Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY220064A
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00:05 ♪ I want to spend my life mending broken people ♪ 00:15 ♪ I want to spend my life removing pain ♪ 00:26 ♪ Lord let my words heal a heart that hurts ♪ 00:36 ♪ I want to spend my life mending broken people ♪ 00:57 ♪ ♪ 01:07 Hello friends and welcome to another 3ABN Today. My name is 01:09 James Rafferty and I am here with my lovely wife Rise 01:13 (ReeSee) Rafferty. Thirty-three years now. Praise the Lord. 01:19 We're so glad you've joined us today. We have a great program 01:22 If you are into learning how to relax, learning how to destress 01:27 learn about health, massage, get a little bit of education on the 01:32 side and kind of get into a retreat that kind of out and 01:34 away from the city a little bit, you have come to the right place 01:38 at the right time because we have a table full of guests that 01:41 are going to tell you just how you can do that and just where 01:44 you can do that. So to my immediate right, to our 01:48 immediate right is Melody. Melody, glad you're here. 01:50 Tell us a little bit about yourself and where you are 01:53 (Melody Caviness) coming from and what you're here for. 01:55 Well I just came from the Black Hills in South Dakota, I say 02:03 South DakoTa and I moved from Ohio to South Dakota. And I was 02:07 kind of commissioned to come there to go to work as the 02:11 general manager. And so I do whatever I'm asked to do. 02:16 Okay that's what general manager's all about. (Multiple 02:21 voices and laughter) 02:25 We know you as the chef as the cook here at camp meeting when 02:28 we have camp meeting here. So you probably do a little bit of 02:31 that there too. 02:33 Just a little bit. 02:34 Yeah. Praise the Lord. And to your immediate right is Mark 02:38 Anthony. Mark tell us about yourself and what you're doing 02:40 here and your relationship to Black Hills. 02:42 Okay well I'm the president over at Black Hills Health and 02:44 Education Center and of course if people have watched us on 02:48 3ABN and things like that you've seen Mark and Melody on 3ABN 02:53 many, many times over the years doing cooking programs and 02:56 things like that. And of course I had to drag her over to Black 02:59 Hills kicking and screaming but I got her. Now that I know she's 03:03 willing to do anything, we're good to go. We're definitely 03:07 good to go. 03:08 They can cut that part out. 03:09 So you're president of Black... Okay, all right, Praise the Lord 03:15 Now to your immediate right is a couple, Brenda and Al, and you 03:20 are here also from Black Hills. Tell us a little bit about your 03:22 association with Black Hills and what you do. 03:24 Well this is my beautiful wife Brenda (Al and Brenda Trace) and 03:29 we've been at Black Hills now for seven years and our main 03:32 project there has been running the massage school. We are the 03:35 only Adventist massage school we know of anywhere. So we've 03:40 really been blessed with the students that we get. 03:42 So you're doing a school there at Black Hills, massage school 03:45 there at Black Hills. (Yes) Okay great. 03:47 We now do it. So COVID was a challenge for a lot of people 03:51 but for us, it was a real blessing because the school was 03:55 full-time coming to the six months but when COVID came we 04:01 weren't sure what to do. We didn't know if people were ever 04:03 going to be allowed to massage or what interaction was going to 04:07 be. So we put all of our non hands-on classes online via Zoom 04:12 They're live classes that you have to attend. But that allows 04:15 people to work there in the evenings so people can work and 04:18 still go to school and then they only come to Black Hills for 11 04:22 weeks which is sort of interesting because in the 04:26 beginning they think it's a real trial to leave home and then 04:28 after they've been there for two or three weeks they want to know 04:31 how they can stay permanently. I'm like no, no, no you're only 04:34 here for 11 weeks. We're pushing you out of the door when you're 04:36 done. But it has allowed the school to draw older students 04:43 who wouldn't necessarily want to leave home for six months and in 04:46 this last class we had both a retired OT (Occupational 04:50 therapist) and a PT (Physical Therapist) who wanted to switch 04:54 careers so both of them were a little bit older. So we have a 04:58 variety of students. So we're pretty excited about that. 05:01 Plus it makes it substantially less expensive to not have them 05:06 on-site all this time. 05:08 Okay less expensive for them so it's more affordable. 05:11 Yeah it's far more affordable than other places that do 05:14 massage therapy schools. (Okay) 05:15 One of the interesting things, the two students that Brenda was 05:19 talking about. Some people say I am too old to be a massage 05:23 therapist. This one student was 78 years old. 05:28 Incredible. 05:29 Yeah she had her 78th birthday while she was on campus so... 05:31 How did she get into massage therapy? 05:35 We can sign you up today if you'd like. 05:39 You're kind of laughing about that but at ASI we ran into an 05:44 individual that Al knew when he was a student, when that guy was 05:48 a student at PUC (Pacific Union College) and I was director of 05:49 enrollment there. And I just happened to mention something 05:52 about the massage program and he went Hold on a second. You guys 05:56 run a massage school? And he has a wife who has RA which is 06:01 rheumatoid arthritis. They travel a lot and massage really, 06:05 really helps her so he is always looking for a massage therapist 06:09 for her. And he said you know God kind of put it on my heart 06:12 to maybe I should learn massage therapy so that I could help her 06:16 and he was so excited. So we're kind of expecting him to come 06:21 just for the hands-on part because he doesn't want to get a 06:23 license, he doesn't want to be a professional; he just wants to 06:25 learn massage. So he's going to come this summer, actually, it's 06:30 this winter, for the massage program and the hands-on part 06:34 and learn so that as he's traveling with his wife he can 06:37 give her that relief that she needs. I think that is really an 06:40 amazing gift. 06:43 Okay I know we can keep going here. For our viewers, I'm just 06:45 going to take a little bit of an aside here. I just want to 06:48 emphasize. Did you hear that? This is really amazing. There 06:53 are couples who can help each other if you've got rheumatoid 06:57 arthritis, if you've got a need in that area here's a husband 07:00 that's going to help his wife by taking this massage classes 07:04 so that he can alleviate some the pains. 