Participants: Homer Trecartin
Series Code: 15ASIC
Program Code: 15ASIC000005A
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00:20 Piano playing... His Eye is on the Sparrow...
00:42 I sing because I'm happy; 00:48 I sing because I'm free; 00:57 His eye is on the sparrow 01:07 And I know He watches me. 01:15 Why should I feel discouraged 01:22 and why should the shadows come? 01:29 Why should my heart be lonely 01:34 and long for heaven and home? 01:38 When Jesus is my portion, 01:43 a constant friend is He, 01:49 His eye is on the sparrow 01:54 and I know He watches me. 02:00 His eye... is on the sparrow 02:06 continuation music... 02:07 continuation of music... 02:09 some more music... 02:11 interim music... 02:12 and I know He watches me... 02:18 I sing because I'm happy; 02:25 I sing because I'm free; 02:34 His eye is on the sparrow 02:43 And I know He watches me... 02:53 closing music... 02:57 My name is Wayne Atwood, I'm from Better Living Ministry 03:02 or in French it's "Mieux Vivre" 03:03 and I'm delighted to be here 03:05 to introduce Claus Nybo this morning... 03:08 I think many of you know him, he's from LifeStyle TV 03:10 and we're delighted that you're here with us today. 03:13 I'd like to ask you... what are the challenges 03:17 surrounding your work at LifeStyle TV? 03:20 Well, Wayne, you know 03:22 it's a lot of the same as you're facing... I think... 03:23 working in Northern Europe and Scandinavia... 03:26 we have very few Adventists to begin with... 03:29 we have... probably as many Adventists 03:30 as typically will come out for an ASI Convention 03:33 in all of Scandinavia, 03:35 that's not very many to reach those countries... 03:38 on top of that... 03:39 this is ranked as the most secular areas in the world 03:43 so there are a lot of challenges 03:45 and I know each of you are facing challenges 03:46 so I don't want to claim the challenge 03:48 as being worse than what you're facing... 03:50 but these are some of the things that we're working with. 03:52 And what do you do 03:54 in order to try to reach those secular people 03:56 because that is something that's very important? 03:58 We have found that health is really one of the things 04:02 that opens up doors 04:04 amazingly... so we have developed that... 04:07 a whole comprehensive health strategy 04:09 to reach out to people 04:10 and so we do that from doing Health Expos... 04:14 a little different than what you did here in Spokane 04:16 but big Health Expos that 04:18 connect with people out in the shopping centers, 04:20 and introduces them to what we do, 04:23 we have then developed a magazine 04:26 that is an Outreach Health Magazine 04:28 that we give out free... four times a year 04:31 and so everybody that comes to the Health Expos... 04:34 we will sign up for a free subscription 04:36 to a magazine like this and that will then connect 04:39 to different health programming so we have 04:42 a health Series called Lifestyle Talk that connects in 04:45 and they go through a Lifestyle Expo, 04:47 get a lifestyle VIEW Magazine, 04:49 start watching Lifestyle Talk Programming on TV 04:52 and then... as they're in on the TV... 04:54 they will find the spiritual programs as well... 04:57 the Message Series 04:59 which is really what's going to bring them 05:01 to conviction and into the church. 05:03 That's a wonderful idea, 05:05 so people become familiar with this magazine 05:08 that's completely free... and then, because they know you, 05:11 then when you send other messages, 05:13 then... they have that connection. 05:15 That's really interesting because what we do... 05:18 we have the churches work with 05:19 signing up subscriptions in their area 05:22 and so, as they do that... 05:23 they will help build a mailing list 05:26 of subscribers in their area... 05:27 whenever the church then does any kind of health event, 05:31 then they will send us their flyers 05:33 and we will add it with the magazine when we mail it out, 05:36 so people will have found and build up confidence 05:39 in what they've been reading, 05:40 they see an advertisement 05:42 and it's no longer just a stand-alone advertising 05:44 like everything else, 05:45 but they will show up at the meetings 05:47 and we find that the rate of people 05:49 coming to the churches now... are much higher 05:52 than when the church just sends out flyers alone. 05:54 Yes, isn't that a great idea? It's just... 05:57 it's wonderful to be able to build up that confidence 05:59 so that the people recognize you because a lot of times 06:02 we just send out something kind of "cold-turkey" 06:04 if I can use that expression, 06:05 and people don't maybe make the connection 06:07 so that's just a wonderful idea 06:09 to be able to create connections that are ongoing 06:11 so, does it work? 06:13 It does and it's amazing... 06:16 I just... I'm so excited just two weeks ago, 06:19 I was at the Swedish Union Summer Conference 06:21 and there came up a couple to me 06:24 and they were so excited... 06:27 they came up and said, "You're from LifeStyle TV right?" 06:29 And so this couple shared how they had found LifeStyle TV 06:33 on the satellite about two years ago, 06:35 they started watching... 06:37 as they watched, they would watch more and more 06:40 and then they would find our "Great Controversy Series" 06:43 which is a Series that goes through The Great Controversy 06:45 chapter by chapter... 06:47 they said they followed every week, 06:49 they would record it on DVD and they would sit and watch it 06:52 they said... 25 times each... in order to make sure 06:55 that whatever was presented was according to the Bible, 06:58 at the end... when they were getting through all of this, 07:01 they were getting really worried... 07:03 they weren't going to get tricked into anything, 07:06 so the man... he says... "I drew up this chart 07:09 of what I believe of end-time events" 07:11 and then he says... "I couldn't believe it... 07:14 a couple of weeks later in the Program... 07:16 you held up a chart in the Program 07:18 and it was basically identical to what I drew up 07:21 and I knew that the Adventist Church was the right place" 07:25 so him... his wife... their daughter and her husband 07:29 four people... joined the church 07:31 this Wednesday as a result of that. 07:33 Wow! Amen, praise the Lord, well, your ministry LifeStyle TV 07:37 and our ministry... Better Living Ministry, 07:39 have something in common... 07:41 and I'd like you to tell us what you're doing 07:43 to train the next generation. 07:44 We do have... even a name, I believe, 07:47 we have the Media Missionary Program 07:50 where we train young people to learn about Media, 07:54 giving them an opportunity 07:56 to work with a professional media team 07:58 and to learn alongside... during one year... 08:01 and to see what Media is really like 08:03 and then they can go out in the churches... to work... 08:06 to other ministries and use their skills 08:08 and I think you have something similar to that don't you? 08:11 Yes, that's right, in fact I won't take the credit 08:14 because we kind of saw what LifeStyle TV was doing, 08:16 we saw that training young people 08:18 is something that's so much needed 08:20 and so we also were inspired to do something similar. 