AMEN Australia 2012: Right Arm, Right Approach, Right Now

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Adventist Medical Evangelism Network Australia

Errol Thrift

Opening Address


I repeat anyway, a very hearty welcome to the beginning of this conference, particularly to our guests from overseas, Dr Skip Dodson, Dr John Charfenburg and Dr Timothy Howe. We're very appreciative of your coming this distance and to share with us. I'd like to pay particular tribute to Antoinette and all the work that she's put in to organise this, ably assisted by Nick and Stella and numerous others too that I can't mention all your names. Thank you so much for the effort that you put in and we trust and pray that this will be a very rewarding experience this weekend. It's a little presumptuous of me to talk a bit about AIMEN because I only came across it about 2 or 3 years ago when I heard an interview over 1 of the satellite programs and I thought well that's great.

I'm very appreciative of the initiatives that have been taken. I was particularly impressed with the acronym too. Perhaps I'll come back to that in just a moment. But a little bit about what AIMEN stands for. You can download material and we'll be talking more about this of course over the weekend.

Its mission to motivate, train and equip Adventist professional and lay people. Its vision to again motivate them to become effective medical evangelists. Then it goes into more detail. As I say, you can get all of this from the website. And there are objectives to hold national conferences, which includes inspirational messages, seminars and workshops, testimonials, networking opportunities and mission opportunities too.

And of course you know there's a journal that's been brought out I think we have some copies of the 1 that's just been published. Regional chapters, well this is a historic occasion for Australia, the first 1 that we've held here in Australia. To mentor Adventist medical dental students and others and to actively cooperate with the Adventist Church in its supporting ministries to promote and foster medical evangelism. That's very briefly what A.M.E.N. Stands for and I think it's very appropriate at this time in Earth's history that these qualities should be emphasised.

It was started quite some time ago, about nearly a decade ago now, by Naren James. I don't know if he was a relative of Howard James because that name is very meaningful for us in Australia. About 100 years ago, he started work in this state up in the upper Yarra Valley. It has been carried on ever since. He was succeeded by Dr Tom Sherwin and you'll be hearing more about Tom and his wife shortly.

What I was impressed with Amen was that it started from people having personal convictions that they ought to be doing something. It's very much a grassroots movement. And I received ready support from Mark Finlay too. He was in on the ground floor from what I have seen. And it's now recognised that it's necessary for this vital work to be fostered and for cooperation in an ongoing basis to take place, that it be comprehensive and that it be coordinated.

Just a word about the word Amen. We use it frequently. We use it every day in our devotionals. And a preacher will come out with a point that he wants to make, and he'll say to the group, if they don't respond already, and all the people said, Amen. It's used for emphasis in the Bible too, for instance in John 3, the story of Nicodemus, you'll find it's there 3 times.

It's repeated. The translators have translated it in different ways. Verily, verily, Truly, or the New King James Version, most assuredly I say unto you. But in the original it's amen, amen, amen, amen, to give emphasis to what he is saying. But in the New Testament, and I stumbled across this just the other day, in 1 passage, it's referred to as 1 of God's names.

There's 1 passage in the Old Testament too, in Isaiah 65, but in the New Testament, and we all recognize this verse because it's the message to the last church, where he's named as the Amen, the true and faithful witness. Truth is important. I remember going through the main entrance of an old alma mater up in Brisbane and over that was these words greatest truth and mighty above all things. The 3 Angels' message, messages, are truth for this time. It says look away from the confusing things that are happening all around us, look to things that are eternal.

Truth is certainly important, and as is faithfulness too. But you know, you can present truth in a rather harsh or even a judgmental way, And sometimes we need to frame it with the right words and in the right manner. And following the 3 angels, you know, there's another angel, another message comes along, 4 chapters later. And that makes a great impression. The whole earth was illuminated with his glory.

Now what was the glory that is talked about here? Well if we ask Moses or Elijah, we'd soon discover that it's God's character that is to illuminate the whole earth. God's character of love. Some time ago I collected this little document. It was written by Roy Williams back in 1981 in the Adventist health ministry.

It's entitled, How Loving is Your Health Care? It's a paraphrase or some would say a parody of 1 Corinthians 13. Though I speak with the authority of a health care worker teaching healthful living and have not love, I am become a sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. And it goes on to say, love suffers long the faults of co-workers and is kind. Love does not envy the position nor achievements of others.

Love does not rub people up the wrong way, Nor does it seek to impose personal ideas on others. It is not easily provoked, et cetera. Does not rejoice in evil, and so on it goes. Perhaps if some of you are interested, we could photocopy this. How loving is your health care?

You know, over in Christ's Object Lessons, page 415, there is this statement, the last message of mercy to a dying world is a revelation of God's character. And I think what we need to do in a cooperative way, we're each in different fields. Some are in ministry, some are in medical practice, Some are in dental or other health professionals. Some have an interest in just helping people day by day with the crisis and conflicts that they face. This is all necessary if we do it in the spirit of love, in the spirit that God would have us, so that his name can be elevated, his Amen, and his character revealed in this, the closing days of Earth's history.

I culled this off the internet just a while ago. You're very familiar with it. The way of life. There's a picture that James White started to frame and you'll see in there the tree of life and hanging from the branches are the 10 Commandments. That's the central piece, isn't it?

