Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: 16ASIC
Program Code: 16ASIC000011A
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02:32 Amen! You sound wonderful this morning
02:34 and we want to make a special welcome to all those 02:36 who have come to worship with us this morning 02:39 from the Phoenix area. 02:40 Our next song this morning is number 619, 02:44 Lead On, O King Eternal. 02:47 We are leading... we're marching forward. 02:49 Can you say "Amen" to that? Amen! 02:51 Let us sing this beautiful hymn: 02:52 Lead On, O King Eternal. 05:17 Amen! You may be seated; thank you very much. 05:26 Welcome, everyone, to ASI at worship. 05:30 That's a welcome to the 3ABN audience; 05:32 that's a welcome to our live audience here in Phoenix. 05:37 You know, at our convention we hear a lot of wonderful 05:40 testimonies. We hear heavenly music. 05:45 We meet and make friends. 05:48 We learn about ideas for ministry. 05:51 But the high point of ASI is worship. 05:57 And just as we gather here today to worship together 06:01 our Redeemer and our Creator 06:04 one day we will stand on the sea of glass 06:09 before the throne of God. 06:11 And we will not be alone because with us before God then 06:17 will be the seraphim, the cherubim, 06:22 and ten thousand times ten thousand angels 06:25 praising and adoring God. 06:29 These angels are in a holy alliance with us here 06:34 in this world to work unitedly for the salvation of souls. 06:40 And they, like us, will rejoice for all eternity 06:45 for every decision that is ever made for Christ 06:50 through our witnessing in the marketplace. 06:53 That's right, Brother Norm. Happy Sabbath everyone! 06:57 How many of you believe that Jesus is coming soon? 06:59 Amen! And that we are all called and chosen 07:02 and committed to taking this gospel to the world? 07:05 You know, there is nothing more special, Norm, than to be 07:08 at an ASI Convention. Amen! To be with people who are all 07:11 committed to that task of helping save souls 07:13 so that they will be with us on that sea of glass. 07:16 You know, sometimes people ask: "What is the benefit of being 07:19 a part of ASI? What is the benefit of joining ASI? " 07:23 Well brothers and sisters, this morning the benefit 07:26 is being able to be equipped to share the gospel with the world. 07:30 That's right. To be a part of a like-minded body of believers 07:32 that are totally sold out to take the three angels' messages 07:36 in this generation to every nation, tribe, tongue, 07:38 and people. So we want to invite you this morning... 07:41 There are some here... Some of you would qualify 07:43 to be ASI members. Business owners, professionals, 07:46 or ministry leaders. We want to invite you to find out more 07:49 about becoming a member of ASI. 07:51 We have a slide we're going to show on the screen at this time 07:53 and you can find it in your program guide as well. 07:56 We want you to text this number 07:58 to find out more information 07:59 about being a part of ASI. 08:01 You can text JOIN; you can text ASI; 08:03 you can text Happy Sabbath. Just text something 08:05 to 301-844-6035 08:08 and we will get you information 08:10 about becoming a member of ASI. 08:11 But, Norm, whether you're a member of ASI or not 08:15 all of us are one family. 08:18 We are all united in our calling, united in the fact 08:22 that God has chosen us and given us the strength 08:24 to commit to taking the three angels' messages 08:27 to the world in this generation. 08:31 One of the ways that we do it, especially in worship, 08:34 is through the foolishness of preaching. 08:38 Who would want to sit and listen to someone talk 08:40 for a half hour or an hour? 08:42 Except when the Holy Spirit is present, wonderful changes occur 08:46 in our hearts and in our minds. 08:48 And the chosen speaker of this hour 08:50 is John Bradshaw. John is the speaker/director 08:54 of It Is Written television. 08:56 And we pray that the Spirit of the Most High God 09:01 will use him today to be a channel of blessing for us. 09:06 Amen. 09:11 Our choral call to worship this morning invites 09:14 everyone to participate in singing. 09:17 I invite you to stand. Everyone: please stand and join us 09:20 as we sing our choral call to worship: We Will Glorify. 09:38 All the ladies. We will glorify the King of kings, 09:44 we will glorify the Lamb. 09:49 We will glorify the Lord of lords 09:53 who is the Great I AM. 10:01 Lord Jehovah reigns in majesty, 10:06 we will bow before His throne. 10:10 We will worship Him in righteousness, 10:15 we will worship Him alone. 10:24 He is Lord of heaven, Lord of earth... 10:28 He is Lord of all who live. 10:33 He is Lord above the universe: 10:37 all praise to Him we give. 10:50 Hallelujah to the King of kings, 10:55 Hallelujah to the Lamb! 10:59 Hallelujah to the Lord of lords 11:04 who is the Great I AM. 11:11 Hallelujah to the King of kings, 11:15 Hallelujah to the Lamb! 11:20 Hallelujah to the Lord of lords 11:24 who is the Great I AM. 11:36 We will glorify the King of kings, 11:41 we will glorify the Lamb. 11:45 We will glorify the Lord of lords 11:50 who is the Great 11:53 I AM. 11:59 Amen! 12:09 We're thankful to be here today. 