Participants: By Design Science, Holbrook School, Maranatha One Day Church, New Beginnings DVD project, Ted Wilson (short talk)
Series Code: 14ASIC
Program Code: 14ASIC000010A
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00:19 Good morning and happy Sabbath, ASI.
00:22 Happy Sabbath. 00:23 Isn't it a blessing to be here today? 00:26 Yes. Yes, it is. 00:28 And you know when you see me 00:30 what am I gonna be talking about? 00:32 The offering and projects that the offering will support. 00:37 And so today is no different, 00:39 we want to bring before you some projects and highlight 00:42 how God is going to bless us through the offering. 00:46 With me is Dr. Larry Blackmer and he's the vice president 00:50 with the North American Division, education department 00:54 and Ed Zinke who is a businessman with ASI. 00:58 And so he is on several General Conference committees 01:01 and as a consultant with By Design Science. 01:06 Dr. Blackmer, tell us about the project 01:09 By Design Science and how it began. 01:13 A number of years ago, 01:14 when the curriculum committee brought a recommendation 01:18 to the union directors of education 01:21 to put a secular science textbook on the kitchen table 01:26 of every Adventist home in Adventist education. 01:30 We really struggled with that decision. 01:33 There were no other Christian textbooks available 01:36 so in faith the directors of education 01:40 and the office of education North American Division 01:43 voted to develop a distinctly Seventh-day Adventist science, 01:48 elementary science series grades one through eight. 01:53 That's just-- that's a pheno-- 01:55 Isn't that's phenomenal? 01:57 I know that when I was growing up, 02:00 I was learning about science 02:01 but it was from a different perspective 02:03 and I was grateful to have Christian parents 02:05 and Christian teachers 02:06 to tell me what the Bible said about creation. 02:08 Amen. 02:09 You have some pictures that you would like to share with us 02:11 that gives us some idea what they're gonna look like. 02:15 Yeah, you can see here on the pictures, 02:17 this is the grade one to four. 02:21 On the right you will see all of the scope in sequence. 02:25 We really setout rigorous science 02:28 develop within the worldview of the Adventist church. 02:31 So every grade level has a science, 02:35 a journal as a teacher's edition 02:38 and it has a student edition. 02:43 There's also included with this are e-text books, 02:47 so we began from the very beginning. 02:49 When we designed this curriculum, 02:52 we said that we wanted to have e-text books, 02:55 high technology, rigorous science developed 02:58 for not only our classrooms but for multi-grade classrooms. 03:04 We had a committee that worked on home schooling 03:07 to make sure that these textbooks 03:08 were available for home schools and it was interesting 03:13 because we had to raise about $6 million 03:16 to do this textbook series. 03:18 And the first half million dollars 03:21 came from a publishing company of Catholics, 03:25 that said we can longer put a secular textbook 03:29 on our Catholic kitchen tables. 03:32 And we want to put your Adventist textbook, 03:35 we will give you the first half million dollars 03:37 if we can put your Adventist textbook 03:40 on our Catholic kitchen tables. 03:42 Amen. 03:47 Now we'll take a inside look at layout. 03:50 Yes. 03:51 The next picture, you can see 03:53 that the layouts are very colorful. 03:55 They have scripture, lessons, all the way through the text, 04:02 they are well done, they're-- 04:05 it's an inquiry base science program. 04:08 So it's not a lecture program. 04:10 We actually lead the students through to love science 04:14 and to learn about the Adventist worldview. 04:17 And this covers all of the grades. 04:19 Grades one through eight. Grades one through eight. 04:20 So that's in the next picture. 04:22 Yes, the next picture are the covers 04:24 for all of the textbooks. 04:26 You can see this is the eighth grade textbook 04:29 and all the other textbook covers are there. 04:31 Now interestingly you have a grid 04:32 with all the theories of evolution, so help me. 04:35 This is in the eighth grade textbook. 04:38 We believe that our students need to understand 04:41 the theory of evolution, the theory of evolution 04:46 and so we talk about evolution in our textbooks, 04:49 but we always bring them back to an Adventist worldview. 04:53 So it is very-- we cover it very clearly, 04:57 we talk about evolution and we don't hide the fact 05:01 that many people believe in that. 05:02 And I understand, 05:04 you're actually developing a high school text. 05:06 Right now, we're in the process of developing 05:09 a nine and twelve-- ninth and tenth grade 05:13 biology textbook that would be a By Design, 05:17 Dr. Tim Standish is going to be our editor from GRI, 05:21 and here is the cover that you can see, 05:23 what we're working on for By Design. 05:26 Now for whom will this text be available? 05:27 I already hear that there are Catholic, 05:30 the Catholic denomination is interested, 05:32 obviously for Seventh-day Adventist 05:33 or there are others that might be interested? 05:35 Sure, we make this available, they're e-textbooks, 05:39 the printed textbooks are available 05:41 for home schoolers, 05:43 for Griggs University and International Academy, 05:46 we're partners in this process to make sure that, 05:50 that they have access to the books, 05:53 so it's available to anyone. 05:55 Excellent, excellent. 05:56 And tell me, you know, 05:58 I think back and I see where this is something 06:00 where the time has come for this to happen but why now? 06:05 Well, that's a good question. 06:07 And actually I guess my question is, 06:10 why not 60 years ago? 06:11 I would have loved to have this set of textbooks 06:14 when I went through. 06:16 And I would like to thank Larry for the wonderful vision 06:20 that has pulled this together. 