Interview with Iosif Sacuiu - 1903

SPEAKER A Hello, I'm Kaysie Butler, and welcome to healthy living around the world. I'm on site at Herghelia lifestyle centre in Romania, and my guest today is Iosif Sacuiuradu. Welcome Joseph. SPEAKER B Thank you very much. SPEAKER A Good to have you here on the program. Now, can you share with me where you are from? SPEAKER B I'm from town in the center of Romania. SPEAKER A Okay. SPEAKER B Near the most dangerous mountains of Romania. SPEAKER A Oh, wow. SPEAKER B And I miss to see them every day. SPEAKER A Oh, you miss seeing them? Wow. Are they spectacular peaks with jagged edges? What are they like, those mountains? SPEAKER B Their reach is long of 20, it's really sharp and really beautiful to hike them. But you have to be careful because otherwise you may not have the second opportunity of doing. SPEAKER A Ah. So that's something to have great respect for those mountains. Okay. So you're from Romania and I can see that there's parts of Romania that are very special to you. And here at Hergilia, it's also in Romania. Can you share with me how you came to come here to Hergalia? SPEAKER B After I finished my high school, I joined the first program of canvassing, which was done with students which were actually canvassers. And this program was coordinated by a student from Avondale, from Australia. SPEAKER A Oh, wow. SPEAKER B And at the very end of the program, I remember that I was praying about where to go and where is my place for the next year. SPEAKER A Yes. SPEAKER B And the doors were shutting in front of me, many of them, because the time was passing and I couldn't apply to many other places. And after I finished that last day and we had to do just some more counting and to pack up, I found myself so discouraged because I need to see where I'm going. It's probably just a human nature. And I began to cry. SPEAKER A Oh wow. SPEAKER B I was in my mind, now I don't know where to go. I want to sit there, but I don't know where. And this was the option mainly in my mind for let's say two or three weeks. And I knew I had to take a decision, so I took a decision. And even though I was not considering so much in the beginning to come to Herglia, because it's a medical school and I did not really want to get the medical part, there are many Adventists here and there are fields which needs also people to work in. God led me here, so I applied and I was accepted. And after I found out that it was not so easy as I thought, they discussed if they will accept me or not. SPEAKER A Wow. And then they did accept you. SPEAKER B They accepted me and I think was a good choice. SPEAKER A Yes. So you've appreciated being here. How long have you been here now? SPEAKER B Around nine months. SPEAKER A Nine months, okay. And what have you been doing here? SPEAKER B So I am medical missionary student. That means that I'm trained in the light program. SPEAKER A Okay. SPEAKER B Which takes one year. And here we learn how to work in a sanitarium, how to give massage, hydrotherapy. We are taught also spiritual classes like Bible prophecy or we have also the Adventist family and also how to understand bit self supporting institution. SPEAKER A Yes. SPEAKER B We did some outreach in our mission trip in Portugal, which was interesting. So mainly it prepares you to be a medical missionary. But I think it's bit more similar with the army that I'll make a parallel, even though in the army not everyone becomes a soldier after they finish. Everyone knows how to pull the trigger of a gun. SPEAKER A Right. SPEAKER B So here you get trained not just in these things, but also in other really important practical things like agriculture or cooking or it was really interesting how one of the best courses that we have here, it's the Management of Conflicts. You don't learn it so much in the school. We don't have a course. The management of the conflicts. But being in a group with so many Adventist youth from different countries and different shades of Adventism, I would say you have to learn how to manage the conflict. So that's one of the biggest gain I think I have got from here. SPEAKER A That's quite an interesting thing. A very good life skill for you, too. SPEAKER B A bit hard to get, but not the most comfortable one to get. SPEAKER A No, but very handy, very important, as you say. That's true. So that's quite a variety of things you have learned here as part of your training, isn't it? So now can you share with me, because obviously this is a lifestyle center and helping people to change their lifestyle, you would have some appreciation for healthy lifestyle and its benefits. How did you come to appreciate healthy living? SPEAKER B First thing, I was born as an Adventist, so I was born as an evangelical. And for us, the health was almost not existing. Oh, and when I first time came into an Adventist church, as long as I remember, it was evangelization. Yes, evangelization. And in this also, the pastor proved some health topics and for me made such a sense that he told us that if you'd eat red, would be healthier