A few months ago, Pastor Kris Govender described the situation in his church in Phoenix, South Africa when he said, "We shake each others hands each Sunday and we each ask, ‘How are you?' and respond with ‘I'm fine.' But the reality is that we are not fine."Many South African Indians have poorly controlled blood pressure and undiagnosed diabetes and suffer from high rates of early heart attacks.During the past year we have spent time with pastors, doctors, nurses and lay people in the Durban area and have been asking the question, "What are the unmet health needs of our communities and what can our churches do to help meet those needs?"From our discussions it is becoming clear that with proper training, members of local churches can screen for common health conditions and provide holistic education to their communities.

Pastor Jacob Moses established the Bethany School of Mission one year ago and every three months offers a weeklong mission workshop for lay people in area Christian churches.He invited Rick and me to present a weeklong workshop on Church Based Health Ministry and Heart Healthy living hosted by the Bethany School at Tongaat Baptist Church.The 20-hour workshop was held mornings from December 1 to 5, 2003.I led the Church Based Health Ministry Bible study and Rick taught the Heart Healthy Living portion of the course.Sometimes, people are under the illusion that an "expert" like a doctor has all the answers and that they have nothing to contribute.Through words and deeds we made it clear throughout the week that God has given talent, resources, training and insights to everyone and that in order to come to a more perfect understanding of how God is calling us to build his kingdom we have to be willing to share with and receive from each other.We examined Gospel texts which illustrate how Christ is a model of a holistic healer and talked about how we see that he still heals today.The connection between sin and illness from a biblical perspective was examined.We discussed how God was calling His church today to be the healing body of Christ and what barriers stand in the way of fulfilling this call.We also studied what Christ teaches us about financially sustainable health ministry.

During the week, Rick met with each course participant individually and offered them the following screening tests:blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, waist-to-hip ratio (for central obesity assessment) and Body-mass index (calculation of weight and height as a screen for obesity).Seventy-five percent of those screened tested positive on one or more of the above screening tests indicating that they were personally at increased risk for cardiovascular disease.

After an extensive literature review, Rick compiled a booklet for the students that contained a summary text on a holistic approach to prevention of heart disease and diabetes and their complications.The booklet also included 80 pages of supporting newspaper, internet and scientific articles for students who had a special interest in a given area and for those who wanted to see supporting data.Rick used drawings, photographs and straight-forward explanations to illustrate to the class how high insulin levels, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, central obesity, high blood pressure, low levels of physical activity, the wrongs fats, and excess calories damage the body.He showed how exercise and a proper diet could prevent or reverse the damage.He also reviewed how integrating this information with regular rest, study of God's word, and the grace of Christ can help us to lead healthier lives.The students responded with the following comments:"No one has ever explained this to me before.""If my late husband and I had known this information years ago, my husband would have followed these recommendations and might still be alive today.""I know I need to walk but I don't have a walking partner.I am going to pray about this.""I went home yesterday and told my brother why his weight was dangerous and that he needed to make some changes."

On the last day of the course, we gave the students an exam.Some of the students were highly apprehensive about taking the test and so we handed out the multiple-choice portion of the exam in advance and then gave some additional bonus questions on the day of the exam.The students did well on the exam.One woman said, "I never thought at my age that I could learn in a classroom setting but this course has proven to me that I can."A Mediterranean style lunch was followed by a small graduation ceremony organized by Pastor Jacob with a devotional by Pastor Samuel Isaac.Certificates were handed out to the eight students who completed the course.

Thank you to all who prayed for God's blessing on us and the course participants.God did indeed answer our prayers.Let us continue to pray so that, "Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.From him the whole body, joined together and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."Ephesians 4:15-16.

In His service,

Anita and Rick Gutierrez