told him to Jleave his comfortable home and head to the great city
About the Cover: OCI ministries aim to share God s precious truth with everyone. Photo by: Janell Hullquist
onah s task was not
of Nineveh with a message of warning. Go to the city? The message so discomforted Jonah that his name is now synonymous with disobedience. Instead of journeying 585 miles northeast toward Nineveh, he attempted to travel 2,500 miles west toward Tarshish. By placing Jonah’s resistance into a modern-day context, we can better appreciate his choices. Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, an idolatrous, conquering nation that continually threatened Israel with extinction. God’s command was comparable to a Jew living in Nazicontrolled Germany, giving a message of warning and repentance to Hitler and his followers. Yet with some gentle prodding and direction, Jonah was finally persuaded to accept God’s call, which came to him a second time—Go to Nineveh and proclaim the message I give you. A somewhat more cooperative and slightly subdued Jonah gave his warning with startling results: the entire capital repented. There is hardly a more relevant book for us today than that of Jonah. The great cities all around the world are in need of workers willing to be God’s agents. The leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is focused on evangelizing the great cities of the world; however, the ordained ministry cannot do this alone. God is calling for a united and combined effort of lay workers and ministers. Are you a modern-day Jonah?
REPORTS Summer 2012 • Vol. 14, No. 2
Steven Grabiner Executive Editor Janell Hullquist Editor, Layout & Design Hannah Kuntz Content Editor Debbie Hicks Copy Editor Printed By College Press, LLC
OCI Reports magazine is published quarterly by Outpost Centers International. Send address changes to ocireports@outpostcenters.org, and please include both the old and new addresses. You may also use the OCI contact information below. Outpost Centers International is a nonprofit organization working in cooperation with the Seventhday Adventist Church to network and nurture supporting ministries worldwide. OCI operates through the generosity of people like you and issues tax-deductible receipts to U.S. donors. One-hundred percent of all donations goes to the designated ministry. Please direct correspondence to: Outpost Centers International 5132 Layton Lane Apison, TN 37302 Tel: 423-236-5600 Fax: 423-236-5650 Email: info@outpostcenters.org For further information, please visit us on the web at www.outpostcenters.org.
Steven Grabiner President Editor
janell@outpostcenters.org
Copyright © 2012 Outpost Centers International
Dealing Precious Goods Interview by Hannah Kuntz
More than 20 years ago, Jaime Espinal indulged in the lucrative yet dangerous lifestyle of a drug dealer. Then a 39-year jail sentence stopped him in his tracks. Yet God had a plan of escape for Jaime. As he began studying the Bible, God opened his eyes to biblical truths. After seven months in jail, Jamie s case was miraculously dismissed. Today Jaime and his wife, Marjorie, run Centro Misionero de Salud (CMS), a family ministry in Mexico. They train medical missionaries and impact their community through health education and the message of God s love.
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What impressed you and your family to start Centro Misionero de Salud?
What has been the most successful aspect of your ministry?
Before Marjorie and I began CMS, we traveled as missionaries all over Central America, Cuba, Mexico, and the southern United States. We held health seminars and treatment sessions, as well as published and sold books to be self-supporting. In 1995 the North Mexican Union Conference invited us to produce health videos. While we were filming at the union office, several officers suggested that we start a ministry to train medical missionaries. They told us about a property in Galeana, Mexico. We looked at it, and the Lord impressed us to settle there and to provide training to lay people.
The health message has made a big impact on our region. We ve witnessed many people changing their health habits, appreciative of a new lifestyle. When we first came and opened a health store in town, people weren t familiar with the products. For example, they thought that soybeans were just for pigs. Now people flock to the store. We also have a vegetarian restaurant, give treatments, and produce radio programs. When we started an elementary school, we combined health and education, and that really made a difference in the community. We see that God s methods
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Face to Face really work, and we re excited to see how they impact people s lives. There has been a great demand for us to hold a health program called I Want to Live Healthy in schools. Seventh-day Adventist leaders around Mexico and Nicaragua have invited us to help put on this program, as well as health expos. For the next five years we will be holding major health expos in conjunction with evangelistic programs that the Adventist Church is putting on in big cities. It s really exciting to work together with the church to promote health.
How has the increasing violence in Mexico affected CMS? Last year two drug cartels were fighting in one of the closest cities, about an hour away. There was a lot of shooting and killing. One cartel began chasing the other toward the mountains. People warned us a few minutes before the cartel arrived, telling us to close the doors of the school and get the kids out. We took the children as far away as we could from the road and hid in a secluded place surrounded by trees. There was a lot of panic in town; it was like an apocalyptic scene. About 12 vehicles from the lead cartel pulled off the road and attempted to drive onto our campus. At the last moment, the group took another route and sped away. We had to close the school for a few days. The parents were frightened, but God prevented the cartel from harming us, and that really made an impact. We met with the parents and shared Bible promises with them. It was amazing to
see how that gave them confidence. Even though we couldn t guarantee anything as humans, we trusted God with everything.
