Participants:
Series Code: 11ASIC
Program Code: 11ASIC000008
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00:20 Please stand with me for a prayer.
00:29 Dear Heavenly Father, a group of Your children 00:32 are here to praise You, because you are 00:35 our Creator and Redeemer. 00:38 To praise You, because You give us 00:41 this opportunity to be in ASI Convention. 00:45 Hearing so many stories that tell us 00:49 about Your mercy and love for us. 00:52 Please inspire us to finish strong. 00:56 Bless us with Your presence in our heart and minds, 01:01 in Jesus name, amen. 01:05 You may be seated. 01:28 Come, Come, Come, Come, Come Come, Come, Come, Come, Come 01:35 Come, we that love the Lord And let our joys be known 01:42 Join in a song with sweet accord Join in a song with sweet accord 01:49 And thus surround the throne And thus surround the throne 01:57 We're marching to Zion Beautiful, beautiful Zion 02:04 We're marching upward to Zion The beautiful city of God 02:11 We're marching marching upward to Zion 02:14 We're marching marching upward to Zion 02:21 The hill of Zion yields A thousand sacred sweets 02:28 Before we reach the heavenly fields 02:32 Before we reach the heavenly fields 02:36 Or walk the golden streets Or walk the golden streets 02:43 We're marching to Zion Beautiful, beautiful Zion 02:51 We're marching, upward to beautiful city of God 02:58 We're marching marching upward to Zion 03:02 We're marching, marching marching upward to God 03:09 Then let our songs abound And every tear be dry 03:17 We're marching through Immanuel's ground 03:21 We're marching through Immanuel's ground 03:25 To fairer worlds on high To fairer worlds on high 03:32 We're marching to Zion Beautiful, beautiful Zion 03:40 We're marching upward to Zion The beautiful city of God 03:48 The beautiful city of God. Amen. 04:11 Good afternoon everyone. Good afternoon. 04:13 Have we not been blessed today by the many, 04:17 many facets of our program? 04:19 All the comments I've had been positive 04:23 and we rejoice what the Lord is doing 04:26 through the combination of lay people 04:29 and the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. 04:32 We are all part of the church. 04:34 Some of us get paid by the denomination, 04:36 some of us get paid, otherwise by the Lord. 04:39 I have with me on the platform today 04:42 Elder Jim Pedersen, who is 04:44 President of the local conference, 04:45 President of the Northern California Conference. 04:48 I think we have about 40,000 members down in Northern. 04:51 And our theme this afternoon 04:53 which we're going to highlight. 04:54 By the way I have Elder Mike Ryan, 04:57 who is Vice President of the General Conference 04:59 to represent different levels of the church. 05:02 But our theme today, this afternoon 05:04 the next two hours is how our supporting ministries 05:08 are involved actively in supporting, 05:12 that's the support word of the church. 05:15 We have a perspective of our conference, 05:18 with our Conference President who can tell you 05:20 his experience and perspective and advice if you have it. 05:25 And then we'll get it from the world level. 05:27 My experience as a layman is 05:29 that we're all part of the same church. 05:32 We have a heart that beats the same way. 05:37 We have the same objectives 05:39 and we have a little different job description, that's all. 05:42 Elder Pedersen, would you share with us. 05:44 Well, first of all let me welcome you 05:46 to the beautiful Northern California Conference. 05:48 It is a joy to extent greetings on 05:50 behalf of almost 40,000 Seventh-day Adventist 05:53 in this territory. 05:54 It's good to welcome ASI back to Sacramento, 05:57 and it's a pleasure to have the current 05:59 President for the next few hours anyway, 06:02 also as a member 06:03 of the Northern California Conference. 06:05 We have a number of ASI ministries here 06:08 in our territory, and it is a joy to work 06:10 with each and everyone. 06:11 We are partnered with a number of them 06:14 through the years. 06:15 I currently serve as the Board Chair 06:17 for Amazing Facts and Weimar board. 06:20 And we've also had the opportunity to partner 06:23 with Maranatha Volunteers International 06:25 just a few years ago. 06:26 We set a goal of sponsoring 25 churches 06:30 that needed to be built in the country 06:32 of Mozambique and as a conference 06:34 we took that on as a goal. 06:36 And it's such a pleasure and it was 06:38 such a joy to work with them 06:39 and to see that happen and see things come 06:42 to fruition and we are working with them again 06:44 to see what our next project is going to be. 06:47 The focus of working together and have cooperation 06:50 really to me comes out of the experience 06:54 of Jesus prayer, there in the Garden of Gethsemane, 06:56 where He prayed to His Father, 06:58 that you and I be one, and that unity of the spirit, 07:03 that unity of believers is seen in so many ways 07:07 and this what Jesus is calling us too of cooperation, 07:11 of communication of working together 07:13 for the Kingdom of God and the soon return of Jesus. 07:16 Thank you very much Elder Pedersen. 07:19 Mike, you have a broad perspective, 07:22 you've been a lot of places and done a lot of things. 07:23 Would you share with us from an international perspective, 07:26 what you believe about the supporting ministries 07:30 working together with the church? 07:32 Thank you, thank you very much. 07:33 It's good to be here, you know I'm happy 07:35 to be a member of this church 07:36 that has a theology that believes 07:39 in the priesthood of believers. What does that mean? 07:42 What that means is, is that every person 07:45 who claims to be a Seventh-day Adventist 07:48 becomes a disciple and an ambassador of the gospel 07:51 and there is responsibility there. 07:54 You know I've had the privilege of traveling 07:57 to many, many places in the world. 07:59 And what a thrill it is to go there, 08:01 and to find that there are supporting ministries 08:03 who are partnering with the church. 