07:09 (Rese) I'm feeling (multiple voices and laughter) 07:11 We are going to...just to take a little aside here, we've got 07:13 an amazing musician. He used to be a member of the church that I 07:19 pastored for a while, Jonathan Kasabasic and he's going to 07:23 bring us a song Were It Not For Grace, a beautiful song, and then 07:27 we are going to be right back so don't go away. 07:34 ♪ ♪ 07:51 ♪ Time measured out my days Life carried me along ♪ 08:00 ♪ In my soul I yearned to follow God ♪ 08:11 ♪ But I knew I'd never be so strong ♪ 08:17 ♪ I looked hard at this world ♪ 08:20 ♪ To learn how heaven could be gained ♪ 08:27 ♪ Just to end where I began ♪ 08:34 ♪ Where human effort is all in vain ♪ 08:42 ♪ Were it not for grace I can tell you where I'd be ♪ 08:57 ♪ Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere ♪ 09:04 ♪ My salvation up to me ♪ 09:09 ♪ I know how that would go know the battles I would face ♪ 09:21 ♪ Forever running but losing the race ♪ 09:31 ♪ Were it not for grace ♪ 09:37 ♪ ♪ 09:41 ♪ So here is all my praise Expressed with all my heart ♪ 09:55 ♪ Offered to the one who took my place ♪ 10:02 ♪ And ran a course I could not start ♪ 10:07 ♪ And when He saw in full ♪ 10:12 ♪ Just how much His love would cost ♪ 10:20 ♪ He still went the final mile between me and heaven ♪ 10:28 ♪ So I would not be lost ♪ 10:35 ♪ Were it not for grace I can tell you where I'd be ♪ 10:48 ♪ Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere ♪ 10:55 ♪ With my salvation up to me ♪ 11:01 ♪ But I know how that would go All the battles I would face ♪ 11:14 ♪ Forever running but losing the race ♪ 11:22 ♪ Were it not for grace ♪ 11:29 ♪ Forever running but losing the race ♪ 11:37 ♪ Were it not for grace ♪ 11:47 ♪ ♪ 11:56 Praise God. That is a powerful song. Jonathan has a gift 12:01 doesn't he? He has a gift and that gift needs to be used for 12:04 the Lord. If you'd like Jonathan to come and share at 12:07 your church you need to get ahold of 3ABN and get ahold of 12:09 him because I think he needs to be touching hearts with that 12:13 powerful, powerful gift. (I agree) Well we want to attend to 12:16 our program but before we do that we want to be sure and ask 12:19 the Holy Spirit to be here. Rise would you like to pray for us? 12:21 Sure. (All right.) Father we just thank you for this time 12:24 where we can meet with brothers and sisters in Christ and learn 12:28 from them. We pray that you bless their ministry and as they 12:32 share the work that you've put in their hands, the talents that 12:36 you've given them Father, that you would bless them and 12:38 increase them and that the viewers would be drawn in some 12:42 way to a closer understanding of your will for their lives. We 12:45 ask for your presence here now in Jesus' name amen. 12:48 Amen, amen. You know I've heard about Black Hills over the years 12:53 and I've been around Adventists now for almost 40 years about 12:57 38 years. But I don't know the history of Black Hills like you 13:02 know when did it start, who started it, you know. Can you 13:05 guys share, Al and Brenda, can you...You've been there seven 13:08 years right, so you probably... 13:09 Yeah we've been there a long time. (Oh yeah) We actually went 13:13 there for two months. 13:15 Oh, you did? That's what the original plan was? 13:17 Yeah, that was the original plan. 13:18 You went there for 60 days and it turned into seven years? 13:21 Yes, because who wants to go to South Dakota. And I said oh two 13:23 months, it's not a big deal in the summer, well in the fall. 13:26 Yeah, no big deal. 13:28 Beautiful in the fall. 13:29 But then we felt that God really put it on our hearts to move 13:31 there so...Black Hills was started in 1980. Yeah. 13:36 Forty-three years now. 13:38 Three different couples got together and one of the couples, 13:43 well actually I think they were all from North Dakota and they 13:49 ...Willard and Elinore Worth sold a farm and everything that 13:51 they had in North Dakota and they actually went to Weimar for 13:55 one year. Willard had a masters in education and he wanted to 14:00 start a school. So he went to Weimar for one year and ran the 14:04 school out there and then they started asking around for 14:08 property. And they called the realtor and they said you know 14:12 we'd like something with a creek and a canyon and the realtor 14:14 went ha, ha, ha so does everybody. So but then I don't 14:20 know a few months later he called them back and he said I 14:22 have this piece of property that you might be interested in and 14:26 do you remember what the original... 14:28 I think it was around 500 acres initially. (Okay) 14:31 So it does have a beautiful creek that runs through the 14:34 middle of the property. It is in a canyon and it's gorgeous and 14:39 it was a retreat. It was built as a, I think, kind of a hunting 14:43 lodge kind of thing that had one small building on it and they 14:47 came in and over the years it has expanded and different 14:50 buildings have been built and we just think it's one of the 14:53 prettiest places, you know. Anyway but at night you can 14:58 listen to the coyotes howl. I'll never forget the one night I 15:01 said to Al what is that screaming? And I said you know 15:05 what I think that's a mountain lion. And he said no it's not a 15:09 mountain lion. Here I'll show you and he goes on YouTube and 15:12 he looks up what a mountain lion sounds like and I was like yeah 15:14 right, so we had like stereo. We had it on YouTube and then we 15:17 could hear it outside (laughter) and we'd hear it outside. 15:21 And sometimes you'll see the footprints right by the front 15:25 door, so it's kind of a wild and crazy...We had one student who 15:31 came one time from Southern California and we couldn't get 15:34 to her. She was in one of what we call a pod which is kind of 15:37 like a condo. You have an individual bedroom within the 15:40 apartment. She had locked every door that she could get between 15:43 her and the outside. And I was like what? And she goes well 15:47 this is the country you don't know what could hurt you out 15:49 here. And I thought you live in Southern Cal and you're scared 15:52 here? So it's just been, I think it's been a place that's been a 15:57 blessing to a lot of people. Willard and I are the only 16:00 living couple left of the original founders, but they do 16:04 live near the center and it's just, it's phenomenal. 