What are some of the other challenges you ve faced? One challenge we have gotten accustomed to is the lack of staff. There are always so many needs and much work to do, but we realized that we have to seek God s guidance to do the work He wants us to do, and not to do more. My wife and I sometimes receive help from volunteers, but most of the help comes from medical missionary students.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your work? We enjoy working with motivated young people and adults. It is rewarding to see people become inspired to serve the Lord and witness Above: Community members how God uses them benefit from health education. in wonderful ways as Below: CMS students get hands-on they work with the experience before they graduate. church and start their own ministries. In the medical missionary training program, all of the students are involved in health schools in the community and also in an evangelistic campaign before they graduate. It s exciting to see baptisms every year as the result of the students work.
What are your future goals for CMS? God is opening doors for us to have more self-supporting work throughout Mexico. We re praying that He will guide and direct every single project and send the right people to work in these places. Jaime Espinal runs Centro Misionero de Salud in Mexico. To learn more, visit www.cmsmex.com.
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Touching Lives
Web of Influence by Jesse Zwiker
UDooley would not be able toLori train nder most circumstances,
as a medical missionary. As a nurse and mother, her time is limited, and spending six months away from home would not be feasible. Yet Lori longed to acquire medical missionary skills. When her husband, Matthew, enrolled in the six-month training program at Wildwood’s College of Health Evangelism, her desire grew. The possibility for her to study seemed small, but then she found out about the ministry’s online course. Since January, the College of Health Evangelism has offered an online training course to individuals like Lori. More than 100 students from around the world are currently enrolled in the six-month program, which includes such classes as nutrition, last-day events, natural remedies, and hydrotherapy. The idea for the course was inspired by a challenge issued to church members by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists—that
members should get involved in medical missionary work. Wildwood’s course now helps people train at home. In order to make the program a success, Wildwood is collaborating with other OCI ministries such as LIGHT and The Granheim Foundation. They have also involved speakers like Roy Gane from Andrews University and Neil Nedley from Weimar Center of Health & Education. Now halfway through the online program, Lori says the classes have been eye-opening and convicting. Without the online course, Lori She appreciates Dooley would not be able to the quality of train as a medical missionary. information, as well as learning how to apply it to her personal life and in her local church. The team encourages others to take advantage of this unique program. Jesse Zwiker is the director of the College of Health Evangelism at Wildwood Lifestyle Center & Hospital. To learn more, visit www.healthevangelism.com.
Now anyone can learn medical missionary skills without leaving home.
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Touching Lives
Gripped by Grace
by Manuel Hanke
Ehistory, including periods of
urope is saturated with a rich
enlightenment and reformation, as well as times of social and spiritual darkness. However, during the past few centuries, it has grown increasingly secular. Many people have lost interest in God, forming their own ideas about the universe and their purpose in it. Yet despite much indifference, some people are open. Landhaus Die Arche, an OCI ministry in Germany, is using the health message to promote God’s healing, both of body and heart. The staff at Landhaus Die Arche’s lifestyle center take pleasure in helping guests improve their health through NEWSTART® programs. Many participants are surprised at the positive changes they see in their health, and when they return home their physicians are often shocked as well. The lifestyle programs are designed to teach people of all ages the many aspects of a healthy lifestyle—not just by emphasizing good nutrition and exercise for the purpose of survival, but
Lifestyle guests enjoy a wide variety of activities in nature.
so that guests may also find enjoyment and meaning in their daily lives. While each guest’s story of healing is exciting, team members are even more thrilled when people take an interest in spiritual things; some pray for the first time, and others are touched by the daily devotions. One example is Roswitha, a middleaged lady who came to the ministry struggling with depression and insomnia. For two weeks she received encouragement and personal counseling. Now she has a new lease on life. Acting as God’s healing hands is rewarding for the ministry’s dedicated team. As guests make strides toward improving their health, the ministry also seeks to offer answers to their quest for life’s significance. Manuel Hanke is a physical therapist at Landhaus Die Arche. To learn more, visit www.outpostcenters.org.
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Highways Byways
and
To the
Compiled by Hannah Kuntz
Around the world, OCI ministries reach their communities through centers of influence and outpost centers. increasingly urban, evangelism methods Amust be re-evaluated with thebecomes goal of spreading Christ’s message of love and s the world s population
healing most effectively. Ellen White outlined the ideal approach to comprehensive evangelism in many of her writings. She encouraged the Church to start “centers of influence” inside the cities (churches, health clinics, reading rooms, vegetarian restaurants, community centers) and “outpost centers” in the countryside (training centers for evangelistic workers, lifestyle health centers, academies). OCI ministries around the world are seeking to reach people of all walks of life through these approaches.
A Taste for Health
Uchee Pines Institute, USA
The Uchee Pines Institute campus is nestled on 200 acres in Alabama. At the lifestyle center, guests attend 17-day sessions to learn how to achieve optimum health. Throughout the session the
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staff continually direct guests to the only one who can heal any disease—Jesus Christ. Along with this outpost center, Uchee Pines established an inner-city mission, Country Life Vegetarian Restaurant & Natural Food Store, in Columbus, Georgia. During
Mission Snapshot
more than 40 years of ministry, Uchee Pines has established contacts with the community, many through Country Life. Customers often ask for health advice, which sometimes leads to Bible studies and baptisms. Uchee Pines recently began a new outreach program, Health@Your Door. The goal is to bring medical missionary work into people’s homes with the help of lifestyle educator trainees from Uchee Pines’ six-month training program. The trainees go door-to-door, giving out promotional DVDs and inviting people to visit the ministry website. Through follow-up, the ministry is able to conduct health work in people’s homes, including cooking demonstrations and health education.
