A Healthy Lifestyle leadership training course was held at Anmyeon Training Center in Korea April 16-21, 2023. The event was organized by the Northern Asia-Pacific Division and the Korean Union Conference, along with the five local Korean conferences. This was the third event since last year. The fourth event is planned to be jointly hosted in Mongolia by Mongolia Mission, KUC, and the NSD Health Department.
About 25 church leaders attended the course. Our slogan was “NEWSTART lifestyle is not just a theory, but practice.” The participants engaged in learning practical lectures, such as proper and healthy vegetable and fruit-based meals for dinner, aerobic exercise (walking), and stretching and muscle training. The attendees expressed their satisfaction with the practical training of the NEWSTART lifestyle, as they had only previously learned the theory of the program. They pledged to lead out in this program for health reform and practice it as pastors in their local churches.
Jacob Ko, the Health Ministries (HM) director of NSD, emphasized that God’s plan of redemption requires physical, spiritual, and intellectual restoration, which is why the churches, hospitals, and schools were established through Ellen White. He stressed that this comprehensive approach is what God desires for restoration.
Park SangHee, the HM director of KUC, lectured on the importance of faith in the NEWSTART Lifestyle program and why it is the most important thing. Other local conference directors also lectured on practical aspects of NEWSTART.
During the morning session, stretching, muscle training, and core exercises were conducted. In the afternoons, participants walked for about 10 kilometers daily. In the evenings, they had fruit-based meals. Initially, the leaders were skeptical about having only two bananas for dinner, but they realized that the slow process of chewing made them feel full.
They also experienced firsthand that a simple fruit meal can be great, especially for those who feel exhausted after a long day.