than the pork. And it made sense for I didn't want to eat red, but I thought, okay, then Bible says not to eat pork, so I shouldn't eat pork. And because it had this holistic approach to the human being, for me it was a really good bridge to get more on the spiritual things. I was in the fifth grade and also after I joined this church and I became vegetarian after vegan. I'm a vegan now. SPEAKER A Okay. SPEAKER B My mind gets so much better. I began to understand the spiritual topics way more, right? Way more. And it's like some foggy clouds just went away off the brain. And truly it is a blessing to have this message because we can help people more, we can reach them and we can minister to their needs as the Lord did. And he spent the most of his time healing, greater even than preaching. It's big appreciation which I have for the Adventist lifestyle, even though in my family they not being Adventist was so hard sometimes, and I've got not easy times with them, not all the time, but sometimes I had strives and this kind of arguments why don't I eat fish? Or why don't I eat that? Or why do I want to eat just remains and not so much. And it was God's right hand for me also to get in the church. And it is a great blessing, this lifestyle. SPEAKER A So is your family still not an Adventist? SPEAKER B None of them is Adventist. SPEAKER A None of them. Wow. But you've appreciated healthy living as a means to help you become more established as a Christian in the Adventist Church. Is that what you have experienced? SPEAKER B Yes, that's one thing. But when I came first time in the contact with the church and I found out about the Hell Reform, I was in the fifth grade and impressed my mind so much. SPEAKER A Right. SPEAKER B I was like eleven or twelve years old. And it impressed my mind so much that even though I wasn't coming to the church, when I was hearing people speaking a standard Baptist, I was telling them you should rather be silent because they are right in the sense is proven what they say. So for me, at least in my mind, I knew that this church was righter than the others. SPEAKER A Yeah. SPEAKER B And later came also the decision to try. SPEAKER A Wow. So it was all part of that initial stage of helping you to come in. That's amazing. Obviously you've started like you adopted those lifestyle principles in your own life. Is there any one of those that is like your favorite, that you really enjoy, that you experience good benefits from and you appreciate a lot? SPEAKER B Maybe it's hard to choose just one of them. I really manage the nutrition. Nutrition because it helped with my acne problem. So especially in the years of my teenage period, was quite hard to have acne and trying treatments and getting bored of some of or getting allergic reactions after I quit diary and meat was way better, even though there are other factors which are influencing. And I like nutrition because it's something that we deal with all of them. But with nutrition, everybody does. Being conscious about, you can speak with anybody about. And the World Health Organization it's supporting. And I really like it because you feel the result after a few years. Sometimes when you change, it may be harder for your body to accept. And I figure this thing, but after five years I'm feeling really well, maybe even a bit younger. SPEAKER A You're feeling even a bit younger? You're still a young person. That's amazing. SPEAKER B My biological age was twelve years old. SPEAKER A Oh, really? So you've added some years to your life. SPEAKER B I hope I did. SPEAKER A That's very good. So you're obviously very much feeling benefits from living healthier. Obviously. You said that maybe it took a little bit to get used to maybe at first, is that right? But now you're going very well with it. SPEAKER B Yeah. This little may vary from maybe torture months to even some years to some. But your taste buds will also adapt and your mindset will adapt. Will adapt. And also something that I felt that it was missing in the Evangelical church. I felt that something was missing. And this was one of those holistic approach of the human being. SPEAKER A Yes. Now that's very interesting because my next question would be to you how you felt your health has impacted your religious spiritual life. Have you noticed anything along those lines? SPEAKER B Yeah. First, you cannot understand some of the truths of the Bible also with the heart. So a bit beyond the intellectual level if you overload yourself with food because your brain will be so busy and your system will not be able to focus on the higher things than the basic instincts. And I observed that ahead lifestyle helps you to be joyful, helps you to trust in the Lord, even though sometimes you may see opposite results at the beginning. It's a great blessing to follow the blueprint which God gave us in this new Start program in the church, you'll find people which will be Adventist banner. Adopting an Adventist lifestyle and to deal with them is maybe the hardest, but still it's good because you will understand better the