08:06 Now, you know, when you are in North America, 08:08 you have a lot of things taking place. 08:10 But when you are in countries like Mongolia, 08:15 you are just happy when people come. 08:17 I remember at when I first came 08:19 to the General Conference in 1990 08:21 and they gave me this list of unentered countries. 08:25 And I remember looking at the list, 08:27 and we were trying to decide, 08:28 well, how in the world we were gonna go about this? 08:30 You know what a, what a joy it was to realize 08:35 that there were supporting ministers 08:36 that were partnering with us. 08:37 I remember getting off of the airplane 08:40 and being met by a supporting ministry in Mongolia. 08:44 And I think probably most of you know 08:45 that story and they're the ones 08:48 who started the church there. 08:49 They develop the literature, they did the Bible studies, 08:52 they organize the church. 08:53 And what a thrill it was to partner with them. 08:58 I know that as you walk through the booth area, 09:03 you can look at all of the supporting ministries. 09:05 I want to assure you that 09:09 the Seventh-day Adventist Church values 09:12 the resource of ASI and the ministries 09:17 that are partners in this initiative. 09:20 I also want to thank you on behalf of the church. 09:23 And you know I believe that commonly we believe 09:25 that Jesus is coming again. Thank you for your commitment. 09:28 Thank you for your support. 09:32 Thank you very much Elder Pedersen and Ryan. 09:35 We are a part of the church, we serve willingly, 09:38 we just have a different paycheck, 09:40 our paycheck comes from the Lord in some other way. 09:43 Stay tune this afternoon, we have some more 09:46 good interviews, some more good music 09:48 and wonderful inspiration to follow. 09:53 Joel and Joyce Meyer's have chosen 09:57 as a family to serve in the Navajo nation 10:00 in Monument Valley, where our denomination 10:02 used to operate a hospital. 10:04 What is it that prepared you folks to be able 10:07 to serve in this unique mission for the Navajo people? 10:11 We spent seven years in the country of Nepal, 10:15 planting the church there among the Nepali people. 10:19 Oh, what kind of work did you do 10:22 that was similar to what you're doing now among the Navajo? 10:26 We were doing health and medical machinery work 10:32 out in the mountains and also training 10:37 in agriculture and development in that area. 10:43 Yeah, what are the particular needs of the Navajo people? 10:47 Do you're working with now? 10:49 There is huge need in the area of health, 10:54 two-thirds of adult Navajo's 10:57 have type II diabetes, two-thirds. 11:03 And there are also, there is a high rate 11:08 of addictions to alcohol and other substances 11:13 that and also the needs in their families 11:18 to understand how to raise their children 11:21 is also a huge need. 11:25 What was that depressed your family to come 11:28 and serve in the Navajo's? 11:32 We, in Nepal we had worked 11:37 where they were Mongolian tribes 11:40 and the Navajo's have their roots in Mongolia. 11:45 They came across the Bering Strait 11:47 and so we saw many similarities 11:52 and after we had come back and taken 11:55 some training at Uchee Pines. 11:57 Our children just felt a immediate bond 12:03 with the Navajo people as we traveled 12:05 through Navajo country. 12:07 So you really allow this family service 12:12 to be a complete family unit. 12:14 I mean you didn't just make the decision say, 12:17 hey kids, we're going here. 12:19 That's right. We actually, 12:20 we're praying together and actually when I-- 12:27 when we visited the desolate area of Southern Utah, 12:32 I'm really a gardener and agriculturist at heart, 12:36 it was so barren, oh I just, 12:40 I don't think I could possibly come here. 12:44 But my girls, they were just convinced 12:47 that this is where God wanted us to be. 12:49 And then of course I did discover 12:51 that you could grow things real well there also. 12:55 Well, a year for, a year or two from now, 12:57 how would you picture, 12:59 what your ministry is gonna look like? 13:04 I'd like my wife to be able to share little bit about that. 13:08 Well, things are really starting to happen there, 13:11 we're really excited about that. We have things today, 13:13 Octagon Health Centre is about where 13:16 it's going to be opening shortly. 13:18 And so we'll have that with the treatments 13:22 for the diabetes and various diseases there. 13:26 We found that it really is helpful in reaching 13:29 the traditional type people. 13:31 And we also are planning a greenhouse 13:34 and a garden and we're also going to 13:39 be doing some things to like building various things 13:43 that can be sold there, that will help with the industry 13:46 and also the school, is really progressing there, 13:50 we're getting more students 13:51 and we are having more programs with that. 13:54 Did you say your health center is an Octagon? 13:57 Yes, that's the shape that the, all the healing places 14:01 on the Navajo nation are either Hogans or Octagons. 14:05 And so when we built it, we decided to go 14:07 with the Octagon shape, 14:08 so it will be comfortable for them. 14:10 Have you had community involvement and its helping -- 14:15 Yes, we had. 14:18 One of our local gentlemen that is really good with stucco. 14:22 He came around just around the time 14:24 that we needed to do the stucco. 14:26 And I was not familiar with doing stucco, 14:29 because I learned back in the east and he said, 14:34 when are you gonna do that stucco? I said, 14:36 well, we really need to get it done. 14:38 But I said, all of the work has been done 14:40 with volunteers and he left and few days later 14:44 he came back he said, 14:45 I really want to help you with that, 14:47 I'm gonna be here on Monday. 14:49 Toward the end, he helped us for three weeks, 14:52 toward the end of that time, he, I asked him, 14:56 Carl, why are doing this? He said well, 14:58 I can see that you are here to help my community 15:03 and I just want to be a part of it. 15:05 How did your children been able to take an active part? 15:08 They've been able to help, Joanna, here on the left 15:12 has been teaching cello and she also works 15:15 with the health program and a camp program. 