Participants: Derek Morris (Host), Brad Mills, Hope Baitinger, Jonathan Emerson, Kerry Greenfield, Randy Bivens, Sheldon Lee, Steve Grabiner
Series Code: 16ASIC
Program Code: 16ASIC000002A
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00:19 It's time for members in action. You know wherever I travel
00:24 in the world it's such a privilege to meet different 00:27 Adventists out there helping people and making a difference 00:31 in their lives. And tonight I have with me Jonathan, who is 00:36 the President of ADRA. Maybe tell us what ADRA stands for. 00:44 ADRA is Adventist Development and Relief Agency 00:49 Ok and that sounds pretty good. How many countries are we 00:53 working in? ADRA currently works in 139 countries around the 00:57 world. And you know wherever I travel the world I find ADRA 01:00 people doing different projects. I remember we worked in Zambia 01:03 They were working there and all over the world. 139 different 01:08 countries. Yeah. And you know our global impact is round about 01:13 20 million lives a year that we are able to touch and introduce 01:17 in a practical way the love of Jesus. I see. So what are some 01:22 of the ways that ADRA really gets involved. Give us some 01:25 examples of, you know you roll up your sleeves, what are you 01:28 doing in 139 different countries typically? 01:31 Sure. It's very difficult to say typically. I mean one of the 01:35 main sectors that we work in is what's called WASH 01:38 Water, Sanitation and Health. The average distance that a 01:41 woman walks every day to fetch water is 6 kilometers in Africa 01:45 They walk, it adds up to be 200 million hours a day, that women 01:51 have to use to fetch water. To put that into perspective 01:55 that is greater than the entire workforce of France. 01:58 You could build the Empire State Building 28 times a day 02:02 in the number of hours of labor that it takes women just to 02:05 walk to fetch water. More people in this world have access to a 02:09 mobile phone than have access to safe sanitation. 02:13 That's amazing. So you get involved in water. 02:15 In what ways? Digging wells? Yeah, we dig wells. We're 02:19 bringing safe water sometimes it might be in a mountain situation 02:23 So we'll pipe the water from the top of the mountain 02:25 from the original source to the villages down because 02:28 each village along the way sort of uses the water for 02:31 their food, but they also use it for other things and the 02:33 villages down the bottom are getting unsafe water. 02:36 You know I've been to communities where I've asked 02:38 them how many of you have lost children due to water borne 02:41 diseases and every single family has lost between 2-3 02:44 children to water borne diseases 02:47 So not only do you have to dig wells, provide wells 02:50 and so forth, you have to train people how to take care of water 02:53 We train them in how to wash their hands, we train them 02:55 how to actually monitor the water. Having fresh water 02:59 sometimes as you drill down in a well, it sometimes gets heavy 03:02 metals and so forth. So we give them kits. We come back 03:06 we make sure that they're doing all the tests properly 03:08 the system is still working properly. We set up a little 03:11 management committee so that the village takes responsibility 03:14 for themselves with that water. 03:17 This is a serious project and a long term one. It is. 03:19 How about hunger? Hunger is such a big thing around the world 03:22 today in certain parts of the world, especially. 03:25 Well you know hunger is a huge issue. There's over a billion 03:29 people tonight who are hungry. Who are starving and a lot of 03:34 that portion is in West Africa. So to give you a really positive 03:38 example, I look at an example that we did in Nepal about 03:44 60 kms away from Khatmandu. So we went in, they had 03:47 shortage of food. So we went in and trained them in agriculture 03:51 techniques and every family got a garden and then they were 03:54 growing extra food so they could actually sell that 03:57 to people who came from Khatmandu to buy the produce 04:00 And then when some of them went to Khatmandu they found out 04:03 that what they were being paid was very minimal compared to 04:06 what they were getting, you know what it was being sold in the 04:09 market. So they said, well can you help us to establish a 04:12 Growers Co-op. So we taught them literacy, numeracy and we 04:16 helped them set up a little Co-op and they were able to 04:18 get their produce to market and a greater return. 04:21 So then with the return they said, we'd like to improve our 04:24 community. We'd like to build a new bridge. We'd like to 04:26 put a clinic in. So they costed that out, it was about $150,000 04:32 So we helped them to set up a savings program and instructed 04:35 them how to do fund raising and gave them a little bit of 04:38 seeding money and within about 12 months they had raised the 04:42 150,000 and put in the new bridge, put in a new clinic 04:45 and then they came back and said, you know we'd like to 04:48 build a school and we'd like to do this and they came up 04:50 with a list that was a million dollars. 04:53 Well they didn't come back to us Because they didn't need to 04:56 They did it all themselves. We've moved on to another area 04:58 and it was just sustainable. 05:00 Now you know as I've seen in different countries 05:02 and you mentioned Africa particularly, there seems to be 05:06 that starvation period. It seems like there's a lot of food 05:08 there's no food. Have you been able to address that? 05:10 We have. You know what we try to do is we try to look at 05:14 ground sources. Sometimes we might have to use treadle pumps 05:17 we bring drought resistant cropping and we work with it 05:21 so that the families would plant something and then they'd eat it 05:25 and then there'd be a starvation period till it rained again. 05:28 If it didn't rain they wouldn't have food. 05:29 So once we've identified the ground water source 05:31 we've taught them cropping techniques, but we teach them 05:35 variety of foods. Because you know if you're in East Africa 05:37 they grow maize. If you're in West Africa they grow rice 05:40 But where's the nutritional balance. So we teach them 05:43 variety of foods, we teach them nutrition and then when we 05:47 leave every family has a garden which sustains them 05:50 in food all year round. 