Good afternoon GYC Audience: good afternoon. 00:00:11.83\00:00:14.80 Are you enjoying your Sabbath thus far? Audience: Amen! 00:00:14.80\00:00:18.00 Amen, I have enjoyed this year at GYC, 00:00:18.00\00:00:22.03 this is my fifth year. 00:00:22.03\00:00:24.20 It is good to see some new faces here, good to see 00:00:24.20\00:00:28.43 some old faces as well. 00:00:28.43\00:00:30.13 I am wanting to welcome you all to our afternoon 00:00:30.13\00:00:33.70 evening/session and we have some extra time so I thought 00:00:33.70\00:00:38.96 I would share a testimony of my own. 00:00:38.96\00:00:41.16 I am from California, but I was a graduate student in 00:00:41.16\00:00:45.20 Madison, Wisconsin for the last maybe 51/2 years. 00:00:45.20\00:00:49.13 While a graduate student the Lord impressed me that He 00:00:49.13\00:00:53.63 would like to into the medical field. 00:00:53.63\00:00:55.50 I had never thought about becoming a physician before 00:00:55.50\00:00:57.93 so that was a surprise. 00:00:57.93\00:00:59.36 In the course of applying to medical school, 00:00:59.36\00:01:02.66 we all know that it is very, very expensive. 00:01:02.66\00:01:05.90 As I began my graduate career, I was reading testimonies 00:01:05.90\00:01:10.53 volume 1 and Ellen white talks about returning, what 00:01:10.53\00:01:15.10 some people call double tithe, 10% for your tithe and 10% for 00:01:15.10\00:01:18.50 offering, and my dad had mentioned this to me several 00:01:18.50\00:01:21.36 times and I had read it for myself. 00:01:21.36\00:01:22.93 I said in my heart, God this is something that I want to do. 00:01:22.93\00:01:25.80 I want to be faithful to this knowledge that you have 00:01:25.80\00:01:29.33 given me and I did that throughout my graduate career. 00:01:29.33\00:01:33.13 I applied to medical school I was praying for financial 00:01:33.13\00:01:36.90 support and the Lord blessed. 00:01:36.90\00:01:39.36 He provided me with four year full tuition scholarships 00:01:39.36\00:01:42.86 You know, worth $180,000, so I just want to 00:01:42.86\00:01:46.40 encourage all of you here, not only in that area of 00:01:46.40\00:01:49.93 financial stewardship, but also into every area of your 00:01:49.93\00:01:53.53 life to be unashamed, to be faithful, and to know in 00:01:53.53\00:01:56.53 advance that God is going to work all of your needs 00:01:56.53\00:01:59.53 according to His will and glory. 00:01:59.53\00:02:01.53 Sit back and relax to all those watching online, 00:02:01.53\00:02:04.66 and joining us on 3ABN, and those of you that 00:02:04.66\00:02:07.73 are here again we welcome you to GYC. 00:02:07.73\00:02:10.50 Would you all please bow your heads with me as we pray. 00:02:19.36\00:02:23.23 Heavenly Father we praise You so much for GYC and for 00:02:23.23\00:02:26.66 the opportunity to be here this weekend and for Your 00:02:26.66\00:02:29.90 Sabbath blessings. Lord we praise You so much for the 00:02:29.90\00:02:32.46 commitments that have been made thus far, for the 00:02:32.46\00:02:34.93 speakers and the ways that You have spoken to us. 00:02:34.93\00:02:37.33 Lord I want to pray a special blessing on Paul Howe as 00:02:37.33\00:02:40.86 he shares his testimony today Lord I pray that You will 00:02:40.86\00:02:44.33 speak to us through it Lord. 00:02:44.33\00:02:45.93 We know that in the witnesses of Your saints Lord, 00:02:45.93\00:02:49.76 that You speak to multitudes so 00:02:49.76\00:02:52.26 Lord I pray a special blessing upon that time and upon 00:02:52.26\00:02:55.60 the rest of Your Sabbath hours, in Jesus name Amen. 00:02:55.60\00:02:58.86 Good afternoon, again, GYC! Audience: good afternoon! 00:03:07.40\00:03:10.56 How many of you have your Bibles here with you 00:03:10.56\00:03:12.90 this afternoon? Can I see them? 00:03:12.90\00:03:15.00 Something is happening in our segment this afternoon 00:03:17.13\00:03:19.76 that comes from an exciting miracle that God has been 00:03:19.76\00:03:23.26 working with the Remnant Publication and Thomas Nelson. 00:03:23.26\00:03:26.06 Some exciting developments that have been taking place 00:03:26.06\00:03:28.83 with God putting studying notes into a Bible. 00:03:28.83\00:03:31.36 Before we do that, I wonder if we can show you a 00:03:31.36\00:03:33.83 video about the Bible. 00:03:33.83\00:03:36.80 Welcome to the last study Bible you will ever need. 00:03:42.50\00:03:45.50 The New Remnant Study Bible has all the study aids 00:03:45.50\00:03:48.50 serious Bible students have come to expect. 00:03:48.50\00:03:50.90 Like book introductions and outlines, an extensive 00:03:50.90\00:03:53.56 concordance, over 40,000 cross-references. 00:03:53.56\00:03:56.86 Words of Christ in red, maps and charts. 00:03:56.86\00:04:00.10 But hey check this out, with hundreds of other study 00:04:00.10\00:04:02.70 Bibles on the market, the Remnant Study Bible stands 00:04:02.70\00:04:05.26 head and shoulders above rest. 00:04:05.26\00:04:07.30 Not only because it's every thing you've always needed in 00:04:07.30\00:04:10.10 a study Bible, but because it will take studying your 00:04:10.10\00:04:12.86 Bible to an entirely new level. 00:04:12.86\00:04:14.93 From the hottest pen since the Bible prophets. 00:04:14.93\00:04:18.36 A masterful commentary of Ellen G. White is now included 00:04:18.36\00:04:21.76 alongside the New King James Bible text, as you read these 00:04:21.76\00:04:25.13 thought-provoking nuggets stand out from the main 00:04:25.13\00:04:27.83 Bible text and offer spirit field insight to bring 00:04:27.83\00:04:30.63 text to light in an inspiring and practical way. 00:04:30.63\00:04:33.26 You know what, if we stopped right here, this Bible 00:04:33.26\00:04:35.86 would be an invaluable resource to every home. 00:04:35.86\00:04:38.66 But keep watching because we're just getting started. 00:04:38.66\00:04:41.60 The remnant study Bible offers extensive study 00:04:41.60\00:04:44.86 tools that not only help you understand, but also enable you 00:04:44.86\00:04:48.66 to share these truths with others in a whole new 00:04:48.66\00:04:51.00 and effective way. 00:04:51.00\00:04:52.66 So yeah, go ahead and feel confident to share topics 00:04:52.66\00:04:55.96 such as the prophecies in Daniel chapters 2, 7, and 8 00:04:55.96\00:04:59.20 and the 2300 day prophecy. 00:04:59.20\00:05:01.46 See the plan of salvation plainly revealed in the 00:05:01.46\00:05:04.06 sanctuary and study the miracles and parables of Jesus 00:05:04.06\00:05:07.33 in a deeper way than ever before 00:05:07.33\00:05:09.63 But perhaps one of the most powerful features of the Remnant 00:05:09.63\00:05:12.80 Study Bible is the built in Bible chained reference. 00:05:12.80\00:05:15.96 A ready to go Bible study system that will allow you to 00:05:15.96\00:05:19.13 effectively guide yourself or a student through 00:05:19.13\00:05:21.93 major Bible teachings. 00:05:21.93\00:05:23.73 Select a topic for study from the 20 included topics and 00:05:23.73\00:05:27.20 turn to the first text. 00:05:27.20\00:05:28.63 To help you to find the text quickly, a chain-link is placed 00:05:28.63\00:05:32.20 to the side the text that expands the entire 00:05:32.20\00:05:34.26 passage to be read. 00:05:34.26\00:05:35.90 After you read and discuss the verse, a reference 00:05:35.90\00:05:38.40 to the next text in the chain is found at the 00:05:38.40\00:05:40.86 end of the passage. 00:05:40.86\00:05:42.03 These subjects are made crystal clear as the 00:05:42.03\00:05:44.20 Bible interprets itself. 00:05:44.20\00:05:45.90 The Remnant has teamed with Thomas Nelson Publishers 00:05:45.90\00:05:48.73 working together for over a year making this the 00:05:48.73\00:05:51.30 best study Bible ever offered at any price. 00:05:51.30\00:05:55.13 After the team of over 30 Spirit-led contributors, 00:05:55.13\00:05:58.13 prayerfully and carefully selected the comments of 00:05:58.13\00:06:01.00 Ellen G. White, we compile the note's, images, tools and 00:06:01.00\00:06:04.86 resources, and these were all edited by the world-class 00:06:04.86\00:06:08.73 editing team at Thomas Nelson. 00:06:08.73\00:06:10.60 We have gone to great links to make this Bible one that 00:06:10.60\00:06:13.53 you will be confident to use as you study and share. 00:06:13.53\00:06:16.83 Okay here's the deal, the apostle Peter makes a bold 00:06:16.83\00:06:20.03 call to young people of all ages to be a part of God's 00:06:20.03\00:06:23.20 special forces team. 00:06:23.20\00:06:25.00 We have done our very best to provide you with the most 00:06:25.00\00:06:27.50 powerful sword of truth available. 00:06:27.50\00:06:29.50 Now the decision is in your hand, will you accept the 00:06:29.50\00:06:34.43 challenge to become part of God's Army of youth. 00:06:34.43\00:06:37.50 Equip your self today. 