But you know, Ellen White adapted this a little bit after us. Over on the right you can see alongside the tree, if you look carefully there's a cross. The 1 that you'll find now, the cross is central. Yes, there's the Garden of Eden, there's the Fall, there's some of the ordinances of the church over here, but Christ is central and it's the Christ crucified showing his love toward us. And I'm sure to that we can all say Amen.

Now I'd like to introduce Pastor Kevin Price, who's the head of the Health Ministries Department at the South Pacific Division. Thank you so much. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Dear Lord, we've come aside for this weekend. We're seeking your blessing on our lives, but may our lives be a blessing for others as well.

We ask that you'll bless all those who take part in this program. We thank you for the organisers. We thank you for the presenters. We thank you for each other, that we can learn and share and grow because we associate together. This is our prayer in thy name, Amen.

This is the champion Amen group, isn't it? This is the 1 that can say Amen with real conviction. And we're looking forward to this time together. You know, over the years there's been some amazing health heroes. I think God is looking down upon us tonight and can see in this room people who we'd classify as health heroes.

I was amazed when I visited America and I went to Battle Creek. What's the most outstanding thing about Battle Creek? The building. You go through that part of America and those country towns, buildings might reach 2 or 3 stories max. You drive into Battle Creek and you just go, wow, what hath God wrought?

Now we know it changed hands and things weren't always the same. But there when we put into practice God's plan, it impressed the whole country and significant people travelled to that place, didn't they? And I just, my wife said, what's wrong? And I said, I've just gotta go back and look at this again. Just this huge sanitarium there.

And that influence has now been scattered, hasn't it? Across the waters, as it were. You know, the energy moved in America from the east to the middle west, and right over to the west coast. And our health work moved like that as well. But it didn't stop in California, it just kept on going, didn't it?

Until today we can be part of that health work as well. I'm a minister but I'm blessed as a minister to have worked in our hospitals and in health work for a long, long time. 1971, I was 2 at the time. Now you've got to get this straight. I started ministry in 1971 and a layman who worked in the railways in Sydney put his arm around me and said, Kevin, I'm gonna teach you how to run stop smoking programs.

1971, you know, he was an expert. He used to smoke cigarettes, he used to smoke a cigar, and he used to smoke a pipe. Now that was a truly dedicated smoker, wasn't it? But he became a Christian, he became an Adventist Christian, and he spent the rest of his days in many way as a layman. Jackson is his name, Some of you might know him, Les Jackson, and he spent his days helping others give up cigarettes and tobacco.

So that's where my ministry and health ministry started way back then. Later on, I was blessed to work at Sydney Adventist Hospital for some 20 years and we had a health program running there and today I, look I'm an administrator, I joined the dots, that's about all we have time to do. We need your help, we really do, to make an impact across our communities. We have health heroes in this room, 1 of them, 1 of my health heroes is Sybilla Johnson over here. Big impact across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

We're delighted to be meeting here in Victoria. We've got our conference president going to open Sabbath for us in a minute, and we thank him for his interest in health and the support of our health ministries in this conference. Just fabulous. John Schaffenberg, where are you? You've gotta be 1 of God's health heroes.

Ministry for so many years, it's such significant ministry. Look, if I knew you, I could all call you by name, because I know you all play your part in very significant ways. In my bag there, I've actually got some red books. Ministry of Healing, Councils on diets and foods, medical ministry. We're not short on advice are we?

We have got the package but we've got to just keep this package out there working. It needs to be a win-win situation doesn't it? It needs to be we have got this message now let's share it And I'm delighted with the motto of the AAMEN group, and I was particularly delighted with the small printing about helping the health department. Thank you. We need all the help we can get.

We're very thin on the ground. But we are making a big impact across the Pacific at the moment, and we'll share a bit of that with you tomorrow afternoon. Particularly relevant time, isn't it? You copied that, didn't you, Antoinette? And the copies are up the back there.

I met this lady when I was young. My father used to be the chaplain at Sydney Adventist Hospital back in the 50s. So my memory goes back to some of these outstanding people. And this is actually the story of Margarita Freeman, the first Adventist lady doctor, 1 of the first lady doctors in Australia probably, but the first Adventist. What a fascinating story.

Her book, her story has been written up recently and I've brought copies of it. I can't give them to you because they've asked you to make a donation And I'm going to do that on Sabbath night and that goes to a woman's refuge in Nepal I think it is but a fabulous story, and if you read the small print you'll be totally blown away by the proposal of how she married her husband, Dr. Sh... It's a donation of $15. $15, yes.

It's a donation of $15 but a great story. Has anybody read it yet? It's new? Oh, it's a fabulous story of how this lady went out on a limb and particularly get excited when the proposal comes as to how they get married, the husband and wife, 2 doctors, Sherwin and Freeman. I remember meeting them when I was very small.

Another person that my mind runs back to, does anybody remember Eric Hon? Yeah, what a health hero, This man, he just lived this, didn't he? Some of you are smiling up the back and you're putting your hands up. You are the health heroes of the future. You are the Eric Hons and the Sabelas and the Margarita Freemans and the Tom Sherwins and that.

This is your conference, and we certainly want you to draw in the maximum that you can, soak it up and say amen occasionally. That'd be fabulous. Www.audioverse.org

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