Participants:
Series Code: 16ASIC
Program Code: 16ASIC000013A
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00:32 Amazing grace...
00:38 how sweet the sound 00:43 that saved a wretch... 00:48 a wretch like me! 00:53 I once was lost 00:58 but now I'm found; 01:04 I once was blind 01:10 but now I see. 01:21 'Twas grace that taught... 01:23 'twas grace that taught my heart to fear... 01:28 my heart to fear... 01:31 and that same grace... and that same grace 01:36 my fears relieved... my fears relieved. 01:41 How precious did 01:46 that grace appear 01:52 the hour when 01:57 I first believed. 02:09 Thru many dangers, 02:15 toils and snares 02:19 I have already 02:25 safely come; 02:29 'Tis grace hath brought 02:35 me safe thus far, 02:40 and surely grace... surely grace 02:46 will lead me home. 02:51 I shall go home... 03:06 When we've been there 03:12 ten thousand years. 03:17 Bright shining as 03:22 the glorious sun, 03:27 we've no less days 03:33 to sing God's praise 03:38 than since the day 03:44 we'd first begun... 03:56 than since the day 04:03 we'd first begun. 04:27 Amen! Thank you His Voice. Aren't they wonderful? 04:32 Good afternoon and Happy Sabbath once again 04:34 and welcome to this very special Sabbath afternoon program 04:37 entitled Unfinished Business... 04:40 a conversation with our world church leaders. 04:43 Truly we are blessed to have 04:45 representatives from every division 04:47 across the world, the leader- ship of our SDA church. 04:50 And we're looking forward to a tremendous couple of hours 04:53 together. We're divided up into four different groups 04:56 this afternoon. And our moderators: 04:59 Steve Dickman, our president of ASI, 05:01 and Andi Hunsaker, our general vice president. 05:03 will be leading out in the questions. 05:05 And I'm going to be introducing each of the leaders 05:09 that represents the divisions of the world field. 05:13 First this afternoon in our first group 05:15 I'm going to begin with Elder JaiRyong Lee, who is the 05:17 president of the Northern Asia Pacific Division. 05:21 The Northern Asia Pacific Division is one of the most 05:24 challenging divisions in the world. 05:27 It comprises the countries of China, Mongolia, 05:30 Japan, Taiwan, North and South Korea. 05:34 It is the most populated division in the world 05:37 with about 1.6 billion people living in that region. 05:42 The Adventist church membership of NSD 05:45 is about 700,000. 05:47 That ratio between Adventists and the general population 05:51 turns out to be one in every 2,200 people. 05:55 The mission challenges are everywhere in this area. 05:58 We need to work together, Elder Lee says, to spread 06:01 the 3 angels' messages to the millions of unreached people 06:05 in this vast territory. 06:06 It is a land of mission challenges and at the same time 06:09 it is a land of great opportunities. 06:13 Next to him is Pastor Saw Samuel who is the president 06:17 of the Southern Asia Pacific Division. 06:19 Pastor Samuel: you've only been in office for four months. 06:22 But that division head- quartered in Manila, Philippines 06:26 consists of four countries with 9 unions with two attached 06:30 missions. 1.3 million members 06:33 out of 1.3 billion in population. 06:36 More than 50% of the population are Muslim; 06:38 30% are Buddhist followed by many other religions. 06:42 There is an interesting dis- tribution of membership in SSD 06:46 as over 86% or 1.3 million of your members are from the 06:51 Philippines and Indonesia 06:53 and the rest of the 12 countries have only 14% of those members. 06:57 Their focus is to reach the unreached people groups: 07:00 the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Hindus, and the Chinese - 07:03 the secular Chinese - in their vast territory. 07:06 And they want to reach especially the urban cities 07:09 and the remote territories in the country. 07:12 Next to Pastor Samuel is Pastor Ezrus Lokra, who is 07:16 the president of the Southern Asia Division. 07:19 This division is comprised of the countries of India, 07:22 Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives Islands. 07:25 1.33 billion people live in this division 07:30 and various religions - Hindus, Islam, Sikh, Buddhism - 07:35 account for 98% 07:38 of the people living in that territory. 07:40 Christians account for only 2% of those living in that area. 07:45 There are 1.7 million Adventists; 07:47 there are 350 languages and 3,000 people groups 07:52 in this vast territory. And India is the largest 07:55 democracy in the world. Their greatest mission challenge 07:58 is to reach the Muslim and Hindu populations 08:00 and the current government restrictions that restrict 08:04 evangelism. Their greatest need is to have 08:07 more churches in which they can house their believers. 08:10 And their vision is to reach all of the different segments 08:13 of their society, especially in the large urban centers, 08:16 to share the good news of Jesus with the millions of people 08:19 that still need hope in that vast territory. 08:22 And finally in this group, Elder Glen Townend 08:26 is the president of the South Pacific Division. 08:29 And the South Pacific Division is the smallest division by 08:32 total population but it has the most Adventists 08:35 per person of the population. 08:37 One interesting fact that he told me: it's the only division 08:40 that you can be in today AND yesterday 08:43 or in today AND tomorrow at the same time. 08:47 In case you didn't get it that's the International Date Line. OK? 08:50 Membership: 450,000. 08:53 Countries: 17 countries. 08:54 The church is growing rapidly in the Pacific islands 08:57 and among the immigrant populations. 08:58 Their greatest mission challenge are the people living in the 09:02 secular urban centers. The vision of the SPD is 09:05 that they become a disciple-making movement 09:07 before Jesus comes. 09:11 Thank you, Kyle. What a blessing it is to be here today 09:14 with some of the leaders - the administrative leaders - 09:19 of our world church. 