00:06:37.50\00:06:39.90 Wow, a study Bible with Ellen White and 00:06:45.36\00:06:48.23 New King James Version, I have with me Dwight Hall, President 00:06:48.23\00:06:50.90 of Remnants Publications, did I notice correctly that this is 00:06:50.90\00:06:53.53 being released by Thomas Nelson? 00:06:53.53\00:06:55.90 That is the miracle about this Phil, they came to us. 00:06:55.90\00:07:00.06 They flew into Remnant Publications and here's 00:07:00.06\00:07:02.20 what they said, we see on your website that you sell 00:07:02.20\00:07:05.40 a lot of Spirit of Prophecy books, or Ellen white books. 00:07:05.40\00:07:08.33 We see that Ellen G. White, and we have been reading 00:07:08.33\00:07:11.20 that she is a lot of in-depth study on the Bible. 00:07:11.20\00:07:14.66 Would you be willing to work with us to do a Thompson 00:07:14.66\00:07:18.10 New King James Bible with Ellen White helps? 00:07:18.10\00:07:20.10 I said no not really, I said yeah! 00:07:20.10\00:07:23.66 It was a miracle, and there are so many miracles that 00:07:25.10\00:07:27.53 I don't have time for. 00:07:27.53\00:07:28.63 So Thomas Nelson came to you, they asked if you would put 00:07:28.63\00:07:32.00 together a study help with Ellen White quotes and their 00:07:32.00\00:07:35.43 publishing and releasing it? 00:07:35.43\00:07:36.93 Absolutely and not only that they had their editors, 00:07:36.93\00:07:39.40 they had to go through all these comments make sure they 00:07:39.40\00:07:41.86 went along with the Bible text. 00:07:41.86\00:07:43.33 I mean miracle, after miracle, after miracle. 00:07:43.33\00:07:46.26 Not only are they publishing, they're editors actually read 00:07:46.26\00:07:49.00 the beliefs we have solely from the Bible, Amen! 00:07:49.00\00:07:52.53 And what we wanted to do with GYC it's for every 00:07:52.53\00:07:55.53 Bible that is sold here up to the 15th of January, 00:07:55.53\00:07:58.83 we want to give a donation to GYC to help on this 00:07:58.83\00:08:02.10 Africa Project that you have. 00:08:02.10\00:08:04.20 Africa Project, so if someone gets a Bible here GYC, 00:08:04.20\00:08:07.66 what happens with that? 00:08:07.66\00:08:09.66 They get tremendous study aide, like never before the 00:08:09.66\00:08:13.40 best study Bible that has ever been produced. 00:08:13.40\00:08:16.70 Up to $15 of that Bible purchase will go to GYC. 00:08:16.70\00:08:20.00 Isn't that great? 00:08:20.00\00:08:23.33 And with that we are building one-day churches in 00:08:23.33\00:08:26.20 Africa and also other evangelistic resources. 00:08:26.20\00:08:29.20 So, not only do we have an amazing Bible, 00:08:29.20\00:08:32.10 with Ellen White quotes, but you also are helping 00:08:32.10\00:08:34.60 spread the gospel around the world. 00:08:34.60\00:08:37.40 So everyone can be what? not ashamed of the gospel 00:08:37.40\00:08:42.30 of Christ, thank you so much Dwight, 00:08:42.30\00:08:43.76 I really appreciate it. Thank you! 00:08:43.76\00:08:45.10 Our next guests are going to be coming to us from GYC 00:08:45.10\00:08:49.70 Southwest Youth Conference in lona Missions. 00:08:49.70\00:08:52.70 I wonder if I could invite Angie David and Matthew Morea 00:08:52.70\00:08:56.46 and the group from there that are going to come up with me. 00:08:56.46\00:09:00.20 Angie, tell me a little bit about GYC Southwest. 00:09:00.20\00:09:04.23 GYC Southwest is one of the regional affiliates of GYC. 00:09:04.23\00:09:08.80 We are based in Southern California region and we are 00:09:08.80\00:09:12.40 primarily there to reach out to the young people in the 00:09:12.40\00:09:15.93 southwestern states of the United States. 00:09:15.93\00:09:18.26 We conduct a yearly conference called the Southwest 00:09:18.26\00:09:21.70 Yukon friends and we want to bring the spirit of GYC 00:09:21.70\00:09:25.20 to Southern California, to Nevada, to the Arizona, 00:09:25.20\00:09:28.66 to all the young people in that region. 00:09:28.66\00:09:31.23 I notice that you have Matt Morella of lona here with you, 00:09:31.23\00:09:34.70 are you two teaming together, what's going on there? 00:09:34.70\00:09:37.73 Matthew you would like to tell us a little bit about that. 00:09:37.73\00:09:41.60 Well first off lona is a Bible training program seeking to 00:09:41.60\00:09:45.46 educate and ground young people in the teachings and 00:09:45.46\00:09:47.80 the beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist church by 00:09:47.80\00:09:50.30 showing them how to study the Bible for themselves. 00:09:50.30\00:09:54.10 This June we are teeming with GYC Southwest, providing 00:09:54.10\00:09:58.26 an intense one-week course on how to study the Bible. 00:09:58.26\00:10:01.66 Our director of lona, Peter Gregory is going to take 00:10:01.66\00:10:04.70 the students through a verse by verse study of the 00:10:04.70\00:10:08.53 book of Galatians and that will go through how to 00:10:08.53\00:10:12.33 think, or how to ask a question, and how to understand 00:10:12.33\00:10:15.43 the book of Galatians for themselves. 00:10:15.43\00:10:17.00 So you are telling me that studying one book of the Bible, 00:10:17.00\00:10:20.80 we can understand how to study the rest of the Bible? 00:10:20.80\00:10:26.00 Well the main goal of intense is so that we can provide 00:10:26.00\00:10:30.30 tips, tools, and techniques of how to study the Bible 00:10:30.30\00:10:34.26 for yourself so you can apply those same tools with 00:10:34.26\00:10:38.16 other books of the Bible. 00:10:38.16\00:10:39.90 Angie, one week, please tell us how is it being done. 00:10:41.00\00:10:43.96 Well this is going to be very intense and we have a 00:10:43.96\00:10:46.90 wonderful group of volunteers who are putting 00:10:46.90\00:10:49.36 heart and soul into this project. 00:10:49.36\00:10:50.96 You know what Phil, I have to share a personal testimony 00:10:50.96\00:10:53.66 about why we are doing this. 00:10:53.66\00:10:55.56 Because when I was preparing to come to GYC, I was 00:10:55.56\00:10:58.66 praying and asked the Lord please give me a special 00:10:58.66\00:11:01.80 message just for myself, and as wonderful as the 00:11:01.80\00:11:04.93 speakers and seminars have been, it came through 00:11:04.93\00:11:08.00 personal Bible study with a friend of mine. 00:11:08.00\00:11:10.20 We sat there and we studied a couple verses of 00:11:10.20\00:11:13.26 the Bible and you know the Bible came alive. 00:11:13.26\00:11:16.20 I want every young person to have that experience for 00:11:16.20\00:11:19.66 themselves, to search within the word of God 00:11:19.66\00:11:22.86 for the hidden treasures. 00:11:22.86\00:11:24.16 So as President of GYC South West, you have this passion 00:11:24.16\00:11:27.83 and vision of getting all the young people to be able to 00:11:27.83\00:11:31.10 study and learn the Bible for themselves. -Absolutely! 00:11:31.10\00:11:34.30 When this is taking place? 00:11:34.30\00:11:35.60 This will be held June 13-20, 2010 so mark your 00:11:35.60\00:11:39.26 calendars and you can find out more information by 00:11:39.26\00:11:42.43 visiting the lona Missions booth where you can pick up 00:11:42.43\00:11:46.66 some flyers, visit our website WWW.GYC.Southwest. org. 00:11:46.66\00:11:50.80 Thank you so much, GYC, if you guys that live in that area, 00:11:50.80\00:11:54.06 June 13-19 Mark your calendars and make sure you go 00:11:54.06\00:11:58.06 there, I know that you will be blessed. 00:11:58.06\00:12:00.50 Thank you very much. 00:12:00.50\00:12:02.36 Good afternoon once again GYC. 00:12:07.26\00:12:08.76 Audience: good afternoon. 00:12:08.76\00:12:09.96 Are you excited about what the Lord has done here 00:12:09.96\00:12:13.63 GYC 2009? Audience: Amen. 00:12:13.63\00:12:16.10 Amen, I am so excited and have seen God's work in the 00:12:16.10\00:12:20.66 lives of those around me today. 00:12:20.66\00:12:22.10 I have seen God's work in my own life, and in my own 00:12:22.10\00:12:25.00 heart today and I am excited. 00:12:25.00\00:12:28.20 You know what the best part of this whole thing is? 00:12:28.20\00:12:33.33 I seen the power of God working in a beautiful way here 00:12:33.33\00:12:38.13 in GYC, but the power that has been here working at GYC 00:12:38.13\00:12:43.16 is a power that can carry us, and should, and must carry 00:12:43.16\00:12:48.16 us through every day of our lives. 00:12:48.16\00:12:51.23 Every moment of our lives. 00:12:51.23\00:12:53.33 We come to GYC and it is like this is a time of great 00:12:53.33\00:12:56.63 excitement and a great awakening. 00:12:56.63\00:12:58.43 But we can go home friends with the same excitement, 00:12:58.43\00:13:02.36 with the same awakening, and that is what 00:13:02.36\00:13:04.73 I pray we will each do. 00:13:04.73\00:13:07.16 God can make the power that we have felt here at GYC come 00:13:07.16\00:13:11.60 home to us in an individual powerful, practical way 00:13:11.60\00:13:16.30 each and every day of the rest of our lives. 