06:22 It's not an easy task to write a textbook. 06:25 I didn't realize that till I had the privilege 06:27 of having a very small part in it, 06:30 but there has been many resources from a publisher 06:35 that's capable of handling textbooks to people 06:38 that know what's required for every stage, 06:40 so that the textbook will pass 06:42 all the requirements to scholars, 06:45 to Adventist scholars, to Adventist worldview, 06:48 Adventist philosophy and theology, 06:52 as well as testing it on various levels 06:54 and getting input from teachers 06:56 and finally revising again based upon that. 06:59 So it's a huge task and, Larry, I appreciate it. 07:02 And to connect the dots for us. 07:04 Why is it important for us 07:06 to teach our children about creation? 07:08 Well, you know, the theory of evolution 07:12 is the contemporary God of our society. 07:15 And it really denies the role of the Bible 07:19 in understanding the world. 07:22 Most of evolution actually denies the existence of God, 07:26 and where it does accept the existence of God, 07:30 it dramatically reinterprets God 07:32 from the biblical perspective. 07:34 But evolution is a way of looking at the universe, 07:38 a way of looking at the world, way of understanding ourselves, 07:42 it's made it into almost every discipline, 07:45 sociology, psychology, business, education, 07:50 all the sciences, and so on and so forth 07:53 and so basically when our children are taught evolution 07:57 or theistic evolution, they're taught a worldview 08:00 that is completely foreign to the Bible. 08:05 And I think probably the most tragic thing 08:09 is they're not taught about the God of the love 08:13 but God of love of the Bible 08:15 and given the opportunity to enter 08:17 a personal relationship with Him. 08:19 Gentlemen, thank you so much. 08:20 We are thrilled about this project 08:23 and happened to be in partnership to support it. 08:25 Thank you very much. Thank you very much. 08:28 And now we'll have a very inspiring report 08:31 about our New Beginnings DVD Project. 08:34 Thank you, Debbie. 08:35 You know today, Grand Rapids is a very historical spot 08:39 because brothers and sisters, 08:41 14 years ago we're in Grand Rapids 08:44 and we introduced this product, 08:45 this program called the New Beginnings DVD Project 08:48 and it was right here. 08:49 And because of your generosity and support, 08:51 we could tell stories, 08:53 Norman, I could spend the whole convention telling stories 08:56 about what has happened with this program 08:59 through the last 14 years. 09:00 But today we're only gonna talk about two of them. 09:02 And, Norm, what has happened 09:04 with DVD Project since we started? 09:06 Well, I believe that thousands of training sessions 09:12 have been held, hundreds of thousands have been trained 09:14 and millions have been impacted for the gospel. 09:17 Amen. 09:18 We're gonna talk about Angola first, last year-- 09:20 Did you all hear that? 09:22 There is been millions of people 09:23 that have heard this gospel through this program. 09:25 Millions, I tell you we're so blessed. 09:29 Last year, Angola was the featured target country 09:33 in the South African Indian Ocean Division for evangelism. 09:36 Every pastor, every lay evangelist, 09:38 every church worker was asked to go to Angola 09:42 and hold the meeting. 09:43 We have brethren here from Angola. 09:45 Can you wave to us today? 09:46 There are approximately 60 Angolans over here, 09:49 I see the hands. 09:55 They also invited international ministries. 09:58 They invited Maranatha to build churches. 10:01 They invited Remnant Publications 10:02 that provided 100,000 Bibles. 10:04 They invited Lightbearers Ministries 10:06 that sent them container loads of literature 10:09 and they invited ASI to do DVD training. 10:13 And we responded 10:15 because you have given generously in the past. 10:17 We had money in our fund, 10:18 we were able to provide 4,000 Portuguese language DVDs. 10:24 We were able to provide 4,000 Abundant Living, 10:27 Portuguese language DVDs 10:30 and we printed 8,000 manuals in the Ukraine 10:34 and aero freighted them from Kiev, Ukraine to Luanda. 10:39 This was only possible because we were organized, 10:43 we've done this funding and this program was ongoing 10:46 and we could respond to the invitation. 10:48 Amen. 10:50 If you think about it, we train 4,000 laypeople. 10:52 Now, this is unique 10:53 because the one of the requirements of this 10:56 is that they had to been baptized last year. 10:59 So these were all brand new Adventists 11:02 that we trained in the-- it was a sandy area, 11:05 it was very difficult situation, 11:07 very hot but the laypeople, 11:09 the people that were excited about telling others 11:11 about Jesus came to the meeting and we trained 4,000 laypeople, 11:15 brand new laypeople to share the gospel. 11:18 Number one, the reason why they did that 11:20 is because number one 11:21 is they don't know they can't do it, 11:23 because they are new Adventists. 11:26 Number two is you can't teach what you don't know. 11:30 And number three is that they are-- 11:32 they have non-Adventist friends 11:35 that they can bring to the meetings 11:37 and tell them about Jesus. 11:38 And they are using these players 11:40 and these materials over and over again. 11:42 And I wrote down the number but so far today, 11:45 now this is been since September of last year, 11:47 so hasn't been a full year yet. 11:50 And these new Adventists have brought 11:53 in 5,437 souls into the kingdom. 11:59 Amen. Amen. 12:04 Now when you think about that and you think 12:07 about the opportunity of sharing Jesus 12:10 around the world and you've been 12:11 so blessed and generous to give of your means 12:15 to be able to help fund this project 12:17 and we got more and more exciting things 12:19 that are happening around the world, 12:21 and Angola, we please pray 12:23 for our brothers and sisters in Angola, 12:25 because we know that they have a opportunity 12:28 to tell others about our soon coming Savior. 