CELEBRATE the American Bicentennial in your church in 1976 by fol lowing the Annual Council recommendation to study the book The Story of Our Health Message, by D. E. Robinson. Through this program you can help prepare your members for an expanded witnessing program by following the method of Christ. And what was that method? "In order to impress upon man his obligations to obey the law of God, Christ began His work of redemption by reforming the physical habits of man." —Testimonies, vol. 3, p. 486.
A pilot program is in full swing at the Washington Adventist Hospital church. The authors of this article joined a staff of professional teachers in beginning this Bicentennial Health Study Project on Wednesday night, January 7. Personnel from the hospital staff and members of the hospital church came together to review the history and development of Seventh-day Adventist concepts of health and medical practice.
The class meets the last Wednesday night of each month and is involved in answering numerous questions and clarifying many provocative issues, such as the meaning of Adventist health philosophy, How did the unique sanitarium concept get started? and Is the sanitarium program out of date? Especially interesting is the study of the role Ellen G. White played in the be ginning and development of health services in America and around the world. Every class night a twelve-minute color slide series is presented as a "Panorama of Health" feature. Don Hawley, editor of Life and Health, and the associate editor, Dr. Irving Jones, then present "What's New in Health?" Free copies of the current issue of the national health journal are distributed to the enrollees, and the latest developments in the prevention and cure of disease are discussed.
Next we review assigned chapters in the textbook The Story of Our Health Message, using a guidebook that has been prepared to help class members find a sense of direction in their study. The lesson study itself takes about thirty minutes. In connection with the review of this lesson, physicians and nurses are drawn into the discussions to add the weight of their professional knowledge to the subject. The final feature of the program is a question-and-answer period.
The latest enrollment count totals 335 members, and people are still registering. Enthusiasm runs high, and there isn't a dull moment, because there is so much variety in the program. It is much like the Testimony Countdown and Charismatic Countdown programs that have received such favorable reception in recent years.
Our textbook contains some of the most fascinating stories the class members have ever read. It strengthens one's faith in the divine guidance of the messenger of the Lord, who brought this important phase of healthful living to the attention of the early believers. Today medical science is upholding what inspiration revealed years ago. It is just possible that you have not begun your study of The Story of Our Health Message, but you can catch up by doubling up lesson assignments for a couple of months. This book is avail able in a 75 cent newsprint edition along with the "Twelve Outline Studies of The Story of Our Health Message" (25 cents) at your Adventist Book Center. Class members may subscribe to Life and Health for $6.75. A new 80-slide program and script entitled "Heritage of Health" has been prepared to add interest to this program. It is available through Professional Health Media Services, P.O. Box 922, Loma Linda, California 92354.
We never have had a better opportunity to reach people, for the whole world has now become health conscious and is most susceptible to this mes sage.