00:13:16.30\00:13:19.76 And to me that is even more exciting. 00:13:19.76\00:13:21.66 Even more exciting than GYC, that is what we are going 00:13:21.66\00:13:25.56 to hear about this afternoon an exciting testimony from 00:13:25.56\00:13:28.80 Paul Howell and we are going to see how the Lord has 00:13:28.80\00:13:32.30 worked in his everyday life and how the Lord is working 00:13:32.30\00:13:35.70 through him to touch the lives of others, but before we 00:13:35.70\00:13:39.03 do that, Isabella and Esau are going bring us a 00:13:39.03\00:13:42.53 beautiful musical number and we ask that you just lift 00:13:42.53\00:13:45.93 your minds to God in prayer as you hear this music. 00:13:45.93\00:13:49.30 Let Him prepare your heart for the words that you will 00:13:49.30\00:13:52.66 hear this afternoon, Amen. 00:13:52.66\00:13:54.63 Time measured out my days, 00:14:14.30\00:14:18.46 Life carried me along 00:14:18.46\00:14:24.10 In my soul I yearned to follow God, 00:14:24.10\00:14:30.96 But knew I'd never be so strong, 00:14:30.96\00:14:37.76 I looked hard at the world 00:14:37.76\00:14:41.30 To learn how heaven could be gained. 00:14:41.30\00:14:47.00 Just to end were I began, 00:14:50.10\00:14:53.13 Where human effort is all in vain 00:14:53.13\00:14:59.06 Were it not for grace, 00:15:01.80\00:15:06.20 I can tell you where I'd be 00:15:06.20\00:15:12.06 Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere 00:15:12.06\00:15:17.06 With my salvation up to me 00:15:17.06\00:15:21.66 I know how that would go 00:15:21.66\00:15:26.16 The battles I would face 00:15:27.63\00:15:33.00 Forever running but losing this race 00:15:33.00\00:15:38.93 Were it not for grace 00:15:38.93\00:15:43.56 So here is all my praise, 00:15:48.13\00:15:52.80 Expressed with all my heart 00:15:52.80\00:15:57.40 Offer to a friend who took my place 00:15:57.40\00:16:03.96 And ran a course I could not start 00:16:03.96\00:16:10.50 And when He saw in full 00:16:10.50\00:16:13.63 Just how much His love would cost 00:16:13.63\00:16:19.40 He still went the final mile between me and heaven 00:16:21.13\00:16:26.26 So I would not be lost. 00:16:26.26\00:16:29.60 Were it not for grace 00:16:31.96\00:16:35.60 I could tell you where I'd be 00:16:36.86\00:16:41.63 Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere 00:16:41.63\00:16:46.30 With my salvation up to me 00:16:46.30\00:16:50.40 I know how that will go 00:16:50.40\00:16:54.43 The battles I would face 00:16:56.36\00:17:00.06 Forever running but losing the race 00:17:02.06\00:17:06.60 Were it not for grace 00:17:06.60\00:17:12.36 Forever running but losing the race 00:17:12.36\00:17:19.90 Were it not for grace 00:17:19.90\00:17:28.46 Good afternoon Audience: good afternoon! 00:17:45.70\00:17:48.63 Before I begin I would like to have a prayer 00:17:48.63\00:17:51.00 for God's special blessing for what I'm about to share with you 00:17:51.00\00:17:54.10 Our kind and loving Father in heaven, 00:17:54.10\00:17:59.90 we come to you today and ask that You would fill this 00:17:59.90\00:18:05.30 auditorium with Your Holy Spirit from on high. 00:18:05.30\00:18:07.96 That Your Angels would have power in this place and 00:18:07.96\00:18:12.96 that they would keep the devil and his forces away. 00:18:12.96\00:18:15.90 So that the words I will speak can reach every heart. 00:18:15.90\00:18:19.73 God I ask a special blessing on the words that I will speak. 00:18:19.73\00:18:25.23 I pray that you would touch my lips with a coal from 00:18:25.23\00:18:28.86 your altar, that I would say the things you want me 00:18:28.86\00:18:31.93 to say and leave unsaid the things I should leave 00:18:31.93\00:18:34.33 unsaid and that every person here would be touched. 00:18:34.33\00:18:39.56 Speak through me, Amen. 00:18:39.56\00:18:42.76 My name is Paul, and I am coming to you today from Ethiopia. 00:18:45.33\00:18:49.50 Now this is the first time, in about 6 or 8 months, 00:18:49.50\00:18:53.20 I have spoken up front without a translator. 00:18:53.20\00:18:55.70 So if I start pausing every sentence or two, 00:18:55.70\00:18:58.90 please bare with me. 00:18:58.90\00:19:01.53 I know it is a little unusual for a 26-year-old to be 00:19:03.70\00:19:07.03 managing an 80 bed hospital, a nursing college, and a 00:19:07.03\00:19:11.20 collection of rural clinics. 00:19:11.20\00:19:12.73 But I also know that the only reason I'm successful at 00:19:12.73\00:19:16.90 my job, is God's daily intervention in my life. 00:19:16.90\00:19:21.40 His power and grace alone sustain the hospital. 00:19:21.40\00:19:26.10 I am humbled and honored that God has given my wife and 00:19:26.10\00:19:30.80 I the opportunity to serve in Ethiopia. 00:19:30.80\00:19:33.66 I hope that my story, and the lessons that I share that 00:19:33.66\00:19:38.13 I have learned will help you to commit your life to God. 00:19:38.13\00:19:42.90 And to live a life of service for Him. 00:19:42.90\00:19:46.10 The road between Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia and 00:19:48.13\00:19:52.96 Gimbie is about 450 km long. 00:19:52.96\00:19:56.03 It is notoriously rough, and in recent times it has 00:19:56.03\00:19:59.66 gotten a little bit better but it is still one of the 00:19:59.66\00:20:02.00 most dangerous roads in all of Ethiopia. 00:20:02.00\00:20:04.60 There are some bandits, but most of the danger actually 00:20:04.60\00:20:07.80 comes from other vehicles. 00:20:07.80\00:20:09.63 Car per car, Ethiopia is the most dangerous country in 00:20:09.63\00:20:14.36 the world in which to drive. 00:20:14.36\00:20:16.16 I pray every time I get behind the wheel, believe me, by 00:20:17.50\00:20:21.36 the grace of God I have not had any serious accidents. 00:20:21.36\00:20:25.73 My road to Gimbie probably started at GYC Sacramento. 00:20:25.73\00:20:31.96 Although I didn't realize it at the time. 00:20:31.96\00:20:33.96 My wife, or future wife, Petra Homen, was one of the ones that 00:20:33.96\00:20:38.30 went forward at the call for a long-term missionary. 00:20:38.30\00:20:41.56 I didn't want to be a missionary, I wanted to be a 00:20:41.56\00:20:43.96 lawyer, I wanted to run for Congress, I had no interest 00:20:43.96\00:20:47.40 in missions whatsoever. 00:20:47.40\00:20:49.56 But in spite of this difference Petra and I were 00:20:49.56\00:20:52.06 attracted to each other and started dating. 00:20:52.06\00:20:54.30 Things went okay for a little while but then she went 00:20:54.30\00:20:57.00 to Argentina to study Spanish and I started law school 00:20:57.00\00:20:59.80 in Washington and our lives just diverged. 00:20:59.80\00:21:03.30 She became increasingly convicted that God was calling 00:21:03.30\00:21:07.30 her to spend her life as a missionary in Africa. 00:21:07.30\00:21:09.80 I still thought that I should be a lawyer and run for 00:21:09.80\00:21:13.06 Congress, so it was not a big surprise that we broke up 00:21:13.06\00:21:16.50 pretty quickly and painlessly and stopped communicating 00:21:16.50\00:21:19.70 completely, just wrote each other off. 00:21:19.70\00:21:22.46 Around about this time Petra agreed to serve as the associate 00:21:22.46\00:21:25.53 Dean of? Adventist high school in Denmark. 00:21:25.53\00:21:28.93 So it seem likely were just on different tracks. 00:21:28.93\00:21:32.36 But in the gap between Petra's time in Argentina and 00:21:32.36\00:21:35.80 Denmark she and her family decided to take a vacation 00:21:35.80\00:21:39.90 at Prince Edward Island. 00:21:39.90\00:21:40.90 If you look at a map you can see the shortest 00:21:40.90\00:21:42.93 route between Petra's parents home in Maryland 00:21:42.93\00:21:45.36 and Prince Edward Island it goes right past my 00:21:45.36\00:21:48.16 parents home in Maine. 00:21:48.16\00:21:49.93 Now it's about sundown on Friday afternoon when Petra 00:21:49.93\00:21:54.00 and her family were getting close to my family house. 00:21:54.00\00:21:56.60 Our moms are old friends and it seemed it is perfectly 00:21:56.60\00:21:59.20 natural to stop in and spend Sabbath together. 00:21:59.20\00:22:01.83 Well I just happened to be at home that summer. 00:22:01.83\00:22:06.26 Audience laughing. 00:22:06.26\00:22:08.50 I was working for the Department of Justice and 00:22:08.50\00:22:10.46 I always plan on getting married when I was in my 30s, 00:22:10.46\00:22:13.20 or something like that. 00:22:13.20\00:22:14.33 But when Petra walked in the door that night, everything 00:22:14.33\00:22:18.00 changed, a couple hours later I took Petra for drive 00:22:18.00\00:22:23.96 in my dad's Jeep and we parked in this beautiful scenic 00:22:23.96\00:22:26.86 overlook of the ocean underneath and everything. 00:22:26.86\00:22:29.00 Unfortunately we couldn't see anything because it was 00:22:29.00\00:22:31.43 pouring rain and pitch dark because it is midnight. 