Participants:
Series Code: 12ASIC
Program Code: 12ASIC000006
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00:20 Our journey continues
00:22 as we look at our offerings in action. 00:24 And we are going to be talking with individuals today 00:28 whose ministries have received funding from you 00:31 and see what God has done with them through their ministries. 00:35 So with me us Craig Cleveland, he is a director for music 00:38 for Fountainview Academy in British Columbia. 00:41 Tell us a little bit about Fountainview, Craig? 00:43 Good morning, Fountainview Academy is a boarding school, 00:46 a supporting ministry school up in British Columbia, Canada. 00:48 Its little north of Seattle 00:49 and we serve grades 10, 11 and 12. 00:53 And so you have-- 00:55 the ASI family is actually very well acquainted 00:57 with Fountainview choir and orchestra. 01:01 We've been blessed many times by their music 01:03 and that is actually at the core of the project that we funded. 01:06 Tell us a little bit about the project? 01:08 Well, first of all I want to thank you, 01:09 it's so exciting to have all of you joining with us 01:12 in the ministry where we wanted to reach the world 01:15 through music for the gospel, for Jesus. 01:17 And the project that you helped us fund 01:18 is called "God so loved the world." 01:20 And this is a very exciting project that covers 01:23 the key doctrines of our faith straight from the Bible. 01:26 The young people sharing the truths about that we believe 01:29 in also dear and with music that supports that. 01:32 But this is actually a part of a bigger system, Debbie. 01:34 You-- this is, I want you an idea of how this can work. 01:38 They can be used individually. 01:39 We follow the-- there's four seasons 01:41 and with all these music and so on 01:43 we feel that it will attractive to people but there's more. 01:47 It's a part of a bigger system where it starts out 01:49 with our Christmas DVDs that people love, you know, 01:51 or film done, steam trains out in the snow 01:54 or riding on sledges, people have loved that. 01:56 So you can give that to your neighbor. 01:57 Then you can follow it up with steps to Christ in song. 01:59 And we have a new version that I just released here at ASI 02:02 which is an outreach version, It's very, very inexpensive 02:04 so you can give it out by the tens and hundreds. 02:07 And so that's next. 02:09 And then if they like that, 02:10 you come back with help in daily living 02:12 which is a little extra for ministry of healing. 02:14 And that is so practical, 02:15 it puts the rubber on the road for Christianity. 02:17 And then you come with God so loved the world 02:19 and there they get the doctrines of our faith 02:21 and they have already been led to see what we are doing. 02:24 Wow, that sounds really exciting. 02:26 So you can actually use music as the witnessing tool. Absolutely. 02:29 And that kind of almost like the health message, 02:30 kind of an entering wedge. That's right. 02:32 To get people's interest 02:34 and meet them where their needs are 02:35 and then you invite them to Jesus. That's right. 02:39 Now you talked a lot about music 02:40 and I know we've heard Fountainview 02:42 but can you give us a flavor of what this music-- Absolutely. 02:46 We have a video, we want to show you. 02:47 It's a sneak preview of one of God so loved the world songs. 02:52 Of shining worlds in splendor through the skies 03:02 Our grateful songs before Thy throne arise. 03:13 Yet that swings the future 03:20 and behind the chamber of love 03:26 standing God within the shadow 03:33 giving more shall always on. 03:52 Our God is our soul. 04:07 Just thrills my heart. 04:09 Tell me, have you realized-- and are there any stories 04:13 about the impact of this music 04:15 on individuals who receive this DVDs. 04:16 Absolutely, I want to share some stories with you. 04:18 But first I just have to tell you, 04:19 you know, we are hear it at ASI. 04:20 We are getting excited, we are hearing this reports 04:22 and we are just being stirred up or hearing the gospel, 04:25 the word open and it's inspiring. 04:27 We want to go out and we-- 04:28 every taxi driver, every person we sit with on the airplane 04:30 they are all the target for the gospel. 04:32 Oh, I got to hold on to his tie, 04:33 he's going to hit the ceiling any minute. 04:34 And that's exciting and, Debbie, I've done this all my life. 04:36 You know, you want to talk to these people, 04:38 you want to just pray, Lord send me. 04:40 Let someone sit beside me that wants to hear the gospel 04:42 because I want to share it and that's all wonderful. 04:44 But you and I have all had these experiences, 04:45 I am sure where we reach out and we- 04:48 when we were pulling out Great Controversy, 04:49 we were pulling out Steps to Christ, 04:50 all of a sudden things go cold. 04:52 That doesn't mean we shouldn't do that 04:53 but this is so much easier. 04:55 And it's so much more, so just come with me. 04:57 You are on the plane and you say, "Wait a minute, 05:00 I was at this convention, it was so inspiring. 05:02 I just love it. I go every year. 05:03 I would never miss it." 05:04 And we support this orchestra 05:06 and these kids they just smile and people love it. 05:08 They see their faces and they are just drawn in 05:10 and they sing this amazing music and they do it all outdoors. 05:13 I mean they are paddling in boats, 05:14 running on trains, they are-- it's just amazing. 05:17 And so think about it, that's easy. 05:20 And people love it. I do it all the time. 05:22 And you are part of ASI, 05:23 you are funding us, you are involved. 05:25 So you say, look, we are part of this. 05:26 And you see, you talk to these people 05:27 and it's like its music, its young people, 05:29 its nature and its inspiration. 05:31 So you have given them the book Steps to Christ and so on. 05:33 And so let me just share with you 05:35 some of the exciting testimonies. 05:36 Here's one from a young man, 05:37 "Hi, my name is Daniel. I am 16 years old. 05:40 I've been raised in Romanian Pentecostal Christian family 05:43 all my life but never open my heart to God. 05:45 Just recently my family received a DVD 05:47 from a pastor in our small town. 05:49 He gave us Steps to Christ and song 05:51 and my brother and I watched the DVD over and over again. 05:53 When I saw those teenagers praising God 05:55 and devoting their lives for Him I was very impressed 05:57 and liked what I saw and I thought a lot about it. 06:00 What I saw changed my life. Truly opened my heart. 06:05 I finally truly opened my heart to God. 06:06 It made me a better person in every aspect there is. 06:09 I gave my favorite sports up which is a hard thing to do, 06:12 so I can have more time to praise God 06:14 and I started helping poor people 06:16 and talking to others about God and His salvation. 06:18 Now, on April 17, 06:20 I am getting baptized with my two older brothers. 06:22 I am a very happy person now." 06:25 Praise God and he closes by saying, 06:27 "Thank you for doing this. I want to thank you. 06:28 This has changed my life." 06:31 Wow, that's exciting. 