12:31 Thank you. Sure. 12:32 But now second place that I want to talk about, 12:34 that we want to talk about today is Manila. 12:38 And we had the privilege of going to Manila. 12:40 Now what's special about two of these-- 12:42 these two gentlemen that are before us, 12:44 Benny Moore and Duane Mckey 12:45 as they were from the very beginning, started the idea. 12:50 They were one of the main people that came around, 12:52 came to us, to came up with the idea 12:54 for the New Beginnings of getting laypeople involve 12:57 with sharing Christ in this dramatic way. 12:59 And, Benny, what did we do? 13:00 We went to the Manila, didn't we in this year? 13:03 What did we do? 13:04 Well as I recall, I had a suitcase full of DVDs. 13:08 Yes. 13:09 I think we took 2,000 DVDs to be used in training. 13:13 There is something I've learned in working 13:14 in evangelism through the years and that is that empty seats 13:18 don't respond too well to the gospel. 13:20 Amen. 13:21 And the only way the seats can be full 13:23 is when our members are involved 13:25 and bring their friends and family. 13:26 Amen. 13:27 And so with the DVD training, 13:29 we were able to help give them tools 13:32 that they could use and actually beginning 13:35 the study process with their friends and family. 13:37 Amen. 13:38 And then bring them to the meetings. 13:40 And it really made the success for the meetings. 13:42 And, Duane, what happened after that? 13:45 Absolutely exciting. 13:46 It was back, just in May we were there. 13:49 That's right. This May, that's right. 13:51 We had almost-- well, you tell us later, 13:54 Elder Wilson said how many baptisms? 13:56 But can you imagine a swimming pool 13:57 with thousands of people being baptized. 13:59 We had ASI people there, 14:01 we had-- we had Adventist World Radio. 14:04 We had 3ABN. That's right. 14:07 And the North American Division president, 14:09 a secretary Elder Wilson, he had the major meeting. 14:11 It was thrilling, 75 meetings in all. 14:14 Amen. Amen. 14:15 The youngest speaker? 14:16 The younger speaker was 16 and the oldest. 14:18 I think was 85, is that right? Seventy five. 14:20 Seventy five. Seventy five that is great. 14:23 And tell us the results of what happened after that? 14:27 Well, by the end of the meetings May 17, 14:32 there were 9,558 baptisms. 14:36 Amen. 14:37 But soon after that because of the follow ups, 14:41 it went past 10,000. 14:43 Amen. 14:44 So we're very thankful for the Lord's guidance 14:46 and certainly we are thankful to you, 14:49 ASI, for the help that you have given us 14:51 and on behalf of North Pacific Union Conference, 14:54 please allow me to express this to you. 14:56 Say also thank you to ShareHim to all of you 14:59 and also yes to Elder Wilson for coming over 15:03 and being our main speaker there. 15:05 Thank you. 15:06 Thank you very much. Thank you very much. 15:07 You know, it's amazing how that when we take our ministries, 15:10 when we work together what happens? 15:12 The Lord never adds, 15:13 He multiplies when we work together for Him. 15:16 And that's what so exciting about 15:18 being in these churches by working together, 15:21 all bringing, all these ministries together. 15:23 We're able to do way more than we could ever do by ourselves. 15:26 Thank you, gentlemen for your contribution 15:29 and it's exciting to see what the Lord is doing. 15:33 Shall we mention about Harare, Zimbabwe? 15:35 Oh, please, real quick. Yes, oh, yeah, please. 15:37 Yes. Yes. 15:38 We have DVD trainings going on in Harare, Zimbabwe 15:41 another 2,000 people will be trained in December. 15:45 And the next May, the middle two weeks of May, 15:47 we need 100 speakers. 15:48 I already had 30 15:49 from the Arkansas-Louisiana Conference. 15:51 I need 30 young people. 15:52 I need another 70 preachers from here. 15:55 This group of people could come for 70. 15:58 You know, Denzel, if you only deal 16:00 with the gifts of God has given you. 16:03 You don't really need God's blessings 16:05 but if you get out of the boat, 16:07 like Peter and you start to sink, 16:09 when you're preaching the evangelistic series, 16:11 you need God's blessings. 16:12 If you want to experience a special experience, 16:13 come and preach in Harare, Zimbabwe. 16:14 Amen. 16:16 So those of you that would love to go to Harare, 16:17 please see Duane and we would love to have you come 16:19 and participate in the joy of telling others about Jesus. 16:23 But you can also do it in your own home as well. 16:25 You don't have to go to Harare 16:27 but we'd love for you to come as well. 16:29 Thank you very much. 16:31 Now one of the-- one of the advantages 16:33 of being in ASI and being involved in leadership 16:36 is a fact of admiring people 16:38 that really that inspire us to lead. 16:41 And I'm just so blessed to have Elder Wilson here, 16:44 who has not only-- he's so busy 16:46 but he's actually taking his own time 16:48 and holding evangelistic meetings himself. 16:51 And, Elder Wilson, thank you for your leadership 16:54 and the inspiration that you are giving us 16:56 to do our part to hasten the Lord's return. 16:59 Thank you. 17:01 I just want to praise God 17:02 for the incredible evangelistic emphasis 17:06 that ASI has in everything that they do. 17:11 Thank you for your personal involvement 17:14 and thank you for your corporate attention. 17:18 Everything from Youth for Jesus, 17:22 last night we saw incredible display of that 17:25 of what's happened here in Grand Rapids 17:28 to the one day church, to evangelistic activities 17:32 all over this world 17:34 and what you've just heard about. 17:36 This exhibit hall is filled with people 17:39 who have evangelism as a passion. 