It has taken me a long time to find the secret of blending the health message with public evangelism here in the Southland. One of our greatest problems in the past has been to find a tactful way of leading the people of the South into healthful living, so that they would prosper physically and spiritually at the same time.
For years we have presented nearly all the doctrines first, and then come up toward the close of the effort and overwhelmed interested people with health subjects that almost quenched their interest. I have appreciated the fact from the beginning of my public evangelism "that man has a body as well as a soul to save" and that "the body-must be kept in a healthy condition in order that the soul may be in health." But to find a tactful way to educate new converts along this line has been a perplexing problem. Statements like the following from the Spirit of prophecy stimulated and encouraged me into greater health evangelism:
"It is the Lord's design that the restoring influence ot health reform shall be a part of the last great effort to proclaim the gospel message."—Medical Ministry, p. 259.
"There are some who think that the question of diet is. not of sufficient importance to be included in their evangelistic work. But such make a great mistake. . . . The subject of temperance, in all its bearings, has an important place in the work of salvation. . . . Keep the work of health reform to the front, is the _message I am instructed to bear."—Testimonies, vol. 9, pp. 112, 113.
Several years ago I was associated with a fellow evangelist in an effort, and observed the way he presented the health program. With his counsel and that of others I worked out a program of blending the health message with doctrinal subjects in my public evangelism, which has proved to be successful. My wife is a registered nurse, and has been a great help to me, keeping me posted on materials that would fit into my subjects.
We are instructed to "present the principles of temperance in their most attractive form," so that is what I have tried to do, and the Lord has blessed with marked success. I give ten beautifully illustrated lectures during the course of the entire effort. Usually I start sometime during the second week, and run one a week for ten weeks. I use about 500 slides (2" x 2") for the ten lectures. By this means of educating the audience from a health standpoint, it makes it very easy for them to accept the Biblical program of healthful living as we draw near the time of baptism.
Another phase of our health-education program is our health-food stand in the lobby of the auditorium. This is usually in the charge of a nurse in uniform, who explains the value of our health foods to the interested people. We do not commercialize on this, but handle it entirely as a health-education program. The following list of titles gives an idea of the way the health message can be blended with public evangelism.
