We welcome Yin Schaff as the new Health Ministries Coordinator for our conference. Yin, a cardiac nurse of 37 years, received her nursing degree from Southwestern Adventist College, and later furthered her education and became a certified family nurse practitioner. Currently she works as an acute care nurse practitioner in cardiology.
Yin has always enjoyed a nursing style that helps people not only physically, but mentally and spiritually. “To Make Man Whole,” is a mission statement she tries to emulate. As a nurse practitioner, Yin helps patients and their families by answering questions, planning care, and helping them through what are often difficult times. Yin says, “When I am able to point patients and their families to the Great Physician, and introduce them to the master healer, Jesus Christ, it is very satisfying for me.”
Yin feels that, “Treatment options for heart disease, the number one killer, need to not only use medications, but try to eradicate the root cause of the disease, and strive for sustainable health. How? Through lifestyle medicine. My passion is to educate patients, families, and communities about healthy lifestyle and how to do plant based cooking.” She is concerned about cardiac risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, tobacco and alcohol use, depression, and so much more as their numbers are continuing to rise. Yin continues, “These increase health care costs and are unsustainable.”
“Being an Adventist I feel we are very blessed with the health message from Mrs. White. Through the ministry of Mrs. White, the Lord indicated that the ‘gospel of health’ was to be the ‘right arm’ of the Third Angel’s message. We are living in a day when it is becoming increasingly difficult to draw men, women, and youth away from the bright lights of worldly entertainment. I believe one of the subject in which almost everyone is interested in is health, and everyone desires to be healthy. The Spirit of Prophecy has instructed us very definitely that our health work is the Right Arm of the message. Counsels on Diets and Foods p. 451 says, ‘We should educate ourselves not only to live in harmony with the laws of health, but to teach others the better way….Our ministers should become intelligent upon this question….At our large gatherings, instructions should be given upon health and temperance….’Educate, educate, educate,’ is the message that has been impressed upon me.’
“It is my sincere belief that we have come to the time in America when our pastors are to partner using the health message to open the heart of the people to the truths of the full gospel, preparing them both spiritually and physically for the coming of our beloved Savior. Now, evidence lifestyle medicine is the first approach to treating root causes of lifestyle related disease. They are preventable and reversible as we heard from our recent camp meeting health speaker Dr. John Kelly. Dr Kelly has been assisting many churches conducting an Immersion health program. It is my prayer and vision that we can deliver the gospel of health as the right arm of the Third Angel’s message through conducting the Immersion program with Dr. John Kelly throughout the Wisconsin Conference.”
Yin has many favorite Bible verses, but when it comes to health, she chooses I Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you have bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God.’” “This Bible verse reminds me that my body does not belong to me,” says Yin. “It has been bought and it now belongs to God. Thus, I must take care of it.”
Born in Indonesia, Yin was raised a Buddhist. She became acquainted with the Adventist message through a student missionary at an English language school in Indonesia in 1978. In 1980 she was baptized and moved to the United States. Being the first in her family to accept Jesus, she remembers being terribly afraid to tell her mom of her decision for fear of being rejected, or disowned. You can imagine her relief when she received a letter from her mom saying, “be sure to follow the example of the Savior you serve.” Tears filled her eyes as she read this comforting message. “All my family are Christian, now,” says Yin. “I pray one day that God will lead them to the remnant church. I am the only Adventist in my family.”
Yin is a member of the Duluth Seventh-day Adventist church and leads the health ministry program for her church. She is happily married to her husband, James. She loves reading, tasting/revising/trying different plant based whole food recipes, cooking, baking sourdough bread, gardening, sewing, quilting, walking, hiking and swimming. She also loves traveling and doing health missionary work.
“I feel inadequate and humbled being asked to lead the Health Ministries for the Wisconsin Conference. Prayer and Jesus must remain the center of our health ministry. I can’t wait to get to know more of the men, women, and pastors who can partner with us to continue to better equip and serve from a place of wholeness in health and in Christ. My deepest prayer is that we will be in health physically, mentally and spiritually. May we all, together, pray on and serve with joy!”
Juanita Edge, Communication Director