05:53 Tremendous work that you're doing. Now it's one thing 05:56 to have these on-going projects country after country after 06:00 country but ADRA also is a disaster relief organization 06:05 What about catastrophic events? Are you addressing some of those 06:09 Yeah. We have a global response team which we work altogether 06:13 as ADRA. So when there's a major disaster I will send one 06:17 team in, a rapid response team to assess and find out what's 06:20 needed. We'll raise the money, we'll go in and we'll respond 06:24 but we'll be there five years later. So we actually don't 06:27 live in those disasters. So you think of many of the disasters 06:30 Typhoon Hyan that happened maybe three years ago 06:33 we're still working in those communities until they're fully 06:36 recovered, till the economy is established, till they're back 06:38 in their businesses. Some agencies go in short term 06:41 but we stay in for the long haul 06:43 And you were involved in Nepal in the earthquake and so on 06:45 and you're still working there? Yeah. You know those long term 06:48 relationships are very important and very significant because 06:51 how do you build relationships with people. It's when you 06:53 build relationships with people that you become relevant in 06:56 their lives and that's when they ask you the important questions 06:59 about what drives you and that's when you can get into your 07:02 spiritual conversations. To go in and out is great. It fits a 07:07 short-term need but if we want to be present in their lives 07:10 and truly show the love of God then we've got to be present 07:13 in long-term to build those long-term relationships. 07:17 You mentioned to me it's getting tough to work in some of the 07:19 countries, there's a lot of polarization and attitudes 07:21 What can we do about that? Well you know I think at the 07:24 moment we're facing a unique time in world's history where 07:27 we are facing a whole lot of xenophobia, where people are 07:30 saying, look it was not in my backyard I'm not interested 07:33 There's a lot of hate talk that's going around the world 07:35 And we won't get into it cause we're running out of time 07:38 but what we'd really like you to do is to come around and 07:40 when we look at these things, we look at hunger, we look at 07:42 thirst. We look at the hate that's happening in the world 07:45 at the moment. And where is the voice of Jesus Christ? 07:48 Who is preaching love in the communities? So we'd like you 07:51 to come and visit our booth and stand up and say enough is 07:55 enough. We'd like to take your picture and we have a constant 07:58 collage going of people here who say, We are ready to be a part 08:03 of the solution in this broken world and to make a difference 08:06 and enough is enough and I'm going to be part of the solution 08:09 Total Member Involvement is really what it's all about 08:12 So come and join us in our booth. 08:14 Jonathan Duffy thank you so much for ADRA and the work that 08:16 you're doing and come by the exhibit and we'll take you up 08:20 on that. Thank you so much. 08:22 So next I'd like to invite two individuals to come out and join 08:25 us and tell us about a unique ministry. You know sometimes 08:29 when you get involved in helping in some kind of a ministry 08:33 you're first kind of a learner and then you get a vision of 08:36 of your own and it just has a birth and a growth and so 08:40 I have here Dawn Lewis and Floyd Courtney. Come on up here and 08:44 let's cozy up a bit and we'd like to hear a little bit more 08:47 about Jump Start Free Health Clinic. Now we have to go back 08:53 to Your Best Pathways to Health which was born just about two 08:57 years ago helping in the metro plex communities 09:00 San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles and down in San Antonio 09:05 Texas, in your territory. And helping thousands of people 09:09 So I think you were both involved in San Antonio 09:12 That's correct. And you gave medical services to anyone for 09:16 free. How many people were served there? 09:18 6000. 6000, isn't that amazing? And then a year later or so you 09:25 people got free medical care. That is correct. And so you left 09:32 there with a vision, we need to do this in our own territory 09:36 in the South West part of the country. That's correct. 09:40 We're gonna roll the video to show what you did just 09:43 last month, a few weeks ago and let's look at that and we'll 09:46 come back and comment in just a minute. 10:14 The city of Killeen nestled in Bell County, Texas 10:17 is home to more than 138,000 inhabitants. 10:21 Its diverse population of military, college students 10:26 and retirees make it a great place for many to call home 10:31 Many travelers from all walks of life have decided to stay 10:36 This city whose motto is "The City Without Limits" 10:39 became the site for a project without limits. 10:44 Jump Start Free Health Clinic 10:47 The vision began with a challenge made to Dr. Laila 10:50 Lewis, to make an impact at home instead of going abroad 10:54 to meet the needs of people without adequate health care 11:01 Bridges to Health in the Bay Area and Pathway to Health in 11:04 San Antonio led the way for the opportunity to serve in a bigger 11:09 capacity. Dawn Lewis after volunteering in San Antonio 11:14 could not put the experience out of her mind. Seeing so many 11:18 lives changed, she made a commitment to give back and 11:22 use the talents God had given her. 11:26 This was the inspiration to bring this event to Killeen, TX 11:35 Funding and support began pouring in and there was 11:38 no turning back. After nearly a year of prayer and planning 11:44 Jump Start Killeen opened its doors on July 14th at 7:00 am 11:49 The first day drew crowds that exceeded all expectations 11:53 Nearly 700 volunteers met the physical, spiritual and 11:58 emotional needs of many. I'm from Arkansas 12:02 Oregon, Missouri, British Virgin Islands, Tonga and South Pacific 12:06 I'm from Texas, Texas, viva Mexico, Wichita Kansas 12:10 Tennessee, Texas, Michigan, Honduras 12:16 As patients walked through the doors of the convention center 12:19 they were greeted by friendly faces, anxious to help 12:23 and ready to serve. Patients were personally escorted 12:27 to their respective areas. Dental, medical, pharmacy 12:33 vision, physical therapy, pediatrics, massage therapy 12:40 life style and nutrition, mental health counseling 12:46 Other services available included haircuts, day care 12:50 and laboratory work. As patients waited they were surrounded by 12:56 inspirational music and readily accessible prayer warriors 13:01 The floods of people who poured into the convention center 13:04 and the armies of volunteers was a perfect union to change 13:07 lives. But really, isn't that what it's all about? 