12:11 Let's bow our heads and thank our Heavenly Father 12:14 for His blessings. 12:16 Dear Father, as we're coming to worship You this morning 12:19 we want to thank you especially for all this time together. 12:23 It's been a wonderful week, 12:25 and as we wrap up our networking together 12:28 and learning of other ways to work with sharing Jesus 12:32 in the marketplace I pray that You'll guide us 12:34 to those special appointments that we need: 12:37 someone who will encourage us; someone who we can encourage; 12:41 someone we can mentor; someone who will mentor us. 12:46 I pray that we go away from this special service 12:49 with a blessing in our hearts. 12:51 We want to share Jesus everywhere. 12:54 And if every SDA business and professional person 12:59 were sharing Jesus how soon You could come. 13:02 Thank you, Father. In Jesus' precious name we pray, 13:06 Amen. Be seated. 13:18 We have the privilege to sing one more time. 13:20 I invite you to sing with us number 21: 13:23 Immortal, Invisible... God Only Wise. Please stand. 16:21 Amen. You may be seated. 16:31 In the very heart of Africa 16:34 lies the nation of Rwanda. 16:38 Despite a darkened past 16:41 a new light is beginning to dawn over this land of a thousand 16:44 hills as a bold new initiative of the SDA church 16:48 is being implemented in unprecedented ways. 16:53 This is the story of TOTAL MEMBER INVOLVEMENT. 17:13 In a country ravaged by pain a few years ago 17:15 the SDA church is bringing hope. 17:18 This is one of the most exciting events that I've attended. 17:22 East Africa is excited about TMI. 17:26 Here in Rwanda what we're witnessing is something 17:28 that is unprecedented in the Adventist church. 17:31 In this whole country people feel that God is out 17:34 for something huge. This is TOTAL MEMBER INVOLVEMENT. 17:59 Two thousand years ago Jesus launched a program... 18:03 actually it's the Great Commission and we all know it. 18:05 Matthew 28: Go and preach and teach and baptize 18:08 and disciple. And because of that Great Commission 18:11 we're all excited and interested here in Rwanda 18:13 about TOTAL MEMBER INVOLVEMENT. 18:15 We have seen church members take off 18:18 with this incredible idea of TOTAL MEMBER INVOLVEMENT. 18:21 They have gotten so involved themselves. 18:23 They have given cows away; they've given goats away; 18:26 they've given sheep away. Literature distribution, 18:28 Bible studies... health outreach, 18:31 community services. They made banners, scarves, 18:35 T- shirts... all kinds of things to promote TMI. 18:39 The people who are members here take the time to invite their 18:43 friends. The church leaders follow up with the people 18:47 to make sure they're ready to be baptized. 18:50 So it's really a team effort. 18:54 Not only are the Rwandans involved in doing TMI 18:57 but the General Conference staff is excited and interested 19:00 to be involved here and model what we are talking about 19:03 back in Silver Springs, Maryland. 19:06 The Lord wants to use everyone. Pastors, lay people, 19:10 EVERYONE in this great effort. 19:18 Church members have been energized that they are taking 19:21 ASI New Beginnings sermons and preaching 19:24 and are excited about reaching friends and neighbors for Jesus 19:27 and bringing them to some of the TMI meetings. 19:30 For a long time the work has been in the hands of the pastors 19:33 and the lay people have been "spectating" by and large. 19:37 But now everybody has a role to play. 19:41 Everybody has somebody they can reach. 19:44 Every church member now has understood that 19:47 wherever he is he will be trying to reach one 19:50 and bring one. 19:55 There are over 2,200 evangelistic sites 19:59 here in this beautiful but small country of Rwanda 20:03 and we are only two of those 2000+ sites. 20:09 A few of those sites have young people 20:12 from the United States, people from Europe. 20:17 I am 12 years old and I preached here in Rwanda. 20:20 I was so excited when I made my first call 20:23 and hundreds of people came forward. 20:25 It was very exciting! 20:28 This is my first time preaching 20:31 doing anything like this. 20:33 It is the most fulfilling experience that I have ever had. 20:38 I rely on God but here you really like rely on God 20:41 to speak through you, to use you in any way possible. 20:45 And it's limitless what He can do with a willing soul. 20:51 Before I came on this mission trip 20:53 I was feeling very cold spiritually. 20:56 Like: "OK, is this all to Christianity? " 21:00 But the first night I saw that God had a purpose 21:03 on why I was there. God has really shown His love 21:07 to me. I have seen that He is real 21:10 because you see Him moving in the hearts of other people. 21:13 And when you see the changes that are happening in their life 21:17 you can't doubt that He can do the same for you. 21:21 Every night thousands of people are making decisions for Christ. 21:25 These wonderful people are ready to be baptized 21:29 and to join this great Advent movement. 21:33 What we're witnessing right here on the shores of 21:35 Lake Kivu is representative of what is happening all across 21:40 this country. A hundred thousand baptisms, 21:45 the most that's ever happened in the history of the Adventist 21:47 church. And the exciting thing is 21:49 this is only the beginning. 