15:17 Mark has been working with the Hay Ministry 15:19 and the people there just love him. 15:21 They say, he really response the best, 15:23 they just really enjoy that, that's Mark. 15:25 And then Joella is going to be leading out 15:28 in our health center. 15:30 And I wanted to just share a story real quick about Loretta, 15:34 she, one of our friends here, she came 15:40 and she was getting hay and then we, 15:41 when we were doing health programs, 15:43 we had a lot of mission trips coming 15:45 that wanted to get close to the people. 15:47 And so we said, let's do something different, 15:49 let's take the groups out into their homes. 15:51 And let them get acquainted with the people 15:53 and help them on the home level. 15:55 And so we created seminars to do that way 15:58 and we had them focused on hydrotherapy, 16:00 cooking schools, health education 16:02 and sharing spiritual things with them. 16:04 Loretta was one of the homes, we went out there. 16:06 And when we were doing the treatments, 16:09 now she is a staunch traditional 16:11 and that means they follow the traditional Navajo customs. 16:16 And they are not really favorable to Christianity. 16:19 So when they did the hard foot bash she said, 16:21 wow! It just like the medicine man, 16:25 you know, they dig a hole in the sand, 16:26 put your feet in the hard ash, wrap you up, 16:29 put clothes on your head when you sweat. 16:31 When we did the fermentations, 16:33 they said the same thing you're just like the medicine man. 16:36 And it has been a real born in experience 16:38 and even the traditional people in the community, 16:41 now they hear about that and they say we'll even send 16:44 our kids to your school, because you are like one of us. 16:46 The health message is the opening wedge that enters, 16:49 that opens their hearts. 16:51 They have lots of stories on how they have been 16:54 impacting lives in Navajo people. 16:56 So take him aside as you see them walk in the hall, 16:59 incidentally could you use anymore musical instruments 17:02 in your music program? It would be a real blessing. 17:04 We don't have enough for everyone 17:06 to have one right now, and if you have an extra one, 17:09 you would like to share especially cellos and violins 17:11 and perhaps some flutes, we'll be delighted. 17:14 Thank you very much Meyer family. Bless you. 17:22 Dr. John Torquato is a Loma Linda graduate 17:26 class of 1998. 17:28 And he is board certified in family medicine. 17:31 The patients flock to his clinic at Hayden, 17:36 Hayden Lake in Idaho close to Coeur d'Alene. 17:39 And they come to learn about better health. 17:42 But the unique way that they have been sharing 17:44 Christ in the marketplace is something 17:47 you want to know about. 17:48 And he is joined today by Pastor Doug Venn, 17:51 who is his pastor and partner in this operation. 17:54 Dr. John, please tell me, how you determine 17:57 to become a medical missionary in this country? 18:01 When I was in high school, 18:02 I met a man who gave me Bible studies. 18:05 He was a Seventh-day Adventist physician 18:07 and he came to give Bible studies in my home. 18:09 And I determine to be like him one day. 18:13 Well is he the person that contributed directly 18:16 to your conversion story then? 18:17 He is the man who brought me to Christ 18:19 and he was a man who became my father-in-law years later. 18:26 How does your pastor fit into the community mix 18:29 when you are invited to come and speak? 18:30 Well, whenever we have an invitation to come 18:34 to the community, I would let the community leaders, 18:37 or the people in community know, 18:38 I would be happy to come and talk to you, 18:40 but my pastor goes with me. 18:42 For instance, the pastor one day he said you know, 18:45 I really like to get a chance to meet 18:48 some of the fraternities 18:50 at the Washington State University campus. 18:56 And it's really kind of hard to get in there sometimes, and-- 18:59 So they don't like to hear the preacher, do they? 19:02 At times they don't. 19:03 And so, I calls one of the fraternities 19:06 and I said would you guys like to have an HIV lecture 19:09 from our local family practice physician. 19:11 They said, what's the cost? And I said it's free. 19:14 They said, oh yeah. And I said okay. 19:17 But I'm gonna send my pastor, 19:18 his day job is a pastor but at night time 19:20 he does my audio visual stuff. 19:22 And they said fine, send him over. 19:24 I went over and I sent Pastor Doug to this fraternity 19:28 he had a chance to setup the equipment, 19:30 spend some time with the fraternity guys 19:33 that were hanging around. 19:34 And then I did an HIV lecture 19:36 that was just a hard hitting graphic lecture. 19:38 These guys have like the deer-in-the-headlights 19:41 look in their face. 19:42 And afterwards I started taking questions. 19:45 And of course eventually we came around 19:47 to some questions on relationship. 19:49 And I said, you know, I happen to have somebody 19:50 here who is an expert 19:52 on relationships within the family. 19:54 Let me have Pastor Doug Venn come and talk to you 19:56 about his perspective on this 19:59 and thus Pastor Venn was able to take over. 20:01 That's right, and it was so exciting to see 20:04 how the health message was able to open the doors 20:07 and we were able to minister practically to these, 20:11 practically, you know, parting hard hitting young adults 20:14 there at Washington State University 20:16 and University of Idaho. 20:18 You know, I have found that people do business 20:21 with people they like. 20:23 And when they can get acquainted with the pastor, 20:25 that would have been completely outside 20:27 their social spirit, it's a unique opportunity. 20:30 That's right and we even had a chance to, 20:32 I got to, through that relationship, 20:34 there was a one young adult couple where I got to do 20:37 counseling with and then we packed the church 20:40 with a whole bunch of Greeks and that was an awesome 20:42 time to preach the gospel there at that wedding. 