LIVING SPRINGS BILL DULL

"Living Springs" was a vegan restaurant located on E. 60th St. in Manhattan during the 1980s and 90s. 

It was associated with the Country Life restaurants and also operated as a residential preventive medicine center with a focus on vegan diets, spa services, and health education. 

The restaurant utilized volunteer help. 

Here's a more detailed breakdown:

Vegan Restaurant and Lifestyle Center: Living Springs was not just a restaurant but also a center offering residential programs focusing on weight control, smoking cessation, and other health-related issues. 

Connection to Country Life: The restaurant followed the model of the Country Life restaurants, which were also vegan and had a strong emphasis on healthy living. 

Manhattan Location: The restaurant was specifically located on East 60th Street in Manhattan. 

Volunteer Staff: The restaurant was largely staffed by volunteers, reflecting its mission to promote healthy living and veganism. 

Historical Context: Living Springs operated during the 1980s and 90s, a time when veganism was becoming more visible but still not as mainstream as it is today. 

A City Center Outreach provided the community with spiritual and physical support through a restaurant, medical office, hydrotherapy facility, cooking schools, etc…

Living Springs New York reached many people from all different ethnic and religious backgrounds.

Regretfully, after many wonderful years serving the community, Living Springs was unable to receive tax exemption status. They fought the good fight but to no avail. Sadly, Their petition was denied.

The financial burden was too great and Living Springs New York was forced to close its doors. It was a great disappointment for all involved and for years potential and previous guests continued to visit the old property only to be disappointed to find it was no longer active.

It took five years to sell the New York property. Nevertheless, hope and encouragement were found in the words of Ellen G. White, “Above the distractions of the earth He sits enthroned. All things are open to His divine survey, and from His great and calm eternity He orders that which His providence sees best”.

Unwilling to give up the dream, the Living Springs Board of Directors assigned Bill Dull the task of finding a new home for the retreat where they could continue their health ministry. After a very careful search, the board decided on a property in a quiet country setting near Roanoke, Alabama.

The search then began to see who would run Living Springs Retreat in Alabama. Living Spring’s president Herbert Poholka would have been the logical choice, however at the time he was a full-time pastor with the Greater New York Conference.

SERMON:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5BPjgohaDU&list=PLSx8zk_wWK_bgYn1KMJHn53yPU8tCb2Mj

The board gave Bill Dull the responsibility of finding that special someone to build and run Living Springs Retreat Alabama. Don Yoheand his wife Sheri accepted the challenge. Don and his wife Sheri came and supervised the building of the Living Springs Lifestyle Center, Industrial Building and Training Center. Sheri also founded the Supper Club, one of our main community outreach programs. On July 4, 2010, Living Springs Retreat Alabama officially opened under their administration.

Eventually Don and Sheri felt God was calling them to different areas of His ministry. In God’s perfect timing, their decision coincided with Herbert Poholka’s retirement from the Greater New York Conference. He and and his wife Nora accepted the invitation to serve the Lord at Living Springs Retreat Alabama.

Since it’s opening, Living Springs Retreat has been blessed to have Barbara O’Neil Health Director at the Misty Mountain Health Retreat in Australia host one of their sessions and also train the workers.

Living Springs Retreat embraced her philosophy that, “our body can heal itself”. Living Springs is currently run by its president, and health lecturer, Herbert Poholka and supported by several volunteers.

Answering The Call To India

Living Springs Overseas Missions

Bill and Lois Dull wanted to be missionaries, but going to India took a calling from God.

EDITOR: What inspired you to become a missionary to a field as difficult as India? BILL: 28 years ago we went to Fiji to teach medical evangelism at Fulton College. At the same time a friend of ours received a call to go to India to teach medical evangelism. He didn’t have enough money and we helped him with $250.

While in Fiji I began earnestly praying for this man. One night as I was praying for him, the Lord impressed my heart that he didn’t go to India and that He wanted us there instead. The impression was so strong, I couldn’t believe it! I stayed out all night walking and talking with God. In the morning I woke up my wife, “Honey, I think the Lord wants us to go to India.”

LOIS: I couldn’t imagine what would it be like to go to India and I said, “Well, if that’s what we’re supposed to do, that’s what we’ll do.”

BILL: Lois has always been willing to go and it’s made our life easier.

The same morning I shared my experience with John, a missionary from Canada. He looked at me real strange, “Bill, I just received my $1,200 that I had loaned out a long time ago. If God wants you to go to India, I’ll give you the $1,200 to help with your travel.”

The next day I found out that for our family of five it would cost $4,560 to go to India and then to America. Well, I thought, maybe I made a mistake.

Meanwhile I wrote to the man that was supposed to go to India and to Pastor and Sister Watts who gave him the call. The man returned the $250 saying that his wife became very sick and he was not able to go. Elder Watts, President of the South India Union at the time, encouraged us, “Please, come!”

I spent another night under the coconut and banana trees pouring out my heart to God. Again, He gave me a strong conviction that He wanted us in India.

Sabbath afternoon, our family and John’s went for a walk. John stayed behind and was reading the Review and Herald. He read an article by Elder D. R. Watts from the South India Union making an appeal for workers to come to India and help the medical evangelism. He could see us walking up on the side of the mountain. He began crying and calling out to me.

I went running down the side of that mountain, thinking he was hurt. “Bill,” he said, “God does want you in India and I’m going to pay your way. I got word that a piece of property I had, sold.”

Editor: What was your impression of India? LOIS: The first place we went had a bare room with board beds, a few blankets and cow manure floors. They wanted me to help with the cooking and I learned a lot from the cooks about Indian cuisine and I encouraged them to use less oil, salt and spices.

We did our laundry by hand and had no electricity. Our children played with the goats and the local children. They all got lice, but enjoyed themselves. They were real missionaries. Always happy and sharing.

Editor: What have been some of your mission activities? BILL: When we first arrived in 1975, the Union organized different places for us to go to conduct 3 to 5 week long seminars on medical evangelism. Most of the pastors in India have been through one of our seminars.

Then in 1995, in Erode we opened our first orphanage to train children. Later, we opened a second orphanage in Kolkata which included a seminary training school that the orphanage children could attend when they were older.

Editor: Why train children? BILL: We saw the situation in India and thought that if we were going to have good workers we needed to train them from the time they were children to give them a different view of what it meant to be a Christian.

Once they’ve worshiped idols for years, it was very difficult for them to change their philosophies and be really dedicated. We felt that the best thing we could do was to train children to live unselfishly for Christ. 

Editor: What kept you going through the challenges you faced in India? BILL: I spent a lot of time talking to the Lord. We experienced absolute miracles while training our students in hydrotherapy. A man had diabetes and his legs were rotten. Any doctor would have amputated them. The Lord blessed and got his blood sugar down through diet and restored his legs through hydrotherapy in two weeks time.

LOIS: Actually, when you are there and God is doing such mighty things, it pulls you up. All those experiences were wonderful. I ran out of energy several times traveling, but the Lord really did bless.

Larry Fleming, the 60-year-old (in 2008) owner of the Financial District vegan restaurant, Little Lad’s Basket Bakery & Cafe, it would be indefatigable.

Fleming used to run two Country Life’s – one on 48 Trinity Place and the other in Midtown, as well as another vegan locale called Living Springs on E. 60th St. during the 1980’s and ‘90’s.

These restaurants made a mark on many; so much so that the owner of 120 Broadway, World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein, who has an interest in healthy eating, offered Fleming significantly lowered rent in the basement space if he would come back to the area. This is only one of the reasons Little Lad’s has been able to exist in Manhattan for the past two years (2008). He makes just enough for him and his family to survive humbly.