09:21 This afternoon 09:22 as you listen to this program 09:24 as you are here watching 09:25 and we're asking that you would be praying 09:29 about a response 09:31 that the Holy Spirit would convict hearts today. 09:35 And we have talked ahead of time 09:38 with the world church leaders 09:41 and we have asked them to share their heart with us. 09:46 Because we believe that if they share their heart with us 09:49 and we've opened our heart to the Holy Spirit 09:52 that God can use that to do something amazing. 09:56 And it's our desire as a result of the conversation 10:00 that we will have today 10:01 to see God at work all around the world 10:05 doing something amazing so that His work can be finished 10:09 and we can be in God's eternal heavenly kingdom 10:12 instead of here in this earthly kingdom. 10:16 This afternoon our first question that we would like 10:18 to bring to this panel from the area of the world 10:22 generally known as Asia to us 10:25 is: we would like to ask the question 10:28 what do you see as the things that may prevent 10:33 your members from fully engaging in the work of 10:38 spreading the gospel? And what solutions 10:42 do you see that might be possible 10:44 to help our members engage more completely? 10:47 We have 19... about 19 million members 10:50 in the SDA church, 10:53 and if all of those 19 million members were fully engaged 10:57 it seems as if we would be like a vast army, marching 11:01 forward and finishing this work. 11:03 And so this afternoon 11:05 speak from your heart. Tell us: what do you see 11:09 that might be preventing some of that, and how could 11:12 we work to address those problems? 11:15 And just give us your heart today. 11:18 If one of you would like to start, 11:21 we will just open the floor. Well I think all of us believe 11:26 that we are very special 11:28 people of God in the last days. 11:30 Amen! And God has called us; 11:33 God has chosen us; 11:35 and the Holy Spirit has led us to make commitment 11:39 to the mission of the church. 11:41 Certainly we are the people of mission. 11:45 And our mission is to spread the gospel message 11:49 to the entire world as soon as possible. 11:53 But you know Satan does not like this idea. 11:57 He is trying to bring all kinds of challenges 12:02 and problems and difficulties to us. 12:05 No wonder when you go out to the mission field 12:08 you get faced with all kinds of challenges out there. 12:12 For instance, in our territories 12:15 in China, in Mongolia, in Japan 12:19 we have all kinds of challenges there. 12:22 While at the same time I think we also have problems 12:25 internally. When Ellen White pointed out 12:29 that our church members are in Laodicean condition. 12:32 It seems that we are lacking the confidence 12:36 in God's work, and then the mission spirit is lacking. 12:42 But this afternoon I want to tell you 12:45 that we don't have to worry about all this because 12:48 we believe that this is God's church 12:50 and we are engaged in God's business. 12:53 And as long as we trust in the Lord 12:56 and that He will help us, He will empower us 13:00 so by the grace of God and through the power of the 13:03 Holy Spirit certainly we will overcome all these challenges 13:08 and we will certainly finish the work in our generation. 13:13 Elder Townend. 13:15 I was just thinking and reflecting. One of the 13:18 external factors is probably consumerism, materialism. 13:25 Trying to gain more toys 13:28 'cause the people with the most toys win. 13:31 We believe that way. 13:33 I think that's one of the external factors 13:36 that affects the church. And I think sometimes internally 13:40 even leadership at every level 13:43 can be too restrictive, and sometimes we don't allow people 13:48 the freedom and our plans. They say: "Oh, they're too 13:52 difficult; We don't understand them. " 13:53 And we need to make more simple plans. 13:56 And I can say: "Yeah, I've got to look at myself 14:01 and say: 'Sometimes maybe the way I want to do things 14:07 may not be how other people want to do it. 14:09 And who am I to say... ' " 14:12 I have a saying and some people know it in our part 14:15 of the world. They say: "There's more than one way 14:18 to skin a kangaroo. " 14:20 As long as the kangaroo - you know - gets its skin off. 14:27 And as long as we get the message out there I think 14:30 let's encourage the variety of ministry. 14:33 And that's what I see here, and I think that's a really good 14:35 thing. Elder Lakra: what would you say? 14:42 I also find a lot of challenges that we have. 14:46 Particularly I think that in India - 14:49 of course, in Southern Asia Division - 14:53 we have the vast population 14:56 and, you know, as has been read 15:00 1.33 billion people. 15:04 Different casts, creeds. 15:07 Different languages. 15:09 Of course we have the challenges - you know - 15:13 as has been said is the largest democracy 15:16 as well as I would say 15:21 is the largest constitution in the world 15:26 because we have different segments, different societies, 15:30 different language, different mentality, different culture. 15:35 And we find it really difficult that way to get into 15:40 and to bring them together. 15:43 And you know, when we have... Even politically we find 15:50 it difficult to really be so free 15:54 to spread the gospel. 15:57 And of course as far as our administration is concerned 16:02 we find challenge internally, too. 16:05 That we have, you know, sometimes the people 16:10 lose the confidence on us. 16:14 We try our best that we be accountable. 16:18 And that's what this concuimany feels that we should 16:23 win the confidence of the lay members 16:27 who are able to contribute their trust on us. 16:31 And there may be some areas 16:37 we may not be able to cope with what they think of. 16:40 But we are as much as we do it 16:46 that we are transparent in our dealings 16:50 and loving them, calling them, inviting them. 16:55 And now what we see: a lot of lay members, they come forward. 