06:32 Now we have just a little-- we have less then a minute to go 06:35 but there's an exciting testimony you told me about 06:37 a man and his son both getting the CD, 06:40 different times, different places 06:42 with their wives watching them 06:44 coming to their houses together, oh I am sorry, 06:46 I am telling your testimony. That's okay. 06:47 But we are just trying to race to the end. 06:48 It seems to be one in the morning 06:50 and these people in different parts 06:51 in the same town are watching. 06:52 They don't know each other is watching 06:54 and they watched like 2:30 in the morning. 06:55 It's a six and a half hour presentation 06:57 and they were spell bound. 06:58 The next morning the father comes to the son 07:00 and says, "Look, copy this DVD for me, 07:02 I got to give it to my neighbor 07:03 and you going to get a copy too. Copy, copy, copy." 07:05 And he is like, "No, no, no, I am not doing that until you-- 07:07 I got to show you something, I got to show you something." 07:08 And they don't realize they are talking about the same thing. 07:10 And so finally the son just says, "Ssh, be quite, you know." 07:13 And he pops in the DVD, 07:14 Steps to Christ song and it starts playing. 07:16 They dad's like, "Well, yeah, then you finally did it. 07:17 Why don't you just listen to me in the beginning?" 07:19 He is like, "No, that's my DVD. No, it's mine." 07:20 Then they realize it's a same thing. 07:22 And so folks if people that don't even know the gospel 07:25 are that excited about it is 07:26 because the Holy Spirit is working 07:28 through the music, through the testimonies, 07:29 through the inspiration of the books and so on. 07:31 And where can we find more information? 07:33 fountainview.ca, CA for Canada, 07:36 that's the website, 221 is our booth. 07:38 And I just want to ask you to pray with us. 07:40 We are looking to launch and one last thing 07:43 inspiration tells us that 07:44 the Great Controversy unveil Satan's deceptions 07:46 and leads people to decisions and so as we use this, 07:49 we feel the best thing to end our system 07:51 with will be the Great Controversy. 07:52 And Mark Finely has agreed to go to Europe with us next year 07:55 and go to ASI Europe with the orchestra 07:57 and to film and the reformation trail, a project there. 07:59 We ask you to pray with us about that. 08:00 We certainly will. Thank you. 08:01 Thank you, Craig. 08:03 Coming up to join me next is James Hartley. 08:05 He is the director for L.I.G.H.T. 08:08 And L.I.G.H.T. is an acronym for an origination 08:10 that he will tell us about. 08:11 Hi, James, tell us what L.I.G.H.T. stands for 08:14 and what is it all about. 08:15 L.I.G.H.T. stands for Lay Institute 08:17 for Global Health Training. 08:18 We are offering short lay training courses 08:20 in medical missionary work around the world. 08:22 So far we have run courses in 64 countries. 08:25 In the last four years 08:26 we've trained over 5000 lay members. Amen. 08:29 And so what was at the core of the project 08:31 that was funded by ASI last year? 08:33 The core is our missionary teachers. 08:36 We have a network of about 200 teachers that we affiliate with. 08:39 There's about 30 or so that we directly you know, 08:42 helping to stipend in the mission field 08:44 to pioneer new projects. 08:46 So really our work is to share short training course 08:50 in order for medical mission work to really be successful 08:53 and to have a good growth you need a permanent school. 08:57 So we start with short courses, one week, one month 08:59 and as the church gets, you know, 09:01 it catches a vision for it. 09:03 In some cases the church headquarters 09:06 are offering facilities for us to run full six month courses 09:09 so we can train trainers to go out 09:11 and branch the work even broader. 09:14 Describe some of the elements in the school. 09:16 What are the-- what things are taught? 09:17 When someone comes to a one month L.I.G.H.T. course 09:19 there's a standardize curriculum that we use. 09:21 We translate it in different languages 09:23 so everybody gets that in their language. 09:25 In that course we study the principles of health, 09:28 the eight laws of health. 09:29 We also study the common diseases 09:31 relevant to that country, we study nutrition. 09:35 We also study spiritual classes, Daniel in Revelation, 09:38 Three Angels Message, sanctuary and witnessing 09:41 and how to get Bible studies and soul winning. 09:43 And how the health messages, they are entering wedge 09:45 to open up ways to peoples hearts 09:48 and then we get practical with them. 09:49 They--we do health expos, every one month course 09:52 we are going to do at least one or two 09:53 health expos in the community 09:55 and this is where they really get to apply 09:58 what they have been learning. 09:59 So they have been studying the importance of exercise 10:00 and water and then at the expo 10:02 they are face to face with people in their community 10:04 and this is really where it all comes together. 10:06 We also are teaching them cooking classes 10:08 and massage and hydrotherapy and so forth. 10:11 And then-- yeah, a lot of them that might be the first time 10:13 they have eaten healthy food before. 10:16 And so during the one month course their-- 10:18 it's a lifestyle program for some of them 10:20 and they get motivated about the health message, 10:22 then they see how it can be an inroad 10:24 to communities and help others. 10:27 Tell us about some of the experiences 10:28 and you have some pictures 10:29 that help to highlight those experiences? 10:31 Yeah, absolutely. 10:32 Why don't we show a picture from Guatemala here. 10:34 Guatemala is an amazing testimony. 10:37 This here is the union headquarters. 10:39 Guatemala has its own union. 10:41 There's 120 pastors and here on the outside, 10:45 on the left there is the union president. 10:48 Rodney is on the right, he is one of our directors. 10:51 And he has desired, 10:52 we've run seven one-month courses 10:54 in Guatemala over the last three years 10:56 and they have been so motivated about it. 10:58 They wanted to see every pastor 10:59 in the country of Guatemala trained. 11:02 So the only way to make that happen, 11:04 we thought about the one month and it just-- 11:05 with their schedules it wouldn't work. 11:07 So we rotated every pastor through one week intensive 11:10 and we just finished that two weeks ago. 11:12 Every pastor in Guatemala has got one week intensive 11:15 and health evangelism and also you saw those DVDs there. 11:20 ASI sent 3000 New Beginning DVDs. 11:24 Those 120 pastors got trained 11:26 with a medical missionary approach. 11:27 They are going to take those DVDs and go back 11:29 and they are going to train 3000, 11:32 not lay members, 3000 small groups. 11:34 There's over 10,000 lay members in Guatemala 11:37 that are committing themselves to do evangelism this next year. 11:40 So those pastors and their wives who are also trained, 11:43 the wives are doing cooking schools 11:44 and expos with the pastors. 11:47 So all those 120 pastors are going out, 11:49 they are going to train these 3000 small groups, 11:52 give them the DVDs. 11:53 And this next year they are all suppose 11:54 to run an evangelistic event. 11:55 That's wonderful. Let's move to the Amazon. 11:57 Yeah, so the health approach, you know, 12:00 it works in first world countries, 12:02 it also works in out of the reach places. 