20:47 What kinds of organizations quickly 20:50 have you had a chance to minister too in the community? 20:54 Well, after Doug taught me about the fraternities, 20:57 one day he was just musing. 20:59 I'd like to be able to talk to 21:00 some other people in the community, 21:02 who are community leaders. 21:04 So I called up the city hall 21:05 in the county commissioner's office and I said, 21:08 would you guys like to have 21:09 a corporate level wellness program? 21:11 And they said well, sure we would be, 21:13 but what's the cost? And I said, well, it's free. 21:16 And they said well, yeah, come on over. 21:18 And I said well, before I come over I got to tell you, 21:20 my pastor goes with wherever I go, 21:22 he is my audio visual guy and so he is going to come 21:25 setup a booth for me, we're gonna do a health 21:27 and wellness program for you. 21:29 They said okay, we are not sure but okay. 21:31 So we went over to the county commissioner's office, 21:34 to Sheriff's office and we spend some time teaching them 21:37 about the eight natural remedies about the things 21:40 that we know to do in Adventist medicine, 21:43 we use Donna Halls material, we use Ned, 21:45 Ned Natalie's material and they loved it, 21:47 it was tremendous and after doing these 21:50 three or four different times over a period of the year. 21:52 One day I got a phone call, they said Dr. Torquato, 21:56 we would like to have a meeting of 21:59 all the county commissioners in the State of Idaho. 22:01 And we would like to invite you to come 22:04 and do a presentation to them and their staff 22:05 and the social workers from all those counties. 22:08 And I said well, that's fine. 22:09 But you know the deal and he said, 22:10 yeah I know, I know, I know. 22:12 Your pastor always goes wherever you go. 22:14 And I said that's fine. 22:16 So they said fine, we know him, we like him. 22:20 We know what he is like, we know what you are like? 22:21 Come and spend sometime teaching us and so we did. 22:24 I did an half an hour presentation 22:26 to all the county commissioners 22:27 in the State of Idaho and Pastor Doug Venn 22:29 did the Adventist version of the seven habits 22:32 of highly successful people and one of those habits was 22:36 "Time with your maker." 22:38 And when we are finished, one of the ladies 22:39 that was in the group came forward and she says, 22:41 you know, I have been working with my county commissioner 22:43 for the last five years, and in that time 22:46 they don't know that I'm an Adventist 22:49 and they said, she said-- 22:51 Closet Adventist, you've ever hear about one of those? 22:54 She came forward, she says, 22:55 I feel that you've done more in the hour 22:57 that you spent with my staff 23:00 than I have in that five years, 23:01 I feel call to do something for them. 23:03 Amen, amen. And pastor 23:04 what its feel like partnering with the physician quickly. 23:07 Well, through this partnership that we had 23:10 there in the Moscow and Pullman area. 23:12 It was so exciting to see how the doors 23:14 just were blowing open to give us access to minister 23:18 and to serve the community in practical ways, 23:21 whether it's with the young people 23:23 or with the thought leaders and our public civil servants. 23:26 It was just so exciting to see how, 23:28 the working together with Health Evangelism 23:31 or this Miracle Missionary work open those doors. 23:35 It also was exciting to see then one of my church members, 23:39 you know, Dr. Torquato, as a physician helping him 23:42 to focus on the gospel ministry and evangelism 23:46 and that just, just gave me such excitement. 23:50 So you two kept each other balance then. 23:52 That's right, that's right, it's kind of a tag team. 23:55 Super, super. I have found that sometimes 23:57 that pastors really don't know how to recruit a physician, 24:01 they know they look at them as somebody 24:04 that's gonna help with their budget, right. 24:06 And it's true that Doug, many times, 24:11 that's the role the pastors, you know, 24:13 view it the physicians that way. 24:15 But we are told in the writings of Ellen White 24:18 that the physician and we as pastors 24:21 are to partnered together because Jesus Christ 24:23 when He ministered here on earth, 24:25 He had a blended ministry, He combined medical work 24:29 and healing with the gospel work. 24:31 And so that way we can model that together 24:34 as we work together and so that was awesome to do. 24:37 An example, do you have any example of something 24:40 significant has come out of your practice that 24:42 where you could see God's hand involved with the patient? 24:45 Certainly, one episode where the pastoral influence 24:49 was seen from front to the end was a patient who came in 24:53 and essentially accosted me in the consultation room, 24:57 a University of Idaho professor angry, 25:00 because his wife who had advanced disease had, 25:05 had essentially avoided scientific medicine, 25:08 because of her fear of the way she was going to be treated. 25:10 And he basically put his finger in my nose 25:12 and accosted me and it was the spirit of God 25:16 through the opportunity in the morning, 25:18 we had to worship together that gave 25:20 that soft answer in return. 25:22 And then when I went back in, 25:24 the patient was preparing for their exam 25:26 and I went back and I was kind of complaining to my, 25:28 my co-worker, I said, you know, 25:30 they don't even know if they like me 25:31 and they don't like doctors and I got to do 25:34 and how I'm gonna bless them and my partner said to me, 25:38 you're gonna be with that woman when she dies 25:39 if she is bad as she is. 25:41 If she is as bad as what you think, 25:43 she is going to be dead in just a little while. 25:46 And you're gonna be there, that is your job 25:49 and the pastoral concept of accountability 25:51 and ministry came forward. 