13:11 As Christians we're called to be as Christ 13:15 to heal the broken hearted and bind their wounds 13:46 We can tell people that we love them 13:48 but it's another thing to show them. 13:55 Amen, isn't that beautiful? 13:58 You know my wife and I just participated in our first 14:00 Pathway in West Virginia a couple weeks ago 14:02 Floyd this is an amazing undertaking. 700 volunteers? 14:06 That's right. We were trying for 500 but the Lord blessed us 14:10 with nearly 700 volunteers. Medical, covering everything 14:14 lay people, that's right. What did you learn having put 14:18 together your own program in the South West. 14:20 I believe this is the most effective way I have ever seen 14:24 to touch all strata of society with one program. And also 14:28 it's exciting to see people who have been patients, or had been 14:33 working beside you or not of our same church. But they're 14:37 saying I want to help you spread the Gospel 14:41 And the bottom line you found also when everything seemed 14:44 to go wrong, this runs on prayer. 14:48 So many times we saw seemingly everything cut off 14:51 and then we go to pray and the Lord would just open up 14:55 the doors. This is complex, I mean you're doing little 14:57 surgeries, you're doing dental work, all these things 15:00 something can go wrong easily 15:02 That's right. Prayer helped you through it. Exactly! 15:04 Extremely important. Dawn you caught a vision for this and 15:08 Your husband is a surgeon, and you're his assistant, You're 15:12 a physician's assistant. And what has this done for you 15:15 and even your church. You mentioned some things to me 15:17 that were interesting. Well once I had participated in Pathway 15:22 I just, everything just reignited in me 15:25 to want to do God's work. And after connecting with Floyd and 15:32 the South Western Union ASI I looked at our church and I 15:36 said, you know everybody in this building can be relevant 15:40 in God's work and I saw it as an opportunity, and in fact 15:44 that is what happened. The church has reignited. Everyone 15:48 participated and everyone has that mission spirit now. 15:53 So they catch the idea this is something I can do too. 15:56 Absolutely. Well we're so happy for the Jump Start program you 16:00 folks have done and the Pathway program and we're thankful that 16:06 be treated otherwise. Thanks so much for sharing. Thank you. 16:13 My next guest is taking us far out of the country back overseas 16:21 not like ADRA in 139 different countries but in a part of the 16:26 Pacific that most of us have probably never been to 16:29 but is just as needy. Where are we talking about? 16:32 Chuck, we're talking about the Republic of Kurubas 16:35 This is our 20th anniversary of taking our first medical teams 16:39 into that remote South Pacific country to provide medical and 16:43 dental care for those forgotten islands in the South Pacific 16:47 Now if we didn't know Kurubas would we know it by some other 16:50 name? Well, the Gilbert Islands. Okay and that's not on the 16:55 top of our list but that's a little closer. That's right. 16:58 How did this ministry get started to those, how many 17:00 islands are out there by the way that you're dealing with? 17:02 We have 26 inhabited islands that are spread across the 17:05 Pacific, almost the same are as our continental U.S. 17:09 And you're trying to work that territory? 17:11 It's a big territory. Now like your Pathway to Health or the 17:15 Jump Start Program, your focus is also medical isn't it? 17:19 That is correct. The health ministry is the leading wedge 17:23 to get into some of these islands that we would not have 17:27 access to if it weren't for our medical teams going out 17:30 Now, the Pacific and these islands, they gotta be beautiful 17:35 Paradise with problems. Ah, paradise with problems? 17:38 That's right. Oh my but you have beaches? Oh, white sandy beaches 17:42 beautiful little islands covered with palm trees, it doesn't come 17:45 much better than that. Simple living. What could go wrong? 17:48 What could go wrong? Well lack of transportation 17:50 lack of medical care. Lack of a knowledge of our Savior 17:55 is a problem. And so, spiritual knowledge is one but the level 18:00 of health is another problem. There's not much medical care 18:03 That's right. There are no doctors in those outer islands 18:05 So, when Mr. Craig Scott, the founder of Search for One 18:09 researched that area, found it was the least developed of any 18:13 of the South Pacific countries, had the highest infant mortality 18:16 the shortest life expectancy, he focused his efforts on 18:21 setting up Search for One to serve those islands. 18:24 So you specialize in bringing teams of physicians, doctors 18:29 dentists, optometrists, ophthalmologists, nurses 18:33 lab techs short term, go out and go to the different islands 18:39 and just give people a lot of help that they wouldn't have 18:42 otherwise. That's right. We take them resources they would not 18:45 going clear over there and doing it. That is correct. 