17:44 One of those aspects 17:46 that ASI has been very heavily involved with an-- 17:50 in which they have helped the 2014 17:56 Hope Manila iCare evangelistic effort, 18:02 which covered scores and scores of locations 18:06 is the New Beginnings Bible studies 18:10 and evangelistic outreach. 18:13 It was a tremendous blessing to this enormous outreach 18:18 to the Greater Manila Area. 18:21 And I want to thank ASI, thank Denzel, 18:24 thank so many others who personally invested 18:28 time and effort into laying an incredible foundation 18:33 for the reaping that took place in Manila. 18:38 Without the involvement of our laypeople, 18:42 our church members involved in carefully sowing the seed, 18:48 public evangelism would reap hardly anything. 18:53 But it is the combined effort of everyone working together 18:56 including the tremendous outreach of New Beginnings. 19:01 And we're looking forward to the same thing 19:03 happening in Harare, Zimbabwe as has been mentioned 19:07 and it can happen everywhere. 19:10 Don't just rely on those who are publicly involved, 19:15 be involved with evangelism on a personally basis. 19:19 God will bless you for it. 19:21 Its part of God's great plan for the loud cry, 19:25 the latter rain is coming, be a part of God's great work 19:30 as we look forward to Jesus soon coming. 19:38 And now we have a very interesting interview 19:43 about a project 19:45 the Holbrook Seventh-day Adventist Indian School. 19:49 And with me here at the podium is Jovannah Poor Bear-Adams. 19:54 She is the vice principal and the principal Pedro Ojeda. 19:59 And I want to start first, Jovannah, 20:03 to have you share a little bit 20:04 of what you were sharing with me 20:06 about your childhood and teen experience? 20:08 All right. 20:10 Well, I'm in Oglala Lakota Sioux, 20:12 from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. 20:16 And with that comes a lot of beauty, 20:18 a lot of culture and a lot of pain. 20:25 Before I went into my teen years 20:29 'cause you said childhood and teen, 20:32 I was sexually abused by my step dad for two years 20:36 before I had the courage to tell my mom. 20:38 And the reason I was afraid to tell her 20:40 was because I was afraid she was gonna be mad at me. 20:43 I know she was on her-- 20:44 she had been married three times right now 20:46 and my step dad. 20:48 When we-- when I finally 20:49 had the courage to tell, 20:51 we went to court and they-- 20:54 we got a restraining order out of it 20:56 and that's the most that happened with it. 21:00 During that time I was raped by one of my cousins, 21:04 you know, when he was supposed 21:05 to be watching us at our house. 21:07 The first time I had alcohol, 21:09 I was about six or seven years old. 21:11 The first time I had a cigarette 21:13 was around the same time. 21:17 When after my mom had divorced my step dad, 21:20 she left us at my grandma's house 21:21 and she abandoned us there and moved to the city. 21:24 And it was at my grandma's house 21:26 where I experienced 21:29 what it felt like to really be hungry. 21:32 They were times, my grandma was bipolar, 21:36 she has diabetes and she was almost blind. 21:40 So she-- 21:41 we tried to take care of her in her wheelchair, 21:44 cleaning her feet and we lived off a food stamps. 21:49 And something about the food stamps 21:50 'cause you're thinking you know, 21:52 you got taking care of-- you got food stamps. 21:54 But the way that we shopped, we bought Doritos, 21:58 soda we drank soda like it was water. 22:01 We ate frozen pizzas. 22:04 You know, pork chops, bacon, just junk food. 22:09 And we would eat you know, like we were kings 22:12 for about a week and a half. 22:14 Now through this whole childhood experience, 22:16 I get the pictures just very difficult 22:19 and you didn't have a lot of positive family support 22:22 or role models. 22:23 Then you came to a point in your teen years 22:25 where you decided, you wanted to do something different. 22:28 You thought that you could beat this 22:30 and be someone different. 22:32 You know, I thought that I was going to be 22:36 different from everybody on the reservation that, 22:40 you know, they think that, you know, we're just drunks. 22:42 You know, the people we lived just off the reservation 22:45 and I thought I'm gonna be different from them. 22:47 But nobody noticed, no one noticed 22:50 that I was trying to be different 22:51 and I was rejected by my friends, 22:53 by people in the town that I lived in just assuming 22:56 that I was like every other, you know, 22:58 person who came off the reservation. 23:00 And I decided I didn't care anymore. 23:03 You know, I-- you think I'm gonna-- 23:05 you think I'm a drunk, I'm gonna be a drunk. 23:07 And I was 14 years old, you know, 13, 14 23:11 and I started drinking more like a lot. 23:14 I started getting high marijuana, 23:17 started smoking, going to parties. 23:19 I dated a different guy every week. 23:21 And my sister told me my younger sister, 23:25 she told me that she hated me. 23:27 And she just wished you know-- that I wasn't-- 23:29 I wouldn't be around her anymore. 23:31 So then what happened? 23:32 Your sister said, I wish you would leave. 23:34 So you left? 23:36 Yeah, I did leave. 23:38 I looked at myself and I became disgusted with who I was. 23:41 You know, I was exactly what I told myself 23:44 I wasn't gonna be. 23:45 And so you got on the truck, 23:47 kind of through an invitation you're going with your friend 23:49 and you ended up at Holbrook. 23:51 So tell us now what happened at Holbrook 23:54 that started to turn this around? 23:57 I had a family there, 23:59 I had people at Holbrook Indian school who, 24:03 they didn't even know me 24:04 and they got me birthday presents, 24:07 they took me on their family vacations over home leave 24:11 because I couldn't have go back home. 24:13 I knew Christ and I you know, I didn't want to know Christ 24:18 but I started to know Christ 24:19 like I didn't understand any kind of love to be. 24:24 That's phenomenal. That's wonderful. 