17:01 And that's the sign of the changes that we could see. 17:07 And it's difficult for us because I know as 17:12 I have come here for ASI. 17:15 But unfortunately we do not have the AIC... ASI 17:21 there in our country because of a lot of challenges 17:24 that we have. But I'm going through this... 17:27 a lot of learning there. The excitement that I have 17:32 that we could start. Because we are not able to win 17:37 the confidence of the lay members, 17:39 but we will see it. I know with God's grace, 17:44 the Holy Spirit that is working among the lay members, 17:48 and who have the confidence now. And they are coming up. 17:53 We have one point: the 7 million members we have 17:59 and out of that I know it: we plan to make it double 18:04 as what we... We want to involve the lay members 18:10 more of those and as they begin to have confidence 18:14 in us in spite of some challenges that we have. 18:17 Thank you very much. 18:19 Yes Elder Samuel. Thank you, Brother Steve. 18:23 I want to touch on a very fundamental issue. 18:29 Like Dr. Lee has mentioned 18:33 there are internal and external factors. 18:35 And the internal factor, I want to focus on the individual. 18:38 I think what Ellen White has 18:40 counseled us: a revival of true godliness among us 18:42 is the greatest and the most urgent of all our needs. 18:48 This is the point: that personal revival is the key 18:53 that is needed as I look at it. 18:55 I look at my division in SSD we have 1.3 billion 19:02 of population but our membership is 1.3 million. 19:07 Of the 1.3 86 are in two countries alone: 19:11 Manila, Philippines and Indonesia. 19:14 But this also: we have a problem with the uneven distribution of 19:19 membership. But there is also a blessing in the challenges 19:23 that we face everywhere. 19:25 But one thing is that... Another issue is that 19:28 what is our values? You know, what is our perspective? 19:32 That is very important. 19:34 I have to admit that I have a bias and a prejudice 19:38 against Muslims because I was mistreated by my own father 19:41 who is a Muslim 19:42 and that I want nothing more to do with Muslim 19:45 until the last year that during the devotional 19:47 part of ...? who came and talked about it. 19:50 And then I committed. And last year I went and I talked 19:53 to my father. Never I wanted to talk to him. 19:56 I always avoided talking to him, but I changed my mind. 19:59 And then I talked to him and as a result 20:02 my father - 50 years - he gave his life 20:06 and he is going to get baptized this year. Amen! Amen! 20:09 There is one thing: many times we have to personally 20:14 break down some of the prejudices, the bias that we 20:17 have and then seek the help of the Holy Spirit. 20:20 Sometimes we focus on our own people, our own tribe 20:23 and our own country. But today we have learned 20:27 that when we receive the calling 20:28 the calling is not only the place we belong. 20:34 Andi, you know, we've talked about some various... 20:37 some pretty serious internal and external issues here. 20:40 And I appreciate what Pastor Samuel said. 20:45 And sometimes it's in our own heart, isn't it, 20:48 where we need to resolve some things before we can fully 20:52 have that burn for souls that we need 20:55 and so that God can really do that. Andi, 20:58 summarize what you heard here this afternoon 21:00 in terms of those challenges for our audience. 21:03 Yeah, I'm actually very encouraged because 21:07 it's interesting. I have that quote that you mentioned. 21:10 "A revival of true godliness is 21:12 the greatest of all our works. " 21:13 And so I really appreciate that fact. 21:15 I think oftentimes we tend to look out there 21:18 at something else rather than looking in our hearts. 21:21 And I think that Daniel 9 gives us a great example of 21:26 how we should be looking at things. 21:27 We have sinned and done wrong. 21:30 And so I think if we begin there - 21:32 revival in our own hearts - I think the message 21:37 as Ellen White says will "go as far in the stubble. " 21:39 The other thing that you mentioned, Elder Lee, is 21:42 that we've lost the mission spirit. 21:44 Certainly as we look at the early pioneers 21:50 and the mission spirit they had 21:52 we can certainly see that, and one of you mentioned 21:54 Laodicea... you did... 21:57 Bro. Saw... No, Lakra... I'm sorry... 22:02 And so I really think that you gentlemen have really hit 22:04 on these points. I pray that our audience... 22:07 we're out of time... have heard the points that are made 22:09 and take those to heart. 22:11 Yes. Just one last point: I think that one thing is 22:16 that we all need to be reminded that God will do the work. 22:19 If we will furnish Him the instruments 22:22 that God will finish the work. 22:25 So sometimes we get confused. 22:27 Amen. Steve, I think it is true that 22:30 we may have even more challenges in the future 22:34 as we come nearer to the end of the age you see. 22:37 We may have more challenges in mission and so on you see. 22:40 But as Ellen White said this is not our work. 22:43 This is God's work, and God has started His work 22:46 and God will finish His work 22:48 using dedicated men and women. 22:51 So I would like to encourage all the lay people who are 22:57 you know engaged in missionary work 22:59 but don't be afraid of anyone, anything in the world. 23:02 This is God's work. Amen! And let us work together 23:05 with a united heart, and let's move forward together. 23:09 And by the grace of God through the power of the Holy Spirit 23:12 certainly we can finish the work soon in the near future. 23:15 Amen! Well this afternoon as part of our feature 23:19 one of the things that we'll be bringing to you 23:21 is some short stories about how things are working in some areas 23:26 where the lay people and the administration of the church 23:30 are working shoulder to shoulder. 