21:52 This program is going to continue 21:56 until Jesus will come again. 21:59 This is so exciting what has happened here in Rwanda. 22:02 But this is a model for the world church. 22:04 We don't want it to end here. It's up to you 22:05 to make it happen in your local church, your local community, 22:08 your local conference. 22:10 You don't have to do some grand thing to be involved in TMI. 22:14 It should be part of your everyday life. 22:18 All of us have been given opportunities 22:21 and we need to do what God has called us to do 22:25 to fulfill the mission that He has given to each one of us. 22:30 What a time to be alive! 22:33 What a time to be part of TOTAL MEMBER INVOLVEMENT. 22:37 God bless each one of you as you engage with heaven 22:41 and the power that the Lord will give you 22:43 to carry this message to the very ends of this earth. 22:57 Good morning and Happy Sabbath. 23:02 It's so nice to be here on this beautiful Sabbath morning 23:06 and we want to talk a little bit more about 23:08 Offerings in Action. 23:10 With me is our world president, Elder Ted Wilson, 23:14 world president for the Seventh-day Adventist church. 23:16 And Duane McKey, who is assistant to the president 23:20 for TOTAL MEMBER INVOLVEMENT. 23:22 Let me ask you first, Elder McKey, 23:24 what just happened here with this video? 23:27 Unbelievable. 23:28 I've been a missionary, worked in Africa since 1975. 23:31 Done lots of mission trips, lots of evangelism all across Africa. 23:35 I've never seen anything like this! 23:37 The Holy Spirit was poured out. 23:39 700,000 people were praying that God would bless 23:43 and God blessed beyond belief. 23:44 And all because of using a tool like New Beginnings... 23:48 New Beginnings sermons. Using New Beginnings. 23:50 1,850 lay people preaching New Beginnings sermons. Praise God! 23:55 Praise God... it's wonderful. 23:56 And then where are all of these new members 24:00 gonna go to church? Well, that's a problem. 24:03 We need a thousand brand new churches there. 24:05 Pray with us that that will happen soon. 24:07 OK... we are looking forward to that. We want to make sure 24:10 that they have a church home. Thank you very much Elder McKey. 24:13 Elder Wilson, tell us... what does this mean? 24:16 A tool like New Beginnings and an initiative like the One Day 24:19 Church: what does that mean for the world church? 24:22 Debbie, before I share that in a moment I just want to say 24:27 that what happened in Rwanda was nothing short of the power 24:32 of the Holy Spirit. Amen! And we are so grateful 24:35 and give all the glory to the Lord. 24:38 We do also give great credit to what God did 24:41 through our lay members... Amen! 24:43 TOTAL MEMBER INVOLVEMENT. 24:47 Somehow, the church members just caught fire 24:51 when they realized that this was something they were very much 24:55 a part of. And that's what we're seeing now all across 24:58 this globe. ASI is helping us to do that. 25:02 In Rwanda specifically the New Beginnings 25:06 evangelistic series was provided 25:10 to many of those sites 25:14 and in fact I have to tell you that 2,227 evangelistic sites 25:19 at least 3/4 of them 25:22 were organized and presented by lay people. 25:27 It was absolutely phenomenal! 25:29 And what did they use? New Beginnings. Amen! 25:32 New Beginnings has become a standard, a wonderful 25:36 opportunity for people to preach the full message. 25:40 I just want to give you a personal testimony. 25:43 For the last number of years I have been preaching evangelistic 25:46 meetings, and we have them planned every year. 25:49 Every time I preach these messages 25:51 I become re-converted all over again. 25:55 Everything fits together. God's Word is so powerful! 25:59 And our lay people preaching that sense that 26:02 marvelous aspect that they're part of this great Advent 26:06 movement. Now, when it comes to all the people who have come in 26:11 because of this effort - 26:13 100,135 people so far... 26:18 and we praise God - they have to be housed. 26:21 The One Day Church has been a phenomenal success 26:25 in the areas where it can be constructed 26:28 and placed in a very appropriate way. 26:31 The One Day Church now is positioned to help 26:35 those 100,000 people... many of whom 26:39 are going to find homes in that wonderful opportunity 26:43 of a One Day Church. Amen! I just want to express 26:47 enormous appreciation to ASI 26:51 for what they have done not only in presenting the Word 26:55 but helping to house and preserve those who are 26:59 the result of the Word. 27:01 Actually, those people are not just going to be preserved... 27:06 they are on fire for the Lord. Amen! 27:09 The Rwanda Union has intended now for the next year 27:12 to do the same thing again. 27:14 Can you imagine? 27:16 Probably another 100,000 if not more! 27:20 In fact, the East Central Africa Division 27:23 is now planning next year for five of their Unions 27:27 to do the same approach where lay people are involved 27:30 in TOTAL MEMBER INVOLVEMENT. 27:32 And in 15 seconds let me tell you 27:35 TMI - TOTAL MEMBER INVOLVEMENT - is not just public evangelism. 