Back To Eden
This past October, I had the opportunity to visit Korea with my mother. One of the main reasons that we went to Korea, was to spend two weeks at an Adventist lifestyle center called Back to Eden Healing Center in Sokcho-si, Gangwon-do. It was an experience where God truly blessed me and I’m really glad I went.
My mom had been to the doctors and was dealing with some health issues, so she wanted to participate in this health program to prevent potentially bigger problems in the future. For me, I was overweight and had been going through depression. My mom first heard about Back to Eden through watching seminar videos on YouTube. She wanted to go because she heard a lot of good things about their detox program. I was hesitant at first when she suggested that we go, because I didn’t know anything about it. In addition, what value would I gain from it when I didn’t feel confident enough in my Korean listening ability, to be able to understand the seminars? But after going through all my excuses, I decided to go because I really didn’t have anything to lose.
One of the arguments for going was that the healing center was located very close to Seoraksan, which is a well-known mountain range in Korea and a popular destination for hikers. When we arrived at the center, I remember being in awe of the natural beauty of the mountains and forest. It was refreshing to breathe in the pure air and experience the quietude. The water flowing in the Seoraksan mountain streams is so pure and clean, that it is known for its healing properties. Being a city-dweller, it was a welcome change of environment.
The Back to Eden program is based on 8 principles of health. They are essentially the same as NEW START and can be remembered with the acronym BACK EDEN. For brevity’s sake, I’ll give you the quick summary: B is for Belief or trust in God, A is for Air, C is for Continence (aka Temperance), K is for Keeping the Sabbath and Rest, E is for Exercise, D is for Drinking the Water, E is for Enjoying the Sunshine, and N is for Nutrition.
The program runs on a weekly cycle. Since we were coming from far away, we wanted to stay two weeks to make it worth our time. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and we checked into our room and basically had free time until the evening. In the evening, dinner was served and there was an orientation and seminar. During the orientation, we were introduced to how the detox program would work. Basically, the detox program mimics fasting where we're not eating solid food, but we eat from the dry meal packages by mixing the powder with water until it become a porridge. We were also given an antioxidant juice and grape juice that was juiced onsite, and also small dry packages specially for the stomach and kidneys. These were to be consumed at certain times during the day. It was our individual choice as to how long we would detox for, but it is recommended to do so for at least four days. My mom and I ended up detoxing for seven days. I actually didn’t feel too hungry or too low on energy because the dry food and juices contain all the necessary nutrients to get by. The next few days we transitioned into eating whole-food, plant-based meals, starting with small portions that gradually increased to full portions.
One of the biggest benefits of detoxing or fasting is that it activates a natural mechanism in your body called autophagy. Basically, autophagy is your body’s natural cleansing system where it destroys damaged or redundant cells or cell components. My takeaway from this was that your body has the ability to heal itself if you give it the right conditions. As the psalmist says, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. What an awesome and wise Creator that our Heavenly Father is!
During the weekdays, we had a regularity in our schedule which also was a part of keeping with health principles. Monday morning, we had our physical examination followed by breakfast and a video seminar. Then we were given a lot of time for walking or hiking individually until lunchtime. There are trails nearby the healing center and one that goes up the mountain. On Wednesdays, we were able to go on a field trip as a group either to the beach, to Seoraksan, or a lake. When we could make time, my mom and I went to Seoraksan several times, sometimes together with other guests. Needless to say, we did a lot of walking and hiking, and honestly, perhaps too much at times! But we were able to enjoy God’s awesome creation in the beautiful autumn foliage and in the splendor of the mountains, open skies, rivers and waterfalls.
Lunch was followed by two daily treatments: one was a dry sauna and the other was placing a small wooden object on your stomach that heats up with hot coals of wormwood herbs. That was an interesting experience, but it is supposedly good for circulation and digestion. That was followed by more time for walking or hiking and then dinner. In the evening there was a seminar either given by Pastor Il Kwon Yang, the president of Back to Eden, or by his son or wife. This was a time that we could sing, pray, and learn more in-depth about the health principles. By 10pm, it was already bedtime. Pastor Yang shared with us a simple tip to fall asleep. It was by doing three things: shut off the lights, lie down and close your eyes. In Korean, it’s easier to remember with the phrase 꺼, 누, 감. It is short for 불꺼, 누워, 눈감아. In addition, it was crucially important to be sleeping during the hours between 10pm and 2am because that is when the sleep hormone melatonin is most secreted. Even if you aren’t sleeping, if you are laying down with your eyes closed with the lights off, that is still allowing the melatonin to be made available. Using this tip and keeping with the health principles, I had little trouble sleeping during my stay there and its working for me back at home too.