00:22:31.43\00:22:33.46 But anyway as I was there in the Jeep with Petra, 00:22:33.46\00:22:36.86 we were sitting together and I said Petra 00:22:36.86\00:22:40.43 it would be great if we could be friends again. 00:22:40.43\00:22:44.10 But I'd be even happier if you agree to be my wife. 00:22:45.43\00:22:51.30 Audience laughing. 00:22:51.30\00:22:53.93 Then there was this very long and very awkward silence. 00:22:53.93\00:22:57.40 Audience really laughing. 00:22:57.40\00:23:00.73 Then Petra said in na, nah, ah, ah, yes. 00:23:00.73\00:23:06.66 Audience laughing again. 00:23:06.66\00:23:09.40 And then Petra went off to Denmark and I went back to 00:23:09.40\00:23:12.40 law school and we almost called off the engagement. 00:23:12.40\00:23:15.70 Believe me it is pretty scary to marry somebody 00:23:15.70\00:23:17.53 you don't really know. 00:23:17.53\00:23:18.90 This whole time Petra still wanted to go to Africa and be a 00:23:18.90\00:23:22.40 missionary, I still wanted to be a lawyer and run for office. 00:23:22.40\00:23:25.96 But by the grace of God we were married a few months 00:23:25.96\00:23:28.90 later on top of a mountain and then we both went back 00:23:28.90\00:23:33.90 to school, Petra to finish her bachelors and me 00:23:33.90\00:23:36.96 to finish my law degree. 00:23:36.96\00:23:38.73 Well roundabout that time we start to fall in love, 00:23:38.73\00:23:42.23 and I can tell you... Audience really laughing! 00:23:42.23\00:23:47.00 there are big advantages to falling 00:23:47.00\00:23:49.16 in love after you're married. 00:23:49.16\00:23:51.03 A bunch of my married friends told me their honeymoon 00:23:51.03\00:23:54.53 was fantastic, but as time has gone on we are starting 00:23:54.53\00:23:57.96 to get bored and things are going stale. 00:23:57.96\00:24:00.06 Well I don't want to go into the details, but Petra and 00:24:00.06\00:24:05.66 my experience has been quite the reverse. 00:24:05.66\00:24:08.53 As we got to know each other better we realized that we 00:24:08.53\00:24:13.06 tended to be close to God when our lives were difficult 00:24:13.06\00:24:16.20 and far from God when our lives were easy. 00:24:16.20\00:24:19.80 So we prayed, it may seem to you to be a very stupid 00:24:19.80\00:24:23.46 prayer, we prayed to God give us a life that is so intense 00:24:23.46\00:24:28.70 that the only way we can survive is by walking close 00:24:28.70\00:24:32.50 with you. Audience Amen! 00:24:32.50\00:24:34.60 God give us a life that is so intense the only way we 00:24:34.60\00:24:37.93 can survive is by walking close with You. 00:24:37.93\00:24:41.23 If you are bored today, if you feel lukewarm today, 00:24:43.26\00:24:47.50 if you don't want to spend the rest of your life pushing 00:24:47.50\00:24:49.76 papers across the desk, if you are unsure of your future 00:24:49.76\00:24:53.33 but know that you want to live an extraordinary life of service 00:24:53.33\00:24:56.63 for God, I challenge you, I downright dare you to pray 00:24:56.63\00:25:00.56 this prayer and to keep on praying it every day until 00:25:00.56\00:25:04.86 God leads you into the life of service He has planned. 00:25:04.86\00:25:08.10 As Petra and I continued to pray this prayer, we started 00:25:09.63\00:25:12.96 to feel peace about the future even though we were 00:25:12.96\00:25:15.20 really uncertain what the future would hold. 00:25:15.20\00:25:17.90 I got an offer from the US government to work in 00:25:17.90\00:25:20.30 foreign service, Adventist church offered me a job on 00:25:20.30\00:25:23.30 Capitol Hill, but nothing seemed quite right. 00:25:23.30\00:25:25.90 All this time Petra is poking me, and poking me, 00:25:25.90\00:25:27.70 and prodding me, Paul, Paul, apply for a job internationally 00:25:27.70\00:25:31.06 working for the Adventist church. 00:25:31.06\00:25:32.33 Maybe there is a hospital or something where 00:25:32.33\00:25:33.96 they can use you. 00:25:33.96\00:25:35.36 So I reluctantly started looking into it. 00:25:35.36\00:25:38.16 There's this hospital in Afghanistan and I heard there 00:25:38.16\00:25:41.46 was an internship there and looked into it. 00:25:41.46\00:25:43.46 Adventist Health International, it didn't seem to 00:25:43.46\00:25:46.70 be going very well and I was not surprised one day 00:25:46.70\00:25:48.93 when I got a phone call from Dick Heart who is 00:25:48.93\00:25:51.03 president of Loma Linda University and 00:25:51.03\00:25:52.96 Adventist Health International. 00:25:52.96\00:25:54.63 He said Paul, I am really sorry, but it seems like things are not 00:25:54.63\00:26:01.10 going to work out for you and Petra to go to Afghanistan. 00:26:01.10\00:26:03.06 I said okay, no big deal I wasn't expecting it anyway. 00:26:03.06\00:26:06.36 He said, but Paul we need an administrator for our 00:26:06.36\00:26:10.30 hospital in Ethiopia. 00:26:10.30\00:26:12.60 Would you and Petra be willing to go out there? 00:26:12.60\00:26:14.73 Well, this wasn't even something we had considered. 00:26:14.73\00:26:18.10 I never dreamed of being an CEO over a hospital, 00:26:18.10\00:26:21.93 I was just 25. 00:26:21.93\00:26:23.70 But Petra and I prayed about it and felt that God 00:26:23.70\00:26:26.03 had opened the door and He would enable us 00:26:26.03\00:26:28.83 to walk through it. 00:26:28.83\00:26:30.66 Let me tell you a little about Gimbie Adventist hospital. 00:26:30.66\00:26:34.16 The hospital is located about 6,800 feet, which is 00:26:34.16\00:26:37.13 fortunately above the malaria zone. 00:26:37.13\00:26:39.26 450 km due west of Addis, and the hospital was started in the 00:26:39.26\00:26:43.56 1940s, since that time it has grown. 00:26:43.56\00:26:46.10 It has flourished at different times, and now it has 00:26:46.10\00:26:48.60 about 80 beds, 300 plus employees, a nursing college, 00:26:48.60\00:26:52.43 and a whole collection of rural clinics. 00:26:52.43\00:26:54.80 Some of which are not accessible by road. 00:26:54.80\00:26:57.10 The hospital faces monumental challenges on every 00:26:58.80\00:27:04.93 imaginable angle, but God sustains us day by day. 00:27:04.93\00:27:10.23 In the past year and a half I've learned a number of 00:27:10.23\00:27:13.70 things and I would like to share some of the things 00:27:13.70\00:27:15.63 I have learned with you today. 00:27:15.63\00:27:17.66 The first thing I learned was when we put ourselves on the 00:27:19.10\00:27:21.66 line for God, He comes through powerfully and unmistakably. 00:27:21.66\00:27:26.60 When I was in the US I felt like I did not need God, 00:27:26.60\00:27:29.83 I could live my life just fine on my own, at least that 00:27:29.83\00:27:32.06 is the way I felt about it. 00:27:32.06\00:27:33.93 But in Ethiopia things are totally different, 00:27:33.93\00:27:36.76 our hospital is on a very precarious financial footing. 00:27:36.76\00:27:41.60 The cost of doing business has gone up dramatically 00:27:41.60\00:27:45.16 in the past couple years. 00:27:45.16\00:27:46.50 For example, physician salaries in the market rate have doubled 00:27:46.50\00:27:49.70 in the past few years. 00:27:49.70\00:27:50.90 The price of staple food has quadrupled in 00:27:50.90\00:27:53.70 the past two years. 00:27:53.70\00:27:54.93 Now we could have just raised our prices, but then we 00:27:54.93\00:27:57.30 could only serve the rich people in Gimbie. 00:27:57.30\00:27:59.90 Not that there's any rich people there really. 00:27:59.90\00:28:02.20 But as the mission hospital, we felt it was very 00:28:02.20\00:28:05.13 important to have our service available for everyone. 00:28:05.13\00:28:07.86 What all this means is that we are often very, very 00:28:07.86\00:28:11.10 short of cash and when it comes down to the end of 00:28:11.10\00:28:13.00 the month, it doesn't look like we are going to be 00:28:13.00\00:28:14.93 able to make payroll. 00:28:14.93\00:28:16.23 This is very, very serious because our employees 00:28:16.23\00:28:19.53 live paycheck to paycheck. 00:28:19.53\00:28:22.46 Some of the lower paid employees don't have anything to 00:28:22.46\00:28:26.46 eat towards the end of the month. 00:28:26.46\00:28:28.03 So when it comes down to the end of the month, I meet 00:28:28.03\00:28:30.96 with Henick, the head accountant, at the hospital. 00:28:30.96\00:28:33.36 We pray together and ask God to give us money to meet 00:28:33.36\00:28:37.36 the payroll, and every month He comes through and you know 00:28:37.36\00:28:40.30 what, we never have money left over. 00:28:40.30\00:28:43.13 Our payroll a month is about 20,000 US dollars, which isn't 00:28:43.13\00:28:46.50 much, by the way, for 300 employees. 00:28:46.50\00:28:48.83 After we meet the payroll, we will have two dollars 00:28:48.83\00:28:52.66 left over, five dollars left over. 00:28:52.66\00:28:55.03 Every month at Gimbie is a miracle from God. 00:28:55.03\00:29:00.20 Now our hospital is the referral center for our 00:29:00.20\00:29:06.23 whole region in Ethiopia. 