16:10 You got to be pretty happy about what's going on now. Seems like 16:13 you guys pretty exuberant and happy, I mean excited about some 16:19 of the new things that you're doing and some of the things 16:21 you continued. So what do you do a lifestyle, I mean at the 16:25 Black Hills Lifestyle Center. What do you treat? 16:27 Well we decided to do things different than most people do 16:31 things. I know I've been and Melody's been to a different 16:34 lifestyle centers all over the country and I've done events 16:37 at different 16:38 centers and coming into Black Hills we just said how can we do 16:42 things better, how can we do things different, how can we do 16:46 things original. And so we've really changed the dynamics of 16:50 it. Everything from the wellness center for example. A lot of 16:56 places do it like a one size fits all, but what we've done 16:58 is we've hybridized the system and we have a number of 17:01 different doctors that we can refer to around the country. So 17:05 depending on the people's problems, you know some people 17:08 have...we're probably one of the only places that specialize in 17:12 autoimmune diseases right now. So if there's a particular 17:16 autoimmune disease that you have we've got particular specialists 17:19 that we can refer to, zoom with, and get the right counseling so 17:23 we know exactly what diet and what treatments to put you on. 17:25 So it's a whole different kind of a system and what it does it 17:29 makes us better able to treat people and we can actually reach 17:34 more people with that. So that's one of the thing that we do with 17:37 the wellness center. The wellness center we can treat 17:39 everything from diabetes to high blood pressure, certain cancer 17:43 protocols, you know, pretty much everything that we can do there. 17:49 We've also changed the dynamics of the rest of the facility 17:54 there. We've hybridized part of the system where we can invite 17:59 people like VRBO (vacation rental by owner) and air B and B 18:01 and those type of places so they can come down and just find out 18:05 who we are and what we do. And we market it that we're a you 18:10 know a Christian based organization that treats these 18:13 lifestyle centers. We're a non profit and it is amazing how 18:17 many people we have had out there to experience what we do. 18:21 In fact, we had 11 pastors now from different denominations 18:24 coming out there because they just want a nice place so they 18:28 can take their family that doesn't have the alcohol and the 18:31 drugs and all the you know things, rollercoasters and 18:37 everything. They just want... Yeah and so it's just worked to 18:40 the benefit of the Lord because that's everything we want to do 18:43 and we can witness to people in that caliber too. We also have 18:47 it available for pastoral retreats. If pastors want to 18:50 come out and just get some rest and relaxation and get refreshed 18:54 and revived. We've got the facility to do that. So we've 18:58 taken it and done more than just one thing and kind of expanded 19:03 it, opening up the doors, opening up the doors so we can 19:07 reach the community better and we have better access. So 19:11 basically, the health message has not changed and we're not 19:16 changing the health message. Spirit of prophecy is not 19:18 changed. We're not changing that. We're kind of changing 19:20 everything else. 19:22 I love that whole idea of...so it sounds to me like you don't 19:25 have to have two or three or four doctors on staff but you 19:31 have access to all of these medical professionals who are 19:35 experts in their specific field that can give input to patients 19:41 on a variety of different needs that they have. Is that 19:44 basically... 19:46 It is. And on top of that just because we have a wellness 19:49 program doesn't mean you have to be sick to come. You know you 19:53 might just need a retreat. You might need fresh air, sunshine 19:56 just break away from all of the past you know pandemic and 20:00 everything that's been going on by yourself, with your family. 20:03 And we can reach you with just your spiritual needs just to get 20:09 out in nature. When I met one of the pastors who was there and 20:12 he said his church had sent him there to have a like a day 20:17 retreat to breathe. And he talked to Mark and he said you 20:20 know this is a vacation I didn't know I needed. He said I stepped 20:24 foot on this property and I went down by the creek and he said 20:27 I sat there and I thought Lord you're in this place. And he 20:32 said so he went back to Mark and he said I'd like to stay here 20:36 longer. I want to do another night and Mark said yeah we can 20:38 house you another night. When he came back the next day he said I 20:42 would stay here another night, I just can't afford it. Mark said 20:44 yes you can because you're going to stay another night. So he let 20:47 him stay another night and that's when we met him and my 20:51 husband...and he was with another church organization... 20:54 and Wendell and him walked out to the car and I watched them 20:58 through the window and Wendell prayed with him and gave him the 21:02 Ten Commandments Twice Removed and some literature. And it's 21:05 like praise the Lord they're coming to us. They're coming to 21:09 the Black Hills. We don't even have to go out. It's like we're 21:11 fishing in a pond where the fish are jumping out on the bank and 21:14 we don't even need a hook. It's wonderful. 21:17 Am I understanding this correctly that if someone has a 21:20 concern they're like I have just newly diagnosed diabetes or I 21:23 have an autoimmune condition they don't have to wait for a 21:26 certain program that you guys have scheduled in? 21:29 No, they can call us and we can get them out, we've done that a 21:31 number of times already. Particular people have 21:35 particular needs and we need to take care of them. We're going 21:37 to take care of them. And one of the other bigger issues here is 21:40 that there's a lot of people out there that don't have the time 21:44 or the money. They don't have $7000 to come out or they don't 21:49 have three or four weeks to come out and my thought is why are we 21:55 eliminating 99 percent of the population because they don't 21:56 have the time or they don't have the funds to come out. And I 21:59 said let's redesign this so we can get people out here for a 22:02 couple days and in a couple days we can teach people what they 22:05 need to know so they can work on it on their own. So it's a 22:08 whole different concept. We're not called to reach the elite 22:11 you know only. We're supposed to reach as many people as we can 22:15 with whatever talents God has given us. I mean if you want to 22:18 just come out and learn some cooking, Melody's out there. 