Earlier this year, 56 volunteers from Adventist churches across Sydney came together to provide health screening services at the Mind, Body, Spirit Festival (MBS) in Darling Harbour. Between March 7 and 10, festival-goers visited the ELIA Wellness stall where they filled out a lifestyle questionnaire, had their blood sugar level and blood pressure taken, and received a free massage and free consult with a health professional.
Dr Christiana Leimena-Lehn, Greater Sydney Conference health director, said one of the goals of attending this Festival was for the Adventist Church “to be visible in a mode of service. And not just being present, but actually providing services that are free.” The ELIA Wellness stall was the only booth at the event which was providing a free service, aside from the designated workshops and talks. Providing these services was an opportunity to improve perceptions of the Church in a secular space. “We want to care for the people who come, regardless of what their background is, or what their interest is in religion,” said Christiana.
The Saturday and Sunday of the festival were frantically busy with people visiting the stall to have their health checked, yet despite the crowded nature of the stall, many festival-goers noticed there was something very peaceful and relaxing about the ELIA stall that they didn’t experience at other stalls.
The festival is open to the public, receiving hundreds of individuals who are seeking meaning and spiritual fulfilment. Many stalls offer spiritualistic and new-age practices, such as meditation, psychic readings and the selling of crystals. The ELIA stall included a section with Adventist literature, and the most popular book sold was The Great Controversy!
Those who attend are often searching for spiritual answers to life’s questions, according to volunteer Ethel Miman, whose spiritual journey had taken her through new-age practices and beliefs before finding true peace and truth in God. “Once upon a time, these were my people . . . it had been a world that brought me a sense of security—it had seduced me with its promises of embracing my true self and finding eternal love.” But in 2016 while searching for spiritual enlightenment, Ethel met Jesus and experienced “His true power . . . His heart of love and the deepest healing imaginable.”
It was this genuine healing and love which she was excited to share at MBS. “It was only natural that I felt a strong pull to serve in this space because of the beautiful gift God had given me, through Jesus,” she said. “The whole day I was buzzing with abundant energy and my hands didn’t feel sore or tired, despite giving massages to endless lines of spiritually tired, stressed out and truth-seeking souls. Each person who came through the tent carried heavy burdens, tight shoulders like cement, and were open to sharing about their trials, showing that they were hungrily seeking the nurture of physical touch and deep emotional comfort that only Jesus could give. I felt impressed to ask a handful of participants if I could pray for them, and with gratitude they all agreed.”
One individual in particular remembered Ethel from the 2023 MBS. This individual was deep in spiritualism and appeared to be a high priestess of some variety. She remembered Ethel and said she had been looking for her, hoping Ethel would be at the ELIA tent again this year. She had confided in Ethel about her many recent trials and, with tears in her eyes, gladly accepted the offer to pray over her. Ethel invited her to some of the ELIA wellness groups on holistic health and spiritual healing, which she was interested in and took details for.
Many individuals at MBS are not aware of the love and peace which can be found in Jesus. Ethel reflected, “I know the darkness Jesus has taken from me. He continues to heal me deeply each day. That is why I chose Jesus. That’s why I turned my back on the new-age world and decided to serve Him instead and stay close to Him.”
MBS was a beautiful opportunity for the Seventh-day Adventist Church to minister to those searching for spiritual meaning through addressing their health needs. Speaking about the opportunity the Church has to minister at MBS to those seeking spiritual meaning, Christiana reflected that the Church needs to be more present in those places.
As part of this initiative, ELIA Wellness is seeking to turn local churches into wellness hubs where health programs can be promoted to the community. If you would like to partner with ELIA, send an email to partner@eliawellness.com.
Olivia Fairfax is an assistant editor at Adventist Record.