00:29:06.23\00:29:07.83 There are a few other hospitals in the region, 00:29:07.83\00:29:10.06 but none of them provide care on our level. 00:29:10.06\00:29:12.43 So we get all the most difficult and desperate cases 00:29:12.43\00:29:15.36 in Gimbie, and some of those cases are very difficult 00:29:15.36\00:29:18.36 and desperate indeed. 00:29:18.36\00:29:19.90 A couple months ago a young Muslim woman came in with 00:29:19.90\00:29:22.36 her family, late in the afternoon. 00:29:22.36\00:29:23.86 She had severe post operative complications. 00:29:23.86\00:29:26.96 Our medical staff took one look at her and said she is 00:29:26.96\00:29:29.46 going to be dead in a couple hours. 00:29:29.46\00:29:31.30 Petra, my wife, is the chaplain at the hospital. 00:29:31.30\00:29:34.50 She came into the family and asked 00:29:34.50\00:29:36.20 if they wanted prayer. 00:29:36.20\00:29:37.96 Normally Muslim families are reluctant for prayer and 00:29:37.96\00:29:41.50 this family was no exception. 00:29:41.50\00:29:42.96 But they felt the situation was desperate enough that 00:29:42.96\00:29:46.46 they would try anything. 00:29:46.46\00:29:48.46 So Petra prayed and they weren't particularly enthusiastic 00:29:48.46\00:29:51.73 about it, and they definitely refused her 00:29:51.73\00:29:53.83 offer of a Bible, because God has blessed us with the 00:29:53.83\00:29:56.30 ability to give Bibles free to all of our patients. 00:29:56.30\00:29:59.30 At this point, all of us in the hospital, myself, 00:29:59.30\00:30:03.96 Petra, many of our staff started to feel a special 00:30:03.96\00:30:07.46 burden for this girl and throughout the afternoon 00:30:07.46\00:30:10.36 and into the evening we continued to come into her room 00:30:10.36\00:30:12.73 and prayed with her. 00:30:12.73\00:30:13.96 At about midnight I checked back into her room and 00:30:13.96\00:30:16.96 things look really, really grim. 00:30:16.96\00:30:19.70 The nurse told me this girl's going to die in a couple 00:30:19.70\00:30:21.76 minutes, maybe maximum would be an hour. 00:30:21.76\00:30:23.60 The next morning we came into the hospital and 00:30:25.60\00:30:27.13 everything was quiet. 00:30:27.13\00:30:28.40 I said to Petra, ah shucks babe, I bet they have 00:30:28.40\00:30:31.43 taken her and buried her by now. 00:30:31.43\00:30:33.26 Then the nurses came and said Mr. Paul, Mr. Paul, 00:30:33.26\00:30:36.26 Mr. Paul, Sister Petra, Sister Petra, 00:30:36.26\00:30:38.20 and let me just explain. 00:30:38.20\00:30:39.40 In Ethiopia your last name is not important. 00:30:39.40\00:30:41.86 Everyone goes by their first name, so I'm Mr. Paul. 00:30:41.86\00:30:44.66 Anyway, they said Mr. Paul, Mr. Paul, come look, come look. 00:30:44.66\00:30:48.60 So I opened the door to the ICU and the girl was sitting 00:30:48.60\00:30:52.40 up in bed eating breakfast. 00:30:52.40\00:30:54.23 She was talking with her family and completely healed. 00:30:54.23\00:30:57.10 Her family came all around Petra and said, your prayer 00:30:57.10\00:31:00.43 saved our daughter's life. 00:31:00.43\00:31:02.06 Can you tell us more about God? 00:31:02.06\00:31:04.03 Can you give us Bibles? 00:31:04.03\00:31:05.70 I'm telling you God is working every day to save souls 00:31:05.70\00:31:09.30 at Gimbie Adventist hospital. 00:31:09.30\00:31:10.96 We have large construction site at our nursing college. 00:31:12.66\00:31:15.70 We are expanding our nursing college to also be a 00:31:15.70\00:31:18.60 midwifery college, and one day I found out there were 00:31:18.60\00:31:21.96 some stealing going on at this worksite. 00:31:21.96\00:31:24.10 So I investigated things a little bit and we terminated 00:31:24.10\00:31:26.50 the workers who had been responsible and we set up some 00:31:26.50\00:31:28.83 patrols for the future. 00:31:28.83\00:31:30.40 These guys we fired were really, really unhappy. 00:31:30.40\00:31:33.43 I started getting death threats. 00:31:33.43\00:31:35.93 One day I got a whole bunch of death threats back to 00:31:35.93\00:31:38.43 back, so that night when I went to bed I carefully 00:31:38.43\00:31:41.83 locked up all the doors and windows in my house. 00:31:41.83\00:31:43.70 Then Petra and I went to bed. 00:31:43.70\00:31:45.76 In the middle of the night we woke up when our 00:31:45.76\00:31:50.13 bedroom door started opening. 00:31:50.13\00:31:53.03 I can tell you that both of us started praying more 00:31:53.03\00:31:56.43 fervently than usual. Audience laughing. 00:31:56.43\00:32:01.70 Our bedroom door stopped opening and then it started to 00:32:01.70\00:32:04.86 close, and then I heard footsteps running away. 00:32:04.86\00:32:07.46 I jumped up out of bed and grabbed my machete and ran 00:32:07.46\00:32:09.50 after them and found the front door wide open. 00:32:09.50\00:32:12.70 I had locked everything down before went to bed and 00:32:12.70\00:32:17.16 there were no signs of forced entry. 00:32:17.16\00:32:18.60 So what this means is that somebody had been hiding 00:32:18.60\00:32:21.40 in my house when I went to bed. 00:32:21.40\00:32:24.23 Then opened my bedroom door. 00:32:24.23\00:32:26.03 GYC, I had no idea of what I was getting into when I 00:32:26.03\00:32:29.83 prayed to God that He would give me life so intense that 00:32:29.83\00:32:32.23 I would only survive if I walked close to Him. 00:32:32.23\00:32:35.70 You have to be careful what you pray for. 00:32:35.70\00:32:38.26 Audience laughing. 00:32:38.26\00:32:41.03 But today if there is any of you feeling like God isn't 00:32:41.03\00:32:43.46 real in your life, like He has never done anything 00:32:43.46\00:32:45.80 for you, I challenge you go to a place that requires 00:32:45.80\00:32:49.30 God's presence for your day-to-day survival. 00:32:49.30\00:32:52.20 Second lesson I learned in Ethiopia is that God works 00:32:52.20\00:32:57.60 through people, but there is often a shortage of people 00:32:57.60\00:33:01.40 who are willing to let God work through them. 00:33:01.40\00:33:04.50 In most of Ethiopia there is one medical doctor for 00:33:04.50\00:33:07.80 every 5000 people, but in our area there is only one 00:33:07.80\00:33:10.76 physician for every 100,000 people. 00:33:10.76\00:33:13.53 This shortage is even tougher for the hospital because 00:33:13.53\00:33:17.16 almost all physicians in Ethiopia are sponsored by 00:33:17.16\00:33:20.46 the government, when they finish school they owe the 00:33:20.46\00:33:22.76 government time and go work for the government and 00:33:22.76\00:33:24.80 then leave the country. 00:33:24.80\00:33:26.20 So we have a huge challenge getting good physicians. 00:33:26.20\00:33:29.03 When I arrived we had 2 general practitioners. 00:33:29.03\00:33:32.30 One of them was only willing to work a couple hours a 00:33:32.30\00:33:35.56 day, the other one was a fraud. 00:33:35.56\00:33:38.40 I mean literally we are talking catch me if you can 00:33:38.40\00:33:40.40 sort of a situation. 00:33:40.40\00:33:42.36 One Sabbath afternoon, Petra and I were in the wards and 00:33:42.36\00:33:45.20 we were praying with patients and singing some hymns 00:33:45.20\00:33:47.53 and one of the nurses came and got me, Mr. Paul, 00:33:47.53\00:33:50.26 Mr. Paul there is an emergency in the ER and we can't 00:33:50.26\00:33:52.50 find a doctor, I looked around, no doctor. 00:33:52.50\00:33:56.46 So I grabbed a medical student and she grabbed her 00:33:56.46\00:33:58.43 textbook, and we all ran to the ER together. Audience Laughing! 00:33:58.43\00:34:02.10 We sat down and opened up the book and tried to figure 00:34:02.10\00:34:03.80 out what in the world this patient had. 00:34:03.80\00:34:05.46 I was thinking to myself, God, this can't keep going 00:34:05.46\00:34:09.33 like this, but God knew and God sent us Dr. Priscilla, 00:34:09.33\00:34:14.03 a young general practitioner from Argentina. 00:34:14.03\00:34:17.10 I wish I had time to tell you all the stories, but let 00:34:17.10\00:34:19.26 me just say, there are many, many people alive in Gimbie 00:34:19.26\00:34:22.86 today who would be dead if it wasn't for Dr. Priscilla. 00:34:22.86\00:34:26.16 When I first came to the hospital, the accounting 00:34:26.16\00:34:29.86 was a wreck. 00:34:29.86\00:34:31.53 Just to give you an idea of how bad the accounting was. 00:34:31.53\00:34:34.53 The hospitals international bank account, were most of our 00:34:34.53\00:34:38.30 financial activity took place, was not on our hospital books. 00:34:38.30\00:34:42.00 The hospital building was not on our hospital books. 00:34:42.00\00:34:45.73 I realize that this was a very serious problem. 