18:51 What's your long range goal on this? Well our long range goal 18:55 is we are planning to set up a college of evangelism to train 19:01 Bible workers so that as we leave these villages with our 19:05 medical teams we can plant a Bible worker there, trained and 19:10 in that country. They know the culture, they know the language 19:13 they can follow up with the education 19:16 and teaching other people. That's so important because 19:18 it's great to come and help them for a week or two but you wanna 19:21 you wanna go home thinking that this will continue 19:25 So have you made any progress toward that? 19:28 Yes we have. We have a young family that has moved into 19:34 Kurubas this last year. They have set up a clinic on the 19:38 island of Tarawa and with the supervision of Dr. Andreason 19:43 out of Delta Junction, Alaska they are treating the people 19:48 on that island. And it's not always easy but they're making 19:53 in-roads there. So she's a nurse, he's a lab tech 19:55 they've got equipment, they're living there, that's home now. 19:58 That's correct. Must feel good to see that they're there. 20:01 Absolutely. Now we have education work. We do. 20:04 The country relies on the churches to provide their 20:09 secondary education. So the Catholics have a high school 20:15 the Mormons have a high school and the SDA church has a large 20:19 boarding academy on an outer island, the island of Avamama 20:22 Now I think you told me 250 students? 250 students 20:26 in this school. That's a lot of kids to take care of. That's 20:29 right. Solar power only, no electricity on the island 20:33 Ok. They're often times short of food or water. That brings 20:38 us to our conclusion of Miracle by the Sea. Can you tell 20:41 us that story? Well I have to make it quick. You didn't give 20:43 me the sermon tonight, so we'll have to abbreviate. 20:46 Go for it. When we arrived with our team out there 20:49 three years ago we found the school was out of food. 20:53 No rice, flour, sugar. They were relying on the fish 20:57 they could catch and the food they could get from the bush. 21:01 So myself and Takames, the boys' dean we arranged for 21:06 a boat to go to Tarawa, found an outboard motor to fit on it 21:10 and traveled 80 miles across the open ocean to go get food 21:13 for the school. So we made the trip over quickly efficiently 21:18 on the way back the seas were running very high, the winds 21:21 were strong. We carried extra fuel for that trip 21:24 But on the way we knew we were running short. 21:30 And 2 o'clock, Friday afternoon I pulled out my satellite phone 21:33 I called Mission headquarters I told them we are running late 21:37 we are low on fuel and gave them our position and to pray for us 21:42 So they quickly radioed the school out in Cowma 21:48 and the principal got the message, he called an emergency 21:52 session of the students that afternoon 21:54 So at 3 o'clock they were praying for us on the open 21:57 ocean that we would be able to make it that night 22:00 And by God's grace that last 22:03 tank of fuel went twice as far lasted 3 times as long 22:10 and took us all the way to the island. Just a direct 22:13 miracle from God. So what a rejoicing we had Sabbath morning 22:17 as I was able to walk into the chapel and tell the students 22:22 how their prayers the day before had provided a miracle 22:26 brought us in off that rough ocean with a supply of food 22:29 for the school. And that school was so generous even though 22:33 they needed all those supplies they took those supplies out 22:36 and they shared those supplies with the other villages on the 22:39 island that were also out of food. 22:40 Tremendous. That was a happy Sabbath wasn't it? 22:43 Very Happy Sabbath. Good church service? Wonderful 22:46 And the kids had food to eat, absolutely, that wouldn't have 22:49 had otherwise. Did you mention it was 80 miles that you were 22:53 crossing in that little boat with 2 tons of food 22:56 Yes. God looked after you didn't He? Absolutely 22:59 Members in action. You know it's such a privilege to be 23:01 part of ASI and see regular people, just us regular people 23:06 catching a vision, hearing a story like this or one of the 23:09 others and saying there's something there I could do 23:12 Thank so much Gary for sharing with us tonight. Thank you 23:14 If you have a heart for missions come join us in South Pacific 23:17 Thank you, God bless you. 24:21 When I survey 24:27 The wondrous cross 24:37 On which the Prince 24:42 of glory died 24:51 My richest gain 24:57 I count but loss 25:06 And pour contempt 25:11 On all my pride 25:47 Forbid it Lord 25:52 That I should boast 26:00 Save in the death of 26:07 of Christ my God 26:14 All the vain things 26:19 that charm me most 26:27 I sacrifice them 26:34 to His blood 27:10 See from His head 27:17 His hands, His feet 27:24 Sorrow and love 27:29 flow mingled down 27:38 Did e'er such love 27:43 and sorrow meet 27:50 or thorns compose so 27:56 rich a crown 28:02 Were the whole realm 28:07 of nature mine 28:15 That were a present 28:19 far too small 28:26 love so amazing 28:31 so divine 28:42 Demands my soul, my life 28:52 my all. 29:05 Good evening ASI. 29:07 This is our offering in action segment 29:11 when we highlight for you projects that will be recipients 29:14 of this year's offering. So we want you to pay close attention 29:18 These are just a few but we hope you will be inspired 29:21 and motivated and encouraged to give sacrificially to support 29:25 these projects. With me is Jim Rennie. He's the CEO of Asian 29:29 Aid, USA. Jim, tell us a little bit about what Asian Aid is 29:34 to start there. Well Asian Aid was first established in 29:38 Australia. I'm a New Zealander so that's a little different 29:41 and I'm the CEO of Asian Aid, USA. But this is our 50th year 29:48 Asian Aid's key activity is child sponsorship. We take 29:52 children based on need and put them in Adventist Schools 29:55 in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka 29:58 and we have about three and a half thousand sponsored 30:02 children and we have just entered Myanmar where we have 30:06 600 children in the Adventist Church there. We also have 30:12 four orphanages and a blind school and a deaf school 30:16 and we're just expanding into a couple of things which I'll 30:20 mention shortly. Ok, so we have some photos. Maybe we could just 30:23 start with those and you could share with us the 30:29 what they mean and how