25:53 And then when I saw the patient and examined, 25:55 she had such terrible disfigurement 25:58 and terrible disease and humiliating for a woman. 26:02 It was just terrible and when I was talking to her 26:06 and working with her recognizing 26:09 how difficult it was I said, 26:11 we need to see you multiple times 26:12 in order to keep kind of tabs on you. 26:14 And so I started seeing her frequently 26:16 first every two weeks and then every month or so. 26:19 And then one day she came and she said, 26:20 "I am having a problem." I said, what's that? 26:22 She says, "I am having a discharge". 26:23 I said, well, I need to do an examine. 26:25 No, you're not doing an exam, you're in charge, you know, 26:27 what I'm looking for, you got cancer. 26:29 She says, "No, you are not going to do an examine. 26:31 Next time, next month she comes back, she says, 26:33 "I am having a little blood in my urine." 26:36 I said well, I got to do an exam. 26:37 No, you're not going to do an exam. 26:39 I said, fine you're in charge, 26:40 but you know what I am looking for? 26:41 And then finally the third time she came and said 26:43 "I am having pain down lower." 26:45 And I said, I had to do an exam. 26:47 She says no and her husband who had basically 26:50 accosted me at the beginning said, 26:53 "For goodness sake, please let him do the exam". 26:56 So I went did the exam and she had a mass in her pelvis, 26:59 the size of a softball. I went talked to her doctor. 27:02 They have been driving across the State of Seattle 27:04 once a week in order to be able to get care 27:06 in a cancer center that allows natural poison. 27:10 And I called her oncologist and I said, hey, 27:14 they're having a problem and this what I found, 27:16 and here is the history and she said, they said, oh, 27:18 the poor unfortunate woman. 27:20 She has a second primary, get her out here tomorrow 27:23 and I'll take care of her. 27:24 And I got back in the room and I said, 27:25 ma'am, your doctor, the oncologist 27:28 thinks you have a second primary. 27:30 And she let out this wailing cry, 27:33 this terrible cry, she just bowed down in tears 27:37 and after about two or three minutes, 27:38 I just reached down and I said ma'am, 27:40 I wish there was something, something I could do for you. 27:44 And between her wail she said, 27:46 I wish there was some way you could convince me 27:52 that it's not because I am evil 27:53 that all this happens to me. 27:56 Somebody had taught her the lie that 27:58 we have a vengeful God and she deserve that kind of pain. 28:02 So what was their final reaction? 28:05 I told her, you know what, 28:06 you're gonna go to Seattle, you're gonna come back. 28:08 When you come back, I don't know 28:09 what they are going to do with you. 28:10 But when you come back, you need to have family 28:12 and you need to be with mine. 28:14 and so you need to come to my home. 28:16 She went to Seattle, they found that she did not 28:18 have a second primary, she had a walled off abscess. 28:20 They did surgery, she was cured. 28:22 Two weeks later she was in my home beginning to start 28:26 of a five year relationship with people 28:28 who became my best friends 28:30 and a man who became God father to my children, 28:32 who initially had accosted me, because the Holy Spirit 28:37 had given us the desire to serve in ministry. 28:40 Physicians, partner with your pastors. 28:44 Amen! Yes please. Amen! 28:45 And you can see the same kind of results 28:48 that Dr. Torquato is seeing up in Idaho. 28:51 Amen. God bless you men, thank you. 28:54 Thank you. 29:50 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! 30:06 Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee, 30:22 Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty! 30:37 God in three Persons, blessed Trinity! 30:52 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! 31:08 All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, 31:15 in earth, and sky, and sea, 31:24 Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty! 31:39 God in three Persons, God in three Persons, 31:55 God in three Persons, blessed Trinity! 32:26 Good afternoon. 32:28 Good afternoon! Good afternoon! 32:30 Are you alive out there today? 32:32 We've been having too much fun back in the back room 32:34 here before we came out. 32:36 This is Doug and Debbie Baker from Heritage Academy 32:38 and I don't know these two, 32:40 not claiming to know them at all. 32:41 Who are these guys anyhow? 32:43 Couple of our students from Heritage Academy. 32:45 Oh, yeah, they were going to do all kinds of stuff, 32:47 I said, you don't want to do that up front, no way. 32:50 But any how, I am kind of little confused, 32:52 you are from Heritage Academy, 32:53 but you're representing an organization called ACTS. 32:56 Now what is ACTS? 32:58 And how did you get involved with representing them 33:00 when you are from a different organization? 33:02 That's a good question, but ACTS is an organization 33:06 that stands for Active Christians That Serve. 33:09 And ACTS is a worldwide organization 33:13 found at www.actswr.org and they are 33:19 a disaster response organization 33:21 that mobilizes volunteers from all over the world 33:24 to respond to disasters. 33:26 I understand you had like a three minute video 33:28 or something like that? We do, we do, that's right. 33:30 May be we can go ahead and roll that, okay. 33:49 Once again God is so good, 33:51 that we are here as the first response team, 33:53 Tornado chain that devastated Alabama 33:55 just towards west of Birmingham. 33:58 We are here at the First Baptist Church, 34:00 a place called the Pleasant Grove. 34:02 God has brought us here in network interfaith 34:04 with other great Christian people. 34:05 They asked us to come in here quickly to help 34:08 with a large church in this community 34:10 and it's been a great relationship. 34:12 The total town is completely devastated. 34:15 We have another kitchen down at the gulf post end, 34:17 and the other one over at another area close by, 34:20 so three kitchens that are here 34:22 serving the needs of the people, 34:24 also helping at running distribution lines, 34:27 being the needs of the people with serve aids 34:29 taking water to the people, doing a lot of different work, 34:32 trees are picked and moved. 