23:32 And this afternoon now we'll have one of those stories 23:35 for you now. 23:39 Good afternoon! Good afternoon and it's so nice to be with you 23:44 today. I have the privilege of having 23:46 Elder Robert Folkenberg, Jr. with me. 23:50 He's the president of the Chinese Union. 23:52 Hello! Good afternoon. 23:54 And tell us a little bit about the work that you are doing 23:57 in China. Well, we are trying to continue the work 24:01 started in China by a layman 24:04 back in 1888. 24:06 Abram LaRue left California 24:09 with a burden for the Chinese and traveled all the way 24:12 to Hong Kong and began a life-long work - 24:15 he's actually buried in Hong Kong - 24:17 to reach the Chinese with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 24:20 Well praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! You know, 24:23 China is a very unique situation Elder Folkenberg 24:27 and how are you able to share the gospel message in China? 24:31 Well it's unique on many fronts. Number one: it's the largest 24:34 population in the world. We have 1.4 billion people 24:37 in China, and one can't help but ask 24:40 "How in the world can we reach that? " 24:42 Now I appreciate what Elder Bradshaw said this morning. 24:45 You can look at the glass half full or you can look at it 24:47 half empty. And we prefer as SDA's to look at it as 24:51 half full. Amen? Amen! 24:53 And in this case, the Lord is doing amazing things 24:56 amongst the Chinese. Yes, there are 1.4 billion 24:59 people to reach for Christ in China, but the Holy Spirit 25:03 is working. And up to now we have almost 1/2 million 25:07 members all across China. 25:09 Amen! Which is amazing given the fact that we're 25:11 in a country that does not believe in or support 25:16 belief in God or in religion at all. 25:20 That's amazing. And I know that you were mentioning 25:23 when I was talking with you a little bit about some of the 25:26 experiences and the testimonies 25:28 that you have from 25:30 people in China. Absolutely! 25:31 One of the things that we are... 25:32 we realize in China is that tra- ditional methods of evangelism 25:36 are not easily accomplished. 25:38 We cannot hold public evangelistic meetings. 25:41 But if you look at the writings of Ellen White 25:44 over and over again - probably twice as much as 25:47 anything else she talks about personal work. 25:49 Personal work. And personal work works everywhere in the 25:53 world. That is one person reaching out and connecting with 25:57 another person and making friends for eternity. 26:00 And the Chinese church has been doing this for many many 26:02 years. At the beginning of the Communist Revolution 26:05 in 1949 we only had 20,000 members in China. 26:09 When the church began to emerge from those difficult 26:13 years over 200,000 members were there. 26:16 Amen! And all of that took place through personal work. 26:20 And so one of the ways that we're doing this 26:21 in China is through setting up many centers of influence 26:25 as we call them, but in China 26:27 we don't call them centers of influence - we call them 26:29 service centers. And in the span of the last three years 26:32 we've started over 50 of these centers. 26:35 And these are small store fronts 26:38 and every single one of them have a couple - two people - 26:43 whose job it is to make friends and give Bible studies. 26:46 Can I share a story about one of those centers? 26:49 Absolutely... please do. Just last week I was talking to 26:51 our coordinator for the centers and he said: "Bob, you won't 26:53 believe what I just heard from one of our centers. " 26:56 Do you know what they do at that center? They sell health foods! 26:58 They sell whole grains, brown rice, 27:01 all kinds of vegetarian options and juices and so forth. 27:05 And they order all this health food from a wholesaler 27:11 in this big city that they're in. 27:13 And this wholesaler was curious: why is it this little store 27:17 orders all these bags of whole grains. 27:20 So he made a trip over to this little store front - 27:23 one of these service centers - 27:25 and talked to them and found out what they were doing. 27:27 And before their visit was over 27:29 they began Bible studies with this wholesale manager. 27:31 Amen! Oh, but that's not the end of the story. 27:33 What happened next was every day, every week 27:36 the wholesaler is sending material over - 27:39 you know, sending the whole grains and the rice 27:41 and all this - through a courier. 27:43 And the gospel worker pioneers that are in there 27:47 began to feed this courier. Every time he came there 27:50 they would sit him down and give him great food. 27:52 And before you know it he is also studying the Bible 27:56 with them. Praise the Lord! 27:57 Isn't that a wonderful wonderful miracle? 28:00 You know, I know for a fact there are many of our lay 28:03 ministries that are able to get into China 28:08 through the videos and other materials. 28:12 Tell us a little bit about that. 28:13 Absolutely! We are using media all the time. 28:16 In fact, we have Chinese Hope TV that is covering China 28:21 through satellite. We do those same programs over the Internet. 28:25 We work very closely with Amazing Facts. 28:28 We're starting to work with It Is Written 28:30 to put their programs. But what is amazing is 28:33 that even though it's not... OK, maybe I shouldn't say this 28:36 on television, but anyway we have satellite dishes 28:39 all across China now in all our churches. Amen! 28:42 So they're getting all this wonderful material. 28:45 Secondly, we are using the Internet. 28:48 Every single day nine million people download 28:52 our message through podcasts. Amen! 28:55 Nine million people! 28:56 And isn't also Adventist World Radio in there? 28:59 Adventist World Radio podcasts. Yes! 29:01 We produce programs which go from Guam 29:04 through Adventist World Radio. But then they take those same 29:07 programs and put them on podcast and they are downloaded 29:10 via podcast. Praise the Lord! You know, God is going to do 29:14 everything He needs to do to finish this work, and 29:16 you know, there's many many more stories that Elder Folkenberg 29:19 is going to be able to share. Tell us your booth number. 