Autobiographies

Nick Tancheff

My name is Nicholas Tancheff. Approximately five years ago, I set out on a mission. My mission is to help sick people in Kenya recover their health. I will have the only health care facility on the entire continent of Africa to offer fasting supervision with licensed primary care physicians on staff.

I am a Christian who wants nothing more than to Heal God's people, land, and animals and to live with his Creator forever in Heaven. My time to begin my work on this Earth now has come. I am about to achieve the pinnacle of God's plan for me. I am very serious and determined. I will accomplish what I am setting out to do.

I have overcome my first hurdle, my illness. Testing revealed Candidiasis, and high levels of heavy metals (particularly mercury) and petrol-chemicals. I had chronic fatigue, multiple chemical sensitivities, toxic encephalopathy, skin discharges, bloating, flatulence, irritable bowel syndrome, Candidiasis, and severe depression due to all of the above health problems.

Despite various methods of treatment, modern medical doctors were not able to help me. When I discovered raw fruits and vegetables, fasting, and Natural Hygiene my health finally began to recover. I fasted 30 days at a Hygienic institute in Ohio where I met Dr. DJ Scott. I have since then fasted several other times including lengthy fasts of 32 and 21 days.

After regaining my health, I worked for David Wolfe at Nature's First Law. David helped me focus on the path to achieve my calling. I decided to become a licensed primary care Doctor.

The summer prior to beginning my Doctor's education, I worked as a gardener on a two acre farm and fruit orchard. I also worked an eleven acre organic tropical fruit orchard in Hawaii. I learned a great deal about tropical fruit trees. I can care for them to keep them healthy naturally. I know how to identify when the fruits are at their peak maturity and ripeness.

My journey to become an accredited doctor began. Before my illness I earned a Bachelor of Business Administration specializing in Finance at the University Of Notre Dame. I continued my education at the Southern California University of Health Sciences. I studied to be a Doctor of Chiropractic and Natural Health practitioner. I acquired examination and diagnosis skills in order to appropriately treat and manage patients with all kinds of conditions. My specialty is Natural Health Care.

I trained at True North Health Center in Penngrove, CA. I worked with Peter Sultana, M.D., Amy Smith, D.C., and Alan Goldhamer, D.C. Here I had the privilege of supervising hundreds of patients undergo and complete water-only fasts for all types of chronic and acute ailments. This unique training allows me to be one of the few physicians in the world that are certified in water-only fasting supervision. I am certified with the International Association of Hygienic Physicians. Throughout my journey I met many Natural Health Doctors which I call upon for references www.chooselifeministries.org/references.html and support in my current mission.

After my fourth trimester in school, I spent my break in Kenya. I was invited by the president of the Kenya Institute of Organic Farming, John W Njoroge to stay on his farm with him and his family. My experience was amazing! The land was beautiful. Hills turned to mountains, valleys flowed into rivers and wildlife grazed on grasses growing from rich soil. Africa's greatest resource, the people, were so very kind, simple, peaceful, and loving. I knew that Africa was where I wanted to settle.

I also experienced firsthand how the people of Africa needlessly suffer. Their country and bodies are wracked by illnesses such as HIV and AIDS, malaria, TB, and other serious diseases. I returned home wanting to complete my education as soon as possible so I can return to Africa and build the greatest health center in the entire world! As each day goes by it hurts me to know that more and more lives are being lost. Choose Life Health Ministries will be a place where bodies and spirits rest and heal.

The Kenya Institute of Organic Farming agreed to support me in completing this project. It will be their largest project in their history and look forward to its success. They will help find all the labor necessary and say that it will not be a problem.

I will be leaving for Kenya in February 2006. I ask you to join forces with me to complete the initial phase and needs of this project. In approximately one and a half years, our Ministry will be completely self-sufficient and will never need financial assistance beyond the borders of our Ministry ever again.

Nicholas Tancheff, D.C.

Zarin Azar

I am a board certified gastroenterologist. I have been practicing in Los Angeles for the past 10 years. I was born and raised in Iran where I earned my degree in Veterinary Medicine just prior to the Iranian Revolution in 1979. During the Revolution and a few years following this time period, I was a full time human and women’s rights activist advocating equality and freedom for the people in Iran.

When extensive waves of suppression, arrest, and executions by the Iranian government overtook the country, I left the country along with many other Iranians that were seeking free life at this time. I crossed over to a neighbor country, then to Europe, and finally to the United States. My airfare ticket was paid for by the International Rescue Committee.

I shall never forget my first moment in this country when I stepped outside of the airplane. It was a culture shock in a new and unknown world.

Upon my arrival, I was penniless and I did not know a word of English. I worked my way through many challenges for the first 2 _ years until I reached the point that I was able to begin my studies at the University of Houston majoring in pre-med. I only had one goal in mind: to help humanity become healthier and happier so they can create a planet free of pain, war, and killing.

