Organizers of the 6-day event were grateful to share healthy tips in their community.
Imagine taking a seminar to learn a few health tips and instead finding a whole new way of life. This is exactly what happened to 22 people who recently attended an Adventist-sponsored, six day health expo in Vientiane, the capital city of Laos.
Dr. Surachet Insom, former Health Director of Thailand Adventist Mission, shared about healthy living, using the NEWSTART principles and personal experiences on August 17-22. Each day more people came to listen to his lectures. By the final day there were not enough seats inside the Vientiane Seventh-day Adventist Church so people chose to sit outside and listen rather than miss the presentations.
More and more Lao people, especially city dwellers like those in Vientiane, are interested in healthy living. Consequently, the Adventist lifestyle is attracting many of them to health programs like this one. In addition to a new attitude about their health, many of them decide to follow Jesus, the Great Physician and the Life Giver. On the final day, Pastor Danson Ng, ministerial secretary for the Southeast Asia Union Mission, officiated the commitment of 22 attendees in baptism, many of them young people. Additionally, nine more people expressed a commitment to learn more about how to live a healthy life, even to gain eternal life through the teaching of Jesus, and are preparing for the next commitment ceremony.
Organizers are grateful that they can help their communities live healthier and happier lives through health expos, especially when people embrace a new lifestyle of healthier living during their youth.
Laos is a Southeast Asia country bordered by Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. There are more than 1,000 Adventists, four officially organized churches and many house churches scattered in 14 out of the 18 provinces of Laos, a country of 7 million.