22:21 (Multiple voices) Yeah we've got cooking programs too, so you can 22:28 come out and learn cooking. 22:29 Rise, are you hearing what I'm hearing? Are you thinking what 22:31 I'm thinking. I'm just thinking about... 22:33 That we need to go out there? 22:34 Not just us. I'm just thinking about your patients. You know 22:37 Rise's a registered dietician in functional medicine and you talk 22:40 to people all the time who maybe could be helped by a day or two. 22:43 Yeah, I think one of the biggest requests that I've heard is I 22:46 want to go somewhere where I can learn how to live. Like all this 22:49 information makes sense but they're kind of on their own and 22:52 being able to go somewhere not just where everything's done for 22:55 them but where they actually learn the skills themselves. You 22:58 guys incorporate that? 22:59 Well, we did. This last program that we had that I left in the 23:03 middle of when they start out we're just getting into it so 23:07 we're doing most of the cooking for them. You know they're being 23:11 treated and the nurse is getting their information, the wellness 23:15 director trying to figure out what programs they need to use 23:19 them, what treatments. The second week they come in they're 23:22 in the kitchen more. You know they're doing their juicing if 23:25 they need to do juicing. They're actually taking upon themselves 23:30 to work in there and it was really creative the way that 23:34 Mark and Cheryl Lynn came up with a program to give them time 23:38 to where they have a point system so if they go in the 23:41 garden, if they're exercising even if they're sleeping, 23:44 whatever they're doing, rest, unplugging, unwinding, they get 23:49 points for that. And those points add up to where they get 23:52 some kind of a surprise, (reward) a reward for that. 23:56 Because you know a lot of people they just need rest and one of 23:59 the biggest hang-ups that we've seen from lifestyle centers is 24:03 sometimes they over pack everything so heavy that when 24:05 the people leave they're like so stressed out. When I'm 24:09 studying complaints a lot of people said they were just 24:12 over scheduled. So we've under scheduled people so that we can 24:16 have that opportunity to be working with them in the kitchen 24:19 (one on one). To give them time to go out and get some sunlight 24:21 and go out there and hike. As you know we're in the Black 24:24 Hills of South Dakota. We've got Badlands, we've got Custer State 24:29 Park, we've got Mount Rushmore, we've got Crazy Horse Mountain 24:32 How far away are those from where you're at? 24:35 Most of them are within 30 minutes, yeah, and Al has a 24:41 place over in Wyoming that he can take guests are certain 24:44 times in the summer to go digging for dinosaurs. 24:49 Anthropological dig for Southwestern Adventist 24:52 University. They've been coming out now for 20 years. 24:54 How far away is that from... 24:56 It's an hour and a half, but it's an amazing, amazing 25:00 opportunity and experience. They've pulled over 100,000 25:04 dinosaur bones out of that dig site and one of the interesting 25:11 stories is there was an atheist that wanted to come in basically 25:16 (take over) yeah. He wanted to come in and work this dig to 25:20 show that, you know... 25:22 That evolution is the way it is. 25:24 Exactly. The folks who owned the ranch are Christians. 25:29 Art Chadwick came in and shared and they said we want you 25:35 to do this. 25:36 So basically what you're saying is that when this site was 25:37 discovered, right, it's owned by a private couple, residents, 25:42 (correct) and when it was discovered there was an 25:44 evolutionist that wanted to come in and he just wanted to come in 25:47 and there were Christians that wanted to come in and both of 25:49 them wanted to o, o, I mean, oversee the site, and use it and 25:53 dig, etc., and the couple that owns are Christians and they 25:56 chose the Christians and so right now those are the people 25:59 that manage the site? (Yeah) Wow. 26:02 And in fact just this summer they've been building a new 26:06 facility, a large building so that they can keep everything 26:10 under cover. 26:12 Let me just clarify this. So do you say to people, Oh we have 26:15 this place about an hour and a half from us, you can go down 26:17 there if you want. Or do you actually, bring people there or 26:20 take people there. How does that work? 26:21 Well the couple that we met up with husband and wife, she was a 26:26 pastor at our church that we went to and so they wanted 26:30 something to do with the kids that would be meaningful and I 26:33 said, Would you like to take the kids out to see a dinosaur dig? 26:38 And they said, Can we do that? And I said yeah, yeah. It always 26:44 has interested me because I worked on an archeological dig 26:47 years ago. And it's fascinating. Anthropology and archeology. 26:53 Anyway they said, When can we go? I said well let me check the 26:57 schedule and a couple of days later I said I can't stay out there 27:00 for long but follow me. And the follow me part is crazy because 27:06 getting there is, yeah, it's a little tricky. But they came 27:11 back and they said this was a lifetime experience that we had. 27:20 We never experienced anything like it. We want to come back, 27:21 bring some of our church members and bring our kids back and 27:26 guess where they're going to have to stay? At Black Hills. 