08:24 But before we get into the training, 08:26 why did you choose 08:28 a French-speaking area in Canada to work in? 08:31 Okay, well, when I moved to Quebec, Canada, 08:35 where my wife is originally from about 13-years ago, 08:38 I was very surprised to see how much work needed to be done 08:42 among French-speaking people 08:44 and at that time, I didn't speak the language, 08:47 so it took me awhile to kind of... realize... 08:49 how big the need was... 08:51 and so as I started to develop a burden for that, I thought, 08:55 "What better way to reach out to these people than using Media" 08:58 because Media can just go beyond 09:00 what any one individual can do 09:02 and so, we were just really inspired 09:04 to start a Media Ministry 09:06 that was dedicated to reaching out to French-speaking people 09:09 and of course our first goal was to reach out 09:12 to French-Canadians because that's where we were 09:14 but our second goal was to reach out 09:16 to French-speaking people all over the world 09:18 so that remains just a passion in my heart 09:21 to be able to do that. 09:22 And does that work then to reach French people? 09:26 That's a really good question and I would say that 09:29 it is a big challenge to reach out 09:31 to French-speaking people 09:33 and it's something where we have to be creative... 09:35 it's something where we have to use new methods as well, 09:39 it's... health is... is a wonderful thing 09:41 that we've also used in the past, 09:43 I won't talk about it a lot this morning 09:45 but it's something that we've seen... 09:46 very good results from as well 09:48 and... and we were... 09:50 we feel that this is so important 09:53 to be able to provide materials in French, 09:57 originally recorded in French, 09:58 so it makes much more of a connection 10:00 than things that are just 10:01 translated from another language. 10:03 You have worked specifically also in reaching young people 10:06 with some of your programming, 10:07 what are some of the initiatives you've done there? 10:09 Yes, well, I guess what I could start with is 10:12 to just explain a little bit about how... 10:15 what we have in common in our programs... in that 10:18 we really felt that training young people 10:20 is something that is just so important 10:22 because they're the next generation 10:24 that is going to take the gospel message to the world 10:28 and they have so much energy and so much enthusiasm 10:31 and unfortunately, 10:32 media is something that is often used 10:34 I think, in the hands of Satan 10:38 in order to influence people in the wrong way, 10:40 I mean, everybody can see that it's no secret... 10:42 and yet... media is so important for us to use it for God's glory 10:47 so we were just inspired and one thing that really... 10:50 I would say... there are two kinds of motivating factors 10:52 for us when we decided to launch this program... 10:55 one of it was seeing what you guys are doing 10:57 and inspired by what you're doing... 10:58 another thing that was really the deciding factor for us 11:02 was when we went out on a mission trip... in Honduras 11:05 to Vida Internacional... it's also a project or a member 11:09 I should say... of ASI and so we saw down there 11:13 a vibrant training program, it wasn't particularly in Media 11:17 but it was... we saw these young people 11:19 and all the energy they brought 11:20 and we were just convinced and the amazing thing is... 11:23 is that... there were two people that we met right there 11:27 that decided to join the Program and so... 11:30 to us it was also a confirmation that God was opening the door 11:34 and once again, you sweetened... 11:35 and to help... encourage us to move forward. 11:38 Really, literally so... because one of your trainees 11:41 was one of our employees, right? 11:42 Yes, that's right... and we sent one of our people 11:46 to get trained by you as well, 11:47 before we even started the training program. 11:49 You're right and so we like that partnership 11:51 but you did a specific program as well for young people 11:55 where you involved them in issues 11:56 that are related to young people. 11:58 Yes... that's absolutely right, 12:00 we did a Series called "Conviction" 12:02 we recorded it in French 12:04 but it's actually also the first program 12:06 that we recorded in English as well, 12:08 we did 26 episodes and we had young people come and share 12:13 their convictions on a variety of topics 12:17 including topics like Evangelism 12:19 which is something that's pretty standard, 12:21 but also things like homosexuality, peer pressure, 12:24 things that young people face today... 12:26 challenges that they face and giving them Biblical answers 12:30 but also targeting those 12:32 that don't have so much of a background of the Bible yet, 12:34 so they can know how they can stand strong. 12:37 Very good... now your program... 12:39 you already touched this a little... 12:41 but they're just available in France... are they? 12:43 No, the programs are actually all available on our website 12:47 and we're also broadcasting on Hope Channel 12:51 as well as on 3ABN French 12:53 and the new program is most likely going to be 12:56 also broadcast on 3ABN... 12:57 the English-speaking one on 3ABN as well, 13:00 so... we've developed some partnerships. 13:02 You know, it's interesting, 13:04 I think we have time for just one story, Wayne, 13:07 what we all live on is prayer and faith 13:10 you know, when we started this magazine, 13:12 one really unique experience was... 13:15 in Sweden you have to get permission by the Government 13:18 to use the title that you're going to use for your magazine 13:21 before you can publish, so we thought, "No problem... " 13:23 we sent in our application, 13:25 got it back within a couple of weeks and it said, "Denied... " 13:27 and so they wouldn't let us use that title 13:30 because they thought... somebody else was using the word 13:33 "Lifestyle" in another title, 13:35 we didn't agree with them 13:36 and really felt that this was what we needed, 13:39 so we started a long legal battle 13:41 with the main lawyer of the Government 13:44 for the Patent Registration Department 13:47 and to make a long story short 13:49 over four months we went back and forth 13:51 on a legal battle and finally she told us on Christmas, 13:54 "You know, we hear your arguments 13:55 but it's not going to fly, 13:57 so just send another application with another name... " 14:00 and I don't know why, Wayne, 14:02 because I've never done this before... 14:03 especially in secular Sweden 14:05 but seeing that we had a Christian background... 14:07 I told the head lawyer, I said, 14:08 "Thank you but we believe God wants us to have this name 14:12 and we're going to pray 14:14 that you're going to change your mind. " 14:15 And two months later... 14:19 after we had had a whole week of special prayer, 14:22 all of a sudden I get a letter from the Government 14:26 that just simply was... the right to use the name 14:30 without any explanation... totally unheard of 14:33 and I just said, "Thank you Lord" 14:35 and so God works... 14:36 and I'm sure you could share many stories as well. 14:39 I will actually share one for fifteen seconds 14:41 and that is that we had a couple... 