After graduating with highest honors in 1988, I started to study medicine at the University of Texas in Galveston where I also completed my internship and residency in Internal Medicine. During this time I was obsessed with issues involving health and healing including the physical and emotional elements of healthful living. I was also obsessed with questions regarding conditions which contribute to the creation of a diseased vs. healthy life.

I believed in the effect of diet and lifestyle in the prevention and care of different diseases. I chose to pursue a subspecialty in the field of gastroenterology for better understanding of the art and science of absorption, assimilation, and elimination in the process of the body’s attempt to achieve balance and homeostasis.

My life has been intertwined with hard work, determination, self-discipline, and a vast amount of academic and non academic education and studies. I also have extensive clinical experience through my many years of treating patients.

I am a visionary, a woman of lofty goals, and high achievements. I am a manifester of my visions. I have extensive experience as an organizer, educator, physician, and healer.

My goals are to create a healthy planet through healthy people by proper diet and living a life which sustains our precious earth. A life which is free of pain and suffering for all beings.

I currently serve as a member of the Board of Directors for Choose Life Health Ministries. I gladly join Nick Tancheff as the Medical Dirctor of the organization in order to manifest our dream in Africa.

Zarin Azar, M.D.

Karen Keeping

I was raised in and around the fishing community of New Bedford, Massachusetts. My dad was a commercial fisherman and my mother a registered nurse. When I was very young my father suffered what was to be the first of three catastrophic brain hemorrhages. At that time the medical profession had no real treatment of choice for his condition, congenital hemangioma. Because he was given up for dead, and basically left alone without treatment, a full recovery was possible. And that is exactly what happened. My dad recovered fully and returned to his full time profession of commercial fishing, documented as a most rigorous and dangerous line of work. But he loved the sea and would have it no other way. A dozen or so years later he suffered a second sub-arachnoid bleeding episode in the brain that he didn’t tell anyone about. While he was out on a fishing trip he got all the symptoms with which he was so familiar and as a result became too sick to eat. With an unbelievable headache no food or water would stay down. So in typical fashion Tom Keeping went down to the fo’c’s’le (forecastle) and stayed still for a week not eating or drinking anything. The family found out about the second bleeding episode when he had a CT scan after his third hemorrhage approximately twenty years later. But for the next twenty years he continued his passion for fishing, strong and healthy.

As a registered nurse my mother on the other hand was taught that symptom relief was the treatment of choice as prescribed by the doctor to “cure” the disease. By the time dad had suffered his third brain hemorrhage the medical profession had caught up with the times and my mother’s continuing education taught her that there was hope for my father’s problem. Dad on the other hand knew what had worked for him in the past and was fully prepared to wait out the course of symptoms. For five days he refused to move, not able to take in any food or water. His experience had taught him not to move around in bed as it made the headache worse. My mother was finally able to convince my father to go to the hospital emergency room because everything she had been taught instilled fear in her. She was convinced my father would die if he did not get the help the doctors could provide. Of course dad refused the ambulance ride and insisted that I drive him to the hospital instead.
Upon our arrival the emergency room went into action doing what they do best, treating emergencies. The interesting thing about this patient though was the fact that he had waited five days before showing up in their emergency room. There was however a most unusual finding on the CT scan. The bleed had not only stopped but the body had already begun to reabsorb the blood. The CT scan showed where the blood had pooled and how the spot was getting smaller as the body was taking care of the problem. The scan also showed the remnants of the previous bleed dad had while fishing 20 years earlier. As was the case before one of the most important things that dad had done was to lay still and not eat or drink. Nature did the rest. He again recovered fully but was convinced after the professionals used an arsenal of fear and some more fear that surgery was the only way to stop the chance of having a brain hemorrhage resulting in death. The surgery resulted in my father’s only physical losses in three documented catastrophic brain aneurysms. The surgeon damaged one side of my dad’s mouth and his left hand to the point that he was no longer able to work or eat properly. He seldom went to a restaurant after that because he was embarrassed by his physical limitations, the way in which he held his fork and could not keep his mouth closed properly. He deteriorated emotionally and lost all his joy for living. He lived like that for thirteen years before passing away on September 3, 2000.

Growing up I always heard from both ends of the spectrum when it came to the symptoms of disease. My mother would always tell me to take a pill (symptom relief) and my father would always say if you take a pill your body won’t remember what it needs to do to take care of the problem (symptom resolution). When I began to suffer the effects of living the lifestyle afforded a young person growing up in the sixties and seventies my health began to deteriorate because of what I was doing to myself. In February of 1984 I made the decision to find another way because if I continued down the road I was on I would certainly not enjoy the journey and may get to the ultimate destination sooner rather than later.

