© 2009 by Elinor Barnes
Dr. Reams was negotiating for another property a few miles out of Tecate, an abandoned resort area. So, after only a few weeks in the village, we moved out to this new facility. This time, Dr. Reams had a pretty good staff in place to take care of the physical needs of the guests. We began taking in more guests and operating a really efficient program. We saw miracles begin to happen….people with severe arthritis were able to walk without assistance, several people who had had radiation and chemo for cancer and had been told they were going to die…suddenly came to life and began to participate in the activities of the retreat and eventually went home to live, not die.
Lest you think that we won every battle with every disease, we did not, but I firmly believe that we did improve that quality of life for 99% of all who followed the program faithfully. This allows for the very small percentage of those for whom the program did not work. It has always been our policy to be very honest with every client we ever had. If we saw that there was no improvement in the test results, and that no detoxification was taking place, we would advise them of that fact. We did not want to hold out false hope to anyone. This is equally true today; however I will admit that it has happened rarely in the 30+ years that I have been counseling in RBTI.
One major factor of the program was that it gave hope to those whom the medical community had given up on. That alone influenced a positive reaction to the treatment; along with a sense of community that was built at the retreats which said, “We’re all in this together.”The entire staff contributed by getting to know each guest as an individual, listening to their stories and helping to build a sense of community. The guests encouraged each other with the feeling that “We are a team, and we are all working toward the same goal…..restoration of a feeling of well-being as we bring the body into balance.”
We also had some fun moments; one of those happened on a warm morning as the guests were coming down the outside stairway from their rooms to go to breakfast in the main building. Suddenly, one of the ladies (I recall her name being Irene), was about to step down when another woman screamed, “Watch out…..Snake!” Well, let me tell you, Irene could have won a gold medal in the Olympics! The snake slithered backward off the stair, and Irene sprinted down the stairs, around the pool and into the dining room ahead of all the competition! I must tell you that was the fastest any of us had ever seen Irene move since she had been with us. When we finally caught up with her (and stopped laughing hysterically), we calmed her down and even she was amazed at how fast she had run. Luckily, she did not pack up and go home. Actually, she became a bit of a celebrity and her athletic ability was a topic of conversation for several days. She also became a good friend and we visited her at her home in Austin, TX sometime later. She had recovered from some serious complications with rheumatoid arthritis and was doing extremely well. Her husband was very grateful and even he got tested and started on the home program; we kept in touch for several years. We often shared a chuckle over the snake episode. Irene was very proud of her remarkable running ability.
In the midst of all this, the retreat had settled into a very good routine with guests arriving to go through the 10 day to 2 week program. I was patiently awaiting Betty’s arrival in a few weeks, when everything was sent into a tailspin! We had a call from someone in Tecate that the Federales were looking for Dr. Reams. Why? No one would tell us. We placed a quick call to Fern, who was up in San Diego; she contacted Dr. Reams who was out of the state. By the time several phone calls were made to various individuals in Mexico, it was determined that the Federales were coming out to close down the Retreat! We were told to pack up and move out immediately! Panic struck as I tried to grasp this whole scenario. I had approximately 20 clients in various stages of the program. I had one young man who was very ill….lymphoma. He had been with us only a few days. Several others were nearly ready to go home. Where was I going to take them all? How were we going to get over the border and what about all our equipment, supplies, etc? Needless, to say, I made many phone calls to Fern; she was trying to line up a motel for a couple of nights until we could make arrangements for everyone to travel home.
Meanwhile, everyone was packing up the lab and supplies we might need. We tried very hard not to panic the guests and told them that we had to leave that day but that all arrangements would be made for them. Really? I didn’t have a clue as to where we were going and what we were going to do; I had to trust Fern to handle all those little details!
By early evening, we had everything packed up. A truck had arrived to transport our goods across the border and Fern had commandeered several cars for the journey to the ‘motel’. This whole episode was a nightmare! I was delighted when we at least got over the border without being stopped. We proceeded to the motel…..an abandoned motel, actually. It was fairly clean, but there were beds to be made up, our guests had not had their evening meal, and the kitchen left much to be desired!
I must have a guardian angel and he or she was working overtime that night! One of the guests, a young man named John, who had nearly completed his program, said he would help me get the kitchen ready for the evening meal. He got a couple of other guests who were willing to pitch in and, miraculously, they put together a light meal of salad, soup and fruit for all of us! As they cleaned up the kitchen afterward, I met with the rest of the guests and explained that we were going to take them into San Diego the next day where Fern was making arrangements for transportation to their homes. Naturally, they had lots of questions, many of which I could not answer, but I assured them that all would be well. After we got all of them off to bed, I borrowed a car and went to the nearest telephone, called Betty and had a meltdown! Truly, I am not a crybaby, but this was too much for me to handle. Of course, there was nothing Betty could do, but at least she calmed me down and we talked about all that needed to be taken care of. If there was ever a reason for abandoning the Reams program, this was it! Needless to say, we didn’t do that.