27:40 It is everything that people do to prepare: 27:43 community services, literature distribution, 27:46 youth, health outreach... all kinds of activities. 27:50 We saw prayer efforts. Janet and Jerry Page 27:54 helped to organize that initially. 27:56 We had community services and ADRA working together. 28:00 Everybody working together doing something for Jesus. 28:04 The Lord is blessing in a miraculous way! 28:07 Thank you very much Elder Wilson and Elder McKey - Amen! - 28:10 for sharing with us today. Amen! 28:11 And our offering is going to keep this going. 28:14 The New Beginnings and the One Day Church projects 28:17 are overflow recipients for our offering. 28:20 So as we exceed the target that we've established 28:23 God can bless even more. 28:25 With me now is Judith Mackie. 28:28 Judith is the director for Binding Broken Hearts. 28:32 Judy, tell us a little bit of what Binding Broken Hearts 28:36 is all about. We are a correspondence ministry 28:41 to inmates. We send them monthly Bible studies 28:44 and monthly customized letters 28:47 and Bibles when we have them. 28:50 And understanding that... you're from Wyoming - yes - 28:53 you live in Wyoming... and so the ministry is centered there. 28:55 You've been in existence since 2009. 28:58 So... is it just in Wyoming that this exists? 29:02 No. That's how God surprised us. 29:05 We are now writing monthly letters to 5,000 inmates 29:10 in 398 facilities in 34 states. 29:13 Amen! That's remarkable! 29:16 You must have a HUGE paid staff 29:18 in order to accomplish all of this. 29:20 No. 29:22 We have 3 or 4 volunteers 29:24 that do this 2 or 3 times a week 29:27 or full time during the week. 29:29 And our whole church gets involved once a month 29:33 stuffing envelopes, stuffing letters 29:35 and getting the letters prepared for the inmates 29:37 but no one gets paid except by the Lord. 29:39 Amen! Wow! That's really something. 29:42 So... you have a Bible in your hand. I do! 29:45 Could that possibly be one that gets sent to inmates? 29:48 We do... we have this Andrews created... 29:51 an Andrews University Study Bible was created especially 29:54 for inmates. It's only available for those who do work with 29:58 inmates. And so we do send this Bible to inmates 30:02 when we have them when they ask for one. 30:05 That's a beautiful Bible! That's a... yeah... 30:08 high-quality leather. This is gorgeous! 30:12 Maybe I'll just keep this for me... 30:15 Well if you go into the prisons, Debbie, you're certainly welcome 30:18 to have one. OK... all right. 30:21 All right... Well praise the Lord. Hopefully I won't have to 30:23 get one that way. All right! 30:25 So tell us about how do you fill this need. 30:28 Are there a lot of requests for Bibles? 30:30 Right now we have 2,800 people who are on the list 30:33 waiting for a Bible. Some of them have been waiting 30:35 since last November. 30:36 We've sent out over 8,000 Bibles now 30:40 to inmates all over. 30:42 And so as we get funds we send Bibles. 30:46 So the project for Binding Broken Hearts this year is to 30:49 fund 1,000 Bibles. So that will take care of your list? 30:53 Oh no. It will barely scratch the surface. 30:56 We asked ASI for 1,000 Bibles because when we put in our 30:59 application we only had 1,000 people on the waiting list. 31:02 Now we have 2,800. As soon as these Bibles hit the jail - 31:06 we're getting our next order the end of September - we'll 31:09 start mailing in October - as soon as these Bibles hit the 31:13 prison we will have 5 requests for every single Bible that 31:17 goes in. Now how do you get all of those requests? 31:19 Do you advertise in the prisons? How do people know 31:22 that you exist? Word of mouth. 31:24 We have never advertised. We offered one Bible 31:27 to one lady in Missouri. 31:28 She showed her cellmate, her podmate. 31:31 They move from prison to prison. They see somebody having 31:34 a Bible. They want one. They ask where they got them. 31:36 The inmates have to ask for one themselves. 31:39 Now you have a couple of stories 31:41 so let's listen for one about Dedrian? Is that his name? 31:46 Detrian. I wrote to Detrian when he was in our county jail. 31:49 He was not from Wyoming. 31:51 He was passing through; committed some kind of a felony 31:54 and got put in jail. 31:56 So I wrote to him for about six months. 31:58 And one Sabbath I was downstairs... 32:01 And you have to understand, in- mates don't usually write back 32:04 'cause many of them have no money... 32:07 It's very expensive to write. 32:09 And I was downstairs in Sabbath School one day 32:11 and this little - we have a very old church also - 32:15 tiny little 4' tall lady - white from the top of her head 32:20 to the bottom of her feet - came in, follow by this 32:23 linebacker black man in his 20's. 32:27 The contrast was just so amazing! 32:30 And he had just gotten out of the county jail. 32:33 He put himself in a situation where he was totally different 32:36 from anybody in the congregation. 32:38 And he came down there and he gave me a big hug 32:41 and he was so excited. And he said: 32:44 "I want to keep in contact" and gave me his address. 32:48 Stayed for lunch and church. 32:51 Didn't hear from him again. I wrote to him every month. 