In America, when we hear that a country has an epidemic, we send vaccines and health workers and money and food and medicine and missionaries and the list goes on. As I sit here, an epidemic is brewing right here in our own back yard. Right here in America. Not some other place, not some other child, not some other family, right here. We will not have to send missionaries, or doctors, or health aid workers or vaccines across the ocean to a place we only see on TV. This epidemic is happening next door, down the street, in any city or any state all across America.

There are not socioeconomic boundaries, this epidemic does not care if you are rich or poor, white or black, old or young. The CDC projects that by 2020, 6 short years from now, half of Americans will have type 2 diabetes or pre diabetes. I am not okay with this, not when type 2 diabetes is preventable with diet and exercise. This has reached epidemic proportions. Since when are we willing to let something become an epidemic in this country and give up without a fight? Without giving it all we have to put an end to this. To make matters worse, more and more children are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a disease usually diagnosed in adults age 40 years or older. This is a disease that causes blindness, costs limbs, causes kidney disease, neuropathy, and causes you to become a slave to your body. I feel desperate for our next generation and the generations behind them. What kind of legacy are we going to leave them? I am not okay with giving in, and giving up. Our children deserve more. Not only as Christians, but as a society, we should not go quietly into the night.

One of many reasons that we, Chele and I, felt so strongly about bringing a wellness ministry was this exact statistic. We had read many statistics about obesity and the hold it has taken on this county. I can only say that we were saddened. Deeply saddened that America seems to be giving into this epidemic.

Some days I am just plain discouraged. It really has nothing to do with what anyone has said directly to me. It has more to do with what I see and experience. Whether I am at the grocery store following behind a person who can no longer walk around a grocery store but must use a scooter because of the amount of weight they are carrying on their skeleton, or the people who come by my office who cannot afford to pay for their diabetes medication or heart medication. The people I see daily being held captive by their very own bodies. My heart aches. It really aches for these people. If you work in an office like I do. There is a constant barrage of donuts, cupcakes, cookies, candy, sodas, pastries. It is never ending. Now don’t get me wrong, one donut will not kill you, I am not saying that, but this is a daily battle. People bring them to say thank you, or for a birthday, or to just get them out of their own home. I am sure your offices are not much different. I have to pass by them as they sit on the reception desk in front of my office. This is not always an easy task and I know that those who bring them mean well. But HELLO! We do have a wellness ministry here…or did you forget?

The other day a friend came into my office and said to me, “I believe in you, I believe in your mission.” My knees really wanted to buckle. I mean to have someone to my face encourage me, in a moment when I needed it the most, when I begin to wonder if we what we are doing is even worth the amount of time that we put into it. If we are even putting a dent in the epidemic, even a tiny dent. But, that little voice that likes to creep up in my head and likes to start with a whisper telling me that this ministry will never help people, people really don’t care about their health, you are wasting your time. That voice gets drowned out when one person says, “I believe in you.”

Ministry is hard work. You take on a lot emotional baggage, you add that baggage to your own and it can be quite exhausting. But not only does my friend believe in what Revelation Wellness North Texas is doing, I believe in what we are doing. We are out there trying. We are there with those who are also trying. I also believe in those who are coming to our classes, whether you come once or you come consistently, I believe in you. I believe that you can and will make the changes necessary to take back your life. The world makes it so easy to give up. But I believe that you do not have to give up.

We have a community and while we have only been functioning as a community for 9 months, we continue to grow. Which tells me that my friend and I are not the only ones who believe in this mission. Every class you come to whether it is one of our bi-weekly fitness classes or our monthly nutrition workshops, tells me that you too believe in our mission.

What exactly is our mission?

• Create a healthy environment for people to learn about what God wants for our lives.
• Provide a faith based fitness and nutrition program inviting people from the community of all ages.
• Educate, support and inspire people to live healthy and whole lives through breaking the bonds of physical and spiritual poverty that lay within us all.
• Open another door for new people to step into our church for the first time.
• Offer a safe place where believers and non-believers can be connected.
• Encourage community building and accountability among participants.
• And finally, to give hope back to those who have lost all hope when it comes to the war that our very own heart, minds, souls and bodies fight every single day with the world.

Revelation Wellness North Texas believes in you, I believe in you and above all else our Creator believes in you.

Why not invest in the health of your friends, family, and co-workers and grab some oatmeal to share or scramble some eggs or make a fruit salad, share any life giving foods. I decided last year that I was going to keep it real. If I hold back and do and say nothing then I am not doing what I was called to do. But if I sugar coat everything, then I am doing the exact same thing as serving you a donut. So I am going to step on some toes, I am going to ruffle some feathers and I am going to do my best to be real. My being real though is coming from a place of hope, hope that we can heal a broken world. Broken by the food we eat, the sitting around we do and the one place we tend to hide the most and that is in plain sight. When did we give up on the power of Christ that is in us? When did we stop caring about the temple he gave us to care for? When did we stop taking care of our temples? The answers are numerous and far reaching and for some very painful. But, I believe in His healing grace, and I believe in the power of Christ that is within you and I believe in you.

I ask that you join us in the mission of believing in one another and the power of Him who is at work within us. We cannot give up, I will not give up. After all the Church has not given up on me.

Love God       Get Healthy       Be Whole       Love Others

Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1