AMEN Australia 2014: From Bended Knee to Bedside

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Adventist Medical Evangelism Network Australia

Plenary

Phil Mills

Christ’s Method of Training Medical Evangelists

Fred Hardinge

Essential Elements of Effective Health Ministry

Christ’s Method of Medical Evangelism- House Calls

Ross Grant

Treating Oxidative Stress in Dementia: A Role for Lifestyle Medicine

Is Balanced Health Ministry Possible?

Christ’s Method of Medical Evangelism- Visual Impairment

As I was listening to the devotional this morning, which I appreciated very much, it was a wonderful reminder, a thought did occur to me.

And that is that in the context in which I often work, we often say that we can accomplish almost nothing from the General Conference.

And yet We have our temptations in the same line.

The work of the church happens at the local level, and that's a wonderful organizational structure.

And you don't go to the General Conference to accomplish a whole lot at the local level.

And I have learned that over the years, having worked in local churches, in conferences, at divisions, and now at the General Conference.

We may be able to plant a few ideas and do some encouraging and some supporting, and that's our major role.

But at the same time, we still have our temptations to become selfish and proud and uplifted up.

And so we are all the same in our need to daily fall before the cross and give our lives to our Savior.

There is, we're all the same in that regard.

And that also at the same time brings us together in ministry.

And irregardless of what our profession is, what our skill levels are, what we do the best, as we humbly team together in doing comprehensive health ministry, we can be effective for Jesus Christ.

And so I look forward to even more inspiration as we meet this weekend.

Normally I look out at the Pacific Ocean and I'm looking westward.

I grew up on the West Coast, not on the ocean, but we often visited.

I've been at a few conferences on the coastline and we look west when we look out.

We have had a wonderful, almost 2 weeks now, here in the SPD.

We spent last weekend and the weekend before in New Zealand.

And it's always good to meet God's people.

And I must say that as I look at this audience, even though I don't know very many of you, you're my favorite people because you're interested in health ministry and in the Lord's work.

1 of the great blessings of being a part of God's work is that you get acquainted with people here and there and you rarely go somewhere but what you know some people.

So it's been wonderful to reconnect with Rob.

We were just talking at breakfast this morning.

I invited him to come and be a speaker, a health speaker at our camp meeting in Walla Walla, Washington.

And he came and we had a wonderful time together.

And of course, as I walked in here, Sybella was greeting us so warmly.

And my first meeting of Sybella, and I think most of you know her.

I think she's going to share a little bit this afternoon.

Kevin Price introduced us at the Health Ministries Department as 1 of the great health heroes for your division.

And as I've gotten acquainted with her, I certainly think that's a very fitting description.

Paul Rankin, of course, is in your health ministries department.

I met him when he was first Health Ministries Director in New Zealand.

Phil Mills, we've been friends for many, many years and share a passion for health ministry.

And of course, your director here at the Health Ministries Department, Kevin Price, is in the estimation of the Health Ministries Department at the General Conference, 1 of the strongest leaders, and you certainly have the largest Health Ministries Department in the entire world field here in SPD.

And you're accomplishing many wonderful things with God's blessing.

And it's been wonderful to be with Kevin and Sue the past 2 weeks as they've showed us around and showed us some of the beauties of this great division.

We've only seen just a little bit of it, but we feel like we've been filled.

And as Pastor Kevin said yesterday, 1 of the highlights of this trip I know will be our visit to Sunnyside on Thursday.

He mentioned that My wife's grandmother came from Sydney and Korbang area.

And she was living in Korbang as a little girl during the time that Ellen White was there.

And he, several of you have said, you've got to tell the story, so I will do that before I begin my message very quickly.

She was about 4 years old when she first came to Korabong.

She was born with a deformed hand on her right side.

She had a very small thumb, missing 1 finger.

She wasn't fully accepted because of that.

Ellen White had the habit, apparently at that time, of, after church, gathering the children while the parents were visiting and telling them a story.

And she looked out 1 day and saw that there was a new face there, And it was Katie, April's grandmother.

