GRAVETTE — Gravette's health food store is ending the year in a new location. Bob Boling and his wife Jackie, owners and operators of Jabez Health, have recently moved their business from Highway 59 to 125 Main Street S.E. Boling started the business in 2000 in the building which is now the police station, then spent four years in the present Hard Luck Cafe building before moving north about a block to 404 First Avenue. That property recently sold and Jabez has moved to Main Street.
Boling was born in Hiwasse and went to school there through the sixth grade, then came to Gravette where he graduated from Gravette High School in 1968. He worked for Walmart for 25 years before venturing into the health food business. He operated the business alone for several years until Jackie recently returned to help him after spending the last few years caring for her brother, then her mother, and baby-sitting a preschool-age grandson.
One of the best-selling items at Jabez Health is Miracle II, a product produced in Monroe, La. A biodegradable naturally-balanced soap, it can be used as a bath soap, shampoo or laundry detergent. It also kills bugs and ants and is beneficial for cleaning sewers and septic tanks. It is unscented and contains no chemicals. Ingredients include energized, oxygenated water, ash of dedecyl solution, calcium, potassium and magnesium.
Other Miracle II products include a moisturizing soap for face, skin and hair containing vitamin E, apricot and almond oil; a skin moisturizer, containing coconut oil; and a complete liquid nutrition drink with a citrus taste and containing multivitamins and minerals. Orange TKO, an organic superconcentrated, all-purpose cleaner, is made from orange peels.
Other popular offerings at Jabez Health are the Host Defense mushroom supplements, produced in Olympia, Wash. There are several varieties of the mushroom supplement capsules in stock, including lion's mane, turkey tail, cordyceps, agarikon and maitake. They are beneficial for promoting liver health, blood sugar, stress reduction and immune system support. Jabez Health also sells chia seeds as well as honey from a beekeeper near Lowell.
Jabez customers have enjoyed a line of Amish cheeses produced in Pennsylvania which features 140 varieties. Boling says he plans to open a cheese room at Jabez Health in the near future which will also offer Amish butter. In the meantime, he has a list of the cheeses and is taking orders for delivery before Christmas. Other products to be added in coming weeks are a natural bread baked at Ozark Bakery near Elkins and the Caruso line of clothing.
Boling says that he and his wife use all the products they sell. Although he lost a leg a few years ago due to complications from frostbite, he claims he is in better health than any of his three brothers and two sisters.
"I have no heart trouble, no arthritis, no joint pain," he says. "In fact, I haven't even had a cold or the flu for 17 years."
Boling says Jackie has always been interested in health issues and a person's individual responsibility for maintaining good health. They are firm believers in the importance of eating right and staying physically and spiritually healthy. They try to stay away from chemical products and artificial sweeteners. They started the health food store to help others and promote better health for their customers.
Bob emphasizes that Jabez Health is a Christian business. He noted that the first ingredient listed on the Miracle II bottle is prayer. The company was started by a pastor. He says that he tries to encourage his customers with prayer and when some have reported few benefits from using his products, he suggests it's because they left prayer out of the treatment. When people come to him with an unfavorable medical diagnosis, he has told them to fight back and not give up and become resigned to a bleak future.
Boling says he has had customers who could not walk at first who are now getting around fine, and he is sure the use of Jabez products has extended several lives. He has had personal testimonials from several customers who support his claims. They have many repeat customers and have an established mail-order business.
Jackie is a Kansas native and one of her brothers, Clarence "Jeep" Doherty, moved to Gravette from Kansas a few years ago and joined the Jabez team. He was a healing evangelist and conducted tent meetings in several states. He also helped teach healing classes at Jabez. For a time, they hosted the Jabez Health Show on KURM radio with Bob discussing physical health and Jeep, spiritual health.
Jeep, who suffered from pancreatic cancer, died five years ago. Another of Jackie's brothers, Roger, had bone-marrow cancer from Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam; and a sister, Bridget, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Roger and Bridget have been cured and attribute their recovery to a combination of prayer and dietary supplements.
Boling says, "We don't know how much to attribute to God and how much to health foods. We don't care. The important thing is that healing has occurred."
Hours of operation for Jabez Health are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The telephone number for the business is 479-787-9600, or contact the Bolings at [email protected].
The Bolings invite all in the area to come check out their new location, take a look at their products, maybe read the Amish cheese list and order for themselves and for friends.
"That cheese makes a wonderful Christmas present," Bob says.
Community on 12/06/2017