29:23 721... che-r-ee in Chinese... 721. 29:28 So please be sure to stop by their booth 29:32 and he will share with you many many more stories 29:34 and also give you some infor- mation if you want to get more 29:37 involved. Thank you. 29:42 Thank you so much Barbara and Elder Folkenberg. 29:45 How many of you are going to pray for China? 29:48 The Lord is going to do miracles in that part of the world! 29:51 Well, we have a wonderful line-up in our next group. 29:55 Group #2 is Europe and the Asian 29:59 Continent. And as they're going to be coming out 30:02 just now I'm going to introduce 30:04 the Trans-European Division 30:06 whose president is Elder Rafaat Kamal. 30:10 And the Trans-European Division which encompasses 30:12 22 countries was first organized in 1928. 30:16 Last reorganized in 2012. 30:19 From the breathtaking glaciers in the north of Europe 30:22 to the sun-washed shorelines of the south, 30:24 from the lush lands of Greenland in the west 30:28 to the great ice-capped mountains in the east 30:30 the Trans-European Division sparkles with diversity. 30:33 Rafaat Kamal wrote that I just want you to know. 30:35 Europe is the world's second smallest continent by land mass 30:39 covering only about 2% of the earth's surface. 30:42 In terms of population, however, it is the third largest 30:46 continent after Asia and Africa 30:48 with a population of some 733 million people 30:53 or about 11% of the world's population. 30:56 Amid a population of 205 million there are about 8 in the TED, 31:02 there are 86,000 Seventh-day Adventist members 31:05 worshiping in 1,165 churches across the division. 31:10 Most of their inhabitants live in a highly-secular region 31:13 of the world. Their ministries focus on evangelism 31:16 and outreach to those in secular thinking. 31:19 Their vision is that their 1000+ churches 31:22 will be salt and light to their communities. 31:26 Next to him is Elder Mario Brito 31:29 who is the president of the Inter-European Division. 31:32 The Inter-European Division is made up of 20 countries 31:35 with a total population of over 350 million people. 31:40 There's a great diversity of languages, 31:42 historical backgrounds, cultures, and traditions 31:45 that may be seen as a great challenge. 31:47 But more recently these countries have been confronted 31:50 with the arrival of a great number of immigrants 31:53 and refugees with their own lan- guages, beliefs, and cultures. 31:56 This very complex and apparently challenging situation 32:00 is being understood by the leaders of our church in the EUD 32:04 as a fertile ground for the advancement of the mission 32:07 that God has entrusted them. 32:08 Some of the immigrants and refugees are completely open 32:11 to receiving the gospel message. 32:13 Many of our churches are being greatly blessed now 32:16 as they minister to these newcomers. 32:19 and several church members are feeling the desire 32:21 of even having a closer relationship with God 32:24 as they minister to them. 32:25 A growing number of young people are also willing to 32:28 re-commit their lives to Jesus and be involved in mission 32:31 throughout the EUD. The leadership of the EUD 32:34 is confident that the tremendous challenges with which they are 32:37 confronted are concealed opportunities 32:40 for the prosperity and the growth of the SDA church 32:43 in this region of the world. 32:46 Next to him is Pastor Michael Kaminskiy, 32:48 the president of the Euro-Asia Division. 32:51 The Euro-Asia Division is a vast territory 32:53 with a small number of church members. 32:56 95% of them came into the church 32:59 as a result of the large evangelistic campaign 33:02 that took place in the fall of Communism in the 1990's. 33:05 There are 13 countries - including the large Russia 33:09 which we know - and Afghanistan that make up this division. 33:13 113,000 members 33:16 with a population of 320 million people. 33:20 They are very dedicated to the Lord, but now they are praying 33:24 for a positive example of how they can reach 33:26 their territory even without being able to hold 33:29 large public meetings. 33:31 Their challenge? They need places of worship. 33:34 Congregations in cities are worshiping in rental facilities 33:37 and the new laws that have been put in place 33:39 restrict such practices. 33:41 They also need church schools. And their vision 33:45 truly is to spread the gospel among the many non-Christians 33:48 in the 10/40 window. 33:52 Thank you very much for the introduction, Kyle. 33:54 Thank you gentlemen for joining us. 33:57 We were led very nicely to the second session 34:03 by our first group, one of whom mentioned a very important quote 34:07 "A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest 34:11 and most urgent of all our needs. " 34:13 And certainly you gentlemen, I'm sure, feel the same. 34:16 And I wonder... You know, most of us 34:19 keep awake at night sometimes just thinking 34:22 all sorts of things. I wonder, what keeps you up 34:25 at night or what drives you to your knees? 34:27 Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night 34:29 on your knees before the Lord? 34:31 What is it that you're grappling with before the Lord 34:34 as you see all the work that's before us 34:37 and a world in need? 34:40 Usually when I come home I am tired. 34:43 I sleep at least 2, 3 hours 34:47 and many times I wake up... 34:51 wake up and kneel down and pray. 34:55 Pray for the church 34:58 that God may wake us up. 35:02 We are so busy running from one place to another 35:07 that sometimes we don't have enough time 35:10 to think about what is the most important in life. 35:14 We are just visitors. 35:18 I will say we are passing by here. 35:21 Our home is heaven. 35:24 And while we don't understand this clearly 35:27 we put too much emphasis on our life here... 35:30 the material life... 35:32 and we forget that the most important thing is to invest in 35:36 people. And I would like our church 35:40 in general may have this clear understanding. 