Next morning everyone got breakfast….thanks to John and his volunteers. Fern arrived with the necessary travel arrangements, most of them for that day, and a few for the next day. This meant one more day in this marvelous motel! However, we persevered, everyone was cared for, we even got them tested, and we counseled those that we could, regarding what they were to do when they arrived home. Actually, I think some of them regarded it as a bit of a lark….a story they could tell the folks back home about their adventure in Mexico! I guess that was fortunate for us that they didn’t sue the retreat or Dr. Reams. Of course, I don’t think anyone could collect on such a lawsuit! Now, if it had happened in 2009, maybe…since we are such a litigious society.
Following the trauma of Tecate, I went home. Betty had ended her commitment to our church camp, and we settled into a serene time of talking about the program, about never returning to the frenetic craziness of retreat life. However, we should have known better than to say ‘never’. You’d think that the ‘Escape from Tecate’ would have been enough to keep me firmly anchored at home. Instead, after a brief respite of a couple of months, we got another phone call from Fern. Doc had a new retreat in Mexico, in the Baja, south of Tijuana. Right on the ocean, absolutely beautiful, well organized…..does this sound like a sales pitch? Dr. Reams really needed us! Sure he did! We weren’t buying it at all.
Then we began getting daily calls from Fern; Doc was desperately in need of us. The retreat had the potential to take nearly 100 guests. There was good housing in cabanas, the streets were lined with lovely trees, there were several buildings that could be used for lab work and for counseling. How soon could we leave? Betty and I just looked at each other. Could we do this again? We told Fern we would get back to her, and we began exploring the possibilities. We finally decided that we needed more assurance that this was not going to turn into another Roanoke or Tecate situation. we needed to be confident that expenses for travel would come to us first….we could ill afford to make that kind of a trip without some help. It would also solidify the reality of a retreat. Our next consideration was that we would take our car to Mexico and not be trapped in a situation where we had no way to leave as it had been in Teacte. We also wanted some assurance of remuneration, since I had received very little pay for my last time in old Mexico. Basically, we wanted some security. It took several weeks for the travel stipend to appear; in fact, it was around the first part of January. The promise of remuneration also came at the same time. I don’t want any of you to think we were going to get rich, so I will tell you that Betty and I were going to receive $400.00 a week….for both of us! Also, expenses for our car, gas, etc. would be included. I will also mention that guests were paying $1250 a week for the program; a companion not on the program got room and board for $625.
So, in January 1979, off we went. Since it was winter time, we decided to go directly south and then west to California. It was a great trip across our country. For 10 days, we leisurely made our way to our new adventure. Ole’!
Meeting with Dr. Reams and Fern in San Diego at his home was really interesting. He had acquired a solid lease on Plaza Santa Maria in the Baja. Pictures of the new retreat were certainly spectacular and we began to get excited about working with the staff he had in place. He had secured the services of a well-known oncologist, Dr. Rodriguez (I’m sorry to say I have forgotten his given name) who was very supportive of the program. He had been a doctor in Mexico City and had become very discouraged at the lack of progress in cancer research that would halt the progress of the disease. He also saw the amazing change in people who were on the Reams program and was anxious to see the results over a longer term. It is interesting to note that Dr. Kelly, a dentist from Oregon, also had a program on the grounds of Plaza. He had basically appropriated some of Dr. Reams program and made changes to it. He charged $3,000 a week for his program….and it did not work! His clients were in another part of the Plaza and sometimes they wandered over and compared notes with our guests. This so upset Dr. Kelly that he actually forbade them to talk to our guests! You can imagine how well that went over. Things like this happened to Dr. Reams over and over. He had no patents on his minerals so that company was literally stolen from him. Doc trusted everybody. He thought that he should give the information to anyone who asked about it. For instance, when he ran his schools for testers, he never stressed that they were to follow his rules and not go off on their own tangents. We saw this happen again and again. Remember, Dr. Reams had over 1200 people across the country doing testing in the early 80’s) I will again state that I do the testing and eye readings exactly as Dr. Reams taught us. My motto is: ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’
Within a few days, we were on our way to Plaza Santa Maria, traveling down the Pacific Coast Highway. The next chapter in this saga will tell the story of the 10 months we spent in a remarkable setting while witnessing some astounding results.