14:44 a family with young children 14:46 that were listening to our programs 14:47 they were just eager to hear more, 14:48 they downloaded all of our radio programs, 14:50 they listened to them in their car... day after day after day, 14:53 they were so convicted that this was the right message 14:56 that they joined the church and a lot of times, you know, 14:58 we don't see what happens after... 15:01 but these particular people actually joined our local church 15:04 and now they're Leaders in the church, 15:05 they're committed to our message... completely... 15:08 and, in fact, I would say they're probably more advanced 15:11 than a lot of Adventists 15:12 that have been there for a while already. 15:14 Amen, I wish we had more time 15:15 but a great thank you to our ASI family 15:17 for your support and your prayers 15:20 and to 3ABN for your inspiration 15:22 and commitment to help us. 15:23 Wayne: Thank you... Claus: Thank you. 15:24 I'm here to tell you about some bad news and some good news. 15:28 The bad news is... 15:30 is that our Speaker that's on your program today, 15:34 Endo Condra is not going to be able to be with us, 15:37 he had a sudden... some sickness... 15:41 but we praise the Lord 15:42 that we just got a report that he's doing better 15:45 and he's on the road to recovery 15:46 but we have really good news for you today, 15:49 because we have the privilege of having Homer Trecartin here 15:53 the President of our 15:55 North Africa and Middle East Union. 15:57 Now, it's interesting, 15:59 I had the privilege of being in Dubai last November 16:03 and I was with Elder Finley and Larry Romwell, 16:06 we were walking through the bazaar 16:08 and as you know... I like to take pictures 16:11 and I was looking for the Spice Market... 16:13 while I was looking for the Spice Market, 16:15 we got lost... and all of a sudden this gentleman yells out 16:19 there's this... "Pastor Finley, Pastor Finley" 16:21 and we look around because 16:23 we don't think we know anybody there 16:24 and this man walks up in a uniform and he says, 16:26 "I just want you to know that I listen to you all the time... 16:30 see... I'm able to get Audioverse 16:33 and I download sermons every week 16:35 because there's no church around 16:36 and so I get my spiritual fulfillment 16:39 from listening to you through Audioverse, 16:41 I own a business... " 16:43 so he would be a real ASI member and... there in Dubai... 16:48 and he says, "But I had the privilege... 16:50 every Sabbath, me and a team... 16:52 have a privilege... " he pulled out a card... 16:53 "we're able to pray with patients at the hospitals 16:57 and that's my ministry. " 16:59 and so... I was just really gratified to hear that 17:03 we have business people and lay people 17:05 that are involved all over the world 17:07 and Homer... you went... because I know... 17:11 Homer, we've known each other for... we tried to remember... 17:14 we couldn't remember how long we've known each other 17:17 but you... had a nice... lived in Washington, D.C. 17:20 and had a job there, 17:24 what made you decide to go to the Middle East? 17:28 Well, Denzil... 17:29 it's more dangerous in Washington, D.C. 17:32 than it is in the Middle East... 17:34 but that wasn't the reason, 17:37 we... you know... we have grandkids here... 17:40 our parents are getting older, 17:41 I hugged my folks goodbye a couple of days ago 17:45 and I always know that could be the last time I see them 17:48 but we felt God was calling us, there are so few people 17:51 in the Middle East and North Africa... 17:53 to share the gospel 17:55 and so when they asked me to go, we said, "Yes... " 17:58 Amen, Homer thank you for sharing and please... 18:02 tell us what's on your heart. 18:03 Thank you Denzil... we could repeat that story 18:07 you shared with us many times, Denzil, 18:10 there are many people that are watching and listening 18:13 even that we don't know about, 18:14 you know I'm... I'm going to tell some stories 18:19 I'm not going to show any pictures for security reasons 18:22 I'm going to change the names 18:24 on any of the people that I talk about 18:26 and a lot of times I won't tell you what Country it's from 18:28 but... but you can know... I want you to get a sense 18:32 for what's happening 18:33 in the Middle East and North Africa Union. 18:35 A few years ago, 18:37 a teenager that I'm going to call, "Walid" 18:40 he's from one of our North African countries, 18:43 a few years ago he was a teenager 18:45 and he was watching curiously but suspiciously 18:49 as a group of Christian young people came to his village. 18:53 "What in the world would they want to do 18:55 coming to his village?" he wondered 18:58 but after a few minutes they organized a football game... 19:01 soccer game and they began to play 19:03 and Walid loved football and so soon he was joining with them 19:07 and it wasn't long... and he became 19:09 fast friends with three of the young men. 19:11 They spent all their time together each day 19:15 during the week or two that the young people were there, 19:17 one of the young men was asking Walid 19:21 lots of deep, serious questions about Islam 19:25 and one night as Walid went back to his room, he was thinking, 19:28 "You know if I could convince that young man 19:32 to become a Muslim, 19:33 I would assure myself a place in paradise, 19:36 so for the next three days, Walid worked intently 19:40 on that young man, he used every argument, 19:44 everything that he had ever heard or had been taught 19:47 and by the end of the third day, 19:49 that young Christian man said the Shahada and became a Muslim. 19:52 Walid went back to his room that night 19:56 thinking he would be thrilled and excited, 19:59 I mean, "I just assured myself a place in paradise" 20:03 but he wasn't... he lay on his bed tossing and turning, 20:06 "What was wrong, 20:08 why didn't he feel better about what was happening?" 20:11 And then a thought came to Walid, 20:14 it was so strong a thought 20:15 that it was almost as if a voice had spoken to him, 20:19 "Walid, you've been criticizing the Bible a lot 20:23 but you've never read a word of it. " 20:25 "Well," Walid thought, 20:28 the next day he went to see the three young men 20:31 and it was their last day in the village and he said to them, 20:34 "Could you write down some passages from the Bible 20:37 on a piece of paper that I could read later?" 20:40 He didn't know what a hard assignment he was giving them 20:43 he knew that Muslim young people 20:46 learned large passages of the Quran by memory, 20:49 he didn't know that most Christian young people don't... 20:51 and those three young men thought and thought and thought 20:54 and they finally came up with two or three things 20:57 and put them on some scraps of paper 20:58 and Walid stuck them in his pocket, 21:01 he went back to his room that night 21:03 and he took out the first one, 21:04 it was going to be the first passage of Scripture 21:07 he had ever read, 21:08 it was a passage about Mary being the mother of God, 21:14 Walid crumpled it up and threw it across the room in disgust, 21:18 "What a perverted book those Christians have," he said, 21:23 everybody knows God didn't have a mother, 21:25 well, Walid didn't know that that wasn't from the Bible 21:29 it was from their Catechism 21:31 and they didn't know it wasn't from the Bible... 