35:45 I also pray for the people outside of the church 35:48 because they also are busy. 35:50 And for many people in our territory 35:54 they don't think about these important values. 35:58 But it's true as was said in the introduction 36:02 the challenges through which we are going now 36:06 are making many people think 36:10 and seeing that our stay here 36:13 is not so sure as it may appear. 36:19 So what keeps me awake and praying is that 36:24 God may help us understand that this world is coming 36:28 to its end. When I say "us" 36:32 the church and the world. 36:36 Elder Kaminskiy? Very often we as the church 36:39 think that status quo we have now in many countries 36:45 I mean the peace and freedom, religious freedom, 36:49 will last forever. But that is not so. 36:54 For example, in Russia a few weeks ago 36:57 was signed new legislation that will restrict very severely 37:02 missionary activities of the church, religious organizations 37:06 in that part of the world. 37:08 But I think very often why we as the church 37:14 many times want pass later 37:19 in our activities in this world. 37:23 For the last 25 years after the 1990's 37:27 we in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union 37:31 have the golden time: 25 years. 37:35 We can go to any country. 37:37 Preach to anybody; invite anybody to the church. 37:42 And now when we have the new legislation 37:46 when we can't openly invite to the church 37:49 on the street people. When in the big cities 37:52 our biggest congregations can lose their places of worship 37:56 we start to ask the Lord: "Why? " 37:59 The Lord: "We are in such of the conditions. " 38:02 And for sure we will do all possible in this new 38:06 situation. And I would like to appeal to the church 38:11 while we still have the very open possibility to preach 38:14 the gospel: this will not last forever. 38:18 Use the possibilities of the moment today. 38:22 You have very openly to come to the people 38:25 and share the love of God. 38:27 Elder Kamal? I know that Jesus Christ is 38:31 building His church so I am at peace. 38:34 But when I wake up in the morning 38:36 I wake up with a lot of excitement 38:40 because God has good plans for us... for all of us. 38:43 I guess the thing that occupies most of my time, 38:45 my thoughts, my heart 38:47 is to discover what the Holy Spirit 38:50 is working... especially on the local church level. 38:54 That's where I believe where the rubber meets the road: 38:57 that's where the Holy Spirit is working. 38:59 So when I think about our 1,000+ communities 39:01 they are operating in a regulated social environment 39:05 in Europe... in a secular environment. 39:09 I'm just thinking about my town. When I drive to work 39:12 in the morning and I witness the cathedral which is not very 39:15 far from us - the Anglican cathedral - 39:18 there the bishop of the cathedral is a practicing 39:21 homosexual. And then you drive up the road and you see 39:24 hundreds and hundreds of students 39:26 making their way to school. 39:28 And we know that in the schools the idea of, concept of creation 39:32 the story of creation is not being told. 39:36 It's almost a taboo. 39:37 So how do you operate as a SDA Christian 39:40 with that identity, with that important message 39:43 living at the end of time in such a secular, regulated 39:47 society? So this is where I go on my knees. 39:51 I say: "God... help! " It takes a miracle. 39:54 We're not exceptional. Every single generation 39:57 of Christians from the early disciples 40:01 they had their own challenges. 40:03 Once you put the challenge + the power of the Holy Spirit 40:05 you get the miracle... you get the opportunities. 40:08 And I believe we're living in a time where 40:10 it is a time for opportunities for us. 40:13 That's what excites me; that's what occupies my time, 40:15 my thoughts. Something positive 40:17 that God has put in motion... a miracle! 40:20 And God is raising leaders; God is building this momentum. 40:23 We're going to see people flocking to come to Jesus Christ 40:27 as they await His soon return. 40:31 You know, Andi, I'm excited today when I hear the burden 40:34 of the hearts of our leaders, really. 40:36 The burden for the idea that sometimes 40:40 we have forgotten our sense of mission 40:43 and the burden for the idea that sometimes 40:46 we're not understanding the open opportunity we may have 40:50 right now. And I hear them 40:54 praying for their members 40:56 and praying for even those in their community 40:59 that they see that need Christ. 41:02 I'm encouraged by that 41:03 and I think, you know, what an opportunity for us. 41:08 I'm just thinking now as we're pondering maybe another question 41:14 "If a lay person is in your division 41:18 or maybe someone's even outside of your area, 41:21 how is it that the admini- strative structure of the church 41:27 is functioning in communicating those plans 41:30 to the... to the people that sit in the pews? 41:34 It seems like sometimes there might be a little disconnect 41:36 in there. What things could be done to improve that? 41:40 How can the lay people help in that area to improve where... 41:44 so that the plans that are being made are the plans that 41:47 the church members understand and can help to implement? 41:53 This is a very important question. 41:57 Already in the time I was working in the union 42:00 in Portugal I was always with my team to see how 42:03 can we communicate with our lay people. 42:07 Today we have many electronic means 42:11 that allows us to have direct access to the people. 42:16 But we still are trying to find ways of being 42:22 able to communicate with efficiency 42:26 that we can go through all the levels of our structure 42:30 with a very clear and fast message. 