By the end of four days, I had lost 4.5 pounds and I felt an increase of energy and peace. My depression was basically gone. When your body starts to feel right, so does your mind and spirit. I became more open and receptive to spiritual things and would make time to sing praises to God, pray and read the Bible. The most precious times were when I could walk or hike on the trails by myself and talk with God quietly or sit down in the forest to read a spiritual book, all the while being surrounded by nature—God’s second book. God wasn’t just healing me, but also educating me, so that I could practice good health for the rest of my life.
Although nearly all of the guests at Back to Eden were much older than me and spoke Korean, God was able to break down the barriers of age and language so that I was able to connect with people there who became like family to me. Several of the guests were in more serious health conditions than me. Some had cancer, while another could not even eat. But everyone who was there, was there because they recognized their need, and had a desire to live according to the right health principles. I think that is all that God requires and needs, in order to begin his healing work in our lives. We serve an all-powerful, loving God who I believe has freely provided everything that we need to live long and healthy lives during our time on this earth. But He will never force His will on us; He gives us the choice to choose His way, which is the way to life, or to choose the way of the world, which is the way that leads to death. I was really encouraged by many stories of healing and recovery of health. One guest, who was a cancer patient, had been there for months. He arrived at the healing center with tumors that had spread over his body, but in a recent visit to the hospital, the doctor was just amazed that all his cancer was gone. This was a miracle by God’s grace, but also a testimony that cooperation with God’s natural remedies really works.
Another miracle I experienced while at Back to Eden, was God’s divine providence. Neither my mom or I, nor anyone in my family or church knew, but our local church’s founding pastor and his wife happened to be there at the same time we were there. It had been many years since we last saw them. Of course we were so glad to be reunited with him and his wife again, but saddened to know that he was suffering some health problems now in his advanced age. It was a blessing nevertheless, and I’m just grateful that we had a chance to talk and pray together for at least one more time. Another guest there was from New Jersey. I came to know that while he was not Adventist, he was friends with one of our deacons from Staten Island Korean SDA Church who had moved to Korea. They had lost contact with each other, but I was able to find his number and they were able to reconnect again. Another elder who arrived the second week was the father of someone I knew back in New York. I believe that all these seemingly coincidences were not accidents, but providences of God that confirmed to me that God had led me there.
At the end of two weeks, my mother’s health had improved and mine as well. I lost 10.5 lbs in total and felt refreshed and encouraged by the many healthy gains I had made by God’s grace. The real test continues outside the program. I’m happy to report that I’ve continued to keep these healthy habits back at home. I’ve been a vegetarian for two months now. I did eat meat a few times, but at least for me, I no longer crave it or see a need for it. I’m more than satisfied with the plentitude and variety of foods that our Creator originally designed for us to eat. I’m still exercising by walking outside in natural surroundings for a few miles, at least once a day. Sleep has been a lot easier to come by, and I sleep at least 7-8 hours. The depression is gone, to which my doctor agreed, and I was able to come off all my medications. In addition, I’ve been having daily prayer and devotions every morning and evening which has greatly strengthened my relationship with God and my relationships with others.
I say all this not to boast in myself, but to boast about my God, who is so gracious and mighty to save. He is the One who deserves the glory, honor and praise. All I did was agree to cooperate with Him and get on the plane. God does the rest. Perhaps like John the Apostle would say, there were many other blessings that God did for me in Korea, if I were to write about all of them, we’d need not an online magazine but a book to contain them. Jesus is coming very soon for certainty, the gospel will go to the ends of the earth, and while we don’t know exactly when that will be, we need to prepare ourselves and others now before the great and perilous times just ahead of us. I hope that my testimony was a blessing to you and I hope that you can be an even greater blessing to others for the kingdom of God. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
To learn more about the Back to Eden ministry, go to the following website: backtoeden.kr
Roy Kim is a member of the Staten Island Korean Seventh-day Adventist Church located in Staten Island, NY. A Bible promise that he’s been claiming recently is 2 Timothy 1:17: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”