Bible. You can pray and you can focus more on your thoughts. SPEAKER A Okay. SPEAKER B And you'll have a better attitude if you have a healthy lifestyle, otherwise you just kill yourself slowly. SPEAKER A Okay. So you're saying that healthy living has helps you to actually live a practical Christian life a lot more easily, so that it's helping enable you to have your faith to be a real experience lived out in your life. SPEAKER B Let's take fasting, for example, while you fast, this is something that is strengthening to your will and also your spiritual life because you do something which puts to silence your carnal nature and helps your higher powers to develop more and to focus more on the things which are everlasting which are not just early daily things. SPEAKER A Yes. So when you say carnal nature, you're meaning like natural man, natural instincts, natural human desires, drives, that kind of thing. SPEAKER B Yeah. SPEAKER A Okay, and so you're finding that the healthy principles help you to, I guess, keep them under better control, is that right? Yeah. That's very important part of a Christian's experience, isn't it? Very true. Now, if you were to meet someone who was wanting to start maybe adopt a healthier lifestyle, maybe adopt a healthier habit in their life, what would you say to them? Like a word of advice on how they should go about it? Yeah. What's your thoughts on that? SPEAKER B That it's important to have something written first. SPEAKER A Okay. SPEAKER B They made a study in Yale about people's goals and they found out that the ones we had no goals, they were earning and Yale is a really good university, they were earning like someone from a community college, like three times more than oh, wow. Someone which so this was graduate with no goals when it was asked someone with goals but not written goals was earning five times better than the first ones which had no goals and the ones which written their goals. Which had written their goals. Yes, they were earning ten times better than the second ones. So they were earning way better. Because by beholding, by having their written something, you set your mind to really do that. So first you need practical guide to be able to follow in a healthy lifestyle. And you have to be willing and open to whatever God is discovering, like the country living. SPEAKER A Okay. SPEAKER B First time when I heard it, I heard from people speaking about but when I began to search about by myself, I fall in love with this. Even though it's not the easiest thing to do and it's a bit against the mainstream, it's important to have your mind open that you will grow, you'll not stay on the same level in a healthy lifestyle. And it's good to take the steps. Many people say to take them little by little, but I don't know how hard it is if you were drinking before two blasts of water since tomorrow to drink eight. I think you can make some radical decisions also, which may help you. Depends on your body and how do you feel? But when you see a good change, a good option, that you have a better option yes, it's good to go for it. SPEAKER A Okay. SPEAKER B And I think that there is no reason why not to adopt a healthier lifestyle. This is what probably I'll say the first time. And as I was working as a canvasser, I could speak a lot about the lifestyle with the people. SPEAKER A Yes. SPEAKER B And mainly everybody wants to feel well. SPEAKER A Yes, true. Yeah. SPEAKER B And if you take 30 seconds to think, you like to feel well for a longer time and you may take into consideration a healthier lifestyle. SPEAKER A Yes. Okay, so you're saying it's important to have a written goal so you can see it, focus on it. It's important to be perseverant. SPEAKER B This would be another one to be perseverant, that this will really help you, even though sometimes may be hard and you can think also about the future genetical heritage because your children will not be healthier than you were. So yes, that's also another point. There are so many things to discuss about the healthy lifestyle. Yes, but we can talk about 2 hours, what would be the best for you to really to try to apply and you'll see many whys on the way. Very good. SPEAKER A So there's lots of different things to consider which are going to be helping people be successful if they're going to make a change for a healthy lifestyle, and not only successful in the short term, but also long term sustainably. These things are all important that you've shared. So that's very I think you've shared some very useful advice there, very interesting useful advice that people can take on board. So I appreciate that a lot, and I'm sure our listeners do as well. Well, thank you so much for sharing with us on this program, Joseph. It's been a pleasure to talk with you today, and I hope you enjoy the remainder of your time here at Hergelia Lifestyle Center, which is where we've been recording today live. Our guest today has been Iosif Sacuiurada. And I'm your host, Kaysie Butler. And thank you so much for tuning in to healthy living around the world. God bless.