32:55 Three years later I got a letter and he said: 32:58 "Miss Judy, I fell away. " 33:01 "I got in a bad crowd again. 33:04 But my Mama, two weeks ago, came in, brought the stack of 33:08 letters that you have written and said: 'This woman 33:10 cares enough about you to write to you every month 33:13 so you need to get your life together. ' " 33:15 So he said: "I am going to move away 33:17 and I'm going to get better friends and get my life 33:19 back together. " Amen! Amen! 33:20 Tell us quickly about something that happened actually at 33:23 this convention. I went to a lunch meeting 33:26 which I was not expecting to go to. 33:28 I had five minutes notice. 33:30 For prison ministries? For prison ministries. 33:33 I went to the lunch meeting. Sat down at a table with 33:35 a couple of people were there and they got up and left. 33:38 They said not because we have bad breath or anything 33:41 but who knows. 33:42 And somebody else sat down there 33:44 and as we were introducing ourselves 33:47 she was so excited. She said: 33:49 "My husband told me you were going to be here. 33:51 He is in prison. " She told me his name. 33:54 "You have been writing to him for several years. " 33:56 He said: "Be sure you find Judy and tell her what a blessing 33:59 her letters have been to me. " 34:00 Oh... what a... Now listen to this. 34:02 "Be sure you find Judy. " She doesn't know who Judy is. 34:04 How to get in contact with her. But she sits at the same table 34:07 with Judy so that she can deliver this message from the 34:10 person you've been writing in jail. Yes. 34:12 Praise God for what you're doing through Binding Broken Hearts. 34:15 Thank you very much Judy. Thank you. 34:19 Now coming to the podium is Chester Clark. 34:23 And Chester is bringing a couple of students with him. 34:25 They attend Ouachita Hills College. 34:30 And we're going to hear a little bit about this ministry. 34:33 Chester is a pastor in Dalton, Georgia, 34:36 and sits on the board for Ouachita Hills College. 34:39 And Chester, I want to ask you first so why don't you... 34:41 Let's have you come close. Perfect... OK. 34:45 And tell us a little bit about Ouachita Hills 34:48 and give us some background and some context for the 34:51 project that we're going to be talking about. 34:53 Sure Debbie. Well, Ouachita Hills College exists to train 34:55 young people as soul winners. 34:57 And it's located in Amity, Arkansas. 35:00 It offers bachelor's degrees in secondary and elementary ed., 35:04 in religion, theology, and Christian business management. 35:07 And also two-year degrees in canvassing leadership 35:11 and Bible work. And you know, since 2003 35:16 Ouachita Hills has been graduating young people 35:19 and they are today working for God's church around... 35:23 literally around the world. 35:24 And like Ouachita Hills Academy which came before 35:28 Ouachita Hills College is a work-study program. 35:31 It's modeled after Madison College which was founded 35:34 under the direction of Ellen White near Nashville, TN, 35:36 in the early 20th century. 35:38 And the major work program for Ouachita Hills College is 35:43 actually literature evangelism. 35:45 Now I don't know. I'm sure there's probably quite a few 35:48 people here... I'd like to see just a show of hands. 35:51 Has anyone here worked as a literature evangelist 35:54 going door to door? 35:55 Look at all those hands. Wow! Praise the Lord! 35:58 Anyone here know a family member or their family who came into 36:02 a knowledge of the three angels' messages 36:03 through a colporteur? Through literature evangelism? 36:06 Once again, what an impact the publishing work has had 36:10 on the Seventh-day Adventist church! 36:12 And at Ouachita Hills the students go door to door. 36:16 It's really... I'm just going to cut to the chase here 36:19 since so many of you understand the publishing work. 36:21 It's not a win/win situation. 36:24 It's actually a win/win/win situation. 36:27 And that's because the pub- lishing work at Ouachita Hills 36:30 College allows the school to operate. 36:32 That's the major industry that brings in revenue 36:35 for the school. It also gives the students 36:38 an income-earning skill. 36:41 And they earn income which they then use to 36:45 pay towards their tuition. 36:47 And finally, it is also taking the three angels' messages 36:52 to the world while the students are in school... 36:55 which is a tremendous opportunity. 36:57 I can't think of very many places that a young person 36:59 can go and receive an Adventist education 37:01 and earn their way through school 37:04 while working to finish God's work. 37:07 And that's why we're excited about the publishing work 37:09 at Ouachita Hills. 37:11 So tell us how this particular project... It seems like this 37:14 project where we are providing for an expansion 37:18 of the literature program there at Ouachita Hills 37:21 is going to be really significant. 37:24 I mean, it supports the education, 37:26 the evangelism, and the colporteuring work. 37:28 It is significant and it's because, you know, 37:31 ASI has always... I think one of the strengths of ASI 37:35 is that it seeks to leverage opportunities. 