In Jesus Footsteps VitaSalus, Portugal
Viriato and Marrianne Ferreira were missionary doctors living in a remote region of Africa. However, while visiting Wildwood Lifestyle Center & Hospital 14 years ago, their perception of “missions” began drastically changing. At Wildwood, an outpost located about 20 minutes outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee, they met lifestyle guests desperate for healing. Most came from cities across America. They wondered if this area of work could be a new mission field for them. Shortly afterward they accepted an invitation from the Portuguese Union of Seventh-day Adventists to help establish a lifestyle program in Portugal. They began working in the capital city, Lisbon, which has a population of more than 3 million people. In 2002 the first
Adventist Outpatient Medical Center opened downtown. Many people suffering from depression, stress, and a multitude of other health problems came for treatment. Reflecting on their city ministry during the past 10 years, the Ferreiras are grateful for the opportunity to bond with the local people, as well as with the Adventist Church in Portugal. While they enjoyed working in the city, God had more planned: a lifestyle center. They purchased a property with old, derelict buildings located about two hours north of Lisbon. While the reconstruction work began more than three years ago, there is still much to be done; however, their ministry is not dependent on buildings. Among God’s nature and people, lives are being changed. The team has already brought people there to experience His healing. In addition, the team is forming connections with The new lifestyle center in the community Portugal is coming together. through health expos and clubs, missionary trips, and medical work. The Lisbon clinic is still open, and the Ferreiras visit twice a week. Medical work has also started in Porto, a nearby city of 2 million people. The ministry encourages others to follow in Jesus’ footsteps by reaching out to those who are in need, whether in the city or the country. To learn more about each of these ministries, visit www.outpostcenters.org.
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Food for Thought
Groundbreaking Evangelism by Rod Bailey
Afor digging soft dirt, but it is shovel is an effective tool
inadequate to break up hard ground. A pick ax is sometimes essential. Steady progress is made as the ax breaks up the tough soil or rock for the shovel to remove. Used together, the ax and shovel transform a difficult task into one of certainty and satisfaction. Could it be the same in evangelism? We have struggled to successfully evangelize the big cities, and our efforts in smaller towns and rural areas have not been significantly more successful. Why are we finding it so difficult? Acknowledging that secularization makes the “ground” (people) harder to reach, Elder Ted Wilson and the General Conference recognized an effective “pick ax” to help breach the secular and postmodern mindset of many living in the world’s cities: medical missionary work. Jesus utilized both medical missionary work and evangelism in His ministry as He traveled around Galilee teaching, preaching, and healing people’s diseases. Jesus relied so heavily on His “pick ax” to break down barriers that He spent more
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time healing than preaching. First, He mingled, intentionally seeking out people to be a practical help and blessing to them. Second, He showed obvious, honest, and compelling sympathy for them. Third, He practically and consistently ministered to their felt and real needs, whatever they were, with the purest unselfishness, winning their confidence. Then, when their hearts were softened, He was able to share eternal truths, taking the fourth step: an invitation to “Follow Me.” These methods are so simple that every one of us, regardless of education, experience, or socioeconomic status can become co-laborers with Christ. By following Christ’s approach, you and I can reach hard hearts by synergistically combining medical missionary work and gospel evangelism to minister to the whole person. Let’s grab our shovels AND pick axes and get on with it, claiming the promise that “Accompanied by the power of persuasion, the power of prayer, the power of the love of God, this work will not, cannot, be without fruit” (The Ministry of Healing, pp. 143-144). Rod Bailey is the education director at Eastward Missionary Collage in Australia. To find out more about his ministry, visit www.eastward.edu.au.
Get Involved
If you have a desire to serve God, prayerfully consider one of the following ways to get involved.
Service
Opportunities
Service Openings Advent Home Learning Center, USA Licensed Clinical Social Worker Resident Care Couples
DayStar Adventist Academy, USA Math Teacher Science Teacher
Eden Valley Institute, USA Registered Nurse
Fountainview Academy, USA Assistant Boys & Girls Deans
Laurelbrook School & Sanitarium, USA Academy Registrar Assistant Girls Dean
Miracle Meadows School, USA Dorm Sta Elementary School Teacher Food Service Human Resources Director Math/Science Tutor
Oklahoma Academy, USA Boys & Girls Deans Cafeteria Manager Country Store Manager Maintenance Worker Massage Director/Instructor Registrar
Peru Projects, Peru General Mechanic Multimedia Specialist
Vida Internacional, Honduras Bible Worker Construction Manager Elementary Teachers Graphic Design and Media Specialist Health Promotions Coordinator Kindergarten Teachers Mission School Teachers
Mission Projects, Belize Internist Orthopedic Surgeon
View the complete list at www.outpostcenters.org. OC I
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