24:26 Now you did that 24:28 and obviously now you're vice principle at Holbrook, 24:32 so tell me how that happened? 24:37 Well, I went to Union College and you know, 24:41 I wanted to make more, 24:42 I knew that I was going to help native American people, 24:45 I knew that you know, the people who-- 24:48 the stuff that I went through God wouldn't have allowed it, 24:51 unless He was gonna make me strong enough 24:53 to be able to help other people like me. 24:56 And so I went to Union College, 24:57 got my degree in English education 24:59 and that wasn't easy, 25:01 you know that wasn't an easy thing to do. 25:03 I struggled through college. 25:04 I struggled, my grandma died, my sister became homeless 25:08 and I wanted to go back and be with her. 25:10 But I fought through college and I stayed and you know, 25:14 I had a job offer in Lincoln, Nebraska 25:18 to be able to start working there immediately afterward 25:21 but I told them, I said, 25:22 if Holbrook will have me that's where I'm going first. 25:24 Amen. Amen. 25:26 So Holbrook saved you of sorts and you wanted to go back 25:31 and give back so that you could help save others. 25:33 Absolutely. 25:34 Amen. 25:35 Pedro, I want to ask you is Jovannah's experience 25:40 different from the kids that come to Holbrook? 25:43 Well, thanks for asking that question, Debbie, 25:46 and the unfortunate answer is, no. 25:50 Many of our students go through similar circumstances. 25:54 And what is Holbrook doing to address 25:57 that issue with the kids? 26:00 We're doing everything that we can 26:02 but that sounds really general, 26:05 program that we started a year ago 26:07 is called the New Year Health Initiative. 26:10 New stands for nutrition, exercise and wellness 26:14 and it covers the whole child. 26:16 Wellness includes counseling. 26:19 We're setting out 26:20 the quality counseling program at our school. 26:23 And one of the particular 26:28 aspects of this program 26:30 is what we called our garden-to-plate program. 26:34 And for that we need to restart our agricultural program, 26:38 our greenhouses and our garden. 26:41 They're in a little bit of disrepair 26:42 because they haven't been used in a few years. 26:45 And so we need help with that. 26:47 And that's where ASI through the offering 26:50 will provide some assistance for this program. 26:52 Very much so. Okay. 26:53 And tell me why is this program so essential to the students? 26:58 It is essential because it deals 27:01 with the basic needs that students have. 27:05 Without those basic needs been met Debbie, 27:09 our students cannot function, especially academically 27:14 and the public is figuring this out. 27:17 If you read the articles by ASCD and CDC 27:21 they're figuring this out now. 27:23 I want to ask, Jovannah, 27:25 if there is one thing that you want to tell 27:27 the ASI audience that you want them 27:29 to know about students at Holbrook 27:32 and how they can help or-- 27:34 what would you want to say to them? 27:36 All right, hello, ASI. 27:39 One thing that I would want you to know is I've heard, 27:42 I've heard a lot of controversy about giving to a place 27:46 like Holbrook Indian School. 27:47 People who come from this kind of poverty, 27:50 this kind of abuse that even though we're giving to this, 27:53 they come to our school, it's not making a difference. 27:57 There are kids who leave our school 27:59 and they go back to their lifestyle 28:00 or they go to college and they get called home 28:02 and they actually go home 28:04 and they don't go back to school. 28:06 But every now and then and there is somebody 28:09 who comes out of it, there is somebody like me 28:13 who comes out of it and they go back 28:15 and they help people and there is more 28:18 and that I see kids in our school right now 28:21 who are going to do that, I just know it. 28:25 And how much is one life worth? 28:29 Thank you very much, Jovannah. 28:32 Now we have a project that we're familiar 28:36 with the One-Day Church project. 28:39 Thank you. 28:43 And we want you to take in the information 28:46 to understand how One-Day Church 28:48 is actually helping children just like Jovannah. 28:52 No kids. 28:55 Good morning, ASI. 28:56 Good morning. 28:58 You know, when I think of ASI, 29:01 I think you make the difference-- 29:04 that ASI makes such a difference here. 29:08 I think back just on a few projects 29:10 and we had big projects, small projects. 29:13 I remember the picture rolls, 29:15 120,000 picture rolls around the world. 29:21 And you know as I go out into some of the villages, 29:24 I see them, they have around their neck 29:26 and they're preaching with them 29:28 and they're just as good today 29:29 as they were when we send them out. 29:31 It's incredible. 29:33 I think of Myanmar, Burma, 29:35 365 churches and schools in one year. 29:40 And I think of roofs over Africa. 29:42 You remember we had 29:43 the building over here to our left, 29:47 and sat there all week with no roof. 29:49 Then we had the roof program 29:51 and the roof came down and sat on there. 29:55 As a result 11,000 roofs were put 30:00 on large and small churches through out Africa. 30:03 ASI, that's making a difference. 30:05 But then I think of this special place, 30:09 Grand Rapids, 14 years ago. 30:13 Evangelism in India had just started. 30:16 Now since then as a result of ASI 30:19 and Maranatha it's been over 30:21 one million members in India, the growth. 30:25 Yes, ASI, you make a difference, 30:27 but I think of one special little girl, 30:31 some of you old timers remember Laxmi, 30:34 the little girl that we carried out on the stage, 30:37 the girl that our effort would lay on her stomach 30:40 and pedal her bike there, Laxmi now has grown. 30:44 She is been rehabilitated somewhat, 30:47 and she walks with sticks. 30:49 She is been through Spicer College 30:51 and she is now a teacher. 