00:34:45.73\00:34:48.60 Now I didn't have any accounting background so I got 00:34:48.60\00:34:51.46 a textbook and started looking through it. 00:34:51.46\00:34:53.00 What am I going to do, how am I going to solve this? 00:34:53.00\00:34:54.53 But God knew we had this problem, and God sent 00:34:54.53\00:34:58.70 David Hagstead, a highly qualified tax accountant 00:34:58.70\00:35:01.80 from Washington, DC. 00:35:01.80\00:35:03.30 He said Joel Kurtz, a brilliant business student 00:35:03.30\00:35:05.66 from Southern, and He sent Henick Tecs, this great 00:35:05.66\00:35:08.00 Ethiopian accountant and these three guys 00:35:08.00\00:35:10.60 revolutionized our accounting. 00:35:10.60\00:35:12.36 Let me give you an idea of how much work they did. 00:35:12.36\00:35:14.86 In international auditing there are five levels. 00:35:14.86\00:35:18.60 One is a clean audit, that means you financial activity 00:35:18.60\00:35:21.83 is pretty good and transparent. 00:35:21.83\00:35:23.56 5 is no opinion, an audit that is a 5 means there is so little 00:35:23.56\00:35:28.83 documentation that the auditing firm can't begin to tell you 00:35:28.83\00:35:32.63 how bad your financial activity is. 00:35:32.63\00:35:35.33 Every year before I arrived the hospital was getting 00:35:35.33\00:35:38.30 fives on every audit. 00:35:38.30\00:35:40.33 But by the grace of God, and through David, Joel and 00:35:41.60\00:35:44.36 Henick we went from a five to a one in one year. 00:35:44.36\00:35:50.00 Audience: Amen. 00:35:50.00\00:35:51.60 What is even more remarkable, is that each one of these 00:35:51.60\00:35:53.40 guys is 23 years old. Audience: Amen. 00:35:53.40\00:35:57.56 I'm telling you these stories partly as examples of a 00:35:57.56\00:36:01.60 huge positive change that one person, or a group of 00:36:01.60\00:36:05.00 people can bring when they dedicate their life to God. 00:36:05.00\00:36:07.46 But I am also telling you these stories because there 00:36:07.46\00:36:11.40 is a great need for these kind of people. 00:36:11.40\00:36:14.60 All across the world there is a need for missionaries 00:36:14.60\00:36:18.13 today, there is no skill set that is irrelevant. 00:36:18.13\00:36:22.50 I have a great volunteer nurse named Scott Billow and 00:36:22.50\00:36:25.86 he likes to say, God needs missionary janitors. 00:36:25.86\00:36:29.20 He is not knocking janitors, he is just saying that 00:36:29.20\00:36:31.40 everyone has a role in the mission field. 00:36:31.40\00:36:34.73 But some of you guys are young and you may say I am 00:36:34.73\00:36:37.03 too young to go work for God. 00:36:37.03\00:36:38.86 I could never be in the mission field. 00:36:38.86\00:36:40.10 Let me tell you a story. 00:36:40.10\00:36:41.40 The General Conference came to inspect the hospital 00:36:41.40\00:36:44.36 one-day, we had all these top guys they came to the 00:36:44.36\00:36:48.43 hospital and we welcome them. 00:36:48.43\00:36:49.90 We gave them a walk-through and they said wow, 00:36:49.90\00:36:51.80 this place is looking great, like things have really 00:36:51.80\00:36:54.43 improved since we were here last. 00:36:54.43\00:36:55.80 Can we talk to the administrator? 00:36:55.80\00:36:57.40 So I took them up to my office and we all sat down. 00:36:57.40\00:37:01.70 And they say where is the administrator? 00:37:01.70\00:37:05.93 I said, that's me. They said, ah, really? 00:37:05.93\00:37:10.80 Where is the rest of the administration staff? 00:37:10.80\00:37:12.83 We are all here. Audience laughing! 00:37:12.83\00:37:17.26 At that time the average age of our administrative 00:37:17.26\00:37:19.20 committee was 26, and they said what, this is being 00:37:19.20\00:37:22.60 run by a bunch of kids. Audience laughing! 00:37:22.60\00:37:25.93 And we said, yet that is pretty much true. 00:37:25.93\00:37:28.13 You know, sometimes it pleases God to use people that 00:37:28.13\00:37:33.00 are inexperienced, but people who are willing to commit 00:37:33.00\00:37:36.26 themselves completely to Him. 00:37:36.26\00:37:38.93 Audience: Amen! 00:37:38.93\00:37:41.00 Now I know a lot of you think the way to be missionaries 00:37:41.00\00:37:45.30 is to stay home, get a good job to make money, and send 00:37:45.30\00:37:49.40 some tax deductible contributions and brighten the 00:37:49.40\00:37:53.83 corner where you are. 00:37:53.83\00:37:54.96 That is all fine and good and there is a time and place 00:37:54.96\00:37:56.40 for that, believe me I love tax deductible contributions, 00:37:56.40\00:37:59.40 and if any of you want to make one, 00:37:59.40\00:38:00.56 please see me right after this program is finished. 00:38:00.56\00:38:03.16 But this sort of mindset ignores a very important 00:38:04.53\00:38:08.20 point, diversity is valuable. 00:38:08.20\00:38:12.23 I think all of you already know this from school and 00:38:12.23\00:38:14.46 work, but in the context of mission work let me make 00:38:14.46\00:38:18.16 things a little more clear. 00:38:18.16\00:38:19.80 The people who will listen to you least are the people 00:38:19.80\00:38:24.50 who know you most. 00:38:24.50\00:38:26.86 The Bible tells us no prophet has honor in his hometown. 00:38:26.86\00:38:31.13 As an example, if we had two missionaries campaigns 00:38:31.13\00:38:34.80 going out, like an evangelistic series. 00:38:34.80\00:38:36.66 One in Ethiopia and one in the US. 00:38:36.66\00:38:39.93 We could double the attendance at both if we put the 00:38:39.93\00:38:42.56 Ethiopian guy in the US and the US guy in Ethiopia. 00:38:42.56\00:38:45.53 That is just the way it works, diversity is very important, 00:38:45.53\00:38:48.90 but it is also important in the theological sense. 00:38:48.90\00:38:52.60 Here at GYC our theme is unashamed and I haven't said 00:38:52.60\00:38:56.00 much about being ashamed yet. 00:38:56.00\00:38:57.56 The reason I haven't said much because we do not have 00:38:57.56\00:39:00.80 a problem with being ashamed in Ethiopia. 00:39:00.80\00:39:02.63 At least the members there don't 00:39:02.63\00:39:03.76 I am reminded of this every morning about 4:30 a. m.. 00:39:03.76\00:39:07.66 The local mosque cranks up its speakers and 00:39:07.66\00:39:10.40 starts the call to prayer. 00:39:10.40\00:39:11.80 And you hear something like Ton Con Sa Be Soo, 00:39:11.80\00:39:14.36 Ton Con Sa Be Soo and it goes on and on and on. 00:39:14.36\00:39:16.80 And a half an hour later the Orthodox Church comes on. 00:39:16.80\00:39:20.63 Ton Con Sa Be Soo, Ton Can Sa Be Soo, they pretty much 00:39:20.63\00:39:24.40 say the same thing. 00:39:24.40\00:39:25.46 Anyway what I'm saying is, if GYC had been held in 00:39:25.46\00:39:30.16 Ethiopia, unashamed would have never been the theme. 00:39:30.16\00:39:33.90 See this is where we in the United States really need 00:39:33.90\00:39:36.60 to learn from our Ethiopian brothers and sisters. 00:39:36.60\00:39:39.26 Why is it that in Ethiopia people are unashamed and 00:39:41.70\00:39:44.93 yet here in the United States we feel ashamed? 00:39:44.93\00:39:46.90 Turn with me to 1 John 2:28 reads, 00:39:48.76\00:39:57.50 "now little children 00:39:57.50\00:39:59.23 "abide in him so that when he appears we may have 00:39:59.23\00:40:02.73 "confidence and not shrink away from him in 00:40:02.73\00:40:05.50 "shame at his coming. " 00:40:05.50\00:40:07.76 I know here at GYC you have been talking about being 00:40:07.76\00:40:11.30 unashamed before the world. 00:40:11.30\00:40:12.80 That's great and tonight David is going to be talking 00:40:12.80\00:40:15.46 about being unashamed of the second coming. 00:40:15.46\00:40:19.10 But I would submit to you that it is equally, if not 00:40:19.10\00:40:21.50 more important that we are unashamed when Christ comes. 00:40:21.50\00:40:25.03 In fact these two concepts are pretty closely related. 00:40:25.03\00:40:28.96 If we live our lives so we are unashamed when Christ 00:40:28.96\00:40:33.86 comes, we won't be ashamed of anything else. 00:40:33.86\00:40:36.90 If we are living our lives for God, we will really 00:40:36.90\00:40:40.40 not care what anyone else thinks. 00:40:40.40\00:40:42.83 We can see in this verse, I defended myself a little 00:40:42.83\00:40:46.46 but if we abide in Christ, 00:40:46.46\00:40:49.63 we will not be ashamed. 00:40:49.63\00:40:51.70 What does it mean to abide in Christ? 00:40:51.70\00:40:53.93 Do we look at 1 John 3:23, 24 we will see that 00:40:53.93\00:40:59.43 abiding in Christ means believing in Jesus 00:40:59.43\00:41:04.86 and loving each other. 00:41:04.86\00:41:06.46 That is all pretty simple, right? 00:41:06.46\00:41:08.86 Well now I have got a question for you. 00:41:08.86\00:41:12.40 How many of you have the love of God in your hearts 00:41:12.40\00:41:14.66 today, please put up your hand? 00:41:14.66\00:41:16.60 I'm not seeing very many hands folks. 