37:38 And what ASI has seen is that 37:41 if we can strengthen the industry of the school, 37:43 if we can increase the margins, if we can make it more 37:47 cost effective to get more literature out 37:50 then the work can be finished faster. Amen! 37:52 And you know, last year... this was last school year 37:55 just to give you an idea... our students sold 37:56 about $700,000 worth of literature. And among those 38:01 what we call "message books. " Those are the Spirit of Prophecy 38:04 books, the books that contain the Bible teachings 38:07 for our time. Among those there weren't 10,000 38:11 or 20,000. There weren't even 50,000. 38:14 There were 82,855 message books 38:17 sold last year by students during the school year program. 38:22 And it's just that it's just an opportunity for us to expand 38:25 that program. And what we're doing is we're building 38:28 a warehouse. Uh-huh. And that warehouse will allow the books 38:31 to be bought at a larger and larger volume. 38:33 And we also want to help other organizations, 38:37 individuals, or institutions - schools, perhaps - 38:40 who would like to develop this same type of industry 38:44 'cause we think that... we're not territorial. 38:46 We want to see lots of people doing the work! 38:49 This warehouse will allow the purchase of large quantities 38:54 of books and then the shipping and receiving 38:56 to be able to distribute those to those who would like 38:58 to be doing this type of work as well. 39:00 Excellent, excellent. So let's hear from your students. 39:03 What kind of experiences might they be able to share with us? 39:06 Well I'm going to ask Sarah first to share a story 39:09 of a divine appointment that she had 39:13 while she was going door to door and canvassing. 39:16 Well not too long ago I was dropped off by my canvassing 39:19 leader to do a strip of businesses. 39:22 And I remember as I was walking to one of my first buildings 39:25 I was praying. I said: "Lord, send me to someone 39:27 who is searching for truth. " 39:29 And one of my first buildings was a large office building. 39:32 And as I walked in to my first business 39:34 I met a lady named Lynn. 39:36 And as I started canvassing her and showing her my books 39:39 I could tell that she was listening but not really paying 39:42 attention until she looked at my hand set and she saw like 39:45 The Great Controversy sitting at the top of it. 39:47 And when she saw The Great Controversy 39:49 her eyes got really big. 39:50 And she gasped and she said: "I can't believe you just 39:53 walked in with that book! 39:55 I have a picture of it on my iPad and I was just about to 39:57 order it and then you walked in with it! " 39:59 Amen! And I was really amazed and she said: "You know, I get 40:04 devotionals from my church but I get really bored with them. 40:06 I want something deeper. " 40:08 And as we started talking another lady walked in 40:11 and joined us, and she hadn't heard of The Great Controversy 40:13 and so I started to canvass her on it. 40:16 And as we started talking about Bible prophecy 40:18 and end-time events the two ladies looked at each other 40:21 again with amazement and they said: "You won't believe it 40:24 but just before you walked in we were talking about end 40:27 time events and Bible prophecy. " 40:29 And I went through all the rest of my prophecy set 40:33 and Lynn continued to tell me 40:35 "I've been studying my Bible trying to understand who 40:39 the antichrist is and I've been having a hard time 40:41 figuring it out and this is just what I need. " 40:44 And I continued pulling all the rest of the books out of my bag: 40:47 Steps to Christ, Christ Object Lessons. 40:50 The second lady tells me that she leads out in Bible study 40:53 group - a youth group - and they're almost done with 40:55 their series and she didn't know what to do next. 40:57 So I told her how Steps to Christ helped me 41:00 as a young person to develop my own relationship with God. 41:03 And to make a long story short, 41:06 a beautiful experience, they ended up writing out a check 41:08 for seven of our message books: Steps to Christ, 41:11 Great Controversy, Christ Object Lessons, 41:15 Ministry of Healing, two DVDs on the antichrist agenda. 41:19 And as she handed me the check the first lady, Lynn, looked at 41:22 me and she said: "Not only did you walk in with this book 41:25 after our conversation, but all the years that we've worked here 41:29 together this is only the second time 41:31 the two of us are here together. 41:32 And I never come in on Wednesday. I was just here 41:34 because my car had to be in the shop. " 41:36 And she said: "God is so big 41:38 and we minimize His power in our life so much. " 41:41 And we got to pray together, and it really touched me 41:45 because she prayed for me first. 41:47 And she prayed that God would bless my ministry. 41:50 She prayed that God would keep me from falling prey to doubt. 41:54 And during that time I had been struggling a lot with doubt. 