30:53 Wow, what a wonderful thing. 31:01 Think how heaven will be to Laxmi 31:04 when she can walk with Jesus. 31:08 Now I've had the opportunity to be involved 31:10 with many churches all over the world. 31:15 Work in many, many countries and many of these countries, 31:19 I have worked with Maranatha and self supporting ministry. 31:23 Then we sold our business 31:26 and I thought well, maybe retirement. 31:31 Well, that lasted about a day and half, 31:35 it's not for me I can tell you that. 31:39 And I just felt there is more God wanted me to do, 31:44 He had something big in mind 31:48 and I wasn't-- I just wasn't comfortable. 31:53 Now at the same time, we had explosive growth in the church. 31:57 The church was growing several a day. 32:02 And one weekend Maranatha 32:04 was at our church having a weekend rally. 32:09 It was about 11 o'clock at night, 32:11 it's dark and then Don Noble, 32:12 and I remember he was sitting on our couch, 32:15 he put his head in his hands and he says, 32:17 Garwin, I don't know what we're gonna do. 32:19 We had these thousands and thousands of requests 32:23 and we just can't take care of them, 32:25 we can't build them fasten enough, it's growing faster. 32:29 And I had a thought and I believe 32:32 the One-Day Church was God ordained. 32:35 I said, Don, have you ever thought about building it 32:39 from the roof down? 32:41 Now with the roofs over Africa, 32:43 they put the sides up and then we roofed it. 32:45 But the weather and so forth, 32:47 it was, it holds some challenges. 32:50 And that's how the One-Day Church started. 32:54 Monday morning we went to work 32:55 with our first One-Day Church and it's improved. 32:58 Since then we have built dormitories, 33:00 greenhouses, housing units, 33:02 complete hospital complex at Chad, 33:09 and the list goes on. 33:11 We built and sent containers to Zimbabwe, 33:14 Mozambique, Malawi, Ghana well, 33:17 that it's a big long list most of the world. 33:21 Now here is the important thing ASI, 33:23 to date we have manufactured 5,700 One-Day Church 33:29 and over one million of your brothers and sisters 33:33 are meeting today in a one day structure. 33:35 ASI, that's making a difference. 33:39 That's making a difference. 33:44 Now we can manufacture them, 33:45 but we need the supporting ministries to erect them. 33:50 And that is where the ultimate example of ASI 33:56 and self supporting ministries working together 33:59 in a partnership is the one day program. 34:03 We have many partners 34:05 but two of our partners are here today. 34:08 One, Alan Knowles of Riverside Farms. 34:11 Lot of people know Riverside Farms. 34:14 And Don Noble of Maranatha Volunteers. 34:18 Now I'm gonna ask Alan. 34:20 I've known Alan, we've worked together building churches 34:24 since 1985 I believe, Alan. 34:27 Alan, tell us what is it like 34:29 when you put a One-Day Church in a bush? 34:31 You know, Garwin, I got a phone call 34:34 the other day on Sunday morning. 34:36 Well, Luca Mionde called me, said, 34:38 Mr. Alan, Mr. Alan, we have a problem. 34:41 Well, we were going to camp meeting on Sabbath, 34:43 somebody burnt our grass roof down on our church 34:47 and it knocked the walls down, we were waiting for a roof. 34:50 And I said, Luca, we're gonna have a solution for you. 34:53 And we got-- changed our schedule 34:55 a little bit and we drove in there about 1,000 kilometers 35:00 from Riverside out in a very rural areas 35:05 and it's just amazing to see in the poverty areas 35:11 the energy that was put out to help us build that church. 35:16 On the first picture we have, 35:19 it's a picture of the joy that happens Garwin, 35:23 when we start that building. 35:25 And as we start putting the roof on, 35:27 the ladies put down their cooking sticks, 35:31 put down their pots and they start marching 35:37 and clapping their hands and singing praises, 35:40 praises to their God in heaven 35:43 who has given them a miracle today. 35:47 And at the end of that song, 35:50 they say thank you and they say thank you so loud, 35:53 if you listen carefully, 35:55 I believe it's about three or four times a day, 35:58 Garwin, now that you'll hear a thank you 36:00 from all over the world 36:02 for a One-Day Church that goes up. 36:04 If you listen carefully, 36:05 you'll hear them singing thank you, God. 36:08 Thank you for the brothers and sisters in North America 36:11 who have sacrificed 36:13 that we can have this miracle today. 36:15 And they worship under that permanent roof, 36:18 now probably only one in miles around in their villages. 36:22 And they just want to say thank you to ASI. 36:26 Thank you for that. 36:27 Thank you, Alan. But, folks, there's more. 36:34 Don Noble of Maranatha Volunteers. 36:37 Maranatha Volunteers is known throughout the world 36:40 and Don has been the president for a number of years. 36:43 Don, tell us what's happening. 36:47 You've heard about the Angola DVD. 36:51 Tell us about Angola and the One-Day Church? 36:54 Thank you, Garwin. 36:56 Good morning, ASI. It's great to be here. 37:00 And, you know, the one day church and school 37:02 is working well in many places around the world 37:05 but one place that it's a really, really great fit 37:08 is the country of Angola. 37:10 If you're not familiar with Angola, 37:12 it's a country in Western Africa, 37:15 about 20 million people, Portuguese speaking. 37:18 They are rich in resources, oil, diamonds but unfortunately 37:23 most of the people are extremely poor. 37:26 In fact, I want to show you a picture of where-- 37:29 this is a typical street where your fellow 37:34 Seventh-day Adventist church members walk 37:36 when they go to church. 37:39 Another one that you can see is, 37:42 this is about what you would see 37:43 if you flew in on an airplane into Luanda, the capital. 37:48 It looks like that for miles but it's interesting to me 37:54 to think of 400,000 Seventh-day Adventists baptized right now 38:00 in the county of Luanda out of 20 million members. 