34:34 My name is Jordan Mehalick and I go Junior Heritage Academy 34:38 and right here we are working with ACTS 34:40 down in Alabama since tornado. 34:43 And over here we have a distribution line 34:45 as you can probably see right behind me. 34:47 They are over here making meals. 34:49 People come, they donate, you know, a soda cans, 34:52 bags of chips, food and 34:54 our job is to just put these together. 34:56 So we can hand it them, make a meal. 34:57 And so car can come through her, we can load them up 35:00 and you know they can just go on their way. 35:03 It was very special aspect going on here 35:05 and our first response team, it happens very often, 35:08 we respond internationally and domestically 35:10 and that's international best union relief at Union College. 35:15 My name is Aaron Kitts, I'm from a team 35:17 from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. 35:19 We have a light search rescue team, 35:21 we detect the rescue. 35:23 And we came down here to Birmingham, 35:25 Alabama to give ACTS in. 35:27 ACTS put us in contact with a team of canine units 35:31 that we'll be working with. 35:32 So right now they're teamed up with our certain rescue team 35:35 and working with the dogs 35:37 and come to the last possible cancer survivors. 35:41 One of the most important aspects of going into 35:43 within any disaster, I'll say it incident, 35:46 you said you can collaberate with the local city people 35:49 whether it'd be the police jeep 35:50 we have a wonderful relationship 35:52 with the mayor as well, 35:53 the fire department working at the EOC at the county level 35:57 the state level, God has opened many doors, 36:00 and that we're very thankful and once again, 36:02 we've responded being invited by a number of agencies, 36:06 we're coming to know what volunteers can do to 36:09 make a difference being first responders 36:12 to make it right here. 36:13 So that we can save lives both emotionally, 36:16 spiritually, and physically. 36:19 Amen. Wow! Doug, how in a world 36:24 did you get involved with this organization, I mean? 36:27 Well, ACTS itself began in 2004. 36:30 There was a series of four hurricanes 36:33 that went through Florida. 36:34 And so ACTS began as a local church response 36:38 to the need and it has grown over the years. 36:42 So this kind of started out like a local community service 36:45 activity of a local church in Florida, right. 36:47 And what's happening with it since then? 36:49 Well, then 2005 Katrina and there was a relationship 36:54 that developed between the schools 36:56 and the Southern Union and ACTS. 36:58 And so pretty much all the academies 37:01 in the Southern Union were responding to Katrina 37:03 and going down to Bass Academy and to Waveland, 37:08 Mississippi in response. 37:10 Since that time Heritage Academy, 37:13 has been involved in about 15, 16 deployments 37:17 with ACTS over those years. 37:19 And of course, you know, during these years 37:22 the intensity of natural disasters 37:25 has increased and their frequency. 37:27 Are there other organizations getting involve with ACTS, 37:30 is it growing it all or? 37:31 Well, you know with ACTS, ACTS partners together 37:37 with the schools North American Division 37:41 Office of Education is partnered with ACTS. 37:44 So Universities, Adventist Universities, 37:46 Adventist schools, doctors, in Haiti, 37:52 I think 6,000 volunteers. 37:54 Wow! From Adventist medical comunity. 37:57 So this is really matrume, I mean as natural disasters 37:59 have skyrocketed more in the last several years. 38:01 Then ACTS has got into grow 38:03 more and more and more people involved. 38:04 Debbie, have you been involved with 38:05 any like local disasters that happened recently? 38:09 And actually unfortunately to the south, 38:12 many of us experienced just a horrific evening of tornadoes 38:16 and yes we did respond both locally 38:20 to local mountain community and also to Alabama, 38:24 to just north in Birmingham the Pleasant Grove, 38:27 that you saw in the video. 38:28 Wow. You know, I was just looking on a website 38:30 and I noticed that, if you look at natural disasters 38:32 how they've increased in the last five to ten years. 38:35 You go back in the 1990s, 38:36 it'd be like three natural disasters 38:37 and now it's got through the point where like for a 2010, 38:41 the list is like this long of all these different 38:43 major disasters have happened worldwide. 38:45 So these guys here, your shirt is a little dirty 38:47 is that because you were doing some kind of relief 38:49 for something like that. 38:51 Who are these guys anyhow? 38:52 Would you like to introduce them? 38:53 Sure. Jordan Van Allen is now a senior beginning 38:56 and Brandon Lamphier was just graduated as Allen and I. 39:01 Brandon, have you been involved 39:02 with some of the ACTS outreach that-- 39:05 Yes, I have actually been on four appointments 39:06 myself to a Mississippi, Alabama, 39:09 and there was flooding in Nashville 39:10 that we worked with extensively. 39:12 Behind, so what are some of the things 39:14 that you were doing? 39:15 I personally I worked on distribution line, 39:17 I help take care of people that have lost everything, 39:20 you know, giving them food, clothing, 39:22 I ran a chain saw cutting people, you know, 39:24 cutting trees off from their homes, 39:26 off from their vehicles. 39:28 And how was that affected you personally, 39:30 I mean has this made any kind of impact 39:32 on your life, you know. 39:34 Well, cutting people would, 39:36 so I'm glad that I didn't do that. 39:38 I got appearance, I'm not gonna make any mistakes, 39:39 you know, when we're out working 39:41 make a mistakes not an option. 39:43 But the greatest part of our working with other people 39:47 is the fact that when you come to them 39:49 and they've lost everything. 