21:33 it was just the only thing they could think of 21:35 and they had put it down, 21:36 so he pulled the next piece out it was also from their Catechism 21:40 but at least it was quoting from the Bible 21:43 at the top it said, "Thee our Father," 21:47 and as Walid read through those phrases 21:50 of the Lord's Prayer, 21:52 "Our Father, which art in heaven 21:54 hallowed be Thy name... " 21:56 and emotion swept over him 21:58 like nothing he had ever experienced before, 22:01 Walid's father had died when he was a little boy 22:04 and Walid had longed all his young life 22:06 for a daddy that he could talk to like the other boys had. 22:10 He knew God, he prayed to God, he went to the mosque, 22:15 he knew that God was the Creator He was the Almighty... 22:19 He was the merciful... he was the beneficent... 22:21 he could name the 99 names of God 22:24 that Muslims look at especially, 22:26 but he had never heard anybody refer to God as a Father... 22:31 that night as Walid finished his regular Muslim prayers, 22:36 he looked up and talked to God 22:38 like he might have talked to his father 22:41 if he were still alive, 22:42 it was a powerful experience, he was moved by it 22:45 and so the next day after all five times of prayer, 22:49 he talked to God in his heart 22:51 like he would have talked to his father, 22:52 day after day he did that, even in the mosque 22:56 he would have his regular prayers 22:58 and then talk to God like a father, 22:59 you know, we're finding throughout the Muslim world... 23:03 that that concept of God as the father is something 23:06 that is powerful to Muslims, 23:09 there's actually a book called, "I Dared to Call Him Father," 23:13 if you ever get a chance to read it, 23:15 that will give you little bit of a picture of the thinking there, 23:17 but Walid was going... for about a year and a half then 23:21 talking with God as a father every day, 23:23 toward the end of that time, 23:26 another thought came into his mind, 23:28 we know that there's a battle going on 23:30 and there are different forces giving us thoughts, 23:32 this thought was coming from the other side, 23:35 the thought was, "Walid, you know you learned 23:38 to pray like that... from Christians 23:41 and if you keep doing it, 23:43 you're probably going to become a Christian" 23:45 and Walid thought, "No, no, I don't want to be a Christian, 23:48 Christians are heathens 23:49 they drink alcohol, 23:51 they eat pork, they pray to saints, 23:52 I don't want to be a heathen Christian," 23:55 so Walid tried to stop, 23:58 that night when he said his regular Muslim prayers, 24:01 he just stopped... he didn't talk to God like a father 24:05 but something was empty, he couldn't sleep, 24:08 he was tossing and turning, 24:09 he missed that close time with God, his father, 24:14 and finally he broke down and did it again 24:16 and for the next week or two Walid was wrestling with God. 24:21 He was wrestling with himself, 24:23 he wanted to keep talking to God like a father 24:26 but he felt he should quit, 24:27 and then in the midst of that wrestling, 24:29 Walid had a dream, 24:30 in his dream, he saw that he had died 24:33 and his body was laid out on the ground 24:35 in the normal fashion, everything was normal, 24:38 there was nothing fearful about the dream 24:40 the family gathered around in a circle in the normal way, 24:44 some of the family members dug the grave, 24:46 when it was ready, 24:47 one uncle came over and 24:49 picked Walid's body up by the head 24:51 and the other uncle came and picked him up by the feet 24:53 and began to carry his body toward the grave, 24:56 it was just the way he had seen it happen many times 24:59 but suddenly in his dream, 25:02 he saw something that nobody else seemed to be seeing, 25:05 he saw flames leaping up out of the grave 25:08 and the uncles were moving step by step toward that grave 25:12 to drop his body in that burning grave 25:16 and he was terrified 25:17 but just before they dropped the body in, 25:20 a voice called out, "Stop... " 25:22 everybody turned to look 25:25 and there stood Jesus at the end of the grave, 25:27 Jesus had His hand up and he said, 25:30 "Don't put him in there, this one belongs to me" 25:34 and then Walid woke up, sweat pouring off his body, 25:38 "What did the Prophet Isa mean, 'this one belongs to me?'" 25:42 Remember, he didn't know of Jesus 25:45 as anything except a Prophet... 25:47 what did the Prophet mean? "This one belongs to me... " 25:50 for the next week or two, Walid could hardly sleep or eat, 25:54 he was just constantly thinking, 25:56 "What did Isa mean... 'this one belongs to me?'" 26:00 Then one day, Walid found himself in a bookstore 26:03 and the bookstores in our part of the world 26:06 can be just like the bookstores you're used to here, 26:09 or they can be really fascinating places, 26:12 you know, you'll go into one part of a building 26:15 and find that there would be many, many, many little cubicles 26:18 each one with an old man sitting in the back 26:21 looking over his glasses and stacks of books and magazines 26:25 from floor to ceiling, 26:27 if you find what you want, 26:29 you have to pull it out carefully 26:30 and make sure the whole stack doesn't fall over 26:32 and Walid was standing in one of those 26:34 absentmindedly... vacantly staring 26:37 at the stack of books in front of him, 26:40 he wasn't thinking about anything there, 26:42 he was thinking about, "What did the Prophet Isa mean, 26:46 I belong to him?" 26:47 And then his eyes focused and right in front of him 26:51 were two Bibles... 26:52 the first two he had ever seen in his life, 26:55 excitedly, Walid pulled them out of the stack 26:58 and rushed to the little old man who quickly grabbed the Bibles 27:02 with terror on his face and stuffed them under the counter 27:06 and said, "Absolutely not... 27:07 do you know what would happen to me 27:09 if I sold those Bibles to you... a Muslim? 27:12 Those are there for tourists... not for Muslims. " 27:15 Well, Walid came back every day begging for those Bibles. 