27:29 Yeah, we do actually take people on adventures. We've got vans 27:35 and everything that we transport people. We try to make every 27:40 adventure that we go on have some type of meaning. Like I 27:44 took a whole group to the Badlands which is one of the 27:46 most amazing places that God created and for lunch, I had my 27:54 cooler there full of junk food. I mean it was just loaded with 28:00 pizza boxes, and jerky and sodas and (Multiple voices) and so 28:05 these people are gathered around you know and I opened up this 28:08 thing and here's all this junk food you know. They're just like 28:11 shocked but I wanted to teach them that when you're out there 28:15 traveling you need to be prepared. Otherwise, you're going 28:18 settle for whatever's at the next stop. That's why truckers 28:21 have such a big problem because they get hungry and they're 28:24 going to settle for whatever's at the next exit. And so we need 28:28 to do...and so we use this...and then I pull out the real food 28:30 that they need to be eating, you know. But we try to make every 28:33 single adventure have some type of a learning experience that is 28:36 really going to have an impact in their life. 28:38 And a Christian experience on top of that. We bring the Lord 28:42 into it. 28:43 It sounds like you guys really accomplished your goal of 28:45 creating something that was unique and distinct from other 28:47 lifestyle centers. So you mentioned the location. You know 28:51 it sounds amazing. I've never been to South Dakota. I really 28:53 would love to go. And then the treatment, how you can bring 28:56 people in with various health concerns at different times and 29:00 still, be able to minister to them. Plus they've got two 29:05 excellent chefs. Is there anything else that makes you 29:06 guys you know different and unique? 29:07 You know I think one of the unique things, we've been 29:10 working on this program of a protocol whenever they contact 29:15 us or however we get ahold of them and we speak to them. 29:17 Mark is usually the person they talk to first and it's like what 29:22 are your goals? What do you want from us. What are you wanting to 29:26 achieve? It might not be weight loss, it might not be diabetes, 29:29 it might be something spiritual. We don't know. And so we find 29:35 the information out and if they choose to come to one of our 29:37 events, you know, like a two week, a three week, whatever we 29:41 have in one of our sessions then we have to dig a little deeper 29:45 and find out what's your life style at home, especially if 29:47 it's weight loss, diabetes, one of our lifestyle diseases. And 29:51 then we can set them up with a list of what they're going to 29:56 need when they get back home. So when they go back home 29:59 they're not set up for failure. Because if they don't purge and 30:02 do something different at home before they come then what's 30:05 going to happen when they get back? (Same o same o) Same o 30:09 I'm tired. I've been traveling all day, I've been flying, I 30:11 missed my flight. Things happen, I get home, I'm hungry, there's 30:14 nothing in the house. Well it's not going to hurt me to eat this 30:18 one time. I've got leftover cake and chips or whatever or Little 30:22 Debbie's, whatever they have in the cabinet. Yes, and I'm going 30:25 to eat that. And then when they go through the program, I mean 30:29 they leave kicking and screaming they don't want to go. 30:32 We got to give them projects. 30:33 We have to give them projects. And when they get back home 30:36 we have what we call coaches and they don't leave them. If 30:40 we have to call them every week if that's what it takes months 30:45 (two or three times a week) Yeah, we call them, we talk to 30:47 them. The people are constantly what are your needs now, what 30:50 can we do to help you to be successful with the goals you 30:54 set before you came. 30:55 I love that. So what kind of staff, do you have there? I mean 30:57 you must have a thousand people on staff or what. (Laughter) 31:00 We have literally a dozen and a lot of part-timers when we need 31:07 them for particular things. We just bring in people as we need 31:11 We've even hybridized that you know back in Vegas. We call them 31:15 an extra board. And you've got your extra board, well basically 31:20 got the same system with doctors nurses, whatever, you know, 31:22 personnel we need, even house keeping so when we do have those 31:26 times where it's a high time then we can bring in those 31:29 people. 31:30 And then you can also call on maybe people that you know that 31:33 are in ministry that may come in a do a couples retreat 31:36 (Multiple voices and laughter) 31:43 Do we know anybody who can do that? 31:45 Well because you know speaking of couples retreats see that's 31:48 another thing that we've changed the dynamics of on the property. 31:52 It was just focused on wellness. And we're looking at doing a 31:58 couples retreat this coming year We also have a family camp 32:01 that's going to be taking place every memorial day weekend, then 32:06 the week before and after so we've got a whole time there and 32:09 families can come out there. We had a whole group of family come 32:12 out there last year and they absolutely loved it. They were 32:15 because we have projects. They would go out to the garden and 32:18 pick all the greens, the kids, we're talking 10-year-old kids 32:21 and then they'd come in the kitchen and prepare the meal for 32:24 the parents and everything. And they were loving it. No TVs, we 32:27 don't have TVs. We have trails. And it allows the kids to 32:32 actually, grow up and enjoy a good environment. 32:35 We do have internet. It's just you can't hardly use it. That's 32:40 really a good purpose. (That's very good) 32:42 But we also have another program that we're developing which is 32:47 the parents' prayer conference. And you might be able to tell a 32:51 little bit more about that. 32:52 Because this was your idea. Now you're in trouble. 32:55 This was my idea so when we had our break earlier this year I 33:00 thought I would go back home down in Georgia and just kind of 33:03 relax and put this prayer retreat together. And you know 33:08 it wouldn't be any big deal. I'd study and I'd pray and then I'd 33:11 be ready to do the prayer retreat but God kind of had 33:13 something else different in mind because the prayer retreat we'd 33:16 call is Turning Hearts Toward Home and it is specifically for 33:19 parents who have adult children that are not walking with the 33:22 Lord. Because I have a real burden for that because we have 33:25 children who are not walking with the Lord. And I know a lot 33:29 of people, it used to be when Al and I started in ministry 22 33:31 years ago you could ask in the church who had kids who were 33:34 outside and you'd get a few hands raised. Now it's just you 33:37 know everyone. So we thought that would be a great thing but 33:41 instead, God asked us to go and help one of our sons and 33:46 daughters-in-law who no longer had after-school care and if we 33:50 would come and take care of the girls. So I have not been 33:55 