12:06 And also I think that L.I.G.H.T. does is it helps ministries 12:09 that don't have a training school get a training school. 12:12 So we help start new ones, 12:13 we also help current projects start up a school. 12:17 Case implied would be the Amazon Life Saver Project. 12:20 I met Brad Miller at the GC a couple of years ago 12:23 and we started dialoging. 12:24 He is the director for the Amazon Life Savers. 12:26 They have a boat launch project, 12:27 they have five boats going into the interior of the Amazon 12:30 and they send Bible workers out there 12:32 but one of the issues they had 12:33 with their Bible workers were not very well trained 12:36 because they don't have a training school there. 12:37 So he said, we should join enforces 12:39 and start a school down there. 12:40 So in January we went down there, 12:42 we can look at the picture here of a one month course. 12:44 Me and my wife work with Brad and his wife 12:47 and we conducted this course. 12:49 This lady sitting right here had to travel two full days 12:53 on back rivers at night time from port to port boating in 12:58 to get to this training which is right outside of Manaus, 13:01 right on the Amazon river. 13:02 Some of these you know, through all the tributaries 13:04 of the Amazon and so forth, it's extensive 13:07 and they had to travel, 13:08 several of these students travel long way to be there. 13:10 She is a relatively new Adventist 13:12 but as a real evangelistic spirit we gave her the course. 13:15 Since she's been in her villages working 13:18 and she started up a church. Wow. 13:20 So they won several souls to the Lord already 13:22 living the health message. Very good. 13:24 And you have another experience for us. Yeah. 13:26 Reaching Muslims through health expos. 13:29 You know, the Muslim world is immense 13:33 and is a large challenge for us to reach. 13:36 There is no question in our minds 13:38 that the health approach is the entering wedge. 13:40 If you try to bring the Bible first, 13:42 they will shut the door to you. 13:44 So let me show you a picture from Indonesia. 13:48 Indonesia, this is actually a picture of a health expo, 13:51 it may not look like a health expo. 13:53 This is the counseling booth that our students are doing 13:55 right on this little rug here. 13:57 Look at these women here. 13:58 They are sitting and listening to the eight laws of health, 14:01 a presentation of the health message. 14:03 They have already gone through all the booths. 14:04 They exercise the blood pressure and so forth. 14:07 We are getting hundreds of Muslim people 14:08 from Indonesia into our health expos. 14:13 We started with one month courses 14:14 and then the union was so impressed with the results of it 14:18 that they wanted us to start a six month school. 14:20 So they gave us a property 14:21 and they gave us a large school building that wasn't been used. 14:24 It was a little run down. 14:25 So for four months we fixed it up, 14:27 painted it, plastered, everything 14:29 and had a grand opening with union people there. 14:32 And the first course had 30 students. 14:34 So 30 students in Indonesia 14:36 have gone through a full six months training 14:38 and now they are working through Indonesia 14:40 conducting cooking schools, 14:42 different health seminars and health expos. 14:44 They have had hundreds of Muslim people 14:49 in Indonesia coming through 14:50 and they have had several baptisms even 14:52 and they have got many ongoing Bible studies going right now. 14:54 Wow. That's exciting. 14:55 Our time is almost up. 14:57 I just want you to tell us for people who want to know 14:59 where to get more information about Fountainview 15:02 and the ways that they can help. 15:04 Where is your booth today? Okay. 15:05 L.I.G.H.T. Ministry is at booth 339, 15:08 our website is lightintheworld.org. 15:11 We've made an online school 15:13 so that more people can get access to our training. 15:14 You could take a one month training online, 15:17 it will be all video there for you streamed. 15:20 And then you can go to the mission field with us 15:22 after you complete the training 15:23 you can go to one of our projects and help about. 15:25 Maybe you go to Amazon with us, Debbie, 15:27 I am waiting for that. I will be ready for it. 15:28 Those DVDs are available for training and so forth. 15:31 If you can help us anyway we are translating. 15:34 You know, there's so much to do 15:35 and we just want to see it go rapidly 15:37 because the Lord is coming soon. 15:38 Thank you very much, James. 15:39 God bless you in your efforts. 15:42 Coming up next is Julia O'Carey, 15:44 Julia O'Carey is the assistance 15:47 for the Associate Direct for ASAP. 15:50 Here at ASI, we are an organization of lots of acronyms 15:53 So Julia, welcome and tell us what does ASAP stands for 15:56 and tell us about the organization? 15:58 ASAP stands for Adventist Southeast Asia Projects 16:02 and it also can stand for always say a prayer 16:05 or let's get the gospel out 16:07 to South East Asia as soon as possible. 16:10 And what ASAP does is 16:12 we spread the gospel to the national missionaries 16:16 that we empower and train and support 16:18 and help in the countries of Thailand, 16:20 Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. 16:24 And we also help the refugees from these countries 16:26 that come to United States. 16:28 So how have the offerings been helpful 16:30 in expanding the ministry of ASAP? 16:33 We are so grateful for ASI 16:35 and the offering that we last received. 16:38 We went to help the church planters 16:41 and medical missionaries have stipends 16:43 and picture rolls and Bibles 16:45 then training that they needed in Burma, in Myanmar. 16:50 So that was such a blessing. 16:52 Oh that's really exciting to know 16:54 that our offerings are actually 16:55 touching people all around the world 16:57 through people in those locations. 16:59 So is there, there's someone 17:00 that you are going to be telling us about 17:01 or is there a video we see now? Oh yes. 17:04 I just wanted to show you a little glimpse 17:06 of one of our church planters in Burma 17:08 and his name is Kline Horn. 17:11 And he went to this un-reached tribe for the Akat people 17:17 and the government invited him to this village and told him, 17:22 we want you to teach our children 17:23 how to read and write but no Christianity. 17:27 And let's see what happened. 17:30 I accepted the position but still my heart long 17:34 to be ableto share the good news with these people. 17:38 I prayed a lot, asking God to show me ways 17:42 that I could gain the confidence and trust of the people. 17:47 For the first four months I simply taught the children 17:52 regular school subjects. 17:55 They learnt how to read and write. 17:57 We studied literature and how to speak Burmese. 18:00 Instead of the five hours that they had asked me to teach 18:05 we studied for seven hours a day. 18:09 After four months of working with the children in this way, 18:12 I noticed a big change come over the people. 18:16 I had gained their confidence. 