Dr. Reams was negotiating for another property a few miles out of Tecate, an abandoned resort area. So, after only a few weeks in the village, we moved out to this new facility. This time, Dr. Reams had a pretty good staff in place to take care of the physical needs of the guests. We began taking in more guests and operating a really efficient program. We saw miracles begin to happen….people with severe arthritis were able to walk without assistance, several people who had had radiation and chemo for cancer and had been told they were going to die…suddenly came to life and began to participate in the activities of the retreat and eventually went home to live, not die.
Lest you think that we won every battle with every disease, we did not, but I firmly believe that we did improve that quality of life for 99% of all who followed the program faithfully. This allows for the very small percentage of those for whom the program did not work. It has always been our policy to be very honest with every client we ever had. If we saw that there was no improvement in the test results, and that no detoxification was taking place, we would advise them of that fact. We did not want to hold out false hope to anyone. This is equally true today; however I will admit that it has happened rarely in the 30+ years that I have been counseling in RBTI.
One major factor of the program was that it gave hope to those whom the medical community had given up on. That alone influenced a positive reaction to the treatment; along with a sense of community that was built at the retreats which said, “We’re all in this together.”The entire staff contributed by getting to know each guest as an individual, listening to their stories and helping to build a sense of community. The guests encouraged each other with the feeling that “We are a team, and we are all working toward the same goal…..restoration of a feeling of well-being as we bring the body into balance.”
We also had some fun moments; one of those happened on a warm morning as the guests were coming down the outside stairway from their rooms to go to breakfast in the main building. Suddenly, one of the ladies (I recall her name being Irene), was about to step down when another woman screamed, “Watch out…..Snake!” Well, let me tell you, Irene could have won a gold medal in the Olympics! The snake slithered backward off the stair, and Irene sprinted down the stairs, around the pool and into the dining room ahead of all the competition! I must tell you that was the fastest any of us had ever seen Irene move since she had been with us. When we finally caught up with her (and stopped laughing hysterically), we calmed her down and even she was amazed at how fast she had run. Luckily, she did not pack up and go home. Actually, she became a bit of a celebrity and her athletic ability was a topic of conversation for several days. She also became a good friend and we visited her at her home in Austin, TX sometime later. She had recovered from some serious complications with rheumatoid arthritis and was doing extremely well. Her husband was very grateful and even he got tested and started on the home program; we kept in touch for several years. We often shared a chuckle over the snake episode. Irene was very proud of her remarkable running ability.
In the midst of all this, the retreat had settled into a very good routine with guests arriving to go through the 10 day to 2 week program. I was patiently awaiting Betty’s arrival in a few weeks, when everything was sent into a tailspin! We had a call from someone in Tecate that the Federales were looking for Dr. Reams. Why? No one would tell us. We placed a quick call to Fern, who was up in San Diego; she contacted Dr. Reams who was out of the state. By the time several phone calls were made to various individuals in Mexico, it was determined that the Federales were coming out to close down the Retreat! We were told to pack up and move out immediately! Panic struck as I tried to grasp this whole scenario. I had approximately 20 clients in various stages of the program. I had one young man who was very ill….lymphoma. He had been with us only a few days. Several others were nearly ready to go home. Where was I going to take them all? How were we going to get over the border and what about all our equipment, supplies, etc? Needless, to say, I made many phone calls to Fern; she was trying to line up a motel for a couple of nights until we could make arrangements for everyone to travel home.
Meanwhile, everyone was packing up the lab and supplies we might need. We tried very hard not to panic the guests and told them that we had to leave that day but that all arrangements would be made for them. Really? I didn’t have a clue as to where we were going and what we were going to do; I had to trust Fern to handle all those little details!
By early evening, we had everything packed up. A truck had arrived to transport our goods across the border and Fern had commandeered several cars for the journey to the ‘motel’. This whole episode was a nightmare! I was delighted when we at least got over the border without being stopped. We proceeded to the motel…..an abandoned motel, actually. It was fairly clean, but there were beds to be made up, our guests had not had their evening meal, and the kitchen left much to be desired!
I must have a guardian angel and he or she was working overtime that night! One of the guests, a young man named John, who had nearly completed his program, said he would help me get the kitchen ready for the evening meal. He got a couple of other guests who were willing to pitch in and, miraculously, they put together a light meal of salad, soup and fruit for all of us! As they cleaned up the kitchen afterward, I met with the rest of the guests and explained that we were going to take them into San Diego the next day where Fern was making arrangements for transportation to their homes. Naturally, they had lots of questions, many of which I could not answer, but I assured them that all would be well. After we got all of them off to bed, I borrowed a car and went to the nearest telephone, called Betty and had a meltdown! Truly, I am not a crybaby, but this was too much for me to handle. Of course, there was nothing Betty could do, but at least she calmed me down and we talked about all that needed to be taken care of. If there was ever a reason for abandoning the Reams program, this was it! Needless to say, we didn’t do that.