quietly retreating and...I've been doing lots of praying but I 34:00 have not been quietly retreating I have been back cleaning house 34:03 and getting little girls out the door to school in the morning 34:06 and it is...I have to say it's probably one of the most 34:10 humbling experiences of my life because when you have a five 34:13 year old who's having a melt down in the middle of the store 34:15 because you won't buy her the junk food that she asks to buy 34:18 or the...it's just...I can't tell you what a challenge it's 34:23 been for me. Sometimes I would go home and I'd say to Al I have 34:28 people who ask my advice. I have people who call and ask me for 34:29 help and have these two kids who think I'm just being a mean 34:32 grandma because I won't...and Al looked at me and he said do they 34:38 know what you do? And I said, No, and I don't think they care, 34:39 to be honest. But you know we've prayed for years that God would 34:45 send somebody into our kids life to demonstrate God's love to 34:48 them. We just didn't expect for it to be us. You know, so we've 34:52 been there. So God is developing this humility in me before we 34:58 put this prayer retreat together on how do you really pray. And I 35:01 know one thing when we first got there He started waking me 35:03 up somewhere between two and five a.m. And I would go out on 35:07 the porch and I would pray and sometimes for an hour, an hour 35:10 and a half and then I would come back. And then there was...and 35:15 things just started to decompress and to calm down 35:18 and especially in the mornings when it was absolute chaos. Then 35:23 I got where God really. I have to wake up. Can I just sleep for 35:28 a little bit more. But what I found out was if I didn't get up 35:30 in the middle of the night and pray then it would be chaos. It 35:33 wasn't...I couldn't wake up two minutes before breakfast and say 35:37 a quick prayer and have the same effect as when I was willing to 35:40 get up in the middle of the night. So I'm excited about this 35:43 prayer retreat. We are going to put together a couple of Zoom 35:48 calls so if you're interested in that you can call the center 35:51 [(605) 255-4101] and find out when those calls are going to be 35:53 But we're doing it specifically so we're walking through Steps 35:57 to Christ in the Sanctuary, so this prayer retreat is not 36:01 actually starting with praying for our kids. It's starting with 36:03 seeking God and rending our own hearts and finding out where we 36:08 might be holding onto things or where we might need to seek 36:12 forgiveness, maybe from our kids maybe from somebody else. You 36:15 know because when you move through the sanctuary, you had to 36:19 have that cleansing in order to be able to move and to stand 36:22 and I keep thinking of Moses and how you know when he was headed 36:26 to Egypt, you know the Bible tells us that the angel was 36:30 standing there with a sword because he was missing one of 36:32 the commands. So how do we establish that. How do we put 36:36 ourselves so that we can really stand in the gap and pray for 36:40 our kids? So that's what it's going to be about. The Zoom 36:43 calls are going to walk you through it and then that group 36:46 will go off on their own. So it's not going to be something 36:48 where hey I call the spirit call I can join. It's going to 36:51 actually, start and walkthrough a process and then that group 36:54 will go on and then we'll start another group because it's a 36:57 very specific steps that we're going through to be able to... 37:01 But I know there's a lot hurting parents out there and they just 37:06 can't figure out why. We're just lost. What did we do wrong? 37:09 Where is it? And... 37:12 Discover the solutions. (Yeah) 37:14 And when it comes time to press together shoulder to shoulder 37:17 that so the shadow of Satan cannot fall. And I believe that 37:21 as parents if we would press together and pray and encourage 37:25 one another instead of becoming discouraged and feeling like 37:28 it's just hopeless and you know there's nothing we can do. There 37:34 is something we can do and maybe God didn't call you to actually 37:37 be in the household with them like He did us for the short 37:41 period of time but I know that being there and seeing what's 37:45 actually happening and Melody's done the same thing. And you 37:48 just kind of want to go yow this is what's happening. I had no 37:52 idea. 37:54 Yeah, as you were talking there I was thinking about there's a 37:56 prophecy in Isaiah 11, the first half of Isaiah 11, is about 38:01 Christ, specifically His first incarnation here, you know when 38:04 He came to this earth. The second half is about what He's 38:07 going to do through His people in the last days and it talks 38:11 specifically about God collecting all of His people 38:14 from all the four corners, all those people who've been 38:17 dispersed, all the remnant of His people, all those people who 38:19 are the outcasts of Israel that are going to be brought back. I 38:24 used to feel like that's a powerful promise that we can 38:25 claim for this specific ministry you're focusing on because we're 38:29 empty nesters this year for the first time. You know letting 38:31 your children go out of the home that's hard. Then they start 38:35 making their own decisions, going their own directions. You 38:37 know our kids you know they believe in God and we really 38:42 appreciate their walk with the Lord. But you know we always 38:46 have a burden for our children that you know it would be 38:48 stronger and better and you know more. And I love this fact that 38:53 you're doing this ministry, that this is something that will 38:56 really attract a lot of people. And I think we would like to 38:59 be part of that. 39:00 Is this the Zoom or is this something the people have come... 39:02 (Both) So we're going to do a retreat at Black Hills when we 39:04 put it all together but I want to start having a couple of 39:07 different Zoom calls that people can join for their time right 39:11 now and we can walk through the process. My hope is that once 39:14 you've gone through it with us for eight to 10 weeks on a 39:18 weekly basis then when we have the retreat some of those people 39:21 will want to come as prayer leaders in different rooms to be 39:25 able to say I've been doing this I've been getting these kind of 39:30 results, this is how the Holy Spirit is working. And just 39:32 encourage people who come to the retreat that sometimes it's 39:38 difficult for a variety of reasons, right? But you can 39:42 start to see results. I don't want to take all the time. I 39:44 just want to share this tiny little story that I'm fussing 39:48 and carrying on, why am I cleaning the house. Why is my 39:50 daughter-in-law dressing up and going to work. It's her house. 