18:19 They were now very friendly and accepting of me. 18:24 I was impressed that the time had come 18:26 for me to begin to teach the children about God. 18:30 Its part of their literature classes, 18:32 I began to tell them stories from the Bible. 18:35 The children loved them. 18:38 They also love to sing 18:40 and so as part of our music in Burmese language classes 18:45 we began to sing songs in Burmese about God. 18:56 The children enjoyed this so much 18:59 that they began to come to my home in the evening 19:02 for more stories and singing. 19:05 Even some of the parents have started to come to my home 19:08 in the evenings and now also on Sabbath. 19:12 We now have about 30 people 19:15 from the village coming on a regular basis. 19:21 One of the most influential people 19:23 in a Lahu village is the anonymous priest. 19:28 At first, the anonymous priest in this village 19:31 was very skeptical but God has touched his heart 19:36 and he has become one of my biggest supporters. 19:40 He encourages the children to come to my evening meetings 19:43 and has become very interested himself. 19:47 He does not know how to read 19:49 and so he is learning about God from our discussions 19:53 and the picture rolls that I have received from ASAP. 19:57 And it's amazing, 19:58 this anonymous priest also know as a Shaman, 20:02 his daughter was in this school 20:04 and she would come home every night 20:05 and share stories from the Bible 20:08 and that's what got him interested. 20:10 And it's amazing what the Lord can do to these 20:12 simple medical missionaries and church planters. 20:16 And I have one more story, can I share? 20:18 Yes. Okay. 20:20 This medical missionary was giving health meetings 20:25 before the evangelistic meetings in this one village 20:28 and he noticed that this one family 20:31 that came only came the first night. 20:34 And so he was concerned. 20:35 He prayed and he went back to their home 20:39 and found them and they said, "Oh, we are so burden. 20:42 We have to go to the rice fields and harvest our rice. 20:45 We don't have time." 20:46 And so he had the approach that Jesus has 20:50 to mingle with men and then let them come follow me. 20:54 And so he said, "I will come with you." 20:55 So he went to the rice fields and he helped then work 20:59 and after day five of the meetings this-- 21:02 slowly the Holy Spirit worked on the hearts of this family 21:05 and they decided to come to the meetings on day five 21:08 which was a really good thing 21:11 because the wife, Mitrutishi she was an alcoholic 21:16 and when she heard the health meetings 21:19 and heard the messages about Jesus for the first time, 21:22 she broke down and cried and she said, 21:24 "You know, this is really what I need. 21:26 This is what my whole family needs, a family of nine. 21:29 To make a long story short, at the end 21:32 she ended up getting baptized, 21:34 her husband ended up getting baptized, 21:36 her children but when she was walking towards the water 21:40 she started shaking violently and our church planter Tun Win, 21:45 he held her arm and he knew it was an attack from the devil. 21:49 The devil did not want to give up his control of this lady 21:53 and he started singing a hymn and praying for her. 21:56 And she started to calm down enough 21:58 that they could baptize her 22:00 and she went in the water 22:02 and when she came out of the water 22:04 she was a new person. 22:06 She was radiant and she had joy, she had peace, 22:10 and she has been such an amazing witness in this village. 22:14 Thank you so much. 22:15 Where is your booth 22:16 because we want to hear more stories 22:17 about ASAP and what's happening? 22:19 Our booth is 419 and we would love you to come on by 22:23 and we have a special gift of-- 22:25 if you like these mission stories, 22:26 we have some of our favorites that we like to give you. 22:30 Well, thank you ASI 22:31 for what you are doing through your offerings 22:33 and may God bless all of us so we can continue 22:35 supporting ministries for reaching the world, thank you. 22:38 I just want to ask you to pray specially for this one tribe 22:43 where a 1,000 Wa people in Burma, 22:47 heard the gospel for the very first time last month 22:50 and I ask for your prayers that the seeds that we were planted 22:54 will take root and grow because this would be 22:56 an amazing thing for all of these people 22:59 to become Seventh-day Adventist Christians. 23:01 Thank you. Thank you. 23:03 So dear to my heart is the promise of God 23:12 A home with the pure and blest Where earth weary pilgrims 23:23 Strangers here below Will find their eternal rest 23:33 I'm homesick for heaven, seems I cannot wait 23:39 Yearning to enter Zion's pearly gate 23:44 There never a heartache, never a care 23:50 I long for my home over there 23:56 'Tis Eden, fair Eden, I long to behold 24:03 Where naught can despoil that's fair 24:08 Where saints of all ages, hold communion sweet 24:14 The glories of heaven share 24:20 I'm homesick for heaven, seems I cannot wait 24:26 Yearning to enter Zion's pearly gate 24:31 There never a heartache, never a care 24:38 I long for my home over there 24:44 But chiefest of all is the thought that enthralls 24:51 That I shall behold my King 24:57 Rejoice in His presence, revel in His grace 25:03 And ever His praises sing 25:10 I'm homesick for heaven, seems I cannot wait 25:20 Yearning to enter Zion's pearly gate 25:24 There never a heartache, never a care 25:32 I long for my home over there, over there 25:49 Amen. Amen. 25:52 Good morning ASI family. Good morning. 25:55 Have you been blessed so far? Yes. 25:57 I want to hear a big amen. 25:58 Amen. Amen. 26:00 Well, you know, those who have been coming 26:02 to the prayer chapel here at ASI have been blesses as well. 26:06 And I have here Michael Belknap and Jason Kunai. 26:09 And Michael, what was your main reason for coming to ASI? 26:14 One of the main reasons actually 26:16 was to come to the prayer chapel this year. 26:18 So how did you hear about the prayer chapel? 26:20 Last year at the convention in Sacramento 26:23 it was my first year at ASI and I went to the chapel there. 26:27 Praise the Lord. 26:28 And you know he came all the way 26:29 from Niagara Falls, New York, 26:31 to come to the prayer chapel. Tell me why? 26:35 Well, the reality is that I guess I have needs personally 26:39 and battles that I face and there's decisions 26:42 that need to be made at this time in history. 26:44 And when I was remembering about the prayer chapel, 26:47 I just felt impressed, hey, there's an opportunity. 26:50 This is the time God told us 26:51 that He is going to pour out His Holy Spirit 26:53 and He do it at meetings like such as this in prayer. 26:57 So I thought this is the place to go. 26:59 You know that reminds me of this quote from Selected Messages, 27:02 "A revival need be expected only in answer to prayer." 27:08 That's very exciting. We are glad you are here. 27:10 And this is your first experience with united prayer, 27:13 right, Jason? Tell me how did it go? 27:15 I felt just really blessed 27:19 and like Michael I had questions also 27:22 just wondering where the Lord wants to use me 27:26 in future ministry in Niagara Falls 27:29 and so it was perfect opportunity to come. 27:32 Praise the Lord and you know, you shared with me 27:34 that you've been Christian for seven years 27:37 and what else can you tell me about the united prayer room? 27:42 Have you learned anything about prayer in there? 