27:20 Finally, one day, nobody else was in the area 27:23 and the old man looked cautiously both directions 27:26 to make sure no one was around 27:27 and then he said, "Okay, I'll sell you the little one" 27:31 he took it out, wrapped it in a trash bag, 27:34 and Walid put it inside his coat and went back to his room 27:37 and that night he read the little one, the gospel of Luke, 27:40 over and over and over again and it changed his life 27:45 a few more weeks and months and years went by 27:49 in that time, Walid met some other Christians, 27:52 he studied with them a little bit, 27:54 he was baptized into their church 27:56 but what they were teaching and what he was reading 27:59 in the Bible wasn't matching up 28:00 so he was frustrated 28:02 and then one day a lady came into his shop 28:05 where Walid was working, 28:07 she was from West Africa, 28:08 she was a Banker who had moved to his country, 28:12 she was an Adventist, they started a friendship 28:15 she began to talk, 28:17 they started praying together once in a while, 28:19 she began to invite him to their Bible Study Group 28:21 that a group of the Adventist business people 28:24 who were there working... had going on... 28:26 and after another year or two 28:29 of wrestling with smoking and studying, 28:31 finally, Walid was baptized 28:33 and joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 28:35 today, Walid is one of our very few national pastors 28:41 in the Middle East and North Africa, 28:45 Walid and we thank God for a lay person, 28:48 a banker, who moved to a strange country to work 28:53 and wondered what they could possibly accomplish there 28:56 but God used their faithful work to bring Walid to Him. 29:00 We need hundreds more like that Banker lady 29:05 to come and help us in the Middle East and North Africa 29:07 but when you think of MENA, 29:09 the Middle East and North Africa, 29:11 I can almost guarantee, you think of wars, terrorism, 29:15 maybe deserts, oil, maybe a few camels and pyramids 29:20 and yes, we have all of that, 29:22 we also, as Denzil was mentioning, 29:24 have some of the most fantastic architecture in the world 29:27 in Dubai... in Qatar... in some of the other places, 29:31 we have so much, 29:32 we have mountains with snow in them, 29:34 in fact, we have snow skiing in Lebanon every winter, 29:36 a year or two ago, 29:38 we had 21 feet of snow in the mountains 29:40 and... it's not what you picture in your minds from the news, 29:44 but what I really wish is if you could see the people, 29:47 real people... like you and I... 29:50 people who love their families and who worry about the future 29:54 and there are lots of people in MENA, 29:58 there are 500 million of them, 30:02 that's way more people than live in the entire 30:05 North American Division, 30:07 we have 500 million people, 30:10 in fact there are only three divisions of the world church 30:14 that have as many people as MENA has, 30:17 MENA is a huge territory 30:19 with almost no Seventh-day Adventists. 30:22 It takes me longer to fly across the Union 30:25 than it does to fly from Lebanon to the United States, 30:28 in fact, if I took our Union and I put a pin in Morocco 30:32 on one edge and flipped the whole union over, 30:35 Iran comes to somewhere over by San Antonio, Texas... 30:40 it's a huge, huge Union. 30:43 If you divided up every Seventh-day Adventist 30:47 in the North American Division 30:48 so that we all lived in a different community 30:51 and if we had each Adventist member 30:54 contact one person a day, 30:56 it would take us about a year to make the first contact 31:00 with everyone living in North America, 31:02 if we did the same thing in India, it would take two years 31:05 in South America... five months, 31:08 in Peru... about a month, 31:10 if we went to the Philippines, it takes four months, 31:14 in Southern Africa Indian Ocean Division, 31:16 it would take 58 days, 31:17 but if we divided up every Adventist 31:20 in the Middle East and North Africa... 31:22 so that even my wife and I lived in different cities, 31:25 and if each of us contacted one person a day, 31:29 it would take us 450 years 31:33 to contact everybody that's currently living there 31:36 with the first contact, 31:37 you see, we have very few Seventh-day Adventists 31:42 living in the Middle East and North Africa, 31:44 to look at it another way... 31:46 around the world... we have an average 31:49 of one Seventh-day Adventist Church or Company 31:52 for every 50,000 people, that's average around the world, 31:57 one for every 50,000 people, 31:59 if we had that average in MENA, 32:02 we should have 10,000 churches and Companies 32:06 but we have about 40, 32:09 not 10,000 like the world average... 32:12 we have about 40, 32:14 if a wealthy donor came along 32:16 and gave us money to buy or build or rent 10,000 churches... 32:21 so that we could have the same average as the world, 32:25 we couldn't even put one member in each of those churches, 32:29 in fact, every Sabbath morning, each of our 3,000 members 32:32 would have to run around and quickly turn the lights on 32:36 and open the doors of three churches. 32:38 We can't even... we don't have a Company or a Church 32:43 for every 50,000... 32:44 we don't even have one member for every 50,000 people, 32:48 we have so few Adventists to be lights in our communities 32:53 and yet the work in our area goes forward only 32:57 when we have people on the ground 32:59 beginning to make friends like the man that Denzil met 33:03 working there... praying with people in the hospital... 33:06 that's when the work goes forward. 33:08 Mrs. White described well the work in our part of the world 33:12 in Ministry of Healing page 143 and I know you know this quote, 33:17 she said, "Christ's method alone 33:19 will give true success in reaching the people, 33:22 the Savior mingled with men as one who desired their good, 33:26 he showed His sympathy to them, ministered to their needs 33:30 and won their confidence, 33:31 then He bade them, 'Follow me. '" 33:34 Our problem is... around the world, including MENA, 33:38 we often want to skip over those first steps 33:41 and go right to the last one 33:43 to inviting people to follow Jesus 33:46 that's definitely our longing in the Middle East and North Africa 33:49 we want to invite people to follow Jesus, 33:52 but it's the last step in the process... not the first step 33:57 and it's usually ineffective 33:59 unless we have carefully followed the first steps. 34:02 Mrs. White goes on in that same passage 34:06 in Ministry of Healing, page 143, 34:08 she said, "There's need of coming close to the people 34:10 by personal effort... 34:12 if less time were given to sermonizing. " 34:15 Okay, that's hard for Pastors and Evangelists 34:18 she says, if less time... not more... 34:21 if less time were given to sermonizing, 34:24 and more time was spent in personal ministry... 34:27 greater results would be seen, 34:30 "the poor are to be relieved, the sick cared for, 34:34 the sorrowing and the bereaved comforted... 34:36 the ignorant instructed, the inexperienced counseled, 34:40 we are to weep with those that weep 34:42 and rejoice with those that rejoice, 34:45 accompanied by the power of persuasion, 34:47 the power of prayer, the power of the love of God, 34:52 this work will not... cannot be... without fruit. " 34:57 That holds true in MENA today, that's a wonderful promise 35:02 regardless of what you see in the news 35:05 and what your mind tells you about our part of the world, 35:07 hearts are opened in the Middle East and North Africa 35:10 like never before in history, 35:13 we have tremendous opportunities today as a church, 35:17 the problem is... we don't have anyone on the ground 35:20 in most of the cities in MENA who can mingle, meet needs, 35:25 make friends and then invite people to follow Jesus. 35:29 Not long ago, a Muslim man in Iran 35:33 had a dream, 35:34 man! we can tell you many stories about dreams, 35:37 but in his dream... 35:38 he heard that guests were coming to visit him 35:42 and he was really, really frustrated... 