39:50 It doesn't matter if they're a Hindu, 39:52 it doesn't matter if they're a Baptist or Presbyterian, 39:54 doesn't matter who they are. 39:55 When you come to them and you gave them something 39:57 when they've lost everything, 39:59 that means something to them. 40:00 They want to know why you want to do that for them. 40:02 Debbie, when you were there, 40:03 did you have a chance to like pray with people 40:05 and besides just giving them relief for the, 40:08 the losses that they've intuited, 40:09 you have like any spiritual encounters at all. 40:12 You know, I think for all of our students, 40:14 I don't think there is one of them both staff 40:16 and the students or anyone that's volunteered 40:19 that doesn't have the opportunity to reach 40:20 at the someone in prayer. 40:22 When someone is standing there 40:23 before that's lost everything. 40:26 They're looking and searching for answers 40:28 and you don't even have to ask, 40:30 they beg you, please would you pray for me. 40:32 And, you know, really is a blessing 40:35 to be able to, to be the hands 40:36 and feet of Jesus in that moment for them. 40:38 Yeah, when people at their greatest need, 40:40 that's a chance where you can really help, 40:42 meet their spiritual needs too, amen. 40:44 Well, thank you so much and God bless you, thank you. 40:48 Next, next we're gonna have person that you well, 40:52 is well known here, Don Noble and, Jason Fournier, 40:56 and I said that right. Didn't I Jason? 40:57 I always want to say Fournier, 40:59 but it's a French word can so, right its French right. 41:02 That's correct. Okay. 41:04 So Don, you're in with Maranatha volunteers 41:07 and they've been involved with quite a while 41:08 with the One-Day Church project. 41:10 Now how many of you heard of the One-Day Church project. 41:13 Almost everybody here has, but for the viewing audience 41:16 and those who haven't, why don't you tell us 41:17 really quickly a little bit about 41:18 the One-Day Church project 41:20 and Maranatha's connection with that? 41:23 First of all I'm really glad to see so many hands go up 41:26 that are familiar with the One-Day Church project 41:29 you know, the One-Day Church started a few years ago, 41:32 it was a direct response to a huge, 41:36 huge numbers of requests that have come in for churches 41:41 and schools around the world. 41:42 The Macedonian Call, if you will from around the world. 41:46 The church has grown so much in the areas 41:48 where the folks just cannot afford to provide a church 41:53 and the school for their children 41:55 or for their communities. 41:57 A place that, you know, God can come and be there 42:02 with them and it shows where the Creator God is 42:05 and what happens is the church grows, 42:09 people are proud of their church and that's why 42:14 we got so excited about the One-Day Church, 42:16 because God's kingdom grows as a result of it. 42:19 And we started building, I was in Garvanza living room 42:25 actually when we started talking about this 42:27 and say what do we do. 42:29 What do we do? Hundred thousand requests for churches 42:32 50,000 requests for schools, yeah. 42:34 Some have to be done to be built faster, 42:36 more economically and otherwise we're just, 42:40 you know, not, not meet the needs. 42:42 So that's how it came about 42:43 and we've involved the lot of partners. 42:46 Here is one of them, Jason Fournier, 42:48 is with Kibidula,He's been helping with One-Day Church. 42:52 We've been working with other ASI ministries. 42:56 Deuroff, Living Waters is working in Kenya. 42:59 Of course Alan Knowles, Riverside Farms, 43:03 Gary Roberts and Chad, Barry Moser, Hopkin Congo, 43:08 lot of people that we're working with, 43:11 lot of volunteers, church and schools here 43:14 in North America getting involved in this program, 43:16 and it's exciting to see. 43:18 Now you see this morning Adventists getting involved, 43:22 trying to think other people that have been involved 43:24 in partnering on this, because it's really takes everybody. 43:29 It's not just a Maranatha thing, 43:31 It's not just an ASI thing, it's not just a church thing, 43:33 that's how it started. 43:35 We need every body's involvement to respond 43:38 to this tremendous need around the world. 43:40 Yeah, it's really important to understand that 43:42 when we do evangelism in these different remote areas, 43:45 that unless we establish a building there, 43:47 often times what we do can fall apart. 43:49 The church is a establishing factor 43:52 to make that whole thing continue to grow 43:53 and continue to happen there, this extremely important. 43:57 I should, I should mention just one other partner 43:59 that's some of you may have heard that 44:01 there was a partnership that was unusual with 3ABN. 44:06 Danny Shelton even wrote a song about the One-Day Church 44:10 and put together a whole CD, 44:13 wow, to promote the One-Day Church. 44:15 Well, earlier today, they played a song 44:16 that was the One-Day Church, 44:17 that wasn't Danny Shelton singing though and there-- 44:20 Ah, no, no, it wasn't Danny singing, 44:23 but he did write the song. 44:24 Oh, he did write the song, okay. 44:26 There is other partners of course I think that God 44:29 sends a lot of what should we call them, 44:32 logistics angles to be involved in this project, 44:35 because when you're working in the areas 44:37 that these projects go. 44:39 I'll tell you, you need a lot of help from above. 44:42 So we need the logistic angels to go ahead of us 44:45 and work out the details. 44:46 But Jason is probably better talking about that. 44:48 Yeah, Jason, so you're in Africa, and is it Tanzania. 44:53 That's correct, I live in Tanzania at a -- 44:56 I'm director of a small mission station 44:58 called Kibidula Farm, we have school of agriculture, 45:02 a school of evangelism, a primary school. 45:05 We have a publishing ministry. 45:08 We send out global pioneers or lay missionaries 45:11 into unentered areas to spread the gospel, 45:14 where the gospel has never been preached. 45:17 And most recently, we've had the privilege of working 45:22 together with Maranatha and ASI on this project. 