Mexican City Enlists Adventist Literature Evangelists to Promote Good Health

By Abdiel Hernández, with Inter-American Division staff

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has struck an agreement with the authorities of Monterrey, Mexico, to help promote a healthy lifestyle to the city’s 1.1 million residents by dispatching literature evangelists to every home.

Leaders of the church’s North Mexico Union signed a first-of-its-kind memorandum of understanding with the city’s health department during a ceremony at España Park.

The arrangement merges the church’s “I Want to Live Healthy” program, which focuses on the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of people, with the city’s “Neighborhood Doctor” initiative, which seeks to inform, educate, and survey residents on health matters.

A city health official, Francisco González Alinas, thanked the Adventist Church for its support and for the many health expos and other activities that it has organized in the city.

“Thank you for being available and helping citizens, not only with regards to health but in all other areas of social assistance,” González said at the ceremony. “You are a church that really concerns itself with the well-being of people.”

At the ceremony, a group of literature evangelists received special ID badges to go house-to-house in Monterrey to survey residents as part of the city program and also to offer health books for sale. One of the many books that the more than 80 literature evangelists will share is 101 Secrets to a Healthy Life, which Victor Reyes, publishing ministries director for the church in North Mexico, presented at the ceremony.

The church’s “I Want to Live Healthy” program was launched in Monterrey in 2014 and also has been implemented in nearly two dozen other states in Mexico. The initiative promotes a list of steps to living a healthy lifestyle, including drinking water; eating salads, a better breakfast, and fewer dinners; exercising; resting; and keeping a positive attitude.