With that a new person was born, and my schooling was about to begin. With the guidance of the voice inside of me redirecting most previous learning I read everything I could get my hands on as it related to health and healthful living, and started a new lifestyle. In 1976 I had received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, in Psychology, so I continued with my education. In 1990 I returned to my alma mater, Southeastern Massachusetts University, for a Masters in Clinical Psychology, summa cum laude and valedictorian. It was during that time that I met Jo Willard, an avid health professional from whom I gained much wisdom about life, health and the human body. However, it did not take me long to realize that in order to help a person spiritually, mentally, and emotionally the physical should certainly not be excluded. My next academic pursuit and documentation included a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology and a Doctor of Chiropractic degree, summa cum laude, valedictorian, from the National University of Health Sciences. After spending ten years learning from Dr. Scott in Cleveland, Ohio, and receiving certification with the International Association of Hygienic Physicians (IAHP) as a therapeutic fasting health care professional, the calling that was there from the beginning got louder. Thanks to my parents and with the direction, help and support of others My Father’s House was established in January of 2001, a ministry with the main objective of helping people to hear the voice inside of them that conveys only the truth and learn how and why they got to the point in their lives where they no longer hear or listen to that voice.

Thankfully, since that time, My Father’s House has grown and been able to help the people in need to nurture and understand that the principals of health and healing come by revelation and not explanation. We are currently expanding our mission by helping seniors with assisted living in homes designed for healthful, shared, active and quiet times where their wishes are respected during the most important chapter of their lives.

Let’s face it the present day treatments and cures don’t work. Not for AIDS or the common cold for that matter. We need strong leadership that is willing to listen to that voice inside of them and try a different path. My support for the mission and vision of Dr. Tancheff and his calling, Choose Life Health Ministries, is without qualification. That is why I am serving on the Board of Directors. Here stands a man, a doctor willing to walk the other way.

Karen Keeping, D.C.

Amy Danielle Smith.

Amy Danielle Smith was raised on a dairy farm outside of Hymera, Indiana. The youngest child of an encouraging spiritual mother, she was blessed with the beauty of nature and the love of Jesus Christ. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Biochemistry from Purdue University, a Doctor of Chiropractic from Sherman Chiropractic College, and certification in fasting supervision from the International Association of Hygienic Physicians. She enjoys sewing, gardening, working with fruit trees, studying the Bible, and promoting health and healthful living.

I met Nick on the tails of my discovery of the power in the Prayer of Jabez, fasting, and Natural Hygiene. Always curious about the nature of health, I read and studied an abundance of medical literature yet was never satisfied with the information presented. Healthy living should be a natural instinct in our lives yet our society is full of disease, illness, discomfort. Appreciating the natural ability of the body to heal itself, I studied chiropractic and practiced for a year in Western Virginia. The improvements yielded from chiropractic treatments seemed to leave the patients desiring even greater health yet I lacked the knowledge to fulfill their needs. I would read literature concerning Natural Hygiene, sensing the truth of health lurked within, so I was constantly on the lookout for more. I met a fellow Doctor of Chiropractic that had interned in fasting at the True North Health Center and I knew that was where I would gain the experience to learn and practice health. I prayed the Prayer of Jabez and was granted an internship there under Dr. Alan Goldhamer.

Nick had already been interning at the Center for a month when I arrived. Blessed with the presence of a fellow Christian with personal experience in fasting, I was able to quickly learn the principles of Natural Hygiene. I immediately began eating live, whole foods and felt my health improve everyday. I learned that proper education on the nature of health and the application to change the lifestyle produced enormous benefits. I also acknowledged the power of Faith to affect the ability of the body to heal. Lack of faith caused fear and resistance draining energy from the healing process and only allowing for a fraction of the benefits that could be produced. This knowledge deepened my faith and an appreciation of the blessings the Father showers into our lives.

Working with Nick allowed us to discuss and review each patient we fasted and we kept in touch with them when possible to learn of their continued benefits and any obstacles they had in applying Natural Hygiene into their lives. Excited about all the results I was witnessing and with the encouragement of Nick, I determined to experience fasting myself.

I undertook a 40 day fast with the blessed assurance of Nick's skills and encouragement. Fasting cleansed my body, purified my blood, and removed excess weight. Praying each day with Nick and embracing my faith in the Lord and my body, my fast was smooth and comfortable. I am still constantly gleaning improvements in my health as a result of my fast and adherence to the Laws of Health.

Nick shared with me his vision of creating a community that would promote health, faith, and peace. Bodies would be healed, lifestyles mended, needs provided due to and as a result of the love and blessing of Jesus Christ. As my greatest desire is to serve and please the Lord, I wanted to be a part. Nick and I have teamed up to create the healthiest community on Earth.

Amy Danielle Smith D.C.