Two churches with a heart for helping people find better and healthier lifestyles offered ministry programs this summer.
Life in Recovery
The Startup (Wash.) Church began a "Celebrating Life in Recovery" program this summer led by Tina Anderson, a newly-baptized member who is a recovering addict herself.
Anderson was inspired by the story of Cheri Peters, from True Step Ministries, who miraculously recovered from her addictions and now celebrates 30 years of recovery.
The "Celebrating Life in Recovery" program takes participants through spiritual, mental and physical well-being concepts. The holistic approach to healing and recovery enables participants to deal with their issues, find a sense of hope and self-worth in God, stand up to truly celebrate life in recovery and help others in the recovery journey. Each participant receives a copy of Steps to Christ which is used as a cornerstone for the spiritual aspects of the meetings.
The church followed up the recovery program in October with a live presentation with Cheri and Brad Peters and with Simple Solutions, a DVD series from Lifestyle Matters.
Healthy Eating
The Lacey (Wash.) Church presented four weekly vegetarian-vegan cooking classes in May, with more than 96 people attending from the church and community. Each class, organized by Ronald and Joan Case, featured plant-based food samples, followed by DVD presentations on the health benefits of a meatless diet and live cooking demonstrations.
One attendee writes, "As a lifelong meat eater, I find it a bit difficult to transition, but I am working on it: I try to slip veggie main dishes past my family, and as long as they are tasty and also filling, we all enjoy them. I have really enjoyed the classes that I have taken at your church."
Others say they appreciated hearing scientific evidence that the original Bible diet of fruits, nuts, grains and vegetables would increase their longevity.
The church held a Daniel Bible-study class as a follow-up and invited participants to the church's evangelistic series in September.
Both stories, in full format, are available online at washingtonconference.org.
Startup (Wash.) Church members support the "Celebrating Life in Recovery" program this summer.
Ronald and Joan Case, Lacey (Wash.) Church members, organize a weekly vegetarian-vegan cooking school where over 96 people attend, with one-third of the audience from the community.
