YOU CAN QUOTE ME, a radio program similar to Face the Nation, is aired over radio station WFHR/WWRW-FM in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. The panelists during our twenty-eight-minute unrehearsed taped interview were Debbie Bennett, Scott McIntosh, and Cliff Borden, the moderator and news director of the station.
The interview had been arranged as advertisement for the MISSION '72 meetings about to begin, and we were eager to create lively interest among the people in the area. Needless to say, we had opportunity to do just that with our answer to the first question.
"Tell our listeners what Reach Out for Life is all about and what is going on right now in Wisconsin Rapids."
The second question, which was of primary interest, related to the cooking school: "How do cooking schools weave into a religious program? And, Mrs. Scully, as I understand it, most of your cooking has to do with the vegetarian side of our diet and you use no meats at all. Could you explain how you make vegetarian foods interesting?"
Not only was the cooking school the center of interest during the broadcast but also new interest in the church was aroused as both the church members and the community came to the cooking school. We found that diet and healthful cooking are of major interest to young and old. The program at the church began at 7:00 P.M., and all those who attended the school came on into the chapel for the evangelistic program, presented from 7:45 P.M. to 8:45 P.M.
Pastor and Mrs. Trevor Delafield worked with us as a double team. Mrs. Scully and Mrs. Delafield not only presented a better way of life through better nutrition but also gave out many recipes for delicious well-balanced vegetarian meals. As the class tasted the foods prepared for them the oh's and ah's reflected the satisfaction of finding better foods for the body. Eating together put the audience in a good frame of mind to feast on the Word during the next hour.
The two women conducted the cooking school, as well as helping out in other ways as organist, receptionist, soloist, and as Bible instructors. Besides this, they helped in the Five-Day Plan to Stop Smoking during the second week and led out in a personal-living clinic during the third week.
We believe that by offering the three extra attractions--cooking school, Five- Day Plan, and personal-living clinic we appealed to a much wider range of people and created a greater interest in the evangelistic topics, resulting in increased attendance.
Mrs. Scully used the books The Adventist Home and Child Guidance as text books in the personal-living clinic. Every family attending bought a set of the books for personal study. This type of evangelism helps the church members and also lays a foundation for whole some diet, proper child training, and Christian standards for new believers.
Working together as a husband-and-wife team saves the Lord's money, be cause there is only one salary involved. Also, it is possible in three weeks to hold thirty-nine to forty meetings instead of twenty-one. This concentration gives the new believer a broader base on which to build a new way of life as he "reaches out for life" and really begins to live.
A Thrilling Sequel
Six weeks after closing the evangelistic meetings my wife and I returned to Wisconsin Rapids for a baptismal service. Pastor and Mrs. Delafield had continued studying with those on the prayer list, and eight persons had expressed the desire to unite with God's remnant church.
One young woman (whose grand mother had faithfully brought her to Sabbath school, church services, and evangelistic meetings) was told by her stepfather that if she attended the Seventh-day Adventist church again, he would kill her and the other members of her family. He counted out four bullets to emphasize his words. She was baptized, but the stepfather's threat has not materialized.
Another woman whose parents and husband's parents are Catholic was warned by her husband that if she was baptized Sabbath evening she would have no home to return to after the baptism. Two years married and pregnant, what should she do? Together we prayed about the matter. She said, "I believe the Sabbath truth and I love the Lord. It won't be any easier a year from now. I want to be baptized tonight." She was baptized, and her home is still intact. She had attended the meetings because her next-door neighbor had invited her to the cooking school; then she stayed for the evangelistic meetings that followed.
A lovely Polish Catholic family with three children attended all but three of the twenty meetings. They had completed six of the Voice of Prophecy lessons when the VOP wrote them regarding the Reach Out for Life series. They came to the cooking school and the other programs and were baptized. Three other young people joined with members of their families.
Another woman who had overcome the smoking habit during the Five-Day Plan responded and is now happy to be rearing her young family in the church. She purchased Child Guidance and The Adventist Home to help her in this important work.
Other interested people continue to study. One woman who was reared a Seventh-day Adventist and had become a Catholic said the baptismal service was the most beautiful service she had seen in more than thirty years. She wants to re arrange her working schedule at the rest home where she is employed and then be baptized at camp meeting.
As a minister with many years of service, I know of no more beautiful or thrilling experience than being used of God to draw men and women into His church.