35:45 because he had nothing to offer them, 35:47 now, one of the most humiliating things that can happen to you 35:52 if you are a Middle Easterner, 35:53 is for guests to come... and you have nothing to share with them, 35:56 sometimes, Barbara and I have visited in... even a poor home 36:00 and if we got there by surprise 36:03 and they didn't have anything to share with us, 36:06 we would notice one of the little kids 36:07 slip out the back door and in a few minutes 36:10 come back in carrying a bag 36:12 with a bottle of soda and some cookies, 36:13 they have to have something to share with their guests, 36:17 this man... he was concerned because guests were coming 36:21 and he had nothing to share with them, 36:22 what was he going to do? 36:23 And then suddenly, a picture on the wall 36:26 started talking to him, 36:28 he looked at it in surprise and it was a picture of Jesus, 36:32 and the picture said to him, 36:34 "Don't worry about what you're going to give your guests, 36:37 I am here, I will give them living water" 36:40 and then the man woke up, 36:42 he didn't know what it meant, 36:44 you remember, he had never read the Bible... 36:46 and he had absolutely no idea 36:48 what Jesus might be talking about with "living water," 36:51 he didn't know who he could go to... to ask, 36:54 he assumed that a Christian might know the answer to that... 36:58 a follower of Jesus, 36:59 but if there were any followers of Jesus in his Iranian village, 37:03 he didn't know who they were, 37:05 they would have been secret and he didn't know who to go to 37:08 but he knew he had a nephew 37:10 that had recently become a Christian, 37:13 in fact, he had really mistreated that nephew 37:16 after he became a Christian, he had turned him away 37:19 and said, "You are no longer a part of the family... " 37:22 he wouldn't let him come visit his cousins, 37:24 he had totally shut him off, 37:25 he wondered if the nephew would even be willing to help him 37:29 but finally... secretly... he went and found the nephew 37:32 and told him the dream 37:34 and said, "Can you tell me what it means?" 37:36 And lovingly, with great rejoicing... 37:38 his nephew got out his Bible and read to him the passage 37:42 about Jesus and the woman at the well and the living water 37:46 read to him... several other passages 37:48 about the water of life and today... that uncle... 37:51 and his whole family... and almost half of the village 37:55 in Iran are secret believers in Jesus 37:58 and the nephew... 38:00 more recently the nephew took a trip out of Iran 38:03 and while he was outside in a neighboring country, 38:06 he "accidently" bumped into some Seventh-day Adventists, 38:10 and after a period of deep study and searching, 38:13 he has joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church 38:16 and today he's looking for ways to share what he has learned 38:20 with his uncle and others. 38:22 Those stories are being repeated over and over throughout MENA 38:28 wherever we're able to plant a dedicated Adventist 38:31 in an unentered community. 38:33 But what about the 100s and 100s of cities in MENA 38:37 where we don't have a single 38:39 remnant end-time believer in Jesus... living? 38:42 Who is going to tell them? 38:44 Who's there to live and mingle and meet their needs 38:47 and win their confidence 38:49 and then invite them to follow Jesus? 38:51 Did you know that Jesus... while He was here on earth, 38:55 never told His followers to pray for money? 38:59 But over and over again, 39:02 He told them to pray for laborers... 39:05 to go into the harvest... we understand why. 39:09 We always could use more money 39:11 and we are thankful for you members 39:14 who are faithful in your tithes and mission offerings, 39:17 those provide the bulk of our support for the work in MENA, 39:21 we're also thankful for donors 39:23 who go above and beyond 39:24 their regular tithes and mission offerings 39:27 and make special donations to our work, 39:29 those donations are a tremendous blessing 39:32 but our greatest need is not money, 39:34 it's people... dedicated Seventh-day Adventists 39:38 who are willing to come in and work 39:40 in our countries in MENA, 39:42 so today... I want to share with... 39:45 a few of our needs with you, I could give you a huge list, 39:47 I shared a few at the GC Session, 39:49 I'm going to give you a few different ones here 39:51 and repeat one or two... but we could give you many, 39:54 I just want to share a few with you 39:57 especially, I want to plead with you 40:00 to be praying that God will send tentmakers to MENA. 40:04 Tentmakers... you know... it's kind of a loose term 40:08 that we use to refer to anyone who is working at a job 40:13 to earn their support, 40:14 not getting their support from the church 40:17 but who is there as a missionary like Paul, 40:19 like Priscilla and Aquila, tentmakers... 40:22 we need people who are willing to come and work in our area 40:26 not just to make money, 40:28 we need dedicated Adventists that are willing to come 40:31 who know that their reason for being there... is mission. 40:35 You know what a difference that attitude makes? 40:37 I want to illustrate it with another category of worker, 40:41 I was surprised to find that 40:43 in the Middle East and North Africa, 40:46 we have 100s of "Adventist Students" 40:49 who have come from around the world on scholarships 40:51 to study in many of the universities... 40:54 hundreds of them but their goal in coming 40:57 has been the degree, so when that's their goal, 41:01 then... everything else becomes secondary 41:05 and if the pressure builds up, they compromise, 41:09 they begin to take their tests on Sabbath, 41:11 they begin to do things that they know they shouldn't do, 41:15 they're compromising because their goal 41:18 is the degree... not mission... 41:21 when we go around the world 41:23 and recruit students for our program 41:25 that we call "The Waldensian Student program" 41:28 where we handpick young people 41:29 and plant them in universities for mission... 41:32 their purpose is different, 41:34 we have about 50 of them in place right now 41:38 in various universities 41:40 and we're looking for many more than that, 41:41 their goal is the mission and so when the pressure comes, 41:45 they're willing to fail a class if necessary, 41:48 they're willing to get thrown out of school 41:50 if that's what happens and be sent home, 41:52 their goal is the mission. 41:55 When a person comes to a country 41:57 in the Middle East and North Africa, 41:59 just for a job and money, they're afraid to lose that job. 42:03 What will their family do for support back home? 42:06 What will happen to their investment in getting there? 42:09 What if their boss makes up a story about them 42:12 and they get thrown into jail? 42:14 If they've come for the money... 42:15 they are easily led to compromise what they stand for, 42:21 but if they come for mission, 42:23 they see their job as a way of being there 42:25 to become friends with people they could otherwise not touch, 42:28 they do excellent work 42:31 because they're there as a witness for Jesus, 42:33 they make friends and pray for their co-workers 42:36 and clients to have dreams. 42:37 You know, in the Middle East and North Africa Union, 42:40 there are millions... literally millions... 