Residents of the small town of Tok, Alaska, are used to seeing health food displays in Francine Lee's Tok General Store, which is less than 100 miles from the Yukon border between Canada and Alaska. And tourists coming by road into Alaska always pass Lee's store.
In the health displays in her store she encourages NEWSTART principles. Lee says, "Using good things moderately and avoiding the bad is obviously wise, yet often hard to practice. Temperance can be neither bought nor earned, but is rather an important gift of God, a fruit of the Spirit."
So when the Women's Ministries department of the Tok Church was invited to participate in the Women's Health Fair, Sept. 30, Lee wanted to be sure to be there. She forwarded the invitation to Edward Dunn, Alaska Conference executive secretary, and Butch Palmero, Delta Junction physician/pastor and his wife Melba. Organized around the title, NEWSTART (Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sunshine, Temperance, Air, Rest, and Trust in God), the Adventist presence provided more than half of the fair's services. Adriana Cuber, a Tok Medical Clinic nurse, conducted pulmonary function tests, while Shauna Lee extrapolated values from the Health Age and Stress Profile Inventory. Susan Crawford, a dentist, gave tips on dental health, while Crawford's daughter, Betty, emphasized the benefits of regular exercise.
Other health agencies and health advocacy groups serving interior Alaska also participated in the health fair. "It was well received and very informative to the community," said Lee.
The Tok, Alaska, community hosted a Women's Health Fair on Sunday, Sept. 30. More than half of the fair was sponsored by the Tok Church. Part of the health team, seen here in the Health Age/Stress Profile booth are, from left: Francine Lee, Butch Palmero, Shauna Lee, Adriana Cuber and Melba Palmero.
Edward Dunn, Alaska Conference executive secretary, responds to questions from teenagers about Native New Health ministry in the nutrition booth of NEWSTART lifestyle presentations during the Women's Health Fair held recently in Tok, Alaska.
