Interview with Jorge Mera - 1902

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 Jorge Mera. SPEAKER B Oh, thank you for having me here. SPEAKER A No worries. Thank you for being on the program. So, can you share with me where you are from? SPEAKER B To start with, I am from Ecuador, South America. SPEAKER A Okay. South America. And now you're here in Romania. SPEAKER B That's right. SPEAKER A How did you get all the way here? SPEAKER B Well, I will try to make the long story short. SPEAKER A Okay. SPEAKER B I was raised up in the city. All my life I lived in Ecuador and in the States. I will go back and forth because of my parents'job. And well, eventually we decided to buy a farm and go live to the countryside, trying to follow God's advice for our lives. And in that time, I had two goals in my head. One was to start building my house, thinking about the future. Or the other one was to go to a mission school to get more training so I can use in the mission work. That's the main reason why we moved to the countryside. Well, I was praying about it for many months, maybe five, six months, and I felt like I had no answer. So I decided, well, maybe I should start building the house. So with my dad, we were checking the materials, and when I was about to buy the things to start building, I received a call from a girl that I didn't know and she told me about her galia. SPEAKER A Oh. SPEAKER B And until that point, I've never heard about her galia. Well, from then on, God worked in many ways and it was clear that that was his answer to my prayer. And God opened the doors and now I'm here for almost a year. SPEAKER A Wow. So what have you been doing here? SPEAKER B We tried to receive trainings that helps us to develop in all areas, both physically, spiritually and mentally. And among the classes we receive, for example, we get nutrition courses, we get how to make healthy cooking. SPEAKER C Okay. SPEAKER A Yeah. SPEAKER B So among the other things, among the other classes we receive and courses we also get physiology, and we also get theoretical reticle training in massage and hydrotherapy. And then we also get a practical part. We get to practice here in the sanitarium next to good. SPEAKER C Okay. SPEAKER B And we get after well, once we finish the course, we actually get to work with patients and we also get agriculture classes, both the theory part and also the practical how to grow our own food and in organic and a more healthy way, and how to get Bible courses. And also we have different spirit prophecies short courses on Daniel and Revelation. SPEAKER A Wow. So it's quite a variety of all sorts of different things, topics that you're learning about here. SPEAKER B Yes, we get many different subjects, and one way or the other, they're all connected in the mission work. SPEAKER A Yes. Okay. So very useful things that you're learning. Yeah. Wow. Okay, good. So obviously this place is a lifestyle center, so it's helping people change their lifestyle. It's sort of natural for people who are here to have some appreciation already for living a healthy lifestyle. So what I'm wondering is how did you come to appreciate healthy living principles in your life personally? SPEAKER B Well, I was not born Aventist. Therefore, when I was born, I ate, like most people, everything, all sorts of meat and everything that moves will be part of our food. But then maybe about eight years well, my parents got baptized well, I'm 22. My parents got baptized maybe 18 years ago. So since I was little okay. We were starting to learn the message, but we were not vegetarians or vegans. We ate still a normal diet, like most of, let's say, the world. But then eventually, little by little, we started making changes. And maybe the past eight, six years, we don't eat any animal products anymore. And we've definitely saw the change in our lives, not only physically, but also in the spiritual. SPEAKER A Oh, wow. SPEAKER B And I really do think that's a big connection between our physical health and our spiritual health. SPEAKER A Yeah. So what kind of things have you noticed in terms of how the physical side has impacted your spiritual life? SPEAKER B I think when we have a more healthy lifestyle, our mind can appreciate God's word in a bigger way. Our mind is more sharp, and we can really of course, we cannot understand fully everything that God has for us, but we can definitely get a bigger picture. SPEAKER A Yes. Wow. So you've noticed an impact in that area as well. Did you notice any changes like benefits in your physical health when you made those changes? SPEAKER B Well, yeah, I would say well, most people now have