they relate to the projects that 30:32 we'll be funding this year. 30:34 Little out of order but that is the project that we are 30:39 is our Sunrise Orphanage in India. It's in the country 30:43 it's in a lovely location and that's just a picture of the 30:47 we have 10 acres of land and growing our crops. This sort of 30:53 reflects the children in need. We take children based on need 30:57 and put them in a school. And we, we don't, we're not 31:04 short of children. We'll just hold that till we get to the end 31:07 Ok. Alright, so let's just ask let me ask a little bit about 31:10 the children. You mentioned that you provide for their 31:13 the children's education. How do they come to you? 31:18 Where do you find them? Are these orphans or you said you 31:20 have an orphanage, but these are children that aren't 31:22 necessarily orphans. No, the 31/2 thousand that we have 31:27 sponsored are found in various ways. The school may recommend 31:31 them, the pastor might bring them. Or we actually go out 31:34 into the community. Our field officers do and find them. 31:38 And they're given full education uniform, books in the Adventist 31:46 School. The big difference with our ministry is that 90% 31:51 of the funds that go to the country totally go to the school 31:55 So you're educating a child, you're introducing them to Jesus 32:00 but you're also giving critical finance to a mission school 32:04 Now let's talk about this year's project. Is to build a 32:08 multi-purpose building and how will that enhance the reach 32:12 and the program for Asian Aid USA? 32:14 Well, at Sunrise Home in India we have about 160 I guess 32:21 orphans and they live at the orphanage and each day they 32:27 get in a couple of buses and go into the Adventist School 32:30 We're facing two challenges. First of all the government 32:34 is bringing a lot of young children. This is the campus 32:39 and we're going to build a building which they don't 32:41 mention right in the middle of that campus 32:43 but we have another picture of me with some young children 32:47 So we have two problems. First of all the Government are 32:50 bringing us a lot of small children. These are off the 32:54 side of the road, from, from let's say it's amazing where 33:00 they come from. They don't speak English. They've never 33:05 learned any, they don't know how to go to the toilet. 33:09 They don't know how to wash themselves and so we haven't 33:12 had the facilities to look after them. So we've got to 33:16 set up a pre-school and then at the other end we've got 33:19 another problem of older children. Could you imagine 33:23 having 20 teenagers at home? 33:28 This slide here, this home has got 25 teenagers. 33:31 And so keeping them busy, what do they do in school holidays 33:35 They get bored. They want to do things. So this building is 33:39 fulfilling a critical role in giving children something 33:43 the older children want to do and the younger ones something 33:47 to do, so truly a junior and senior vocational training 33:54 school. It's a critical need when you see these kids. 33:58 Well that sounds wonderful. Is there anything else that you'd 34:00 like to share with us about Asian Aid USA before you leave? 34:04 Well we've got involved in two new exciting projects 34:08 The first one is Operation Child Rescue, where we're 34:11 rescuing children in slums and trafficking and I'd like you to 34:16 come to our booth and hear about that. But we've just 34:19 entered Myanmar and Myanmar is one of the poorest countries 34:23 in the world, over 85% Buddhist and I'll be honest we've got 600 34:29 kids and 508 sponsors. This is critical to the church in 34:33 Myanmar. There's only one Seminary and we've had to 34:37 take over 150 kids school fees here so that they can stay in 34:43 the Seminary. You can make a huge difference by sponsoring 34:48 these kids. They're very special kids and these schools are 34:51 critical to the growth of the church because they can't do 34:54 public evangelism. So they're our two new exciting big needs 35:00 OK. So if our ASI family is interested in sponsoring 35:05 they can get that information by coming to your booth? 35:07 Definitely, that's what we're here for. Your booth number is 35:10 I'm not sure but it's in the middle lane on the right 35:14 Alright. So you can find that in your program guide. 35:17 Thank you very much Jim for all you're doing through 35:20 Asian Aid, USA. 35:25 Joshua Marco. Yes, ok. So Joshua Marco is the technical 35:29 coordinator at the EG White Estate and this is a project 35:34 that is not new to many of us. EG White estate has been a 35:39 recipient of past offerings for the digitization of Ellen White 35:43 books. And that's a really phenomenal project that we're 35:48 very excited about because it helps to get the word out and 35:52 the Spirit of Prophecy writings out to those who otherwise 35:55 would not have access to them. 35:57 So Joshua give us an update. Where are we with this project 36:02 How many languages to-date and then we can talk a little 36:05 bit about the current project. 36:07 We've been working on several languages. We're now in 90+ 36:13 languages of the world with Ellen White materials and we've 36:17 digitized over 700 books. So we've got a variety of things 36:22 and we're in there but we're still supposedly somewhere 36:26 around 2000 known translations that have already taken place 36:31 and so we'd like to get more of those as well as foster 36:34 new translations into different languages. 36:38 Now we have some photos that you can walk through that would 36:41 give us some insight as to the current project. 36:44 Let's talk about those. I think the first photo will show us 36:49 these three books and what does that represent? 36:51 Alright, these are just examples or sample books of foreign 36:55 language, Ellen White materials. The first one is a book in 36:58 Malayalam, A Story of Redemption The next one is Desire of Ages 37:03 in Romanian and the last one there is The Great Hope in 37:06 Cambodian. So these are samples of the kind of books that have 37:10 already been published somewhere in the world. We are then 37:13 digitizing, putting on to our content management system 37:18 and then they're available via our websites, our apps so that 37:21 people can download them and read them in their own language 37:24 So what are the languages that will be supported by this year's 37:27 offering? This year's offering is 4 different languages 37:32 Indonesian, Greek, Polish and Arabic. 