42:43 of people coming into our countries to work every year, 42:47 most of them are non-Christian 42:49 and most of them are coming in for the money, 42:51 they're coming in to take jobs in big companies and Governments 42:55 where they work as Professors, as Doctors, as Nurses, 42:59 as Engineers, Cell-phone Technologists, 43:02 Computer Programmers, Accountants, Bankers, 43:05 Taxi Drivers, Construction Personnel 43:08 and House Help... any type of work, 43:10 they're coming in by the thousands, 43:13 by the millions and we believe 43:15 that there should be hundreds or even thousands 43:18 of dedicated Seventh-day Adventists 43:20 coming in as part of that group to be there for a witness 43:24 not just for the job, 43:26 we don't need... just pastors... 43:29 in fact, we can't use very many pastors, 43:32 we will accept a pastor if he has another degree 43:37 but what we really need are people 43:40 with other specialties, other degrees, 43:43 other work experience that can come in, 43:45 we need professionals from every walk of life 43:48 and then... we have a goal... we haven't gotten there yet, 43:52 we need some money, we need some help 43:54 but we need to develop a database 43:57 for recruiting tentmakers. 43:59 We need to have the names and addresses and languages 44:03 and CVs and Skill Sets and Experience, 44:06 of 1,000s of Seventh-day Adventists 44:09 in that database, 44:10 so that when we see a job posted in Kuwait 44:14 or Yemen or Saudi Arabia or Morocco 44:17 or Libya or somewhere else, 44:19 we can quickly get on the phone 44:21 with somebody who has the right skills and say, 44:24 "Would you be willing to go to that city as a Tentmaker 44:28 and take that job with that big company 44:30 or that Government office?" 44:31 There's an Adventist Engineer 44:35 who has been working in Saudi Arabia for many years, 44:37 he and his wife worked very hard at their jobs 44:41 and at making friends with 44:44 the people in their community and their co-workers. 44:47 They regularly have people over to their house for meals 44:50 and often... in that quiet personal setting, 44:53 the discussions turned to spiritual matters, 44:55 one young man that comes to their house many times 44:59 through the last few years, works in a different city. 45:02 When he's off work for a weekend or a few days, 45:05 he comes to where this tentmaker couple live 45:08 and sometimes spends days at their house 45:11 just watching them, listening, talking, studying, sharing... 45:15 they've begun to share Bible principles with him 45:19 and he's using those in his issues of family and work 45:22 and he's seeing dramatic changes 45:25 as a result of listening to the Bible principles 45:28 and applying them to his life. 45:30 Do you know where that young man works? 45:32 He works in Mecca... 45:34 now Mecca is a city of more than a million people, 45:38 it's one of our big cities that we have absolutely no idea 45:43 how we're going to get somebody in there to work, 45:46 when I drive through Saudi Arabia and I go past Mecca 45:49 that's what I have to do, I have to go past Mecca 45:52 on the Interstate... there's a huge Interstate... 45:54 on the Interstate are these great big green signs... 45:58 one sign says, "Muslims only... left lanes" 46:02 the other sign says, 46:03 "Non-Muslims... right lanes only" 46:06 they have to go around the by-pass... 46:09 only Muslims can go into Mecca, 46:11 they have checkpoints and they... 46:12 they check to make sure, 46:14 "How are we going to get somebody into Mecca?" 46:17 We've been agonizing and praying over that, 46:19 but now we realize God already has a plan... 46:22 probably more than one that we aren't aware of... 46:25 he's already at work even in Mecca 46:27 and He's doing it through the lives 46:29 of a faithful tentmaker couple who have gone from their homes 46:34 to live in a difficult country of Saudi Arabia 46:37 and make friends with the people around them. 46:40 Another thing we need is... we need business people 46:44 to come and set up branches to their companies 46:47 in our countries, 46:48 you could tell us your expertise, 46:51 we could talk with you and choose a city 46:53 where we don't have anything going on 46:55 and that would fit your needs and our strategic plans 46:59 and you could come and open a branch, 47:01 you would have to do the research and get the permits 47:04 and do the funding sources and everything 47:07 but you would be helping to open up work 47:09 in a city where we currently have no Seventh-day Adventists. 47:13 Another thing we need is a series of Nursing Homes 47:16 or Elderly Care Facilities, 47:18 we need those Facilities to be staffed by Adventists 47:22 who don't drink alcohol, don't eat pork, 47:24 don't pray to saints... 47:26 what a powerful witness those workers would have 47:29 on the families who need a place to bring their elderly member 47:34 who no longer can be cared for at home... 47:37 In many of our cities... 47:39 a series of vegetarian restaurants or cafes would be 47:42 a wonderful blessing... 47:43 a way to open up work and make friends 47:45 and begin to meet people. 47:47 Another item that's very dear to our heart 47:51 is the Literature Ministry, 47:53 now that one has been a little hard... 47:55 a little puzzling what to do for the last few years, 47:57 but the last two summers... 47:59 we've gathered a group of young people 48:02 from America, Australia, Germany, Mexico 48:04 and our Middle Eastern countries 48:06 and we have teamed them up to sell books 48:09 for two summers now in Lebanon. 48:11 They've gone from city to city making amazing connections 48:15 and distributing 1,000s and 1,000s of books, 48:18 many of them are health books 48:20 but quite a few of them are also full message books 48:23 like "The Great Hope," 48:24 "The Great Controversy" and others... 48:26 We... we have a problem though, we need someone to come 48:32 and be a coordinator for follow up 48:34 for those Literature Evangelists' interests, 48:37 we have... 48:38 we have very few members and pastors 48:41 in most of the cities where they're selling books... 48:44 we don't have a single Seventh-day Adventist 48:47 and follow up... especially in our countries 48:49 is not a one-time visit. 48:51 Follow-up means somebody who will come back to the home 48:54 repeatedly... week after week... month after month... 48:57 maybe starting with answering their health questions 49:00 for the family and later... as they've won confidence... 49:04 the questions may turn to spiritual issues, 49:06 we need somebody 49:09 to come... an experienced Bible Worker 49:11 with training as a Health Educator... would be wonderful. 49:14 Right now... we don't have the person 49:16 or the budget for them but we believe God will supply, 49:19 we're just thrilled that at least we've been able to make 49:22 the first step and start selling books 49:24 but now we want to follow up on the selling of those books. 49:27 You see, the harvest is ripe 49:30 in the Middle East and North Africa. 49:32 Jesus didn't say, "Pray for the harvest" did he? 49:35 It's ripe... He... and we see that all the time, 49:38 He said, "Pray for laborers" that's what we're missing. 49:41 We need people on the ground, mingling, meeting needs, 49:45 winning confidence... 