27:45 Yeah, actually it's real easy for me to open up my Bible 27:49 and just read it in the morning or whenever 27:54 but for me to pray it's really hard sometimes personally. 27:58 And so it's just a tremendous blessing 28:00 to be around people in this prayer chapel that they pray 28:04 and the format is really easy. 28:07 And it's just like you know, acts like adoration, 28:11 confession, Thanksgiving supplication. 28:13 And it's just making new pathways in my brain 28:16 because I am a new Christian, 28:17 you don't always get taught how to pray 28:20 and it's just a tremendous blessing. 28:22 Praise the Lord. 28:24 And if any of you are struggling with your personal prayer life 28:27 and you want that encouragement, 28:29 I urge you to come to the prayer chapel and pray with others. 28:32 And also if you are watching on TV and you would love this, 28:37 you can go to armybible.com and we have a prayer manual 28:41 that shows you exactly how to do this, it's very exciting. 28:44 So how many hours were you in the prayer room yesterday? 28:49 I believe between four and five. 28:51 So you know, this might amaze you 28:54 but if you think about Jesus, 28:57 He prayed all night long, didn't He? 28:59 And the apostles they came together 29:01 and they prayed for days and you know, 29:04 in this time we really need prayer, don't we? 29:07 So what I like to encourage you to do right now is 29:10 to come to the prayer chapel, 29:13 think about your schedule today, when could you come. 29:17 And it's open from 6:15 AM to 10:00 PM at night 29:23 and it's located right down at the end of this hall 29:26 if you walk past the registration table. 29:29 And they started new session at the top of every hour. 29:33 And so turn to the person next to you and ask them, 29:36 "What time do you plan to be in the prayer chapel today?" 29:41 and then tell them, it's time to pray. Thank you. 29:51 We have something very exciting to talk to you guys about, 29:54 how many of you love technology? All right. 29:58 How many of you have smart phones out there? All right. 30:02 How many of you have Apple smart phones out there? 30:06 All right we got a lot of Apple users. 30:08 Well, today I am here with Andrew Jones, 30:10 he is the app developer 30:12 that we have developed an app for ASI 30:15 and he is going to talk to you a little bit about that. 30:16 Andrew, tell us a little bit about 30:18 what this app is capable of and, you know, 30:21 why we developed this app for ASI? 30:24 Well, the app-- we decided to do an app 30:27 that will let you stay connected throughout the year with ASI 30:31 and be very useful during the convention. 30:33 And so if you go to our first slide here, 30:36 you will notice that when you first open up the app 30:40 you will see that we have like a twitter feed at the bottom, 30:43 so you can keep in contact with the latest updates. 30:45 For example when I got to my hotel couple days ago, 30:49 I noticed that 3ABN has been shown 30:51 on a certain channel in my hotel 30:53 and it's mentioned that in the twitter feed, 30:55 so I was able to go to that channel and watch 3ABN. 30:58 Also across the top of this convention screen, 31:02 we give you different functionalities 31:03 like you can see the exhibitors, speakers 31:08 and then you have of course the schedule. 31:10 So, well, if you have the schedule 31:12 what's different about that as oppose to 31:14 like say the program that we have. 31:16 I mean, what kind of features offer there? 31:19 Well, if you notice on the screen here that 31:21 the schedule gives you such things 31:23 as you can filter by what's going on right now. 31:27 So you can-- if it's Thursday, 31:28 you don't have to look at Wednesday's meetings 31:31 and you can of course favorite an item. 31:35 So if you want a Bill Jones schedule, 31:36 you can drill down, favorite the item 31:38 and then you notice on the screen we have-- 31:42 if you go back one more we do have 31:44 example of a favorite to the list 31:47 of all the items on your schedule. 31:49 And then of course you can then drill down 31:51 and find out where these meeting are at 31:53 and so like we have the location, 31:56 the times and the meetings, the session information. 32:00 So if I want to find out what a session is, 32:02 what about the speakers and some information about them? 32:06 Is that available on the app? Yes, it is. 32:09 We do have a whole speaker sections 32:12 where you can search by speaker's name and-- 32:14 for example this screen shows Neil Nedley 32:17 and it shows like what sessions he is speaking at. 32:20 You can look up his bio and even go to his website. 32:24 For example I was at the ASI booth yesterday 32:26 and this lady was looking for contact information 32:29 for one of the speakers and she assumes I had it. 32:32 So I merely knew that we had the app. 32:34 So I looked it up, 32:35 I was able to give her the website for the speaker 32:37 and of course she appreciated that but not only, 32:41 of course we have speakers but we also have exhibitors 32:43 and the app will give you information 32:45 where all the exhibits are at and their booth number. 32:48 So this app will tell you where the booths are, 32:52 how to get to the booths? 32:53 We are not that advance 32:55 but it gives you a list of everything 32:57 that's out there and the booth number. 33:00 So let's say, if I want to go to a particular booth, 33:02 it will tell me exactly where to get to it 33:04 and actually if I want to know more 33:07 about the exhibitor that's there, 33:09 is there more information than just the booth? 33:11 Yes, you can actually click on-- 33:14 you can tap on the exhibitor's name 33:16 and if they have a website in our system, 33:18 it will pull up their website. 33:19 So you can then preview the website. 33:21 So that let us stay more in touch with all the people 33:25 that are involved with ASI a little bit more, 33:28 it give you information at your finger tips 33:30 and allows you to kind of filter through it 33:33 and have a lot of options. 33:35 Yeah, just as you walk around you don't have to-- 33:37 if you lost your program guide or forgot at the hotel, 33:40 then you can use your phone. Nice. 33:42 So, but beside the convention of course throughout the year 33:45 if you wan to stay in contact with ASI 33:46 we have a whole section just for that. 33:48 And so next we have this screen just for projects. 33:52 And you can see where you can search 33:54 by all the projects at ASI's donations are going to 33:57 and you can pull up information on them. 33:59 So here's the example of Little Lights Project. 34:02 And it has the information, the amount 34:05 and you can even view Little Light website. 34:07 Nice and see what-- where the money is going. 34:09 What they are using it for 34:11 and get a little bit more detail on that. 34:13 That's correct. Nice. 34:14 And of course moving on, 34:16 we also have a bunch more information 34:18 like you can do online donations. 34:20 So if you are on the road or just on your phone, 34:21 you need to renew your membership or donate to ASI. 34:25 You like donating at that moment, 34:27 it will link you to the PayPal online ASI's website. 