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November 2018

Dear Friends of Keep the Faith,

“I always wanted to understand the book of Revelation!” said Virginia.

Virginia had come to Abide Wellness Retreat in Victoria to address life threatening health issues. Her husband is a retired parliamentarian in the Australia federal parliament. Being a Greek woman, Virginia had been raised in the Greek Orthodox Church but had left God and had not attended church for a very long time. She was disillusioned because she had a bad experience with the Orthodox Church. The “frailty of men,” as she put it, had discouraged her.

Virginia just soaked up the warm and friendly atmosphere of Abide. She connected really well with Lolita, our lead clinician, and other staff members in a very short time. It wasn’t long before she asked if she could stay two weeks instead of just one.
She especially enjoyed the “thought for the day” (our morning and evening spiritual touch). She asked lots of questions and engaged our staff continually.

One day, Alison, one of our staff members, was teaching some home remedies in the garden gazebo. As they talked together, Alison suggested that she should consider reconnecting with God. “I think God is calling me back,” said Virginia.

One day, Virginia went into the retreat lounge room with a grin on her face clutching some pamphlets that she had received from Lolita. The other guests started looking at her and wondering what gems she had received that they hadn’t.

“I always wanted to understand the book of Revelation!” she said, as she excitedly told them that she had just acquired some studies on Revelation from Lolita. The next thing you know… the other guests wanted some too. Not only did they each get their own set of Bible studies, Michael, one of our staff members, was asked to share some simple evening studies on Revelation.

Virginia also expressed how much she appreciated the young staff members at Abide. “They are so different from other young people,” she said. “People notice when young people are kind and respectful to them.”
Virginia is worried about her husband who is not a Christian and doesn’t want her to be one. She will have some struggles and is genuinely in need of our prayers.

Vince, another recent guest told us, “Regular dietitians and doctors don’t seem to be interested in me.” Vince came to Abide Wellness Retreat because his blood sugar was over 27 (an Australian metric). The machine couldn’t even read it. “The staff at Abide really spend time and showed genuine interest in me,” he added. Vince was extremely happy about getting his pre-meal blood sugar down to 12 during his stay at Abide, which is much closer to normal. He also enjoyed the hot foot baths and foot massages to stimulate the circulation in his feet.

Friends, Abide Wellness Retreat in Victoria is now at an important crossroad. We need to serve more guests like Virginia and Vince. Our opportunities are better than ever! There are thousands of people like then; Wendy, Vicky, Pablo, Irene, Lyn, Pearl, Peter, Sandy, and many others who have been through our program. Some of them are now Sabbath keepers and have been baptized into the SDA message.

God has blessed our campus! It is a little slice of heaven on earth. The wellness retreat is now a 4.5 star quality rating (on a scale of 5). Our powerful new website is in place, and we can already see an exponential growth in inquiries. More people than ever are looking for alternative natural solutions to recover their health that are wholistic and regenerative. Abide can give them hope.

Also, we are even preparing to launch a special branch of our work, a ministry vehicle to promote the Seventh-day Adventist health message directly to the community, using the “right arm” and opening the way for us to share the full health message and the gospel.

But our best assets, our staff, are stretched to the max. Progress always requires the right number of qualified staff. And our team has been doing a wonderful job though at great disadvantage. I’m worried they will collapse under the expansion of guests.

Abide Victoria stands at the crossroad. We now have to enter the next, most critical phase of our work. We’ve completed all the major upgrades and renovations to our retreat, updated our clinical resources and redesigned and refocused our treatment programs to target the five most critical health needs in Melbourne; diabetes, cancer, heart disease, depression and mental health.

To provide for these five key diseases, and as guest numbers are set to climb, there is now an increasing demand to extend our qualified professional team to equip Abide to handle our, often, desperate guests. The next level of staff requires at least five trained professionals to draw guests to our program and add value to what we offer already. These staff will generate far more revenue than they will cost, making Abide sustainable, by the power of God. Unless we go forward with this next step, we will go backward and won’t be able to sustain what we have achieved so far.