37:36 Alright, very good. And let's go to the pictures again 37:41 and look at, what is this? This is a screen shot 37:44 of one of the website and what does this tell us? 37:51 Yes, This is the EGW writings website. For those of you 37:55 who have seen it, I'm sure you're familiar on the left hand 37:58 side there you'll see many different languages available 38:02 So if you're using this website and you want to use or look at 38:06 Ellen White materials in different languages or people 38:09 that are overseas somewhere, we have many languages 38:12 available and this is where you can search basically all of her 38:17 writings. In fact, in English now just last year we released 38:20 Letters and manuscripts collection that was the last 38:23 materials that was not previously released and so now 38:27 everything that Ellen White wrote is available on our 38:31 website. And for the next picture that we have here 38:35 the mobile site. So if you're on a mobile device you can 38:38 still access through the internet this site. That's 38:41 right. So if you're using the web you can get on this mobile 38:45 site, this is what you'd see and this picture here is our 38:49 apps and that's where we spend a lot of time in development 38:52 and effort and so if you have an IOS apple phone 38:58 an Android phone or a Windows phone, any of those 39:02 3 operating systems we now have an app for you just need 39:05 to go to your app store on your device and look for EGW writings 39:12 or Ellen White and you can install the app and especially 39:15 on Apple look for EGW writings 2 If you don't have 2 you're too 39:20 old!. Now I'm really excited about this because I, how many 39:25 of you have accessed Ellen White writings on your phone or 39:30 look at these, look at these hands. All over the audience 39:34 So really we can carry every thing with us. We have our Bible 39:38 our Ellen G. White and I understand then as you go to 39:41 the last picture that it shows we actually have everything 39:46 you mentioned, having Letters and Manuscripts that are now 39:49 available? Yes, that was just released last year as the 100th 39:54 Anniversary after Ellen White's death and so that collection was 39:58 released as well as some others that you might have been 40:02 familiar with. The incoming correspondence from 1833 40:06 to 1915 that comprised of letters that church leaders 40:11 or lay people or others would be writing to Ellen White or 40:15 Willie White or those that were working with her and so 40:19 often times she would respond to that correspondence, sometimes 40:23 associates would respond. It gives you a better picture 40:27 of different circumstances when Ellen White actually wrote 40:30 something. These often times some of the incoming 40:34 correspondence that she would be responding to. So this 40:38 has been greatly enhanced by the work that your department 40:42 at EG White Estate has been doing. Very grateful for that 40:46 and thank you very much for sharing about what we can do 40:49 to make this available to more people in their language 40:53 Absolutely and let me just point out, especially with those apps 40:56 there's something unique about the apps that we were not able 41:00 to do in the past before and that is obviously you can search 41:04 and read Ellen White's writings in English and all these other 41:07 languages. The other thing that you can do is download those 41:12 books and then when you're not connected to the internet 41:16 which is especially true in the developing world, you know here 41:21 in America it's not so important perhaps we're often connected 41:24 all the time or most of the time but in the developing world 41:28 most of the time you're not connected. So you can download 41:31 Ellen White writings in your language and then they're in 41:35 your phone and then you can search them and read them 41:37 anytime you want to no matter whether you have connection 41:40 or not. So we've really designed this especially for people in 41:45 foreign countries and for people with little to no access 41:50 or I should say little access to the internet but they can 41:53 get it somewhere in town or some other location, take it 41:57 home with them and then use it for weeks and months without 42:00 ever having to be connected to the internet. 42:02 Excellent, excellent. Definitely a worthy project. Thank you 42:06 very much Josh. And now finally for our last offering in action 42:13 segment, Rick McEdward, he's the President of the Middle East 42:18 North Africa Union. Hi Rick. How are you? Fine. 42:22 Tell us a little bit about the Union. What are we looking at 42:26 in terms of scope. Where's it located, how's the population 42:29 you serve and so on. Well, the Middle East and North Africa 42:32 Union is 20 countries going from Morocco across North Africa 42:38 through the Middle East and up to Turkey and Iran. 42:41 So we have a huge population, 520 million people in a Union 42:48 There's only one Union that's larger and that's China Union 42:52 but the Middle East Union has enormous challenges 42:57 Wow! So tell us about some of those challenges and how it 43:00 relates to the project you'll be talking about. 