The dozen members of the White Horse Ministry do not smoke, drink or take drugs and do not own televisions or believe in unisex clothes.

They follow the beliefs of Seventh-Day Adventist prophet Ellen White.

Their first headquarters was the Dargaville home of Sheryl Jensen, a grey-haired 55-year-old, who outlined her beliefs in an exclusive interview with the Herald yesterday.

She follows a strict regime of eating twice a day and drinking water one hour before and two hours after each meal.

She refuses prescribed medicines, instead relying on natural remedies, and prays often.

Mrs Jensen is a close friend of Jan and Deborah Moorhead, whose 6-month-old son, Caleb, died after they refused to get him medical treatment for vitamin B12 deficiency brought on by his mother's vegan diet, which excluded meat, fish and dairy products.

The Moorheads are in custody awaiting sentence after an Auckland jury this week found them guilty of manslaughter and failing to provide Caleb with the necessaries of life.

The couple took the boy out of Auckland's Starship hospital and went on the run in March last year. Two weeks later, Caleb was dead.

The case has ignited widespread concern among doctors.

Developments include:

* New calls for a formal body to arbitrate disputes between the parents of sick children and doctors.

* Draft guidelines for Starship doctors facing similar situations.

* The Starship seeking a legal opinion on whether staff could have physically stopped the Moorheads leaving - the view was that this case would not have met the legal criteria.

Mrs Jensen, a lifelong Seventh-Day Adventist, told yesterday how she took up the "health message" six years ago after reading books by Ellen White.

She formed a group with six others in Dargaville who called themselves the White Horse Ministry and set up headquarters in her home.

The group has now doubled in size and operates out of the Seventh-Day Adventist church in Dargaville.

Members follow strict veganism, eating foods Mrs Jensen says are pure with plenty of nutrients.

The Seventh-Day Adventist Church has distanced itself from the group, saying its lifestyle and beliefs are not in harmony with church teachings.

Like the Moorheads, Mrs Jensen shuns meat, dairy products and sugar. She says the Bible teaches that man was to eat fruit, grains and nuts.

"Later vegetables were added when man sinned ... Sugar is poison, a killer." She says meat is only to be eaten in an emergency.

She has only two meals a day to stop her stomach becoming overworked.

"If your stomach overworks, you are going to get diseased and worn out."

Old pictures of her show a rounded woman weighing 80kg in reasonably modern-looking dresses. Yesterday, she wore a long purple dress and cardigan, and weighed 56kg, saying she felt the better for it.

Many members home-school their children and let them play with toys such as puzzles and diggers - but not guns or commercial toys such as Pokemon.

They use natural remedies including grated potato and cabbage on infected cuts and charcoal for facial eczema.

Mrs Jensen does not believe in drugs prescribed by doctors, saying they simply treat symptoms but do not cure people.

She does not believe a vitamin B12 deficiency led to Caleb's death, and backs the Moorheads 100 per cent in their decision to refuse treatment.

07.06.2002