Your support means so much to us. The next phase involves an investment, which will make Abide self-sustaining. We have invested in facilities, equipment and even the first impressions of our guests. And now they see first-hand that we are serious about our mission to introduce them to the health principles they need to thrive. We know this will open opportunities to help many of them find their way to Christ.
It is worth pointing out that Abide is a unique alternative within the growing holistic wellness industry. Abide offers a complete whole-person approach built entirely on God’s eight natural remedies, often known as NEWSTART. The majority of holistic wellness retreats in Victoria, for instance, are aligned to eastern mysticism and new age philosophies. Though Abide is also one of the very few retreats that is exclusively plant-based in its nutritional instruction and practice, it is now the only wellness retreat that also has commercial grade organic gardens on campus that provides organic produce to the retreat kitchen. These are just a couple of the many distinctive offerings at Abide Wellness Retreat.

But Abide Wellness Retreat can serve 300 guests a year with access to the full Seventh-day Adventist health experience, and thousands more with our planned community outreach. We don’t have the team to do this yet. By investing in our team, we will then be able to meet specific needs of our guests in ways that we do not meet them now, and at the same time become sustainable and build our reputation with people living in Melbourne.

We plan to partner with a Medical Doctor with a specialty in integrative medicine. We also plan to hire a head clinician (such as a Naturopath), a therapist, an experienced customer care sales person, a 4-5 star plant-based chef. Each of these must be dedicated to the Adventist health message outlined in the Spirit of Prophecy and committed to the 3 angels messages and experienced practitioners. Once we have these team members we will be able to achieve our goal of 300 guests per year.

We have to take this next critical step now, or we will very quickly go backward and won’t be able to sustain what we have already achieved by the grace of God. We have to get over the threshold. In order to expand our team to that level we need to invest. We have estimated that $250,000 (USD) will achieve this goal and will make us self-sustaining. Your partnership gift will make it possible to hire these key clinical and professional staff and close the last remaining gap in our work for the Lord.

Friends, this seems impossible on the surface! But with God, all things are possible. He has used you in the past to recover the lost years at Abide Wellness Retreat. And now we are on the very verge of actually making it financially sustainable. Your investment will make a difference and be the final push to get us across the line.

The beauty of it is that once we have achieved a sustainable guest load, we will be self-sustaining operationally ongoing! But we must have these staff members to achieve the life changing power of the SDA health message with our guests. That has been our goal all along, and why we have worked so hard to get ready for this very moment. Now it is time to reach the mark, to go all the way to the finish line with Abide Wellness Retreat. If we don’t, we will lose our footing. If we do, we will finally fulfill God’s specific plan for a successful health retreat near Melbourne. That’s the crossroad on which we are now standing.
The people of Australia sorely need Abide Wellness Retreat’s methods and ministry. The world is full of despairing people who don’t know where to turn to solve their health problems. We can make a big difference. Though 300 guests a year seems like a drop in the bucket compared to Australia’s 24,000,000 people, God knows which ones to send us. And the influence of Abide will spread exponentially.

We need your support to get us to the point where we can reach 300 guests a year. Your gift will make a huge difference. Please help Abide Wellness Retreat become self-sustaining! Your generous gift today will greatly expand Abide’s opportunities to introduce lost souls to our remarkable health message and give them a lasting life change. You have an opportunity to partner with us in reaching souls for Christ.

Today I’m asking you for a special gift, a gift that will make a difference toward that $250,000 goal. I’m hoping to arrange a matching gift so that your gift goes twice as far. But whatever you are able to do for us, it will certainly help us fulfill the calling of the Lord to the nation of Australia. Australia is an amazing mission field! Abide Wellness Retreat is an “entering wedge,” and Christ’s method of touching lives by healing them is still as valid today as it was when he walked the dusty roads of Judea. Your gift can be the foundation of reaching many souls. Thank you again from the team at Abide, for your generous support and encouragement. Your help today is very important to our future. And you’ll have the confidence that it is being used in the most important work, spoken of by the prophet of the Lord.

Sincerely,

Pr. Hal Mayer

Keep the Faith Ministry
Abide Wellness Retreats

P. S. Please send your gift today to help us take Abide Wellness Retreat to full sustainability. We urgently need your support to start the new year. Use the envelope in your packet. For those in Australia or New Zealand, you can use our regular bank details: ANZ Bank, Acct Name: Keep the Faith Ministry, AU/BSB: 013344, Acct Number: 277183372. NZ/BSB: 010877, Acct Number: 0180191-00.