43:02 Well one of the challenges is we have very few people 43:06 on the ground. We have about 3000, 31/2 thousand church 43:10 members through the entire region. And 31/2 thousand 43:14 church members to 520 million people, that creates a challenge 43:19 And not a small one. We need people, we need airwaves 43:25 we need people who will share with us. We need every possible 43:29 mechanism for reaching people, for sharing a faithful witness 43:33 that we can have and of course the project that we're talking 43:36 about here is part of that. 43:38 And so tell us what is the project that we're looking at. 43:41 Again translation of Spirit of Prophecy, specifically the 43:44 Conflict of the Ages series. Well it's great that Josh was 43:48 just here, this is a perfect segue cause this just narrows it 43:52 down to 3 languages. Arabic, Farsi and Turkish 43:57 These 3 languages cover the vast majority of our Union 44:03 and would be able to bless millions of people 44:07 Now I know that for us to have these writings available 44:12 really enhances our study of the Bible, because that's our 44:16 source of truth, the Bible. So explain to me how this can 44:20 be useful in a Moslem country where the Bible is not 44:25 necessarily accepted as the source of truth. Sure. 44:28 That's a good question. I saw the hands go up when Josh 44:31 asked how many people are reading Ellen White's writings 44:34 accessing the website. That means all of us here have some 44:39 point of contact, right? Some thing that has inspired us 44:44 and when I read the Bible and when I read Ellen White's 44:47 writings, I get inspired to share my faith. 44:50 I grow deeper in Christ and it's a tool for me to grow 44:55 and we want every single Adventist to be productive 45:00 with their faith. Sharing a hospitality meal, being a friend 45:05 Engaging with people but also to have those deeply spiritual 45:09 conversations that are needed. So first and foremost 45:13 it's for us and our growth but it's needed. But it doesn't stop 45:19 there. Secondly, we can give to every Christian in the 45:25 Middle East freely. There are some, not many, but we can 45:30 freely share. But in the world we live in today, there are 45:34 hundreds of thousands of people who are turning away 45:39 from their traditional faith background. They're looking 45:42 for other solutions. We see terrorism, we see what's 45:45 happening on the news. We see what's happening, there's people 45:47 turning away and we need the very basic resources like the 45:51 Waldensians who had something in their pocket and when the 45:55 spiritual conversation came up they were able to hand it to the 45:59 person who had interest. And by doing so those who had an 46:04 interest in growing deeper in understanding the Bible 46:07 they would have the Desire of Ages, Patriarchs and Prophets 46:11 Acts of the Apostles. They could see those stories in 46:13 a new and insightful way that they've never seen before 46:17 and I believe that this is not just a nurture tool but an 46:20 important one. It's an evangelistic tool 46:23 one that many here probably have been touched by through 46:26 the years. Excellent, excellent. So it really helps people to be 46:31 a more effective channel of outreach in evangelism to be 46:34 able to reach their friends. To be able to share information 46:37 in their language. Excellent. Is there anything else you'd 46:40 like us to know about this project? Well, yes. There's 46:44 one other thing. We know that people from our Region 46:47 Middle East and North Africa are immigrating around the world 46:51 But those same resources that will help us will also help 46:56 people in Europe share. People in New York City, when the big 46:59 New York City project was done a few years ago, Elder Wilson 47:02 mentioned there's 800 languages in New York. Well if there's 47:07 800 languages in New York, these three will bless 47:12 not only New York City but all the big cities in immigrant 47:15 communities around the US and in Europe. So this isn't a 47:18 project that will only help us. It will help pockets of people 47:22 who are crying out for something fresh, something new 47:25 and we need to give it to them. Amen, amen. Thank you very 47:29 much Rick. We appreciate, You're welcome. Thank you. 47:31 So there you have it. This is our first Offering in Action 47:35 segment. There's something I want you to keep in mind as you 47:38 listen to the segments from program to program. 47:41 And that this year we want you to think and consider that we're 47:45 looking at three things that we want to do to accomplish and 47:48 support these projects. We're looking to enhance. 47:52 We want to enhance their outreach and their evangelistic 47:55 capacity. We want to enlarge their territory. And we want to 48:00 encourage them to keep the faith and be faithful and 48:04 and continue doing what they're doing. So while we may not be 48:08 with them in the efforts that they are doing, we can certainly 48:11 support them. And so listen for those things, the theme for 48:17 those three E words - to Enlarge the territory, to Enhance their 48:22 outreach and evangelistic capacity and to Encourage them 48:27 to continue giving and sharing the love of Christ in what 48:30 they're doing. Thank you very much and we'll see you next time 48:33 for another Offering in Action segment. 48:40 This morning we have with us Michael. Michael, what do you do 48:45 I am an engineer for AT&T in Dallas. 48:48 An engineer for AT&T in Dallas. Wow, that's amazing. 48:52 But Michael I know that's not the only thing you do. 48:56 You also have a ministry. Tell us a little bit about, what is 48:59 the name of the ministry and what's the focus of the ministry 49:02 Uh, the ministry name is Online Christian Services. 49:05 And our focus, well our slogan is Spreading the Gospel 49:09 using today's technologies. Amen. So you have an online 49:13 ministry. But you know an engineer for a phone company 49:18 and now you have an online ministry, tell us how in the 49:21 world did you get started in ministry. 49:24 Well, uh back in 2012 I was on a ladder doing some work around 49:30 the house and I fell, broke my wrist. I was put on disability 49:34 and I was sitting at home doing nothing. And my father come over 49:38 and said, you know if you're doing nothing you ought to be 49:41 reading the Bible. So I took my dad's advice 49:44 So what was your status at that point? I mean, you're sitting 49:48 on the couch doing nothing but what was your status at that 49:51 point? I had been backslidden for two years. 