34:32 And of course you can call or email ASI directly from the app. 34:37 Now Andrew, what about some of the past media 34:39 that's been captured here at ASI? 34:42 What if I want to listen to some of the mp3s 34:44 or watch some of the videos, is that capable on this app? 34:46 Yes, we do have a whole media section. 34:50 And right now we just have the YouTube channel of ASI up 34:54 but in the future we will have all the past conventions 34:58 including the current one on the media. 34:59 So if I am in my car and I want to listen 35:01 to one of the ASI meetings, I can actually do that. 35:05 That's correct, we will have different formats 35:07 depending on your connection you will get an audio only 35:10 or you will actually have high quality video with Wi-Fi. 35:13 Well, that's awesome. 35:14 When is this app going to be available? 35:16 Well, we have submitted to Apple and we are just praying 35:19 that they will approve it within the next couple of hours. 35:23 Well as soon as it's available, we will let you guys all know. 35:26 We will have a little announcement. 35:27 We will put it our on Facebook and Twitter 35:28 and you guys can utilize this awesome tool. 35:31 And thank you, Andrew, for developing this app. 35:38 Good morning ASI family. Good morning. 35:41 Our offerings in motion, 35:44 in action and in motion continue this morning. 35:48 With me is Darryl Thompson, 35:49 he is from Ellen G. White Estate. 35:51 And Darryl, tell us a little bit about 35:53 what your role is at the Ellen G. White Estate. 35:55 Thank you, Debbie. 35:56 I am Darryl and I am the assistant director 35:58 there at the Ellen G. White Estate 35:59 and I take care of all of our electronic projects, 36:01 our website and our apps. 36:03 Now ASI provided some funding for the Ellen G. White Estate, 36:07 for what reason 36:08 and what kind of progress has been made to date? 36:11 Thank you, we had nine languages last year 36:14 and I stood up the front and spoke to you people 36:16 and said, you know, we love to be out and add more languages 36:20 and with generous donations of ASI members, 36:24 we were able this year to add 200 books and 45 languages. 36:29 Wow, that's' exciting. 36:30 Now, help us understand, what does that mean? 36:33 So adding the number of books in specific languages 36:36 on the website available for people to access? 36:39 Yes, at egwwrittings.org, you can go there 36:44 and when you go there, 36:45 you will notice that if you go to the library 36:48 and you scroll down in the library, 36:50 you will see language by language by language. 36:52 We have 1, 2, 3 up to 420 English, 36:56 about 99 Portuguese, 78 Spanish 37:00 and the list goes on down from there. 37:03 Well, that sounds-- 37:04 how many people do you have working on this? 37:07 Is it just you? I am just the team director. 37:11 If you can imagine, let's think 37:15 with those nine languages we spent half a million dollars 37:20 and three years to get those nine languages up there. 37:24 And we release that at General Conference session. 37:26 In the last year, you know, 37:27 we had the generous donation of $200,000 from ASI 37:31 and we knew that we ought to get those books up there 37:33 in multiple languages, not the common languages 37:36 how we're going to get people to help us. 37:38 But lucky there is the internet. 37:39 And lucky, you might have heard of, 37:41 you know, Monster which goes out and helps to get jobs 37:44 and we use their worker 37:45 and were able to get lots of people to help us out. 37:48 So we had over 100 people working on this. 37:50 We have three team leaders 37:52 and all have the different specialists, 37:54 all from people that was scanning books at Andrews, 37:56 students, people at the White Estate, 37:59 people in Germany, in Brazil, 38:02 in China, in Philippines, in India. 38:05 Scattered across the globe, 38:06 we had teams of people working on digitizing these books 38:09 and making them available. Wow. 38:10 So this is truly been a worldwide effort. Exactly. 38:14 Can you tell me what kind of impact have you seen? 38:16 Has anyone noticed that their language is on the website? 38:19 Yes, lots of people are used to write to us and say, 38:21 "Okay, you know, you have this language, 38:23 you have English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Italian, 38:26 Portuguese but where's my language? 38:30 You know, why can't you put our language up there?" 38:33 And so you know, I write back 38:35 and say, "Well, it's coming, you know." 38:36 We also have a website, partner.egwwirtings.org 38:40 and we sent them to there to help make contributions. 38:42 If they saw a book that they would like to help 38:45 put up on the website they can sponsor that book 38:47 and then we would make it available. 38:49 Now we just heard prior to us coming out, 38:52 apps and all these things that help us-- 38:55 you can tell, I am not a real, okay. 38:58 Yes, actually I was helping Debbie yesterday 39:00 to get that app on her smart phone. 39:02 If you have a smart phone 39:03 just like the previous people were talking to you about it, 39:07 we have an android app, 39:08 we have a BlackBerry Playbook app, 39:11 we have Nook Color and tablet app, 39:13 we have a Kindle Fire app, 39:15 we have iPhone app, we have iPad app 39:17 and if you have the new you know, the Google Nexes 7 39:22 that works wonderfully on that as well. 39:24 So we have those, all those apps available. 39:26 With egwwritings you just go to their app store, 39:28 type in egwwritings and you will find the app there. 39:32 And those apps just simple help you to access the information 39:37 from the website in a more user friendly way. 39:40 Right, well, the great thing about apps 39:42 is like you don't always carry 39:44 a laptop computer around with you 39:46 but most people do carry a smart phone. 39:48 And it's amazing in the last year 39:49 how we get people write in and say, 39:51 you know, the Spirit of Prophecy has meant so much to me 39:54 because wherever I go, I have it with me, 39:55 I can pull it out, I can read it, 39:57 I can tweet it to my friends, I can Facebook 39:59 or I can be in the doctor's office and I can read it. 40:01 I can be driving in my car 40:03 and stream it from the website and listen to it. 40:05 And it stops like-- okay, not while driving. 40:09 No, but then, you know, its an audio book so they listen to it. 40:11 Oh. Yeah, ao they listen to the audio, not reading it. 40:14 Okay. All right. 40:16 That's fantastic. So what's next? 40:19 How many more languages still have to be uploaded? 40:22 Well, we have actually scanned over 500 books 40:26 that we have completed, 40:28 our students there at Andrews that worked on our team. 40:30 We don't have the funds yet to be ought to make then available 40:33 because there's a big process in moving from a scan page 40:36 to make it available on our website. 40:38 So ASI, this year has also promised 40:41 to help us with some more money. 40:42 So the partnership of ASI 40:44 and other people is much appreciated, 40:46 we'll make it you know, available. 40:48 We hope to get the rest of those you know, 300 books up there. 