Next morning everyone got breakfast….thanks to John and his volunteers. Fern arrived with the necessary travel arrangements, most of them for that day, and a few for the next day. This meant one more day in this marvelous motel! However, we persevered, everyone was cared for, we even got them tested, and we counseled those that we could, regarding what they were to do when they arrived home. Actually, I think some of them regarded it as a bit of a lark….a story they could tell the folks back home about their adventure in Mexico! I guess that was fortunate for us that they didn’t sue the retreat or Dr. Reams. Of course, I don’t think anyone could collect on such a lawsuit! Now, if it had happened in 2009, maybe…since we are such a litigious society.
Following the trauma of Tecate, I went home. Betty had ended her commitment to our church camp, and we settled into a serene time of talking about the program, about never returning to the frenetic craziness of retreat life. However, we should have known better than to say ‘never’. You’d think that the ‘Escape from Tecate’ would have been enough to keep me firmly anchored at home. Instead, after a brief respite of a couple of months, we got another phone call from Fern. Doc had a new retreat in Mexico, in the Baja, south of Tijuana. Right on the ocean, absolutely beautiful, well organized…..does this sound like a sales pitch? Dr. Reams really needed us! Sure he did! We weren’t buying it at all.
Then we began getting daily calls from Fern; Doc was desperately in need of us. The retreat had the potential to take nearly 100 guests. There was good housing in cabanas, the streets were lined with lovely trees, there were several buildings that could be used for lab work and for counseling. How soon could we leave? Betty and I just looked at each other. Could we do this again? We told Fern we would get back to her, and we began exploring the possibilities. We finally decided that we needed more assurance that this was not going to turn into another Roanoke or Tecate situation. we needed to be confident that expenses for travel would come to us first….we could ill afford to make that kind of a trip without some help. It would also solidify the reality of a retreat. Our next consideration was that we would take our car to Mexico and not be trapped in a situation where we had no way to leave as it had been in Teacte. We also wanted some assurance of remuneration, since I had received very little pay for my last time in old Mexico. Basically, we wanted some security. It took several weeks for the travel stipend to appear; in fact, it was around the first part of January. The promise of remuneration also came at the same time. I don’t want any of you to think we were going to get rich, so I will tell you that Betty and I were going to receive $400.00 a week….for both of us! Also, expenses for our car, gas, etc. would be included. I will also mention that guests were paying $1250 a week for the program; a companion not on the program got room and board for $625.
So, in January 1979, off we went. Since it was winter time, we decided to go directly south and then west to California. It was a great trip across our country. For 10 days, we leisurely made our way to our new adventure. Ole’!
Meeting with Dr. Reams and Fern in San Diego at his home was really interesting. He had acquired a solid lease on Plaza Santa Maria in the Baja. Pictures of the new retreat were certainly spectacular and we began to get excited about working with the staff he had in place. He had secured the services of a well-known oncologist, Dr. Rodriguez (I’m sorry to say I have forgotten his given name) who was very supportive of the program. He had been a doctor in Mexico City and had become very discouraged at the lack of progress in cancer research that would halt the progress of the disease. He also saw the amazing change in people who were on the Reams program and was anxious to see the results over a longer term. It is interesting to note that Dr. Kelly, a dentist from Oregon, also had a program on the grounds of Plaza. He had basically appropriated some of Dr. Reams program and made changes to it. He charged $3,000 a week for his program….and it did not work! His clients were in another part of the Plaza and sometimes they wandered over and compared notes with our guests. This so upset Dr. Kelly that he actually forbade them to talk to our guests! You can imagine how well that went over. Things like this happened to Dr. Reams over and over. He had no patents on his minerals so that company was literally stolen from him. Doc trusted everybody. He thought that he should give the information to anyone who asked about it. For instance, when he ran his schools for testers, he never stressed that they were to follow his rules and not go off on their own tangents. We saw this happen again and again. Remember, Dr. Reams had over 1200 people across the country doing testing in the early 80’s) I will again state that I do the testing and eye readings exactly as Dr. Reams taught us. My motto is: ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’
Within a few days, we were on our way to Plaza Santa Maria, traveling down the Pacific Coast Highway. The next chapter in this saga will tell the story of the 10 months we spent in a remarkable setting while witnessing some astounding results.
RSS Feed