different cardiovascular diseases and chronic diseases that are like so for some people, it's like you must have them at some point of your life. But we can see with this that it's really the result of our bad lifestyle and bad habits that we have. So we can definitely see the difference between our health and my health in comparison to, let's say, the average person. SPEAKER A Right. SPEAKER B And we can be of a better testimony for them both when we present the health message and also eventually the gospel. SPEAKER A Yes. Okay. So, yeah, you can see how it's all about prevention, isn't it? SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER A Prevention through correct lifestyle habits, isn't it? So what would you say then, is your favorite lifestyle practice habit that you have that you apply in your life? I know there are many different ones, but is there any that you particularly enjoy? SPEAKER B Well, I like eating a lot. SPEAKER A What kind of things do you like eating? SPEAKER B I like eating delicious and nutritious food. I come from tropical place, so I eat a lot of fruits. SPEAKER C Okay. SPEAKER B But the one I like the most is the physical exercise. SPEAKER A Oh, you like that? SPEAKER C Okay. SPEAKER B Yes. I'm a farmer, so it's part of. SPEAKER A My work that's handy. SPEAKER B It's something that really makes me feel more useful. And yes, I will say maybe that the physical exercise. SPEAKER A So you use your physical exercise to do your work, which then you grow your food with your good food, and. SPEAKER C Then you eat it, and it's a. SPEAKER A Nice cycle for you. SPEAKER B Yes. Here, the students, they always well, not make fun of me, but always make jokes because I grow bananas. SPEAKER C Okay. SPEAKER B And I can eat every morning 1215 bananas. SPEAKER A Oh, really? SPEAKER B You love bananas because of the physical work. It compensates. SPEAKER A And yes, you're fine with it a nice experience. So you'd eat lots of fruits. What else do you like to eat? SPEAKER B Well, it's part of our culture. We eat a lot of rice. SPEAKER A Yes. SPEAKER B So maybe too much carbohydrates, but yeah, we eat a lot of rice, pasta, and potatoes, things like that. But definitely I will say the fruits and the cereals are what I enjoy the most. SPEAKER A Okay. Yeah. And they're plant foods that you're mentioning, aren't they? Yes. I think you said earlier that you used to eat meat. You don't eat that anymore, is that correct? Yeah, no more what about any animal products, like milk or well, in the. SPEAKER B Home, we don't buy them for maybe the past eight years. SPEAKER A Wow. SPEAKER B From time to time, I will eat them outside of the home. SPEAKER A Okay. Yeah. But you mainly focus on the plant foods. Yeah. Very good. And you've experienced the benefits in your life in many ways by the sounds of things. So if you were to talk to someone who has been maybe thinking about making changes in their life and their lifestyle, and they're thinking about adopting some healthy lifestyle habits or something like that, making changes, what would you say to them? What words of maybe wisdom or advice from your experience that you have had would you recommend to them in order to help their experience be successful? SPEAKER B Well, I guess it depends a lot on the person. Many people have preconceived ideas on making lifestyle changes, and especially in diet, they will think, like, the food will become less, I don't know, tasty or less appetizing. So I guess it depends on the person. But I will say the general idea is that they shall try it the good thing. You have nothing to lose. SPEAKER A Yes. SPEAKER B It's just benefits. So I will say that's probably the nicest way to present it is that you have nothing to lose, but just gain. SPEAKER A Yes. SPEAKER B So it's a win or win situation. SPEAKER A That if they try and go forward in that direction, they're almost guaranteed to have benefits. Is that right? Yes. Wow, that's really encouraging for people. They're trying to consider what reasons to move forward in that direction. That's really encouraging. Well, thank you so much for sharing with us your experience. It's always encouraging to hear how people are adopting healthy lifestyles, living them out and also sharing with others. I would like to thank you for sharing all of this with us today. SPEAKER B Oh, thank you. Thank you for your time. SPEAKER A No problem. Our guest today has been Jorge Mera. He's a student here at herghelia lifestyle center in Romania. And we have been recording on site here. And I'm your host, Kaysie Butler. And thank you so much for listening to healthy living around the world. God bless.