40:51 And there will be, you know, we have in Steps to Christ 40:54 a 110 languages available in Steps of Christ, 40:56 we haven't quite yet got 30. 40:58 So you know, there's 80 languages yet 40:59 that we can still add in Steps to Christ. 41:01 Oh, Darryl, thank you so much for what you and your team 41:04 at the E. G. White Estate is doing so that the world-- 41:06 our word family can have access to these marvelous truths. 41:09 Thank you. Thank you. 41:10 And where is your booth so if people want you to help them 41:13 like you helped me, where can they come? 41:15 Booth 214 or you can visit ellenwhite.org 41:20 or the writings website is egwwrittings.org. 41:24 Thank you. Thank you very much, Darryl. 41:27 Coming to the podium is Molly Steenson. 41:32 Molly is works with the 3ABN 41:35 and I am going to ask Molly to share little bit about 41:37 what her role is at this wonderful organization. 41:40 How many of you are familiar with 3ABN? 41:43 All right. That's what I like to hear. 41:45 I am the Vice President, that's just the title 41:48 but I am General Manager, guys, that's the job description. 41:51 And so that's what I do at 3ABN. 41:54 And with the offerings that ASI, 41:56 the ASI family and others have provided for 3ABN, 41:59 what kind of impact has it able to make 42:01 for the expansion of the gospel? 42:04 Through the years and we've been part of ASI now for many years. 42:07 Anytime we start to launch out, 42:10 to do something on a worldwide scale, 42:14 ASI has always been there both to encourage us 42:17 with their prayers, with their love 42:20 and with their financial support. 42:21 And one of the areas that they have helped us 42:24 in though the years is with our low power television stations. 42:28 Do any of you live in an area 42:30 where we have a low power television station? 42:33 We have a 127 here at the United States. 42:36 Now what a low power television station is, 42:39 it's a station in your area, a downlink tower 42:44 where we can broadcast the signal from 3ABN 42:47 and although they are low power, Debbie, they are far reaching. 42:51 They will reach as much as from 10 to 30 miles 42:54 all aroundin your area and you don't have to have 42:58 anything other than little rabbit ears 43:02 or the little loop to receive it in your area. 43:04 So they are some of the most productive tools of evangelism 43:09 that we have here in the United States. 43:12 Wow. That's pretty incredible. 43:13 Now I understand even with the low powered there's a way 43:18 that the information is transmitted 43:19 so explain this analog to digital thing. 43:23 Well, a few years ago, excuse me, 43:26 the FCC told us that we had to upgrade our digital 43:34 or our analog stations from analog to digital. 43:38 Now I don't understand a whole lot about this, 43:40 Moses Primo is our genius in this area 43:43 but it has to do with bandwidth 43:46 and so with an analog station we are only able to broadcast 43:52 one channel into an area at a time. 43:55 And of course that was 3ABN English 43:57 but when we upgrade our analog stations from analog to digital, 44:05 then we were able to broadcast into an area 3ABN English, 44:10 3ABN Latino, Dare to Dream 44:13 as well as the Proclaim television stations 44:16 as well as we were able to broadcast on the same bandwidth. 44:20 Now when it's analog, it's this much bandwidth, 44:24 when you upgrade it to digital they compress the bandwidth 44:29 and you are able to broadcast more channels into an area 44:33 not just those four television channels but also radio channels 44:37 we are able to broadcast into these areas. 44:40 These 127 areas strategically placed 44:44 throughout the United States, 3ABN English radio, 44:47 3ABN Latino radio as well as radio 74. 44:52 So we continue to be able to stretch the reach of the gospel 44:56 and to minister to more people when we upgrade our downlinks 45:02 low power stations from analog to digital. 45:05 So that's what we are doing now. 45:07 And we have 127, I think I mentioned that. 45:11 It costs about $40,000 per channel 45:14 to upgrade it from analog to digital. 45:17 Now how many of you can do the math very quickly? 45:20 $40,000x127, that's about $5 million. 45:26 When we realized this a few years ago, 45:29 that was overwhelming. 45:31 The 3ABN operates from months to month, 45:34 when we tell you and you've heard Danny and Jim 45:37 say this so often that we have no money in the coffers, 45:40 do you know what that means? 45:42 That we have no money in the coffers 45:44 but you know what happens every month? 45:46 Our God supplies all of our need 45:48 according to His riches and glory though Christ Jesus. 45:51 Well in the past two years we have been able 45:53 through the grace and mercy of God 45:55 to upgrade 54 of those channels from analog to digital. 46:01 That is about $2 million. 46:03 We have no idea where the money came from but God has provided. 46:07 We only have 73 more to upgrade and that's about $3 million 46:12 but God has provided so far, so we got total confidence 46:15 that He is going to continue to provide. 46:17 And, Debbie, last year in 2011 when we-- 46:21 every year we come to ASI with our proposal or a request 46:26 for funds to help us as we continue 46:30 to stretch the reach of the gospel, 46:32 to continue and to upgrade what we have, 46:36 so that it will reach more people 46:38 and we ask them if they would help us 46:40 with funds to upgrade our low power stations. 46:45 And these are the stations that we ask or help for. 46:48 We ask for help to upgrade the stations 46:51 in Lincoln, Nebraska, in Collegedale, Tennessee 46:56 and in Huntsville, Alabama. 46:58 Now somebody tell me, what those three cities have in common? 47:03 What do, what do-- Sorry, 47:05 universities and colleges are in that area, aren't they? 47:08 We feel like-felt like it was very important that we upgrade, 47:12 that they be some of the first that we upgrade 47:15 so that our college students, those that have left home 47:19 and that are now away from home, away from their home church, 47:22 they will be able to have access to the gospel 47:25 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 47:27 It doesn't matter what they are-- 47:29 if they are Spanish speaking, 47:31 if they are from the inner cities, 47:33 there is always that opportunity 47:35 and possibility to receive the gospel. 47:38 Molly, we want to thank you as ASI for everything 47:41 that 3ABN has done for the expansion of the gospel 47:44 and also to be able air ASI Convention, 47:47 so others can join in with these 47:48 marvelous testimonies, music messages. 47:51 Thank you to 3ABN and thank you ASI family. 47:54 Well, thank you so much for all that you do for 3ABN. 47:57 Thank you, Molly. 48:01 Our next interview are offering in action, 48:04 has to do with the DVD project. 48:06 Oh, and I have a guest that I haven't seen for a while. 48:10 Ruth Cheneweth is a veteran ASI member 48:14 and she is going to introduce our guest for our interview. 48:17 I am so please to introduce Eddie Lawson from Jamaica. 48:22 He is a businessman in Jamaica. 