38:05 It's good news? 38:07 I got better news. 38:09 How many do you think meet on Sabbath morning 38:12 with 400,000 members? 38:16 Any idea? Less than 400,000? 38:20 One and half million. 38:22 One and half million people meet on Sabbath morning. 38:30 And I want to show you some of the places that they meet, 38:34 just a couple of quick pictures. 38:37 This is one of many pictures that we took, 38:40 here's another one that-- yes, 38:43 that is a church and when you look at that picture, 38:47 you can think about when you're looking 38:50 for a Seventh-day Adventist on Sabbath morning, 38:52 how would you spot one in the city of Luanda? 38:55 What would you think you would look for? 38:58 Carrying a Bible? 39:01 Dressed as good as you could possibly hope for? 39:04 No. 39:05 The thing you look for is an umbrella, 39:09 on a sunny day because that's the roof 39:12 to their church, is an umbrella. 39:15 So when we provide them a church, 39:17 it's very exciting for them. 39:19 In fact, I've a picture of a crew building 39:23 a One-Day Church in Luanda. 39:24 Last week Garwin, 39:26 we just finished 100 churches, One-Day Church. 39:31 Yeah, and some of them are extra long 39:33 and just in the Luanda area. 39:36 So you saw the crowds in the earlier pictures, 39:40 you know that they need churches in that country, 39:42 so it's exciting to be able to part of that. 39:46 Another picture that you actually already saw 39:49 and the reason I wanted to show it again 39:51 is because this particular church 39:54 was finished by the women. 39:57 I don't know where the men were but the women stepped up 40:01 and they actually bought the property, 40:03 went out and bought the blocks and they did the physical work 40:07 and that church is the result of the women in that area 40:13 deciding that they wanted a good place to worship God. 40:15 So praise the Lord for that. 40:22 One of the things that actually came 40:24 a little after the One-Day Church 40:26 is the One-Day School and that has really gone well. 40:30 And here's the place, Angola is the perfect place for it. 40:34 Here's a country that years ago used to have the largest 40:40 and perhaps the best education system in the country. 40:44 Many of the government officials 40:46 currently went to primary school 40:48 in the Adventist system before the war. 40:50 They had 40 years of war in that country 40:53 and it's almost devastated the country 40:56 but those leaders have-- 40:59 now they're looking to Seventh-day Adventists 41:00 to come back and build those campuses again, 41:02 200 campuses were destroyed during the war. 41:06 And now Garwin, I got the final number 41:08 yesterday of the requests 41:11 for actual classrooms, one day classrooms 41:14 in the country of Angola, it's 5,402. 41:19 Yeah, it's real. It's a real big request. 41:24 Today, we're only asking for your help with 200, 41:28 the first 200 and that's quite a few but the first 200 and-- 41:34 Ten thousand kids. 41:36 Yeah, we figure about 50 in a classroom, 41:39 they normally put 70 to 90 41:41 but we're gonna make a little more spacious, 41:43 put 50 in so that's 10,000 young people 41:49 as a result of the offerings this morning, Garwin. 41:52 And if we want to see God's work expand in Angola 41:55 which we do, great place, 41:57 we got to start with Christian education. 41:59 Thank you. 42:01 ASI, you're making a difference. 42:03 Angola, 1,000 churches. 42:07 And, you know, all those churches in Angola, 42:09 they're 27 foot wide 42:11 and they're an extra three bays. 42:13 So these are big churches, these are churches, 42:16 church schools, Christian education, 42:19 the genius of the Seventh-day Adventist church. 42:24 We have 40,000 children 42:30 in One-Day Church schools today. 42:33 Forty thousand, that's making a difference 42:35 and with Angola, that will be 50,000. 42:39 Fifty thousand people or children 42:42 getting Christian education. 42:44 ASI, you make a difference. 42:49 And I would not be here today 42:51 if it wasn't for Christian education. 42:53 I believe in it with all my heart. 42:57 The one day program truly equals souls for eternity. 43:03 One day soon the heavens will open. 43:06 One day soon Jesus will return. 43:08 One day soon thousands and thousands of men, 43:12 women, boys and girls will meet their Savior. 43:16 They will meet their Savior 43:18 because of the One-Day Church and school. 43:22 Thank you. 43:29 And, ASI, aren't we looking forward to that day 43:33 when Jesus will come? 43:36 Throughout this convention, 43:38 we have attempted to bring to you 43:40 and highlight projects from individuals 43:43 and from ministries to let you know 43:46 how we are trying to reach the world for Jesus. 43:49 We so desperately want to go home. 43:51 I was remarking to someone in the back just today 43:54 that when I think back when I was last here 43:56 in Grand Rapids at an ASI Convention, 43:59 that was 14 years ago, 14 years. 44:03 I don't want to be here another 14 years. 44:07 We heard this morning, 44:09 Elder Wilson who said one of the best investments 44:12 we can make is in our young people, in our youth. 44:17 This is the time, this is now. 44:20 We heard this morning about the science books, 44:24 so that we can educate our young people 44:26 about the Christian-- the creation story 44:29 and so they can understand that God is the one 44:32 who created this world. 44:34 We heard from Jovannah that the Holbrook 44:37 Seventh-day Adventist school made a difference in her life. 44:41 We want these schools to make a difference 44:43 in other children's life just like our children. 44:47 The New Beginnings DVD training, 44:49 setting the stage for the difference 44:51 that can be made by training thousands of people 44:54 to take the word to the world. 44:57 Then finally the one day schools 45:00 and the opportunity for us 45:03 to partner with one day so that 10,000 to start, 45:08 10,000 children can learn about Jesus. 