Recently a team of us returned from the NSW town of Coonabarabran where we were working with the local SDA church in running a health expo, cooking demonstrations and door-to-door canvassing in the local community.

This is the third time Eastward has been privileged to work with the Coona church. Last year we took some footage of the health expo experience (coona health expo docu).

The Lord blessed in many ways! The cooking demonstration which ran in the local church hall was very successful. Kim Canham and Desley Bailey worked together to present nutritious and tasty vegetarian dishes. Which was attended by around a dozen or more people from the community. There's a lot of people who need education and guidance in cooking good healthy food for their families.

The Health Expo also went very well. The number of people who came was less than the year before (mainly due to the fact that it rained almost the whole time the expo was running), but the slower pace meant we could spend more time with the people who came through (20-30). The people so appreciated the services and information offered by the expo. Whether it was advice to get more exercise, sunshine, fresh water, or a connection with God each participant went home encouraged in how they are going and what they could do to experience better health. 

By far the greatest highlight of the week was being able to go door to door canvassing. We had many wonderful experiences talking with people, sharing our faith and precious books of truth. Here's some of the canvassing statistics and testimonies.

Total Large Magabooks: 73
Total small Happiness for Life: 96

Peace Above the Storm (STC) - 17

Great Controversy - 15

Bountiful Health - 15

Kidilicious - 12

Health and Peace - 7

Lessons of Love - 5

God’s Answers - 2

The truths contained in these books could change people's lives for eternity! Please pray that the Lord will impress people's minds to read the books they have received. Here's testimonies from some experiences we had.

Eva's Experiences

"The butcher gave me $20 for GC. I came in, a lady was just leaving. Then Ross called me 'Hey next door! what are you doing here?' and all that. Chitchatted a little bit and he said, so show me what you doing here. I put the books on the counter and said you wouldn't be interested in a vegetarian cookbook would you and put the cookbook aside and he said nah no no… Briefly talked about all the other spiritual books. And he liked history so he got GC! And gave me $20"

"At a door, showed the guy very quickly the cookbook, thinking he was losing interest so showed him HP and closed there and he said he would get both books and went out to the van to get his wallet and gave me $50. Should have offered him another book instead of giving him $25 back. But praise God!"

The books that we canvass with are called Magabooks. They are large A4 size, with a full colour cover like a magazine. Here's a short bio on some of the popular magabooks.

• The Great Controversy (GC) - a powerful history book covering the past 2,000 years of Christian history showing how Bible prophecies have been fulfilling. It comes down to the present time showing how America fits into the picture. Also you'll find answers to questions such as why would a God of love allow so much suffering and injustice.
   
• Health and Peace (HP, commonly known as the Ministry of Healing) - this book shows us how to gain and maintain total wellness, with chapters on dealing with depression, overcoming addictions and using natural remedies. It also contains the blue-print for a happy family with chapters for mums and dads. It is written from a Christian perspective, but no matter what walk of life you come from, everyone is sure to gain some helpful knowledge.
   
• Bountiful Health (BH) - A cookbook where all recipes are low-fat and cholesterol free, quick to prepare and very tasty!
   
• Peace Above the Storm (PS, also known as Steps to Christ), this powerful little book has helped thousands find freedom from worry, guilt and fear in thirteen easy steps. 
   
• Lessons of Love (LOL, also known as Christ's Object Lessons), this is a beautiful devotional type book taken from the parables of Christ. The lessons from nature encourage and help us find strength to meet each new day.

Here's some more of our experiences at Coona:

Tim & Andy's Experiences

"So… Andy was with Hosea in the morning and it was pretty dry and this lady was interested in Kidilicious (Cookbook for Kids) and she got it. And she said don't bother going next door, because she's an old lady, almost deaf and wouldn't be interested in the Cookbook. Then finally he got around to her house and thought she wouldn't be interested in CB so opened with Peace Above the Storm. As soon as she saw it she fell in love with it. She asked how much for that one so she went and got $20 and Andy offered LOL to her and she said she'd be happy with Peace and she said she'd read that today."

"Fijian guy came to the door, showed him CB and he realised that Tim was connected with the church. He just came back from the cooking demo from church. Talked for ages. Straight away talked about GC asked if he studies the Bible if he reads much. He said he'd backslid a bit. Then talked more about his work then Tim offered a prayer with him and he prayed for Tim too. He gave $6 (all he had) for a GC. Said he’d read the book after he finished the one he’s reading. Told Tim all the stories how God provided (he traveled a fair bit amazing stories how God provided). He got Tim on FB straight away. He also came to the church on Sabbath, and really enjoyed the services."

These are just a short snippet of the many great conversations and connections that we made with people that week. Canvassing work is so important for our time.

"The canvassing work, properly conducted, is missionary work of the highest order, and it is as good and successful a method as can be employed for placing before the people the important truths for this time. The importance of the work of the ministry is unmistakable; but many who are hungry for the bread of life have not the privilege of hearing the word from God's delegated preachers. For this reason it is essential that our publications be widely circulated. Thus the message will go where the living preacher cannot go, and the attention of many will be called to the important events connected with the closing scenes of this world's history." - Colporteur Ministry pg 6

On the last Sabbath we were privileged to take the service and an afternoon program at the local church, in which we aimed to encourage all with a missionary spirit of service, giving of ourselves to bless others.

We look forward to the next time we can work with Coonabarabran or any other church who would like a health expo, health seminars, cooking demonstrations or canvassing to be run in their local community. Feel free to contact us or give us a call (0468 321 559) anytime.