The clock struck one in the morning. Jose Rodriquez tossed and turned on his bed. He’d had this problem before, but now it was worse. “I was so dizzy again, and I could not sleep.” He tried to cure it through sleeping pills, but nothing would work. Finally, his brother suggested going through the Hartland Lifestyle session, and he agreed. “I have faith in this place. I know I will get help here.”

Did you know that some types of insomnia can be easily healed through God’s eight laws of health? This is what Jose had to find out the hard way. Each year about sixty million people suffer from insomnia, which leads to serious sleep deficits and other health problems. One’s likelihood of experiencing it increases with age, affecting 30% of men and 40% of women.

The session went smoothly for Jose. He enjoyed the food, the staff, and the whole environment. “The food was very good. I never thought I would eat like this, because I’ve never been on this kind of diet before,” he recalls. “The people were just beautiful inside and out. The staff and students were friendly, kind, and thoughtful. They taught me how to eat, how to cook, and how to manage my stress.”

“I learned that we don’t treat our bodies well,” he said. “I have to be more careful now. Yes! I know how to live.” Having been a meat eater, Jose had developed some health problems, but now he wants to keep a healthy diet. “No meat, no coffee—nothing like that. God wanted to change my lifestyle.”

“The most important part that I learned was prayer. In everything we did, we prayed, whether it was a hydrotherapy treatment or before going to bed.”

The Hartland Lifestyle session was truly a blessed experience for Jose. Now he sleeps well and is thankful that God taught him to live by His principles through the Hartland Lifestyle Education Center.

On March 30, 1996, while administering anesthesia at Marion General Hospital, a feeling of extreme weakness swept over fifty-one year old Dr. Ben Sanidad, and he slipped to the floor. After being helped to a gurney and resting he felt strong enough to stand up again. Another doctor urged Ben to stay overnight for tests.

The next morning an endoscopy revealed a small, fast-growing tumor on his esophagus. This grim diagnosis of esophageal cancer sounded in Dr. Sanidad’s ears as a death sentence. It seemed there was nothing he could do, so he numbly resigned himself to his fate. He had personally seen the rapid physical decline of patients with this condition and expected to live no more than six months longer. It seemed hopeless, with no possibility of seeing his children grow up or of enjoying his wife’s companionship, no chance to get serious about his relationship with God.

But wait—what about prayer? Ben wondered if God would even listen after he had ignored Him for so long. “Oh, God, please hear me,” Ben prayed. “I’m powerless to face this problem alone. Before I die, Lord, help me draw closer to Esther, the kids, and to You,” he pleaded.

Indeed, God was listening, and in a marvelous way, He completely answered Ben’s prayer.

While waiting for the surgery that would remove the tumor prior to chemotherapy, Ben began reading his Bible and earnestly praying for guidance and healing, if this was God’s will. “God was my only hope,” he says. Ben’s children left school to be by his side.

His wife Esther contacted many friends to request prayer for Ben. She encouraged him to exercise faith in God’s way. Ben was anointed in their home, and his faith began to grow.

After surgery, due to complications, chemotherapy was delayed for several weeks. During this time, Ben and Esther researched the two most common cancer treatments: radiation and chemotherapy. The statistics were bleak and unpromising, so they researched alternative treatments. Ben also read Counsels on Diet and Foods and Ministry of Healing, by E.G. White.

As he read, Ben began to make lifestyle changes. He quit taking all medications and put off chemotherapy. He contacted Hartland Lifestyle Education Center. With God’s help, Ben turned his back on all he had learned as a physician and headed in a different direction—God’s way of healing.

At Hartland Lifestyle Education Center, Ben entered wholeheartedly into the program. He learned about God’s eight natural remedies and other things medical schools don’t teach. During the eighteen-day program, Ben’s strength gradually returned, and he began to feel health and joy again. Upon his returning home, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances saw the radical change and asked, “What has made the difference?” Ben has had many opportunities to give his testimony of God’s healing mercy and power.

Ben’s personal testimony in his book Choosing to Live is a most effective means of sharing the good news that it is possible to maintain or regain health by following God’s plan.

Over ten years have passed since the original diagnosis, and Ben is still following God’s plan for health. The cancer is still in remission. On many occasions, he has shared God’s principles of health with patients at Marion General Hospital, where he works.

By Romi Talento and Hilary Overcash Hartland ministry report | April-May 2006

I was facing either dialysis or kidney transplant. “Either choice is unthinkable for me,” I told some friends. “I’ve got to do something now, before it’s too late!” Then I determined to try a lifestyle approach to my health problems and I turned to the Hartland Lifestyle Education Center. I arrived with my five different medications for gout, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Diabetes may seem like a minor thing, but it affects all the organs of the body. I used to be a big meat eater, but I wanted to lower my intake of fats to help my diabetes. I also used to be more physically active, but my osteoarthritis started to bother my knees too much. In fact, I have already postponed knee replacement surgery three times. Over time, my poor diet and my inactivity led to excess weight, which hasn’t helped matters. I was a little concerned about the cost of attending the Hartland Lifestyle Education Center, but my health is more important than money. Money can be earned, but once health is gone, the power to earn money is also gone.

What a difference eighteen days at Hartland makes! Now I am off all my prescriptions. I’m thirty pounds lighter, and my cholesterol levels have improved. I’ve even received many treatments on my knees including fomentations, paraffin wax treatments, and pool exercises. I’m walking a lot and my knees are doing better. There is still chronic pain, but with my new lifestyle, lighter weight, and exercises, I am praying that this, too, will go away. The staff here is very conscientious and very helpful. They often share quotes from the Bible, and you can just see that they possess a Christian attitude. There’s no lack of spirituality here. There is prayer before everything, from a hydro treatment to pool exercises. Trust in the Lord is simply part of the regimen. The Hartland staff is committed to our spiritual as well as physical health.

At the end of the session, we were treated to a farewell luncheon and presented with certificates and small gifts. Many students came to support us, as well. I know many people that could also use this kind of help. They need the lifestyle changes that are advocated here. I will certainly tell them the good news about Hartland’s Lifestyle Education Center!