48:25 I met him and his lovely wife in Guatemala City, 48:30 the Inter-American division at ASI Convention there in 2002, 48:37 that's 10 years ago. 48:39 And I had with me at that time the most anticipated, 48:44 the New Beginnings, a copy of the New Beginnings with me. 48:48 So we showed around there while we were there at that convention 48:53 and every time I look around there was Eddie right next to us 48:59 So at the end of that convention, I said to my son, 49:02 let's leave this with Eddie, this copy that we had with us. 49:07 And so I presented, we presented this to Eddie 49:13 and we said, "Eddie, if you don't knew 49:16 we are going to present this to you to take with you. 49:21 If you don't use it in a certain time, 49:24 you have to return it to us." 49:27 Now, I want you to listen to that journey, 49:31 that 10 year journey of Eddie Lawson. 49:35 Thank you very much, Ruth. 49:37 So Eddie, you were given a DVD, 49:40 a New Beginning sermons with 26 sermons 49:43 culturalized for every part of the world. 49:46 What did you do with that, 49:47 with that charge given by the Cheneweth? 49:49 I immediately, when I got back to Jamaica, 49:53 I seek out and found a lay preacher 49:56 because I was warned that it must be used by a lay preacher 50:00 and so I found one and I gave it to him. 50:05 So you found him, you gave it to him 50:07 and you set up these meetings. Yes, I did. 50:10 And who bankrolled the meetings? 50:12 I operated three businesses at a time, a hardware, 50:16 a pharmacy and we are building a shopping centre. 50:19 And so I used my personal resources 50:24 to finance these crusades. Okay, wonderful. 50:27 And so I understand, so what happened over the last 10 years? 50:32 How many meetings have been held, 50:34 how many people baptized? 50:35 What kind of impact has it made this one gift of a DVD? 50:38 Well, I've lost count of our meetings but one thing I can say 50:42 we've been to 13 or 14 prior crusades in Jamaica 50:50 and we took it to the Cayman Islands twice 50:54 and one time to the Bahamas. Wow. 50:57 And I think you told me upwards of 5,000 baptisms have resulted? 51:02 The last count which was about last week, 51:05 we were over 5,000. Praise the Lord. 51:08 And even as we speak there is a crusade going on 51:11 using the new DVD, the New Beginning DVD. 51:15 Oh, that is wonderful. 51:17 Now, I want to hasten to say 51:20 that this charge that you responded to 51:23 and your commitment and passion to get the word out 51:26 and to use it, has not come without some personal sacrifice? 51:30 No, not at all. 51:32 Whenever one steps out to do work for Christ, 51:37 the devil is not pleased and I experienced that personally. 51:44 My business was embezzled 51:46 by a co-worker and almost bankrupted. 51:51 After that, after we got over that, 51:54 my wife came to home with a mystery illness 51:58 and she was paralyzed for two weeks 52:04 and the doctors wanted to go in her spine. 52:09 They eventually told us she had a spinal aneurysm 52:12 and they wanted to go in and I said no. 52:16 So this spinal aneurysm, 52:17 for those who are not medically inclined 52:19 is a swelling of the blood vessel close to the spine. 52:23 Right, It was resting on the spinal cord. 52:24 Ah, on the spinal cord. 52:26 So that pressure they wanted to relief. 52:27 Okay. Right. 52:28 She lost all moments from here it go down. 52:31 Okay. And so we call up on God. 52:36 On the Sabbath we had a special intercessory prayer at my home 52:42 because I couldn't go to church that I was so down 52:45 and the church bothers and sisters came to my home 52:48 and we had an intercessory prayer. 52:52 At the time we had the prayer, Dawn was-- 52:54 we have flown over to Miami 52:56 at a Jackson Memorial to get a second opinion. 53:00 And so we had that intercessory prayer that day 53:03 and the Sunday morning, her mom was with her, 53:06 called me to say that she just miraculously got up 53:10 out of the bed and walked and took a shower, 53:13 something that she couldn't do for the past two weeks. 53:16 Praise God, praise God. God is great. 53:19 And the devil also touch your person 53:22 and afflicted you with cancer. Yes. 53:25 You were diagnosed with myeloma. 53:27 In 2006, I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. 53:30 I flown again to Miami and I was told I had 18 months to live. 53:36 And how long ago was that? 53:38 In 2006, six years. Six years. 53:41 So the doctors can say what they wish 53:44 but God has the final word. Right. 53:46 Now before all of these happens, 53:49 there was something that was even more tragic 53:50 that occurred in your family. Yes. 53:53 The second week of the first crusade, 53:57 we had a six weeks old daughter 53:59 and the night when the crusade started 54:01 she got sick and we had to rush her to the doctor 54:05 and she was admitted. 54:07 And for NICU in two weeks 54:09 I was between the hospital and the crusade 54:13 because I was managing the crusade. 54:16 And at the end of the second week my daughter died. 54:20 So I remember meeting Eddie and his wife Dawn 54:25 and I was struck by the testimony, 54:26 Dawn was still very much grief-stricken 54:29 by the lost of little Samantha. 54:31 And their business is named as Samms after Samantha. 54:37 And you went through a lot of struggle, 54:40 I mean, your wife needed you, Sam was sick 54:42 and the crusade was going on and-- 54:45 what must that had been for you? 54:47 You know, I am convinced that the devil wanted me 54:50 to pull the plug on the crusade. 54:52 He wanted me to cut off financing 54:53 because I was in the middle of doing something for God 54:56 and to us God did not saved our daughter and he could. 55:02 And so, you know, it was very confusing to say it, you know. 55:09 Why did God allow our daughter to die, 55:11 we're keeping the crusade but you know, 55:15 I am convinced in my mind sure is God must be praised 55:20 in whatever circumstances we find ourselves and that kept me. 55:25 You know, I was very torn between going to hospital, 55:29 stay with my wife, coming back to see 55:31 the crusade was, you know, going on. 55:35 And at the end of that crusade we baptized 129 people. 55:39 Praise the Lord. Wow. 55:41 So, and there was something, there is a message, 55:43 a reminder that you gave to your wife 55:46 when she was pleading for your support 55:48 and she was to say, you know, how can you do this 55:51 and our little girl is in need of so much. 55:54 What did you tell her to remind her, 55:57 what the priority was? 55:59 Yes, I told her that, "Honey, yes, it's hard 56:06 but God is bigger than all of this. 56:09 No matter what we are going through, we lost our daughter, 56:12 yes, it hurts, right? 56:16 But we must not be sidetracked of the bigger picture, 56:23 to no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, 56:27 we must always put God first." 56:31 And God be praised if you are faithful, 56:34 because you will be faithful you will see Sam again. 56:36 And Sam will be given to your arms 56:38 and you will be able to watch her grow in eternity. 56:41 That was fundamental too. That's what I said. 56:44 Make sure that you and I live a life 56:48 so that one day we will be reunited with Samantha. 56:54 Eddie, thank you so much for your faithfulness 56:56 and your courage and your demonstration to us 57:00 what can happen when you put all, 57:02 literally all in the hands of God. 57:04 Thank you very much. Thank you very much. |
Revised 2014-12-17