39:53 I'm a career woman too. Why am I doing all this, right? 39:55 Yeah, why am I taking care of the chickens? 40:00 That's a different story. Anyway so we'd been there about three 40:06 or four weeks and I was starting to get things back and we had to 40:08 go back to our house which is three hours away on a weekend 40:12 and our son had come home early to watch the girls and when we 40:16 were home and I had the house clean, and I told the girls, you 40:19 guys are going to help me because Mom and Dad are going to 40:21 have a better weekend, they're going to spend more time with 40:23 you if you help me clean this house. I didn't ask them to do 40:26 much by anyway, they're five and 11, so. And then we left and 40:34 later that evening I got a text from my son that said: Miss you 40:37 guys already. We're out of energy bites and oh by the way 40:42 it was so wonderful to come home on Friday and have the house 40:48 clean for Sabbath. My son hasn't gone to church on a Sabbath 40:53 church in years. I didn't even know he still cared. And that 40:56 was like signpost that God gave me, things are happening, the 41:02 Holy Spirit is working. And I was like, Okay God I'll go back 41:05 and clean the house again. 41:07 If we'd be willing to love people the way that they can 41:09 understand and that they need to be loved at that time in their 41:12 life. So important you were willing to be able to love them 41:14 like that. 41:16 So that's what I feel we're doing. We're not there to change 41:19 them. We've just there to love them and to be God's hands and 41:23 feet for them right now in their life in whatever way that they 41:26 need. 41:27 Tell us how do you do that in your school. In the beginning 41:29 of this hour you started talking about your massage school. 41:31 I hate to switch gears but I know time's ticking and I want 41:34 to hear more about it. 41:35 Well, where do we start? We started it like I said in 2015 41:41 when we went to Black Hills to teach for two months and now 41:45 it's been seven years. Anyway that's long story short. But the 41:50 massage school we feel like it's a unique program. Not only do we 41:54 teach massage but we teach other aspects of lifestyle 42:00 approaches. Bren 42:02 teaches a class of nutrition, psychology spiritually focused. 42:07 What other sections do you do? Spiritual, we do one called 42:13 spiritual care which within massage licensing they have 42:18 something called personal care so we just call it spiritual 42:20 care and the licensing board accepts it. But 30 minutes a day 42:25 we talk about how do you study your Bible. And we have a mix. 42:29 We do not just have students from just one denomination, we 42:32 have who might not be Christians at all or they belong to other 42:36 denominations and so that's been really exciting for us because 42:41 we feel the school exists to teach people to use massage as a 42:45 mission outreach. And in whatever way, whether it's their 42:48 own practice or if they're going to work for a lifestyle center 42:51 or whatever they want to do but they're using it for mission and 42:54 for service to others. And so we really try to focus on that 42:58 aspect of it. We don't teach any New Age modalities. It's all 43:02 science-based. It's all credible kind of stuff and we've seen 43:08 some amazing stories come out of students there. 43:11 So this is a school where someone goes and they pay 43:14 tuition and they go through the classes and they come out and 43:16 can go out into the community and get a job. 43:18 Ah well there's a couple of other steps in there but... 43:25 Our program is six and a half months. Our first four months 43:28 basically are online and they can stay at home. Classes are in 43:32 the late afternoon and evening. They can work still, which is a 43:35 big issue. Previously students had to come to campus for six 43:41 and a half months. And some said I can't do that. I can't give up 43:45 my job. And we were getting smaller numbers of students. And 43:49 we did some praying about it. The last two classes basically 43:53 are full. (When you say full?) 11, 12. Yeah and this is the 44:00 first time since we've been there that all of the students 44:03 in the last two classes were Adventists. Now you say well 44:06 what's that? You know what, that's what our ministry is 44:10 toward...How do we teach young people that can be therapists 44:13 that can be ministers for the Lord. And some of them are just 44:17 doing amazing things. They're also earning good incomes to go 44:22 along with it. And like Mark said our program is cheap 44:26 compared to what most schools charge. I mean they come to 44:29 Black. They're there for two and a half months, food, everything, 44:35 housing. And so we're the only as I said before we're the only 44:39 Adventist school and probably the only Christian school in the 44:42 United States. 44:43 All right I hate to say this but our time is running short. Is 44:50 there something else that you have a burden on your heart to 44:51 share that you want to get out here to the people that are 44:52 listening. 44:54 Yeah, probably the biggest thing to point out is how we're 44:56 reaching people where they're at regardless if they're on a 45:03 health journey or if they're having spiritual issues or 45:06 family issues, it's all about reaching people where they're at 45:08 And what we have over there is a program called Biblical 45:13 Response Therapy. (Okay BRT) Now Biblical Response Therapy was 45:18 actually started by Pastor Dan Gabbard and it's just starting 45:23 to really grow into something. And basically, it's about helping 45:28 people with Biblical principles on how to deal with their issues 45:33 and it's not always, let me see it's not always the issues. Here 45:38 let me read this to you here. Counsels on Health, p. 324 45:42 Sickness of the mind prevails everywhere. Nine-tenths of the 45:48 disease from which men suffer have their foundation here. The 45:53 healing then is in the word of God where God expresses His 45:59 healing thoughts. Psalms 107:20 God sent His word and healed 46:05 them and delivered them from their destruction. So we try to 46:08 apply that to every single element of what we do and 46:12 Biblical Response Therapy actually trains people how to do 46:16 this, how to deal with whatever problems they have in life. 46:19 Let's look at the Biblical aspect of it and focus on the 46:24 solutions instead of focusing on the problem let's do a solution 46:28 focused program. And it's fabulous and so we've got 46:34 programs coming up where you can send people from your 46:36 congregation over the learn Biblical Response Therapy 46:38 programs and bring it back to your church. 