41:57 And I almost cried, and when I walked out of there 42:01 I randomly... I was so amazed by how God had answered my 42:05 prayer. And for some reason I picked up my phone 42:07 and looked at it, and I had a text message 42:09 from one of my teachers 42:11 telling me I had been on his mind those past few days. 42:14 And about the time I walked in he had been praying for me. 42:17 And you know, every time God does something like that 42:21 for me it just reminds me of how unworthy I am. 42:23 And I knew that God had done that not just for her 42:26 but for me. And I feel like that was God's way of saying 42:29 "You know I care about people out there 42:31 but I also love you. And even though you may be struggling 42:33 with doubt I am still going to use you. " 42:36 Amen. Amen... Amen! 42:37 What a testimony of not only the impact literature ministry 42:40 has on those we reach but on those who are doing 42:44 the reaching. Thank you, Sarah, for sharing that. 42:46 Raoul, share with us a brief story also 42:49 of a divine appointment you had. 42:50 OK. You know, something that invigorates me as I canvass is 42:54 Ellen White's statement when she says there are people 42:56 "wistfully looking to heaven. " 42:58 And I was on a very, very long street one day 43:04 and I canvassed this lady. 43:08 At first she was quiet. She was just attentive, listening. 43:11 And at the end of my canvass I showed her most of my books. 43:15 She... she just quietly said to me 43:18 "You know, I was on my computer 43:21 a few hours ago, and I was impressed to pray 43:26 and I asked God to lead me online to Bible books 43:30 that I needed for myself and my family 43:33 and three hours later you are here at my door! " 43:37 Amen! Amen! 43:38 So, wouldn't you call that a divine appointment? 43:40 And I have to just add this one thing: Raoul didn't canvass 43:43 this summer. He worked as a Bible worker 43:45 for actually ASI Youth For Jesus in Beckley, West Virginia. 43:50 And Raoul tells me that going door to door canvassing 43:54 helped prepare him to be an effective Bible worker. 43:57 And thank you for supporting the publishing work... 43:59 the literature ministry. Thank you very much Chester 44:02 and students. 44:07 Our last Offering In Action segment comes from far away. 44:13 And joining me here at the podium is David Caukill. 44:17 He's a development director for ICC Australia. 44:20 And tell us what the focus is of that ministry 44:23 and just give us some more information about it. 44:26 Before... welcome to ASI, Happy Sabbath. 44:28 Glad you could make it, spend a great day with us. 44:31 I've repeated that a thousand times at the door this morning. 44:34 It's really nice to be here from Australia. 44:37 But, forget that for a minute. The focus of our ministry 44:39 is like that: just making people feel welcome. 44:43 You know, we work with... if I can paint a little picture 44:45 for you... we work with some incredibly disadvantaged people: 44:48 children that have been abused, children that suffer. 44:52 We offer them not just hope but we offer them 44:55 something that is real... something that is tangible. 44:58 And working with survivors of human trafficking 45:02 is something that's incredibly rewarding. 45:04 And the scope of our programs run across a few countries 45:08 in Southeast Asia... which is in our neck of the woods 45:11 as we say in Australia. So it's exciting. 45:13 And how is it that these individuals come to you? 45:16 Or how do you find them? What happens? 45:19 Well, we don't use a GPS you know. 45:22 We get referrals from the different agencies: 45:25 government agencies, village chiefs, village elders. 45:28 And we work with some really credible partners. One of them 45:32 IJM - International Justice Mission - 45:34 is a great organization out of the US that is able to give us 45:39 children and young ladies who have been rescued in raids 45:42 that they have executed with local law enforcement. 45:45 But they don't provide any sort of care program for them 45:48 and so we do the after care. 45:51 So how? This particular project that we are supporting in this 45:54 year's offering is to expand this program that will reach out 45:59 and to assist individuals who are victims of sex trafficking. 46:04 Tell me: how do you measure your success? 46:07 Is it number of people you reach? How do you know 46:10 that you're making a difference? 46:12 Sure. Well, there's a number of ways that you can measure. 46:14 One is you can actually look back and do some auditing. 46:17 Look back and say: "Well is the business side of it working? " 46:20 "Are we turning over a profit 46:22 or are we just consuming donor income? " 46:24 And so we have to be able to make a profit. 46:26 We're a stand-alone business; it is a social enterprise. 46:29 So the metrics mean that we need to create an income stream 46:32 and we need to show a profit. 46:34 The other way is through the lives of the children 46:36 and the girls that are coming through themselves. 46:39 And I've had the fortune of meeting some of these kids. 46:43 They're wonderful, and a few months ago 46:45 I spent some time talking with one girl: Abby. 46:49 In fact, she featured in a small video that was done 46:52 in conjunction with the Adventist Review. 46:54 A wonderful girl... incredibly tenacious. 46:57 And she grasped this program like it was a lifeline. 47:01 And she's worked hard through it; she's getting educated. 47:05 She uses her fair-trade salary 47:08 to now live independently with her two little children. 