45:11 And while look at these children behind me, 45:14 I think about I just look at one of them, 45:17 there is probably about 45:19 100 kids coming up here behind me, 45:22 each one of them representing 100 children in Angola. 45:28 So 10,000 children are represented visually here 45:33 before you and I ask you which of these children 45:38 would you not want to see in heaven. 45:41 Which of the children in Angola do we not want to go there? 45:45 Which of the children in around the world 45:49 do we not want to learn about Jesus, 45:51 the Creator of the universe? 45:53 I don't think there's a correct answer to that other than none. 45:58 We want all of our children and all of us 46:01 and as many as we can reach to go to heaven. 46:05 And I tell you, I talk to the children and I said, 46:08 I want you to come and join me so that we can ask 46:12 all of your parents and all of your friends 46:14 to please put as much forward in the offering 46:18 so that we can tell other children like you about Jesus. 46:23 And they were so excited. 46:25 They had so many questions, 46:27 they want to know what they could do and I said, 46:30 you know what, children, 46:31 all you need to do is to thank ASI. 46:34 And so I asked them and I ask them now. 46:38 Children, what do you want to say to ASI? 46:41 Thank you, ASI! 46:45 So they are thrilled and they are looking forward 46:48 to your offerings to support the projects 46:52 listed in your program so that we can reach out 46:55 and tell the world about Jesus. 46:57 Children, thank you for coming and helping me 47:00 collect the offering for ASI 47:02 and to support all of these projects 47:05 that we want to tell Jesus that other children 47:08 around the world have a wonderful time 47:12 and you can go back to your classrooms. 47:14 They're having fun with these balloons 47:16 and I tell you I can't wait to see 47:20 10,000s of 10,000s of children around the tree of life 47:25 when we get to heaven. 47:26 And it'll all be because of partly 47:30 because of the offerings that you give today 47:33 in the ASI offering. 47:35 As the deacons come forward to collect the offering, 47:38 I just want to review with you 47:39 and have you take out your offering envelopes 47:45 and I want you to be prayerful as you place in the envelope, 47:51 as you consider what would God have you give, 47:54 what would God have you pledge, 47:56 just complete the information on the left, 47:59 you can just check off a box or add in the information 48:02 for the donation you would like to give 48:04 and or the pledge amount 48:06 as well as your contact information there on the left. 48:10 So we would ask you to do that just now. 48:13 You may have already completed it 48:15 and feel moved that you need to do more, 48:17 just scratch it out and do what God tells you to do. 48:21 So I'm gonna ask the deacons if they would go ahead 48:24 and lift the offering at this time. 48:26 And while they do, would you pray with me? 48:30 Jesus, we thank You so much for giving us the opportunity 48:34 and the privilege to work with You, 48:38 to ready people for Your second coming. 48:41 We ask the Lord that You would help us 48:42 that we might be obedient 48:44 to the leading of Your Holy Spirit, 48:46 that You would help us to see, 48:47 what it is that we can do to make this a reality. 48:51 We thank You, Lord, for the means 48:52 that You have provided and that You have entrusted us 48:56 with the ability to store the resources 48:59 You've given to us and that You have trusted us 49:02 to be channels of blessing to others. 49:06 So be with us now and might we bless others 49:09 so that You can come quickly. 49:11 We thank You in Jesus' name. 49:13 Amen. 49:24 It's my privilege to address our ASI audience on 3ABN. 49:29 And I want to thank you for joining and watching 49:31 the program this morning 49:33 and also participating in our offering. 49:35 I want to say a special thank you 49:37 to all of those individuals who maybe ASI members 49:39 that are not here this year, we miss you. 49:41 We want you to know that we're pleased 49:43 you're receiving the ASI blessing with us 49:45 via the 3ABN television network. 49:47 And those of you who maybe 3ABN viewers 49:49 that just happen to stumble on to ASI, 49:51 we want to welcome you here as well. 49:53 Hope you received a fantastic blessing. 49:56 If any of you, ASI members as well as other 3ABN members 50:00 would like to participate in this offering, 50:03 we just wanted to give you that privilege and tell you 50:05 how you could do that. 50:06 There are three ways that you can give. 50:08 One way is you can see 50:10 an address on the screen momentarily, 50:11 that is the address of our ASI organization 50:13 in Silver Spring, Maryland, just write out checks, 50:15 send that in, mark it ASI offering. 50:19 And for those of you who may be having a cell phone, 50:21 there's a text address as well, 50:24 if you want to text a pledge in, 50:25 you can feel free to do that. 50:26 As well if you want to go online to ASIministries.org. 50:31 There's a big red button right there that says donate 50:34 and you are welcome to just hit that button 50:37 and follow the directions 50:38 and you can participate in this offering as well. 50:40 I want to thank you all for your generous support 50:44 and for being a part of our ASI Convention 50:46 here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 50:48 Now there's also a telephone number up 50:50 on the screen for our office in Silver Spring. 50:52 If for any reason any of you would like to call 50:54 and talk with someone there, 50:55 one of our team members about the ASI organization 50:59 or if you would like to talk to someone about a gift 51:01 that you want to make to this offering, 51:03 feel free to call that number. 51:04 God bless you and have a wonderful Sabbath. |
Revised 2015-07-23