42:34 This is something we have to discuss because 42:38 I know it's not always easy. 42:41 But for me what is most important is to empower 42:45 lay leaders, to empower local pastors 42:48 that they know exactly what God is expecting from them. 42:52 That they don't depend so much from structure 42:57 but depend directly from God. 42:59 They receive the guidelines. 43:01 We are going to have this year in September 43:05 an advisory... all departments together 43:08 telling them that we have to work as a team at all levels. 43:12 Giving them the main lines that they may by themselves 43:16 follow without depending too much on this heavy structure 43:22 that is ours. I think we need to admit 43:27 that these multiple instruments we have today and we use 43:34 to bring the information to our congregation. 43:37 The first one: disconnect us as the pastors 43:40 and the leaders from the real life of the church. 43:43 Sometimes we see that we send a letter 43:45 or put the letter on the church board or give the 43:48 telephone call to somebody and we finish or complete our job. 43:54 That is not so. 43:56 At the beginning of this quin- quennium we tell to our church 43:59 as the leaders of the church and pastors 44:01 that we will not propose anything to the church 44:04 if we personally not be involved in that in the church. 44:08 Therefore I personally understand that if we together 44:12 with the church preach the gospel they will forget 44:16 all other things we are not highly doing in our 44:21 administration and our pastoral job. Preaching the gospel: 44:25 that's the reason of the church in this world 44:28 and our common... 44:34 common existing in this world. 44:38 I guess the communi- cation needs to be two ways. 44:42 Shouldn't only be from the leaders and the pastors down. 44:44 I think we need to encourage to create safe spaces... 44:49 spaces for the dialog that goes on 44:51 between laity and leadership and pastors. 44:54 I like the ASI model here where we see young people 44:59 at the front - lay members - taking a leading role 45:02 in the shaping of the ministry, shaping of minds. 45:05 There's a Holy Spirit receptivity there, and we are 45:08 working together as one team. 45:10 I feel a bit uncomfortable some- times when people talk about 45:13 laity or ASI "reaching to the church. " 45:17 My understanding is that we are all one. 45:19 That's true. And we are all one body of Christ. 45:21 Somehow we need to work also on our language 45:23 to detox from us and them. 45:26 But we are actually one, and so I am trying to encourage that 45:28 kind of language - inclusive- ness - at least in my division 45:31 that we are actually one family. 45:32 There isn't groups... because the devil wants to distract us 45:35 and create these kind of barriers between us. 45:38 And somehow we need to mitigate against that 45:40 and create that inclusiveness, that spirit, that we are one. 45:43 Brothers and sister in Christ focusing on the mission. 45:47 We are one church; we are united. 45:49 You know, that actually is one thing we were talking about. 45:52 Even in putting these questions together we had used the word 45:56 division... which we understand is a corporate word that 46:00 describes how we organize the church. 46:02 But we said: "You know, that word has kind of a negative 46:05 connotation, doesn't it? " 46:07 And so Andi and I were going through the questions 46:09 and we were trying to strike that word from our questions 46:12 and come to the point where we could talk about ourselves 46:15 even and even ask questions and dialogue 46:17 without using the word division. 46:19 Because I think that's God's plan is that we be unified. 46:22 Shoulder to shoulder... working together. 46:24 And so thank you certainly... thank you for that comment. 46:29 I know we're out of time again. 46:31 It's impossible! It seems that clock just keeps on running. 46:34 Questions about the division? 46:36 We are divided? 46:41 You know, I believe that we need to be united - 46:45 Amen - if we are to accomplish the mission. 46:48 We can see that in the early church 46:52 they received the Holy Spirit when they knelt down and prayed. 46:58 We need to receive the Holy Spirit. 47:01 Only the Holy Spirit can unite us, 47:05 can help us set our priorities. 47:09 If we don't go and if we don't feel that need 47:15 we will never be able to accomplish the mission. 47:18 It is the Holy Spirit that will bring conviction to our hearts, 47:21 that will help us be light on this world. 47:25 It's not just the oral message. 47:28 It is the living message. What is my example? 47:30 My influence? Amen. 47:32 Only through the power of the Holy Spirit on us. 47:36 Thank you so much for joining us today. 47:38 And now we have another story about somewhere in the world 47:42 where things are being done to advance God's work 47:46 working shoulder to shoulder. 47:50 Wonderful wonderful wonderful testimonies! 47:53 I can tell you these next two gentlemen... if we could be 47:57 here all afternoon but we know we only have a few short minutes 48:00 so I would like to introduce Dr. Viriato Ferreira 48:04 and Claus Nybo. 48:05 And they're working in the ASI Euro. So please 48:10 tell us first of all: how did you first start this ministry? 48:14 Well, it was a year ago 48:17 more or less that we were all surprised by something 48:20 that happened in Hungary 48:22 in the city of Budapest. 48:24 There was an ASI Europe convention 48:26 at the same time where thousands of people 48:29 had come that were fleeing from the Middle East 48:32 were in the city of Budapest. 48:35 They were in the train station; they were walking in the streets 48:38 and there was tremendous pain in their faces. 48:41 And there was a lot of hurt because they were refugees. 48:46 And so the ASI Europe convention was taking place at that time 48:51 and the ASI members were walking past the station 48:54 every day to go to the meetings. 48:56 When one ASI member said to us, came to ASI Europe and they said 49:01 "Look, here is 100,000 Euros. 49:03 You need to do something for these people. " 49:05 And that's how it all started. 