47:11 She'd had an incredibly miserable life and now she 47:14 feels like she's empowered. And I remember talking to her 47:18 and she had this big smile on her face about how wonderful 47:20 it was to now know God. And she's learning new things 47:23 from the Bible about how to care for her children, 47:25 herself. And so these are some of the measurements 47:28 that we will use as well. It's not just financial metrics 47:31 but they are important. It is a business we've got to run. 47:33 Um-hmm. So it's wonderful to know that you're actually 47:36 changing lives not just for now but you're teaching them about 47:38 Jesus. Absolutely! OK... wonderful. 47:41 Now, there's actually a testimony that we can hear 47:45 that gives us some insight on a personal level about 47:49 what's happening. Should we call Esther out? Yeah! 47:52 Just before we do it's probably appropriate that I 47:56 tell you and everybody else - 47:58 all right - that the value that this program is adding 48:00 means that we have to move through more of an international 48:03 flavor. So we're going to dump the Australia thing 48:06 and we are launching a new brand 48:08 which is Venture Global Fund. 48:10 And it adds the real inter- national dynamic to the program 48:14 that we are running. I see. So in the next day's look out 48:16 for us with a new name - OK - but I think we should hear from 48:19 Esther because she's got the real story. 48:21 OK. Come Esther. 48:23 My name is Esther. When I was 19 48:27 I was trafficked and forced into prostitution 48:32 from the Philippines to Japan by the Japanese Yakuza. 48:39 I was tricked; I was kicked; 48:45 I was raped. They did all sorts of things to me. 48:51 I grew up in a slum of Davao City, Philippines. 48:57 Every day we just... you know, struggled for food. 49:04 My parents are animistic... they worship the spirits. 49:08 And one day my dad was converted to Protestant 49:13 and since then my parents are fighting. 49:18 And it got so bad that they got separated. 49:22 So my siblings and I - I have five other siblings - 49:26 were put into a place away from our home 49:30 and just by ourselves without our mom 49:34 and I had to look after them. 49:38 And my dad just only came on the weekends 49:41 to give us some food and supplies. 49:44 And during this time my dad molested me 49:51 every time he came over. 49:54 I couldn't tell anyone. 49:56 I was so scared because he used to beat us up. 50:01 And it got so bad that my siblings and I 50:05 were put into different homes 50:08 so that we can just have food to eat 50:11 and shelter over our heads 50:13 and we were treated like slaves. 50:16 And we had no communication with each other. 50:20 At that time I was only 12 50:23 and our youngest was only 2. 50:28 So when I was 18 I got this opportunity to work 50:31 in Manila. That's three days by ship. 50:38 And I worked in return for my college. 50:44 But I was also exploited. They didn't pay me; they didn't 50:48 do what they promised so I left that workplace. 50:53 But then I became homeless, 50:56 and that was when I applied to work as a... 51:00 applied to work in Japan. 51:02 So I was held captive in Japan and for a few months 51:07 I managed to escape and I got deported back to 51:10 the Philippines. 51:17 A few years have passed; God has blessed me. 51:23 Because I was blessed I was... 51:31 I went to Australia to live and start a new life. 51:35 I studied hard 51:38 and I was able to finish my studies 51:44 in accounting and I have my own business. 51:48 And I have been so blessed. 51:53 Also I was successful because I now had my dream come true. 51:57 I had my own career. 51:59 But then there was something missing in my life. 52:03 One day one of my clients 52:08 I went to their home office and they shared Jesus with me 52:13 and I asked if I could do some Bible studies 52:15 because when I was a kid I heard about Jesus. 52:20 And so I became... 52:24 So after the studies I found that they were SDAs. 52:28 And I thought: "Oh, I'll just do Bible studies because 52:31 this is so weird to go to church on a Saturday. " 52:36 But then in 2010 I was baptized 52:40 in Salisbury church in Brisbane, Australia. 52:46 And that year we had a family reunion 52:52 and I talked to my dad and I said: 52:57 "Dad, I forgive you for what you did to me. " 53:03 It was difficult for me 53:06 but I asked God to help me 53:10 to say this thing to my dad because I hated him all my life. 53:14 I didn't feel the love of a father. 53:17 But I thank God that... I didn't realize that 53:21 He actually looked after me and He watched over me 53:27 all those times... all those things that had happened in my 53:29 life. And so after that time 53:36 I felt this inner peace and freedom. 53:41 At that time I though God had abandoned me. 53:48 But He is amazing with what He's done to my life. 53:56 So now I advocate 54:00 for helping the oppressed 54:05 people who are... the children and women 54:10 who have been trafficked. 54:13 Did you know that there are about over 3,500 54:19 people - mostly women and chil- dren - that have been trafficked 54:22 every day. So please help and pray. 54:26 As Christians we have to do something. 54:29 And thank you for the opportunity. Thank you. |
Revised 2017-06-13