The Little School That Could

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FRIDAY

June 18

Further Study:  

Read Ellen G. White, Counsels on Diet and Foods. From the SDA Church Manual, we read: “Christian behavior . . . means that because our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, we are to care for them intelligently. Along with adequate exercise and rest, we are to adopt the most healthful diet possible and abstain from the unclean foods identified in the Scriptures.” Twenty-first Fundamental Belief: “The original diet. The Bible does not condemn the eating of clean animals. But God’s original diet for man did not include flesh foods because He did not envision the taking of any animal’s life and because a balanced vegetarian diet is the best for health—a fact for which science offers mounting evidence. “The diet God ordained in the Garden of Eden—the vegetarian diet—is the ideal, but sometimes we cannot have the ideal. In those circumstances, in any given situation or locale, those who wish to stay in optimum health will eat the best food that they can obtain.” The General Conference Nutrition Council, in their Position Statement of 2006, titled Vegetarian Dietary Guidelines states, “We recommend the generous use of whole grains, vegetables, and fruits; a moderate use of low-fat dairy products (or nutritional equivalent alternatives); legumes, nuts, and seeds; a very limited use of foods high in saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar, and salt.”

Discussion Questions:

What are some of the dietary challenges that you face in the area where you live? Is there an abundance of food, which can lead to eating not only the wrong foods and also to overeating? Or is there a struggle to get enough of the right foods? What can you as a class do to help those who could be struggling either way?      What are the extremes in diet that we need to avoid?      How should our understanding of the nature of humanity impact our understanding of how important our physical bodies are? In other words, because we do not believe that the soul is immortal, and can exist independently of the body, should not we then have even more reason to take care regarding how we treat our bodies? Explain.      Many new Adventists do not know a thing about a healthy diet. How can we help them learn about this important topic in a balanced way that doesn’t push them into extremism?

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		I N S I D E Story
		The Little School That Could by SARAH KIDEN Like most church schools, the primary school in Yei, a city in southern Sudan, was established with more faith than financing. Three teachers were appointed, and they set up their classrooms in the church sanctuary until the members could build a school. In Sudan, as in many developing countries, most teachers are high school graduates with no specific teacher training. When the school grew to 200 students, church members could wait no longer. They built a four-classroom school constructed of poles plastered with mud and covered by a thatched roof. The school continues to grow and has become an important part of religious outreach in the city of Yei. Church members produce a radio program for the local Christian radio station, and children from the school have become an important part of the programming. They take turns reciting Bible verses and singing songs on the live radio programs. This radio program has helped boost the church's outreach into the community and has increased the school's enrollment, as well. People in the community often ask how the children can learn so many Bible verses and so many songs. And some ask how their children can be a part of the Yei Seventh-day Adventist Primary School. Enrollment continues to increase, and today more than seven hundred students study there. The school has added more classrooms and teachers to accommodate the increased enrollment. And more children want to study there. Emerging from a civil war that spanned several decades and destroyed most public buildings, Sudan struggles to provide an education for its children. The few schools that exist can't accommodate the thousands who want to learn to read and write. Churches have stepped into the gap and provide the bulk of education in southern Sudan. Textbooks are another challenge. Relief agencies have provided a few textbooks for teachers in schools, but the children have none. They must write down everything that they need to learn. It is slow progress, but it is the only way for now. Your mission offerings support education in Sudan and around the world. Thank you for your support and your prayers. SARAH KIDEN teaches at Yei Seventh-day Adventist Primary School in southern Sudan.
		Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. email:   info@adventistmission.org  website:  www.adventistmission.org