49:07 So within five weeks with the help of organizations 49:11 including the church - like one of the Romanian conferences - 49:16 there was a medical bus. It was equipped. 49:20 It was a medical bus on an island of Lesbos 49:24 which was the main island that was receiving 49:27 where people were fleeing to from Turkey. 49:30 Up to 10,000 people a day were coming to that island. 49:35 Wonderful! And I know that you have some pictures 49:38 that you're going to be showing us, and that's one of those 49:41 pictures is what is happening right now on the island 49:44 of Lesbos. Yes! Well Claus, you were there. Tell us... 49:47 tell us what happened. 49:49 Well as we came there and started establishing a medical 49:52 facility to receive these refugees 49:55 we were able to place a bus 49:57 right on the beach as we see in this picture here 50:00 and receive refugees. They were coming in by the thousands. 50:04 This was in the fall a year ago. 50:07 And so at the height in October of 2015 50:10 we would have 50 boats that would arrive 50:14 just on the beach where we were at here every single day. 50:18 And you see as we go on in the boats that are coming in 50:21 they were full of people. There would be 50 people 50:24 typically on a boat as they were coming in. 50:28 And some of the places were rocky beaches 50:30 as you are seeing here where they are arriving in 50:32 and where they are getting help. 50:34 People were cold; it was cold water. 50:37 And a lot of people with hypothermia. 50:39 And so the medical team was there helping assess the needs 50:42 looking through all of these thousands of refugees coming in 50:46 and just simply showing them love and acceptance. 50:49 Wonderful! Well I know that you were telling me a story 50:53 about a young man, Doctor. Tell me a little bit about 50:56 this young man that came in. 50:58 Well I'll just tell you that in three months 51:00 where this was happening over 2,500 people were helped 51:04 at the medical bus, and one of them was this young man. 51:08 We had Dr. Michael John Panos and one of the volunteers there. 51:11 This young man arrived. He was hurting; he had a broken foot, 51:16 swollen foot. And Dr. Michael started 51:22 seeing him. And so the young man took his cell phone 51:26 and was showing some pictures of some children. 51:30 And then he just started crying and crying... uncontrollably. 51:35 And so through the translator 51:37 Dr. Michael got the story. This young man 51:40 he was... I believe he was in Syria... 51:45 and his two children were killed 51:50 and his wife was taken by ISIS militants. 51:55 He managed to escape. He jumped from a very high place. 51:58 When he landed he broke his foot but he couldn't stop. 52:01 So for one month he had been traveling through Turkey 52:04 to reach us at that point. 52:07 And still with this broken foot? 52:10 For one month. Still with this broken foot. 52:11 Completely swollen broken foot 52:13 for one month. Trying to escape. These are some of the people 52:15 that we were meeting there. I remember waking up one 52:18 morning early, and we were woken up by 52:23 screams and whistles blown from the sea. 52:27 And as we looked out the window we saw the picture 52:29 of what you see here of a boat coming in 52:32 half sunken and 150 people on there, 52:36 most of them standing outside trying to balance this boat. 52:39 And we started then a rescue effort to try and get 52:43 people off this boat. And we will see here in the video 52:46 how desperate people are to get off before this is sinking. 52:50 Inside of the boat were even more people - 52:53 women and children - that are all trying to get out of there. 52:56 Now these people have paid to get on these boats. 52:59 They paid 2,200 Euros a person. 53:03 You do the math and figure out how much the 53:06 smugglers earn on one boat like that that should never have been 53:09 at sea. These people have gone through a lot of things 53:13 and are desperate when they come here. 53:15 And it's this situation that we are meeting. 53:18 Claus, I'm just looking at the clock. 53:21 We are now in the second phase of this work. 53:25 And it is in mainland Greece 53:29 because now there are thousands and thousands of refugees 53:32 in Greece. They are stranded there, and the Greek government 53:35 has to look after them. 53:37 Basically there is a new camp. One of the refugee camps 53:42 the camp at Oinofyta. 53:43 And just two weeks ago there were up to... almost 700 53:46 or more people there. And they asked ASI Europe to be 53:49 responsible for the medical services in that camp. Amen! 53:53 So we've got a medical facility there 53:56 which Claus is going to describe this container. 53:59 Inside this 40 ft. container that's all a medical clinic 54:02 that is arranged, and here we have volunteer doctors 54:05 and nurses working all day long to serve these people, 54:09 to work with them, and to make friends and introduce them 54:12 in that way to the love of Jesus. 54:15 They have a lot of facilities there, but we need doctors. 54:17 We need nurses that can come. 54:20 And we are looking for volunteers. We have people come 54:23 from around the world to be part of this. 54:25 And you know, Dr. Viriato, you doing nothing else than this, 54:29 right? No, no... this is not my work. 54:32 OK. I've got a full-time work somewhere else. 54:34 This is... When do we do this, Claus? You also 54:38 have your full-time work. And this is at night! 54:41 It's sometimes in the middle of the night 54:43 that we have meetings to organize and to do this. 54:46 And you know what? This can only be done 54:49 if we work together. Amen! 54:51 When you see the needs, even if we have more than enough 54:55 to do, we haven't been able to ignore these people coming in. 54:59 And what we are asking is if any of you can help 55:03 go there for 1 or 2 weeks. 55:04 We could use people who like to cook and other practical 55:07 things there as well. |
Revised 2022-06-21