00:41:16.60\00:41:18.56 This is GYC, we are supposed to be unashamed here. 00:41:18.56\00:41:21.26 What is going on, put up your hands if you have 00:41:21.26\00:41:23.23 the love of God in your heart. 00:41:23.23\00:41:25.23 Thank you, that is more like it. 00:41:25.23\00:41:27.10 Now let us turn to 1 John 3:17, "but whoever has the 00:41:27.10\00:41:35.20 "world's goods and sees his brother in need and closes 00:41:35.20\00:41:39.30 "his heart against him, 00:41:39.30\00:41:40.60 "how does the love of God abide in him?" 00:41:40.60\00:41:43.36 It's a rhetorical question here, what John is really 00:41:43.36\00:41:46.50 saying is this, if I had some thing and you need it and I 00:41:46.50\00:41:51.36 I don't help you, God's love is not abiding in my heart. 00:41:51.36\00:41:56.56 I have another question for you. 00:41:56.56\00:41:58.53 How many of you have made a significant sacrifice to 00:41:58.53\00:42:04.70 help someone who is desperately poor? 00:42:04.70\00:42:07.36 Please put up your hand, and don't lie to me today. 00:42:07.36\00:42:11.10 This is GYC we're before God. 00:42:11.10\00:42:13.06 Not that many hands, so GYC we need to look at verse 00:42:13.06\00:42:17.80 18 of 1 John 3, "Little children" or we could say 00:42:17.80\00:42:22.03 GYC, "let us not love in word or tongue," or by putting 00:42:22.03\00:42:27.03 up our hand, "but in deed and in truth. " 00:42:27.03\00:42:30.96 Here is were the church in Ethiopia walks all over us. 00:42:30.96\00:42:35.93 If I had been in a church in Ethiopia and said put up 00:42:35.93\00:42:39.00 your hands every person who has made a significant 00:42:39.00\00:42:40.83 sacrifice to help someone who is desperately poor, 00:42:40.83\00:42:43.46 every hand would have gone up. 00:42:43.46\00:42:45.70 Every person would have been telling the truth. 00:42:45.70\00:42:47.36 In Gimbie today, it is a poor place, malnutrition 00:42:47.36\00:42:50.26 rates are high, about 30%. 00:42:50.26\00:42:52.70 Yet no one starved, because everyone helps each other. 00:42:52.70\00:42:58.73 We need to learn from our brothers and sisters in 00:42:58.73\00:43:01.76 Ethiopia, now today if we are going to think about how 00:43:01.76\00:43:05.30 our church is doing, we have a church that is ashamed of 00:43:05.30\00:43:07.53 what it believes and were ashamed what we believe because 00:43:07.53\00:43:10.40 we don't have God's love in our heart completely. 00:43:10.40\00:43:13.63 How well do you think this church is going to be doing? 00:43:13.63\00:43:15.60 Not very well, today you're probably not surprised 00:43:15.60\00:43:20.26 to learn that the average age in our church is 00:43:20.26\00:43:22.30 closing up on retirement if you just look at 00:43:22.30\00:43:24.46 North America and Europe. 00:43:24.46\00:43:25.83 If things keep going like this, the average 00:43:25.83\00:43:28.13 Adventist is going to be in a nursing home and the 00:43:28.13\00:43:30.50 average Adventist is going to be dead. 00:43:30.50\00:43:31.93 The average Adventist pastor is going to be looking 00:43:31.93\00:43:33.80 for more work which is really bad because God knows 00:43:33.80\00:43:35.80 there aren't enough jobs to go around now. 00:43:35.80\00:43:37.86 But there is really good news today. 00:43:37.86\00:43:42.16 All through the developing world Africans are 00:43:42.16\00:43:47.23 reaching back to help. 00:43:47.23\00:43:49.46 Today in Germany, students from Africa are standing 00:43:49.46\00:43:54.20 firm against heresy in the church. 00:43:54.20\00:43:57.13 Today in Canada, Rwandan immigrants are revitalizing 00:43:57.13\00:44:01.80 parts of the church. 00:44:01.80\00:44:03.30 And all across the United States people from Africa 00:44:03.30\00:44:06.36 our breathing life back into our dying church. 00:44:06.36\00:44:09.03 Isn't it fascinating that when the gospel first 00:44:09.03\00:44:13.70 came out from North America and Europe, 00:44:13.70\00:44:16.30 but now the people who are outsider, are coming back 00:44:16.30\00:44:20.06 in to bring us the gospel. 00:44:20.06\00:44:22.83 I don't want you to think the church in Africa is perfect. 00:44:22.83\00:44:27.43 It is not, there are two main problems, 00:44:27.43\00:44:29.53 corruption and tribalism. 00:44:29.53\00:44:32.76 Now if we are going to look at the world as a whole, 00:44:32.76\00:44:35.73 for our church that is, we see we do not have that many 00:44:35.73\00:44:39.46 theological problems like we have here in the US. 00:44:39.46\00:44:42.00 But corruption and tribalism are really, really big 00:44:42.00\00:44:45.46 deals, in fact I would venture to say to you that for 00:44:45.46\00:44:48.53 the world church as a whole, music, worship, dress, 00:44:48.53\00:44:54.46 worship styles, prophecy, and sometimes even inspiration 00:44:54.46\00:45:00.46 of Ellen white are trivial issues compared to the 00:45:00.46\00:45:03.43 massive damage that is being done to our church by 00:45:03.43\00:45:06.10 corruption and tribalism. 00:45:06.10\00:45:07.66 My wife was in Rwanda when church leaders started 00:45:07.66\00:45:10.70 hacking each other apart with machetes. 00:45:10.70\00:45:12.70 Corruption and tribalism are still killing people 00:45:12.70\00:45:16.36 in Ethiopia today. 00:45:16.36\00:45:18.13 Churches and institutions are in shambles and we 00:45:18.13\00:45:21.30 don't really hear about this stuff today. 00:45:21.30\00:45:23.23 But this is how it is, and corruption and tribalism 00:45:23.23\00:45:26.83 may have been all fine and good back in the day 00:45:26.83\00:45:28.60 when Democrat and Republican Congo was called Zaire. 00:45:28.60\00:45:32.30 Back in the day with Zimbabwe was Rhodesia, 00:45:32.30\00:45:35.06 back when India used be part of the British Empire. 00:45:35.06\00:45:38.83 But it is not going to cut it today. 00:45:38.83\00:45:40.20 Let me share another sobering piece of information 00:45:40.20\00:45:44.33 for you, according to some studies our church is losing 00:45:44.33\00:45:49.53 its market share, that is the world's population just 00:45:49.53\00:45:54.30 maybe growing faster than our church is. 00:45:54.30\00:45:57.73 GYC, if our church is going to grow, if our church is going to 00:45:57.73\00:46:03.50 survive, we have to leave corruption and tribalism behind. 00:46:03.50\00:46:07.66 We have to embrace 21st-century ideals like 00:46:07.66\00:46:12.36 communication, like transparency. 00:46:12.36\00:46:15.56 You may be saying to me today what in the world does 00:46:15.56\00:46:19.06 this have to do with me? 00:46:19.06\00:46:20.23 Paul in Louisville, this is the US, why you talking 00:46:20.23\00:46:22.86 to me about Africa? 00:46:22.86\00:46:24.10 Why should I care? 00:46:24.10\00:46:25.40 Well I would say to you that you should care. 00:46:25.40\00:46:28.80 Turn with me to Luke 10:30, this is the very familiar 00:46:28.80\00:46:38.76 story of the good Samaritan. 00:46:38.76\00:46:40.10 I'm not going to go through until you are nauseated. 00:46:40.10\00:46:41.83 I do want to make one very important point, 00:46:41.83\00:46:44.53 the wounded guy was a Jew. 00:46:44.53\00:46:48.03 The dude that helped him was a Samaritan. 00:46:48.03\00:46:51.16 What this tells us is that differences of race 00:46:51.16\00:46:56.06 ethnicity, religion, and geography are not legitimate 00:46:56.06\00:47:02.33 limits on our God-given obligation to help each other. 00:47:02.33\00:47:06.20 Let me just repeat that for you. 00:47:06.20\00:47:08.13 The parable of the good Samaritan teaches that 00:47:08.13\00:47:11.73 differences of race, ethnicity, religion and geography 00:47:11.73\00:47:14.66 Are not legitimate limits of our God-given 00:47:14.66\00:47:17.23 obligation to help each other. 00:47:17.23\00:47:19.36 Here in the United States God has given us a lot, 00:47:19.36\00:47:23.33 and to whom much is given, much is also required. 00:47:23.33\00:47:27.33 We can't just sit on our pot of gold people. 00:47:27.33\00:47:29.96 There are people in Africa who really, 00:47:29.96\00:47:32.80 really need our help. 00:47:32.80\00:47:35.50 So how can you help? 00:47:37.63\00:47:39.30 Well interestingly enough missionaries turn out to be 00:47:39.30\00:47:43.50 a great check on corruption and tribalism. 00:47:43.50\00:47:47.03 You see there is nothing like unbiased third party to 00:47:49.30\00:47:54.86 resolve messy tribal conflicts. 00:47:54.86\00:47:57.50 Also missionaries don't tend to be involved in corruption, 00:47:57.50\00:48:01.63 in my case if I lifted the entire gross 00:48:01.63\00:48:04.30 income of the hospital, I would still have less money 00:48:04.30\00:48:07.43 than most of my law school classmates make in a year. 00:48:07.43\00:48:10.10 There is just no reason that most missionaries 00:48:10.10\00:48:12.43 have to start stealing stuff. 00:48:12.43\00:48:15.40 Let me give you some practical examples. 00:48:15.40\00:48:19.20 There was a man in Ethiopia from Bermuda. 