46:40 There's so much you are doing at Black Hills... 46:46 And we're still thinking more. 46:47 Yeah. There's a lot of people that come through a health 46:49 program okay and they change their diet and they change their 46:53 lifestyle but they don't get to the core of the problem it's 46:55 just going to come back the them So we need to be able to go in 46:59 there and...Jim, Jim Martin who's heading up that department 47:03 right now? He is so wonderful at just compassionately finding 47:09 out what those problems are and bringing those solutions to them 47:13 And once they realize it, it's like a light bulb going off in 47:15 their head. It's like some people just didn't even realize 47:18 it. And one lady she had such issues and she was having 47:22 trouble getting off diabetes problems and it wasn't about the 47:27 diabetes; it was about other issues in her life that was 47:28 jacking up her cortisol level so hard. I don't know the technical 47:32 part of it. But once she realized, she had that breath of 47:37 fresh air and just everything calmed down and then her health 47:41 started working right. 47:42 People have high blood sugar for many reasons, not just carbs. 47:45 Exactly, exactly. 47:47 So I love that. I love the fact that they're getting therapy but 47:50 it's biblically based (absolutely) and I love that 47:53 statement that you read that God sent his word and healed them 47:58 because that's how I was healed you know from my addiction. I 48:02 was healed because God said to me personally I forgive you and 48:08 you don't have to carry this load of guilt. You're free from 48:09 that. 48:11 You know I just want to add something. We do have a few 48:12 people there who have some because they have addictions 48:14 whether it be drug, whether it be alcoholism. They've come 48:18 there and they feel safe, they feel secure. And it's like a 48:23 child doesn't want to leave the nest. They want to stay there a 48:24 little bit so they work and they do things on the property that 48:26 we need people to do because they just want to stay there. 48:29 And I'll never forget, I got a text the other day from one of 48:33 them. My husband and I have really been talking with him, 48:35 pruning him and he's just such a sweet guy. And he said, Melody 48:39 I went to church for the first time this Sabbath. And he said I 48:44 really loved it. And on down he said with a bit smiley face, God 48:49 loves me. 48:50 Amen, amen. 48:52 We've had a few drug addictions we've been doing detoxing and 48:56 rehab on them and there was a couple of them that you know 49:01 went through their little three week program and I just 49:02 flat out said 49:04 you're not ready to go home yet I said we're going to cover the 49:08 expense but you need to stay here a little while longer and 49:10 they were willing to volunteer and things and the one person 49:15 has lost like 30 pounds already And you know another person's 49:18 going to church and just loving it. It was like...You know so it 49:23 ...I had something really profound told to me here just 49:26 the other day by Bob, one of the gentlemen that works here and he 49:30 said, A lot of Adventists are more than willing to go 49:32 out there and 49:34 fish, but they're not willing to clean the fish (Catch a fish but 49:37 not clean it) Right. And so where are we in life? Are we 49:42 just going to go out there and just keep fishing, just throwing 49:44 those reels out there but not willing to help clean them, you 49:47 know. The people have problems. We need to do more to help them 49:51 and guide them along their way one step at a time. 49:55 Got a sermon title from that. It's called Catch and Release. 49:57 And it seems like when we catch people and we don't nurture them 50:01 we're just catching and releasing. People need their 50:04 lifestyle changed. (Exactly) Yes 50:05 You know one of the things too that we're trying to do, it's 50:09 not just the massage school thing. We go out and do on sight 50:14 chair massage all over Rapid City and one of the things that 50:18 we've had a burden for is we're 25 minutes away from a booming 50:23 city and we haven't really figured out how to reach them. 50:27 And so this is what we're starting to do now. We go to the 50:31 YMCA to the swim center to various businesses and they've 50:35 said please come on up, please come and join us. Hope... 50:39 Yeah, into the communities exactly. 50:41 Yeah one of the schools contacted Jim about coming and 50:43 talking about the Biblical Response Theory to the children 50:47 at school, to a public school. 50:48 Praise the Lord. So any other thoughts you have we've got 56 50:53 seconds left. 50:54 If someone comes to Black Hills they get to eat your food or are 50:57 you are so busy being an organizer... 51:02 He's the breakfast, I'm the lunch. 51:03 We always remember that we ate there...(Laughter and voices) 51:08 it was really good. 51:10 Everyone knows we're going to have the best food you could 51:11 possibly get. 51:13 Oh yes if it's mine. (Laughter and multiple voices) 51:23 I'm excited about what you guys are doing. I think you created 51:28 exactly what you wanted to do. You've fulfilled your objectives 51:31 in creating something unique and focused. I love that the school 51:34 is combined with it too. I would love to come. 51:37 It's a wonderful place. When you come we don't have to tell you 51:41 about it. When you come you will experience it, you will not want 51:46 to leave, you will see it for yourself. 51:47 Amen, amen. We are going to be right back so don't go away. 51:49 If you would like to contact or know more about Black Hills 51:54 Health and Education Center you can do so in the following ways: 51:57 You can write to them at P.O. Box 19 Hermosa, SD 57744 52:04 You can give them a call at (605) 255-4101 52:13 You can send them an email at President@BHHEC.org 52:24 You can also visit their website at BlackHillsHealthRetreat.org |
Revised 2023-08-14