Tobacco Clinic and Evangelism

How we hold meetings.

KENNETH J. MITTLEIDERMinisterial Association Secretary, North pacific Union Conference

WE ALWAYS begin our series on a Saturday night. The following Satur­day night, or one week after our meetings have begun, we begin half an hour earlier. Instead of starting at seven-thirty, we begin at 7:00, and we open the meeting with the film One in 20,000. At the conclusion of the film I ask all of those who wish to attend the clinic to stop smoking to come into an adjoining room that has been previ­ously designated for a clinic. All we do that night is obtain their names and tell them to go home and think about it and make sure that they really want to quit smoking.

I tease them a little bit by telling them, "Tonight you can think of every reason to stop smoking, but when we get on the pro­gram those reasons will all leave you, so I want you to itemize them between now and tomorrow evening when we will officially begin our Stop Smoking clinic so that dur­ing those dark hours of having no reasons you can read over the many reasons you have now for stopping." This assures us that the following evening when they come one-half hour before our meeting, so that the clinic can be run separately from the meeting it­self, each one present is really in earnest.

We only have one-half hour each night from seven to seven-thirty to spend on this program. We meet every night from Sunday through to the following Saturday night, and then the following Wednesday and Sat­urday night, after that we meet to get a progress report.

The opening Sunday night of our to­bacco clinic is planned as follows:

7:00-7:15 I take the program and get each one acquainted with the others. I outline the part the mind has to play over, the body, and I urge them to go home and find all the cigarettes and cigarette butts there and destroy them. I urge them to put away anything that would remind them of a cigarette, and then we teach them to audibly say "Through the power of Christ I choose not to smoke." I give them two texts, which I have them write out and carry with them during the days that will follow-1 Corinthians 10:13 and Phi­lippians 4:13.

7:15-7:25 The doctor then takes ten min­utes to show the relation of cigarettes, tea, coffee, cola, and the other alkaloids to smoking. He insists that they use no tea, coffee, or alcoholic beverages at least during the time they are in the clinic program. Then he outlines a diet very similar to the one used the first day in the Five-Day Plan.

7:25-7:30 As soon as he finishes, I take five more minutes. There is only one promise that I ask theni to give me. That is, since they have now made a decision and are going to throw away all their cigarettes, that they promise not to buy any or take them from any­one before they first give me a call, tell­ing me of the craving they are having. I give them my telephone number. When they call I ask them to wait un­til I can get to their home and then I will supply them with a cigarette. This may sound childish but it works. I have had a number who have called. Of course, this gives me a chance to have a word of prayer, and in only one case have I had to leave a cigarette, and in this case I wrote on the cigarette before I left, and I only left one, "Christ or this." The next morning the lady called and asked me to get it out of her home. She had not smoked it.

I tell them of this experience and we laugh just a little bit together. And then before we part we form a large circle with each one joining hands, and I repeat a sen­tence prayer and they repeat it after me. This is the way we close our tobacco clinic each evening, with prayer asking the Lord to give us a victory the coming day over tobacco, tea, coffee, alcohol, or whatever may hinder our progress in overcoming this habit.

The next night at 7:00 P.M. I read each one of their names in turn, and ask them how it went that day. Of course, this goes into quite a discussion and will last from ten to fifteen minutes, depending upon the size of the group. After we receive this report the doctor takes over for another ten minutes, tells them the diet for the fol­lowing day, again insists that there be no tea, coffee, cola, or any such alkaloids used, and explains about purine, the effects that meat can have as far as stimulating the desire for a cigarette.

When he finishes, I take five minutes to re-emphasize the matter of mind over body, mental attitudes, and ask them to tell me in unison how they were able to gain a victory that day. They say together, "Through the power of Christ we did not smoke."

I also like to have someone come in from a previous clinic, if we are close enough in the area, to tell of their victory in the previous clinic. This seems to fortify them for the second day. And the enthusiasm generated by one who has quit previously cannot be expressed by anyone who has not experienced it. We again join hands and have our prayer, and they are dismissed to go to the meeting or to their homes, for we have in each series some who come only to the clinic. Many who have started and come only at first to the clinic after a few nights begin to attend the meetings, and the per­centage of baptisms in this group is very high.

Tuesday night at 7:00 P.M. I again read the names, ask them how they have done, and if they have any questions. This will take about fifteen minutes. The doctor takes ten minutes, this time covering cho­lesterol and the effects that tobacco has upon the nervous system. When he finishes, again I ask them in unison to tell me how they gained a victory that day. It is thrilling to hear them say, "Through the power of Christ we have had another day of victory." We repeat our two texts together, join hands and have our prayer, usually with the doctor leading out this time, and they are dismissed.

On Wednesday night I do the same as the previous two nights. The doctor spends much of his time telling how to control their weight problem. It seems there are always those who want to gain, and he tells them how to do it. To many who want to make sure they do not gain or who wish to lose a few pounds, he gives the reverse program. He will introduce this night, or else on Tuesday night, the coldmitten fric­tion, giving details on how to do it. We again have them say it was through the power of Christ that they gained the victory and pray together, and they are dismissed.

Thursday night the program is the same, but when they give you their report they are much more enthusiastic because the day has been so much easier. The doctor em­phasizes that we have not removed anything from them that was good, but now since they have gotten rid of something that has been bad, they need to put some­thing good in its place. He will emphasize getting out and walking, enjoying the things of God and nature, and the rest of his time is usually spent in a question and answer series. We thank God for the fulfill­ment in each of our lives of our two texts. We have our joint prayer and dismissal.

Friday night we meet for a shorter time, covering each name, how it welt that day, the doctor will ask if there are any ques­tions, We have our prayer, and this night they usually like to visit at length with one another.

Saturday night the meeting begin at the same time, 7:00 P.M., and we graduate all of those who started the clinic in the, e-ginning and have a full victory strait through. The graduation exercise is a com­pliment to their achievement, and I give them a book such as Courage for the Crisis or any of the dollar books. We plan our two additional meetings for a progress report. This is our tobacco and evangelism pro­gram.


KENNETH J. MITTLEIDERMinisterial Association Secretary, North pacific Union Conference

March 1966

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