And she was kind of standing on the edge of the circle.

And Ellen White called her and said, come and sit in my lap.

Sometimes we think of Ellen White as being a very austere, harsh, we see that in pictures sometimes.

But I think that's part of the year, it took a long time to set up a picture in those days, there was no digital cameras, couldn't take 16 shots when you press the shutter.

And I think it was also part of the custom to look really formal.

But it conveys an attitude or a reality that may not have been true.

Anyway, Ellen White invited her up to sit in her lap and she asked her what her name was and she noticed that she was hiding this deformed hand in her skirt.

And she took that hand in her hand in front of all the children and she said, this bothers you, doesn't it?

And Katie was nearly in tears, as any four-year-old would be.

And she held that hand and she said, Katie, God has a special purpose for that hand.

Ellen White became her friend and she would never want to miss those stories.

When Ellen White was leaving to go back to America, after she had told the story, she called Katie, who was now about 7 years old, to ask her to see her after this story.

And she personally had a word with Katie.

She said, I want you to promise that when we get to heaven, and she took her hand, after we see Jesus, I want you to tell me how God used this hand in a special way.

She took midwifery at Sydney Sanitarium and became a midwife.

She became a missionary after marrying April's grandfather, who was an American.

They went to the Celebes in Indonesia and opened up the work there.

And in her work as a midwife in those primitive countries or areas, she was able to deliver hundreds and hundreds of babies with that little hand.

And it was a great blessing that the Lord used to encourage his work.

So that's the story and this is my wife's first time here in Australia and we were really blessed and inspired by our visit to Sunnyside and to that area.

So it has been a blessing for us to be here.

I love your title, From Bended Knee to the Bedside.

And as I read that several weeks ago in the materials that was sent, I was reminded of this statement, the simplest prayer that is put up in faith is acceptable to heaven.

The humblest soul that looks up to Christ in faith is connected with the God of the universe.

And all of us have the privilege of seeing that happen in our sphere of work.

Rob did not mention to you, some of you may have seen the book, the missionary book, Health and Healing, edited by Peter Landless and Mark Finley.

If you look in the back, you'll see that I was 1 of the contributors and I'm listed as a physician.

It probably means that you got 1 of the early printings, but I'm not sure because they're being printed by the millions around the world.

I don't have the same privileges that you who are physicians have in interfacing in the same way with patients.

But at the same time, I have had and continue to have the privilege and opportunity of ministering to people, as all of you do in your various capacities.

And the same principles apply and we need to recognize that it's not our work, but it is God's working through us that brings about the accomplishment of God's mission here on this earth.

As we begin talking about some effective principles of health ministry, I would like to ask the question, what is health ministry?

What do we mean when we say health ministry?

Well, I would like to suggest this morning that it is more than a set of scientifically established health practices.

It is more important than all of its individual component parts.

The whole message carries greater weight than the individual pieces, and it does far more than modern science can demonstrate.

We're thrilled with what we see taking place in the world of science today.

Series

Plenary

Essential Elements of Effective Health Ministry

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Onward and Upward - Maintaining the Vision for Medical Evangelism

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Plenary

Evaluating the Final Impressions

51m

Track 2 Seminars

Jesus Methods in the 21st Century, Part 9

1h

AMEN 2013: Plenary Sessions

Remote Area Medical: Volunteers Mobilizing Healthcare & Conference Summary

47m

Health Ministries Workshop

12 How to Transition from Health to Bible Studies

1h 6m

AMEN 2013: Breakout Sessions C

Keys to Successful Comprehensive Health Ministry in the Local Church

59m

Q&A with David DeRose

1h 25m

Medical Missionary Work & the Three Angels' Message

3. Medical Missionary Work: Principles & Concepts

1h

Plenary

Motivation for Service: The Explosive Power of the Gospel

1h 5m

His Heart Was Different

26m

John Torquato Weekend

In the Eye of the Beholder

56m

Plenary

Health Ministry Around the World

52m

Sound Doctrine