49:54 Ok, so you were an Adventist but then you were backslidden 49:58 from that and kinda disconnected and now this injury and your 50:02 dad says, read the Bible. Tell us about how it went from there 50:05 So I knew my dad was right. The first two weeks I struggled with 50:10 this. In fact I would pray or try to pray and everything was 50:15 uh, it was a battle. After two weeks I finally was able to 50:21 read 15 minutes and then I was falling asleep. But within two 50:25 months I read through the entire Bible. Amen, amen. 50:28 And uh through this I got so excited, so on fire to share 50:32 the Gospel and I started praying about this. God, I, give me a 50:37 voice, I want to do something for you. I didn't know what 50:39 it would be. Kyle, what do you think about that? Give me a 50:43 voice. What kinda prayer is that? Explain it to me from a 50:46 pastor's standpoint. Well, I think, I think God was working 50:50 on his heart and he was open to doing whatever he could 50:52 do to follow God. And I'll be honest, I think, would you say 50:57 that falling off the ladder was kind of a divine appointment? 50:59 Uh yeah you know we joked about me being pushed off 51:04 and well. I wasn't aware that that was a job description 51:09 of angels but hey, you never know. That's right 51:13 Yeah knock the legs off from under the ladder. So you're 51:15 reading the Bible, God is working on you and you're feeling like 51:19 He's calling you to do something So how did that look? 51:22 Uh I started getting impressions to do a mobile Bible Study app 51:27 Oh so you're a programmer? No 51:30 You're not a programmer? No. But you did an app? 51:32 Yes. Could I do an app? Wow. 51:35 I don't think you could Steve. I'm sorry Steve you've got 51:38 a lot of talent, but anyway so God impresses you to do this 51:43 app, you're not a programmer so what did you do? 51:45 I did a lot of praying. Amen. I talked to my brother who is 51:50 a software programmer and he pointed me to some software 51:55 he used and every morning I would get up I would do devotion 51:59 I would pray and pray and pray and go sit at the computer 52:06 And in about two weeks I had the first app out 52:10 Amen. And shortly after that well I spoke with Karen Lewis 52:17 or emailed Karen Lewis so she gave me permission to use her 52:20 Bible Study Series, Lifting Up Jesus, and so I did the 52:25 first app in English and then in Spanish and then in German 52:29 and then about a month after that was released I noticed 52:34 this app has been downloaded 300 times 52:38 I think we, Amen Praise the Lord. Something about YouTube 52:43 you went to YouTube? That was a little something different 52:46 but whenever I needed help I would go to YouTube 52:49 and get help from 9-year olds telling me how to do stuff 52:55 So do we have some graphics? I think we do. I think we may 52:58 have some graphics. We put them up there 52:59 There's your website there. So talk to us just a little bit 53:03 about who this is reaching now. 53:06 Alright. So this app what the graphic is about Bible Study 53:12 With Me so a month after this was out Doug and I got together 53:16 and we started putting our heads together and said, you know 53:19 we can make this app better. We can make it to where people 53:22 can communicate with each other can do Bible study with each 53:25 other and this is going through out the world. I've done Bible 53:28 Studies, well I'm in Dallas, Fort Worth area. I've done 53:31 Bible Study with a guy in Ohio. 53:33 Several weeks we're doing studies together, every night. 53:37 I've spoken to people in Australia, in Africa. I mean 53:41 all over the world. How many countries are you in now? 53:44 I don't know how many countries. The graphic that's up right now 53:48 it shows where we have, amen pinpointed all the downloads 53:55 but that does not have the information from the Spanish app 53:58 That's just the English version. So how many downloads has 54:00 your app had? Over 100,000. 54:03 Praise God, Amen. All from someone who's never developed 54:06 an app before. Right. The Lord used you Michael. Steve, could 54:12 God use us when we're just willing? I think God can use 54:15 every single one of us to do something. Tell me how can 54:17 someone sitting here today get involved? 54:19 Uh there's a number of ways. What we have done is we've 54:23 created this in a way to where well if people have prayer 54:28 requests, they can ask for prayer requests. We need people 54:31 that will pray for them. Also we have the need for answering 54:36 Bible questions. Doug and I, we have day jobs. 54:39 And so at the end of the day we start this for the remainder of 54:43 the day. So it's for answering questions, we need people to 54:47 help answer questions. We need people that will help facilitate 54:52 this in just the manner of getting people connected 54:55 with other people. Mike, what's your booth number? 54:58 306. If you need something to do and you have a computer 55:02 at home, can go online, go see booth 306. Talk to Michael 55:05 He'll tell you what to do. God bless you. Amen 55:08 And as we go off, want you to watch this video reminding us 55:11 that just like Michael found out all of us are called, chosen 55:15 and by God's grace committed to sharing the Gospel with 55:17 the world. 55:30 God has called you and I into His kingdom 55:37 to this movement. He's chosen us from the foundation 55:41 of the world, Ephesians. It says that He predestined 55:45 the word predestined doesn't mean you were predetermined 55:48 whether you're going to be lost or saved. But before you and I 55:51 were born, you and I were in God's mind. He called us out of 55:56 darkness into marvelous light He chose us in eternity 55:59 Why? He's chosen us to be 56:04 A people, a person that will fully represent His 56:09 character in the Great Controversy 56:15 Called by God. Qualified by God Chosen before you were born 56:20 Psalm 139 God says I knew you before you were conceived 56:24 in your mother's womb. 56:26 You and I don't have identity crisis. We are somebody in 56:31 Christ. We have a high calling. 56:33 Committed-that's what God is asking you right now 56:37 Once you recognize the call He placed upon us 56:39 recognize that we've been chosen 56:42 Now He needs from you and I a commitment 56:46 Are we willing to surrender, to commit my life, your life 56:51 to the cause of God. Be called, be chosen, be committed. |
Revised 2017-06-22