45:26 I think it's a wonderful project of the One-Day Church. 45:30 Now you have some pictures here, 45:31 could you tell us a little bit about these pictures. 45:33 Okay. Well, you can just see the picture 45:37 thereby moving onto the next one. 45:39 The need for the churches, this is a church 45:44 that was hit by a storm and you can see 45:46 it's just a grass and reed and stick structure. 45:49 It was completely destroyed 45:51 and that's why we meet all over the place. 45:54 And so, we've replaced that church, 45:57 we've also had the privilege of going into Massai Land, 46:01 where the gospel, the Massai have been slow 46:04 to accept the gospel, but in recent years 46:07 they've been opening up 46:09 and it's been a tremendous privilege 46:11 to go into Massai Land. 46:14 Where they don't actually have permanent buildings 46:18 and we've built these churches for them and, 46:21 and they're amazed and they're filling them. 46:25 Moving onto the next picture. 46:29 Okay, one back. 46:31 I've been using my pickup to begin with 46:33 to build these churches and the pickup 46:37 was being overloaded and the frame started to crack a part. 46:40 And last years ASI paid for partially for a new truck 46:47 and that's the picture of when I first took delivery 46:50 of the new truck and now it can load ten churches 46:53 on the truck and we can leave Sunday morning 46:56 and come back before Friday having finished ten churches. 47:00 Did I hear you right ten churches on that truck? 47:02 We put ten churches on this truck. 47:04 Can you imagine that? 47:06 And there it is the first church, 47:07 we built from that truck there are nine still sitting 47:10 on the truck in that picture 47:12 and the Lord has greatly blessed. 47:14 I'm especially privileged to be part of this project 47:19 in a wide way in Tanzania. 47:22 Oh, Praise God. So Don, I know you have 47:26 a video or something you want to show 47:27 with the close here, but 47:29 what were you gonna say about this video, 47:30 you had some kind of like preamble 47:31 or something you had for it. 47:33 Oh, just good to say that, 47:35 this program isn't just about buildings. 47:38 This program is about souls for the kingdom of God, 47:41 that's the point, You know, 47:44 we don't need more buildings, we need more people for Jesus 47:46 and His kingdom. 47:48 And our project was done in January of this year 47:52 that included lot of the partners 47:53 that I talked about a few minutes ago. 47:55 It was over Vic Falls in Zimbabwe. 47:58 Now if you don't know very much about Zimbabwe, 48:01 it has an unemployment rate of 95 percent. 48:06 So the people don't have very much, 48:08 but we built with so many partners, ASI, Kibidula, 48:14 Riverside, lot of volunteers here from North America, 48:17 built two lovely campuses there at Vic Falls. 48:21 And it has just opened here about two months ago. 48:24 It opened in the middle of the school years, 48:25 so if some of the students had to quit their other school 48:29 and come there but 48:30 a lot of these kids didn't know anything about Jesus. 48:33 Two weeks ago there was a couple of people 48:36 including my wife who was there. 48:37 And they took a little video that showed 48:39 these young children, just some of the children 48:42 and they're singing a song, 48:43 it tells you that they are starting to learn 48:45 about what matters. 48:47 Just as little children, they're learning about Jesus. 48:50 So go to, Zimbabwe, here and watch a couple of children 48:54 or a group of children sing at the brand new One-Day school. 48:58 Amen, Jesus loves me this I know, 49:05 For the Bible tells me so. 49:10 Little ones to Him belong 49:15 They are weak but He is strong. 49:19 Jesus loves me! This I know, Jesus loves me! This I know, 49:28 Jesus loves me! This I know, The Bible tells me so. 49:36 Praise the Lord, that's where your money 49:38 goes for the One-Day school. 49:41 I'd just like to reiterate these buildings 49:43 hold the community together when you have a building to go 49:46 I was, I was traveling in India 49:49 and they told me one time they said, 49:51 is your church so weak, your God so weak that 49:53 you can't build a temple to your God. 49:56 And when we can establish structures like this 49:58 it shows also in the community that, 50:00 that we do have a God that can build the temple, 50:03 in dedication to the God that we serve 50:06 and the people can assemble there. 50:07 Don, a quick closing thought if you want to share. 50:11 You know I just want to thank this group 50:13 and anybody that's watching through prayers 50:15 like so often here the people are praying, 50:17 because these projects take more than simply money. 50:20 It take money, but they need prayers. 50:22 I encourage you to pray. 50:23 There's guy out there in the field, 50:24 you know some of the troubles that you face Jason. 50:27 These people are running into some very, 50:29 very difficult situation in some countries 50:31 of the world that we can hardly even imagine. 50:33 But we still need to take God's message there, yeah. 50:36 So please pray for the project and support when you can, 50:39 it's making a difference for God's Kingdom. 50:41 Amen, thank you. 50:51 The Lord is my light and my salvation. 51:00 Whom then shall I fear? 51:02 Shall I fear? Whom then shall I fear? 51:08 The Lord is the strength of my life. 51:12 The Lord is the strength of my life. 51:16 Of whom then shall I be afraid? 51:26 Though a host of men were laid against me, 51:35 Yet shall not my heart be afraid, 51:43 And those there rose up war against me, 51:55 Yet will I put my trust in Him. 52:12 For in the time of trouble, 52:21 He shall hide me in His tabernacle. 52:32 Yea, in the secret places of His dwelling shall He hide me, 52:51 And set me up upon a rock of stone. 53:14 The Lord is my light and my salvation 53:22 Whom then shall I fear? Whom then shall I fear? 53:30 The Lord is the strength of my life 53:35 The Lord is the strength of my life 53:39 Of whom then shall I be afraid? 53:49 Of whom then shall I be afraid, afraid? |
Revised 2014-12-17