49:46 and then inviting their new friends to follow Jesus, 49:50 it's time for Jesus to come and we don't want to be here 49:54 another 450 years... I don't think we will be either. 49:58 We are seeing two parallel movements developing 50:02 The Holy Spirit is being poured out. 50:05 I believe the Latter Rain is falling today. 50:07 We are seeing... first of all... 50:10 doors to people's hearts being thrown open 50:12 across the Middle East and North Africa 50:15 like we've never seen before. 50:17 ISIS is helping with that a lot, 50:19 people are frustrated at what they're seeing 50:21 and they're saying, "There must be something different" 50:23 right now they don't want to talk to Christians... 50:26 they think Christians are pagans 50:28 and they don't want anything to do with them, 50:29 but they're also frustrated with their own religion 50:32 and when an Adventist moves into their community... 50:35 and they see someone who is a follower of Jesus 50:39 but doesn't wear a cross, doesn't drink alcohol, 50:42 doesn't eat pork, doesn't pray to saints, 50:44 doesn't live like the movies, 50:46 doesn't believe that the temple has to be re-built in Jerusalem, 50:49 when they see those things in an Adventist... 50:53 they say, "Wow!" and they begin to ask questions 50:56 every single time. 50:58 We are also seeing a movement 51:01 of God impressing the hearts of Adventists around the world, 51:05 we see it sweeping across our university campuses 51:08 and through gatherings of professionals, 51:10 dozens have been coming to us 51:13 and they're at various stages in making plans 51:16 to come and join us in the Middle East and North Africa. 51:19 They're making massive sacrifices, 51:22 giving up good-paying jobs to come to an unknown future... 51:26 in fact, we know and they know, 51:28 that some of them could well be called on 51:30 to make the ultimate sacrifice by coming. 51:33 Today, I want to share with you four situations 51:40 that are... that are in need of earnest prayer right now... 51:44 there's a Dentist and a Nurse couple from Europe 51:48 who are working on plans 51:50 to go to Southern Libya as tentmakers, 51:52 and I think you know the situation in Libya, 51:56 you see it in the news often... 51:57 they are going to need our prayers, 52:00 our earnest prayers for protection and guidance 52:03 as they move into that country, 52:05 we have a couple from the United States 52:07 that have just given up their jobs 52:09 and are heading to one of our countries 52:11 that's been often in the news with attacks on tourists... 52:15 terrorist attacks on tourists, 52:17 they are going to find work in one of those cities 52:20 that we have arranged with them. 52:22 He is a Social Worker, 52:23 she's been a teacher at one of our Adventist Universities, 52:27 and they've left that all to come to an unknown future 52:31 in a difficult country. 52:32 A young physician from the country of Colombia, 52:35 has given up a high-paying job at a prestigious university 52:40 where he teaches Neuro Rehabilitation, 52:43 I don't even know what it is, but it sounds impressive. 52:45 He has left all that 52:48 and gone to one of our largest countries in MENA, 52:51 a country that's been through a very difficult political time 52:54 and is continuing unrest... 52:57 and he's gone to find a job 52:59 in one of the universities or hospitals there, 53:02 so that he can be a tentmaker 53:04 and a French-speaking young lady 53:06 with an amazing background and skill set 53:08 has just gone to one of our French-speaking countries, 53:11 she has gone to the city that we've worked out with her 53:13 she had to go in there cold turkey 53:16 and find a place to stay, 53:17 she found a place to stay with someone from that country 53:21 a national... a widow lady... not a widow... 53:24 a recently divorced lady 53:25 and she's been there about two weeks now, I believe, 53:30 after the first week of living with that lady, 53:33 they lady said... 53:34 has had a number of deep spiritual discussions with her 53:37 and the lady says to her, 53:39 "I'm not sure exactly what's happening, 53:42 but I believe God sent you here to this city 53:46 for a special purpose. 53:47 Audience: Amen. 53:49 You know, these and many others 53:50 have already made their decision to go, 53:52 they're not just thinking about it... 53:54 they have actually entered the enemy's territory 53:57 and that old roaring lion is not going to sit by idly 54:01 and let them have a peaceful time of it. 54:03 We've added a 135 missionaries to MENA in the last three years, 54:08 we need to add 100s more to even make a drop in the bucket, 54:13 to even be able to put one or two people in each city, 54:16 100s more... but these people... 54:20 these pioneer missionaries 54:22 are going to need prayer warriors... holding them up. 54:25 They're going to need people to come and join them 54:29 and form teams in each city 54:31 and now I want to make a very specific call... 54:35 I... this is not a general call... 54:37 I don't want very many people to stand, 54:40 you need to consider carefully before you answer this call 54:44 but if you are willing... 54:46 to join some of these four individuals or the many others 54:50 who have been making the decisions to come, 54:52 if you're willing to join them and become part of their team 54:56 or some other team and go wherever God might send you, 54:59 would you stand with me? 55:01 I'm going to ask you to be careful... 55:03 as you make that decision, 55:05 it's not an easy decision and should not be made lightly, 55:09 I often cry as I make these calls 55:11 because I know that some who respond will never return home. 55:15 Some will be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice, 55:19 so I'm asking you not to stand 55:22 unless you're willing to be a martyr for Jesus, 55:24 if that's what He should ask, 55:26 if you... 55:28 feel that burden on your heart 55:30 now or at some point in the future, 55:32 come by the Adventist Mission Booth later today or tomorrow 55:36 and talk with us, give us your contact information 55:38 so that we can be in touch, 55:40 you know, a few months ago, 55:43 I was at our Adventist University... 55:45 yes you can sit down... thank you... 55:47 a few months ago 55:48 I was at our Adventist University in Colombia 55:50 for Mission Weekend, 55:51 on Friday night, the President, Dr. Acosta, 55:55 made a call for those who were willing to be martyrs 55:58 to come up on the platform 55:59 and more than a 100 business people and young people 56:03 came up on the platform... 56:05 then he asked me to come up and pray for them 56:07 but I could hardly pray 56:09 because of the tears running down my cheeks 56:12 and choking my voice, 56:13 you see... Dr. Acosta hadn't just called 56:17 other people's children, 56:19 there on the platform was his youngest daughter, 56:23 a university student who had come forward 56:25 and said, "I'm willing to be a martyr for Jesus, daddy" 56:29 not only that... I knew that Dr. Acosta's other daughter, 56:33 and son-in-law and granddaughter... 56:35 little bitty granddaughter 56:37 were even then... in the final stages of their move 56:39 from Argentina to the Middle East 56:41 where they would be working as tentmakers... 56:45 ASI, Spokane, Washington. |
Revised 2022-04-23