00:48:19.20\00:48:24.10 He's a church leader his name was Delbert Pearman. 00:48:24.10\00:48:27.16 During his time in Ethiopia there was a massive tribal 00:48:27.16\00:48:30.93 conflict, but Delbert stood firm. 00:48:30.93\00:48:34.73 He was respected by both sides and as long as he was 00:48:34.73\00:48:38.50 in Ethiopia there was peace. 00:48:38.50\00:48:40.76 Every three months or so we have general staff meetings 00:48:43.50\00:48:45.76 at the hospital, all the staff come together and they give me 00:48:45.76\00:48:47.76 constructive criticism, and not so constructive 00:48:47.76\00:48:50.26 criticism, all that good stuff. 00:48:50.26\00:48:52.36 At the end of day, after we have talked about payroll, 00:48:52.36\00:48:55.00 housing and all that good stuff, someone always raises 00:48:55.00\00:48:57.63 this issue, Mr. Paul, Mr. Paul. 00:48:57.63\00:49:00.70 Please send us some missionaries can you get us some 00:49:00.70\00:49:04.10 missionaries, and when they go to the churches around 00:49:04.10\00:49:07.50 Gimbie I hear the same thing. 00:49:07.50\00:49:08.73 Mr. Paul, Mr. Paul, can you please give us 00:49:08.73\00:49:11.43 some missionaries so it will be like it used to be. 00:49:11.43\00:49:15.76 You know right, that in 1970 our church sent out 3 times 00:49:17.60\00:49:21.50 as many missionaries as we send out in 2009. 00:49:21.50\00:49:23.90 GYC, if we are going to reach the world for Jesus in 00:49:23.90\00:49:26.96 our generation, it is not going to be by cutting back 00:49:26.96\00:49:30.70 on missionaries, it's time to expand these programs. 00:49:30.70\00:49:34.83 Especially at a time like this when every person can 00:49:34.83\00:49:38.96 make a meaningful contribution to God's work. 00:49:38.96\00:49:41.80 There is no skill set that is irrelevant. 00:49:41.80\00:49:44.53 I understand that there is some of you who cannot go 00:49:44.53\00:49:49.40 to the mission field, and to you I say please help our 00:49:49.40\00:49:54.20 church set a good example. 00:49:54.20\00:49:56.46 Ethiopia really looks up to the United States and Europe 00:49:56.46\00:50:00.90 were Adventism started in the first place. 00:50:00.90\00:50:04.10 But it is very, very hard for me to speak against 00:50:04.10\00:50:09.06 tribalism in Ethiopia when we have racially separate 00:50:09.06\00:50:14.00 conferences here in this country. 00:50:14.00\00:50:16.16 Audience: Amen, Amen 00:50:16.16\00:50:18.10 We just can't keep going like this. 00:50:18.10\00:50:20.86 I am absolutely sure of at least one thing in my talk 00:50:24.96\00:50:29.46 today, that is that the church in America needs the 00:50:29.46\00:50:33.93 church in Ethiopia, and the church in Ethiopia 00:50:33.93\00:50:37.16 needs the church in America. 00:50:37.16\00:50:40.00 We are all part of the body of Christ. 00:50:40.00\00:50:42.16 If we want to be serious about this whole idea of 00:50:42.16\00:50:45.60 reaching the world for Christ in one generation, we 00:50:45.60\00:50:49.63 have got to work together on an unprecedented level. 00:50:49.63\00:50:54.16 It's time to join hands in faith and prayer all around 00:50:54.16\00:50:58.30 the world, and we need to move forward with unity that 00:50:58.30\00:51:02.36 this world has never seen before. 00:51:02.36\00:51:05.06 Today I am here to tell you that when I gave God 00:51:08.83\00:51:12.93 control of my life, He led me into a life that is 00:51:12.93\00:51:17.26 so intense that the only way I survive is through 00:51:17.26\00:51:21.53 His daily intervention in my life. 00:51:21.53\00:51:23.93 Today I urge you, I challenge you to let God take the 00:51:23.93\00:51:28.53 lead in your life, to let Him shake off the shackles 00:51:28.53\00:51:33.10 of shame and indifference that binds you to an 00:51:33.10\00:51:36.43 ordinary life so you can freely walk into this 00:51:36.43\00:51:39.60 extraordinary life that God has planned for you. 00:51:39.60\00:51:42.70 Today God is calling for people who are willing to put 00:51:42.70\00:51:46.86 aside racial and ethnic differences. 00:51:46.86\00:51:49.96 God is calling for people who are willing to commit 00:51:49.96\00:51:52.46 themselves totally to Him. 00:51:52.46\00:51:55.36 God is calling for people who will put it all 00:51:55.36\00:51:59.40 on the line for His cause. 00:51:59.40\00:52:01.30 Today, and I'm sorry to use a slightly stale phrase 00:52:03.10\00:52:07.36 here, today, here at GYC God is calling for an army of 00:52:07.36\00:52:11.86 youth, not just from the United States, not just from 00:52:11.86\00:52:15.93 Ethiopia, but United from every nation on the globe. 00:52:15.93\00:52:20.36 God is calling for an army of youth that is so committed 00:52:20.36\00:52:24.76 to sharing His word, so connected with God and so 00:52:24.76\00:52:29.73 unashamed of their faith that nothing can stop us from 00:52:29.73\00:52:33.90 reaching the world for Jesus in this our generation. 00:52:33.90\00:52:38.03 Five years ago, at GYC Sacramento, when I was 00:52:41.46\00:52:45.60 just starting to get together with Petra. 00:52:45.60\00:52:49.70 There was a theme song called, I'll go where you want me 00:52:49.70\00:52:54.76 to go, and at that conference thousands of us promised 00:52:54.76\00:52:59.13 to go were God wanted us to go, to say what He wanted us 00:52:59.13\00:53:03.43 to say, and to do what He wanted us to do. 00:53:03.43\00:53:05.63 And be who He wanted was to be. 00:53:05.63\00:53:07.83 And if we had lived up to our promises we would not be 00:53:07.83\00:53:12.76 here today, but we are here and we are here because we 00:53:12.76\00:53:17.63 failed, and we failed because we're ashamed. 00:53:17.63\00:53:21.60 But now we are starting a new year, 00:53:23.66\00:53:25.40 it is time for a fresh start, 00:53:25.40\00:53:27.66 it's a chance to do things over and do things right, 00:53:27.66\00:53:30.80 it's a chance to recommit ourselves to God. 00:53:30.80\00:53:33.96 Today if there are any of you who would like to say God 00:53:37.70\00:53:41.56 I'm sorry for the past, but today I want to commit 00:53:41.56\00:53:45.53 my life and I will spend a significant part of my life 00:53:45.53\00:53:49.46 as a missionary for You abroad. 00:53:49.46\00:53:52.10 I'm asking you to come to the front with me for prayer. 00:53:52.10\00:53:56.23 You know missionaries are needed all over the world 00:53:56.23\00:54:00.40 today, and some time ago, several thousand years ago 00:54:00.40\00:54:04.43 Jesus told His disciples to go through the whole world 00:54:04.43\00:54:08.46 and spread the gospel. 00:54:08.46\00:54:10.06 When they went through the whole world and spread 00:54:10.06\00:54:11.83 the gospel they reached the world for Jesus 00:54:11.83\00:54:13.50 in one generation. 00:54:13.50\00:54:15.60 Today if we are going to be serious about reaching the 00:54:15.60\00:54:19.46 world for Jesus in one generation, GYC we need to go. 00:54:19.46\00:54:23.26 We need to say and we need to do and need to be. 00:54:23.26\00:54:26.03 The harvest is ripe, all that God is waiting for is 00:54:28.03\00:54:32.40 workers, workers like you, workers like me. 00:54:32.40\00:54:36.76 As nice as GYC is, I'm tired GYC, I don't want to be 00:54:36.76\00:54:42.03 coming back here when I'm 37. 00:54:42.03\00:54:44.00 Today I encourage you to join the diverse army of youth 00:54:46.96\00:54:52.23 that by the grace of God will reach the world for Jesus 00:54:52.23\00:54:57.46 in this our generation. 00:54:57.46\00:55:00.50 Our kind, loving, and merciful Father in heaven. 00:55:04.06\00:55:08.50 You know that in many ways we have failed You in the 00:55:08.50\00:55:13.83 past, but today, as we start 2010, we ask that You give 00:55:13.83\00:55:18.50 us courage, that You would fill our hearts with Your 00:55:18.50\00:55:23.10 love so there is no room for shame. 00:55:23.10\00:55:25.66 Today I thank You for all these people that have come 00:55:25.66\00:55:28.90 forward to commit their lives in service to You as 00:55:28.90\00:55:32.06 missionaries, and I pray that You will continue to give 00:55:32.06\00:55:35.16 them the courage to go where You want them to go, 00:55:35.16\00:55:38.23 to say what You want them to say, and to be 00:55:38.23\00:55:42.23 who You want them to be. 00:55:42.23\00:55:44.23 We know that this is not possible on our power, 00:55:44.23\00:55:48.86 but today we just lay ourselves at Your feet and we 00:55:48.86\00:55:53.46 surrender ourselves to You. 00:55:53.46\00:55:55.66 We trust that You, who have begun a good work in so many 00:55:55.66\00:56:00.13 hearts today, will continue this good work and we will 00:56:00.13\00:56:04.26 no longer be coming to GYC year, after year, after year, 00:56:04.26\00:56:08.50 but instead we will be having reunions together with 00:56:08.50\00:56:12.73 You in heaven. Amen! 00:56:12.73\00:56:15.43