Participants: James Campbell
Series Code: AIM
Program Code: AIM000476
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00:16 Welcome everybody to another
00:18 "Adventures in Missions" program. 00:20 We are here in the studios of Gospel Outreach 00:24 in College Place, Washington 00:26 where so much activity goes on 00:28 in coordinating the work 00:30 of Gospel Outreach internationally. 00:33 And what we do here in these programs 00:35 is bring you reports of what's happening 00:38 to inspire you, to encourage you 00:40 and hopefully to invite you 00:44 to be a part of Gospel Outreach family. 00:47 And what I get to do is meet dear friends 00:50 here in the set and let you know first hand 00:53 some of the reports 00:55 that they are able to bring to us. 00:56 My guest to today is dear, dear friend and man, 01:01 we've known each other quite a while, James. 01:02 It's been a while and it's been good. 01:03 James Campbell, veteran missionary 01:05 who is now a Regional Director for Gospel Outreach. 01:09 Tell us about your region just briefly. 01:12 Our region is the north-west part of India 01:15 and the country of Nepal. 01:17 Now the north-west part of India 01:21 has about 500 million people. Wow. 01:25 One in every 14 people in the world live region-- 01:29 Many in the United States. 01:33 Well, two third or more than in the United States. 01:38 And this region where you are the director 01:41 you once worked umpteen years ago. Yes. 01:45 Whatever, umpteen means 01:46 but to me it means just about 50 years ago. 01:49 Bless your heart. 01:50 Well, we are so honor to have you here. 01:53 And you bring to us today 01:55 the first of a trilogy of programs 01:58 that give us a window on who the people are, 02:02 what Gospel Outreach is doing 02:04 and the blessing of God on the work. 02:06 And the first of your programs 02:08 is the Power of Prayer. Yes. 02:10 Then we're going to follow with the Power of Love 02:12 and the Power of Praise. 02:13 So you stay tuned not just today 02:16 but next time Gospel Outreach comes around on your channel. 02:20 Will you please stay tuned 02:22 for the second of these three programs? 02:24 So tell us about the Power of Prayer. 02:27 Well, today I'd like us to begin our program 02:32 by repeating together the Lord's Prayer. 02:34 Oh, wonderful. 02:35 And I'd like to invite our viewer to join in the prayer. 02:39 And there it is on the screen if we wish to do it that way. 02:43 Let's pray our Lord's Prayer. 02:46 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 02:51 Thy kingdom come. 02:53 Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 02:58 Give us this day our daily bread. 03:01 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 03:06 And lead us not into temptation, 03:09 but deliver us from evil. 03:11 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, 03:15 and the glory, forever and ever. 03:17 Amen. Amen. Thank you. 03:20 You know I'm glad we did that. 03:23 We need to pray more on this program too. 03:26 Yes, we do. Prayer accomplishes things. 03:32 God does things for us 03:34 when we pray that He might not otherwise do. 03:39 Not just for us 03:41 but God so loved the world that He gave-- 03:46 You know, let's think about that just a little bit, James. 03:48 That's not because God doesn't know 03:53 who we are and what our needs are 03:58 but He also want us to know 04:02 in that process of understanding 04:05 our total dependence on Him 04:08 and the resources that He will provide to us 04:12 if we have that relationship with Him. 04:14 Right. Yes. 04:16 So prayer isn't to talk God into something, 04:18 it is a development of the relationship with Him. 04:22 I've been reading recently about 04:27 some of the history of Christian work in India 04:33 and prayer has had a big part in it. 04:37 There was a great Christian revival in 04:41 well, just over 100 years ago around you know, 04:44 the turn from 1800s to 1900s. 04:48 And that revival was born of prayer 04:52 and it was not amongst Seventh-day Adventist Christians 04:55 we were just getting started in India in those days. 04:59 But Perspirations, Salvation Army, 05:03 Methodists had been there long before we were. 05:07 And those were Godly people and they prepare the way 05:11 for what God is doing in Northern India today. 05:17 They prayed, they were humbled about it. 05:21 One of those missionaries 05:22 who was there at that time 05:25 wrote a letter and said something like this, 05:28 "Indians had learned to look on us missionaries 05:34 as friends, as people who would help them 05:38 as good workers 05:41 but they had not learned to look on us 05:44 as men and women of God." Wow. 05:48 And that is humbling effect on us. 05:53 Do the people who see us 05:56 realize that we have a connection with God in prayer? 06:01 Now, over the past 12 or so years 06:07 maybe its getting close to 15 years now 06:11 there's been wonderful resurgence 06:15 of Seventh-day Adventist Christian work in India. 06:19 The membership has multiplied 06:23 by about 400% or 500% in those 15 years. 06:29 And it happened because of prayer. 06:32 You see, in 2007 06:38 there was a change in leadership 06:40 in Southern Asia division which is India, 06:42 Nepal, essentially Bhutan 06:46 and the multi violence nation 06:49 but Ron Watts was invited to be 06:55 the president of the Southern Asia division. 06:59 He came there and he told me, 07:02 he said, I have been-- 07:03 I and my wife have been praying for the last 16 years 07:08 that we would have that opportunity to institute 07:11 the plan of evangelism in India that God has shown us. 07:15 Wow. And that plan went ahead. 07:18 Now, 16 years of daily prayer 07:21 and the results came in the area especially 07:25 where they concentrated, the membership jumped 07:30 to close to a million. Yeah. 07:36 Praise the Lord. Wonderful. 07:38 So the prayer really changes things 07:42 and its working now too. 07:43 And I am always impressed seriously 07:50 so when I observe these people 07:53 who respond to the ministry of Gospel Outreach workers 07:57 and the way they become 07:59 so practically dependent upon God 08:03 in the life of prayer. Yes, really. 08:06 Now you got some pictures for us. We have. 08:08 And we're going to have a picture of the program 08:13 "Project Taj Evangelism." This is something new. 08:18 We've all seen the famous Taj Mahal in India. Yes. 08:25 But I would like us to look at this, 08:27 at this report that just came. 08:30 This is from the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. 08:35 Uttar means North, Pradesh means provenance. 08:38 The state of Utter Pradesh in Northern India 08:41 and in that state there are 200 million people 08:47 but the Lord is ready to work in that state. 08:50 And in the month of March two of our fields 08:55 in Uttar Pradesh received $3,000 each 09:00 for what we called "Project Taj Evangelism." 09:03 This is money that people sent in 09:06 to Gospel Outreach. All right. 09:08 Excuse my interrupting 09:09 but "Project Taj" see from my background, 09:14 I don't know what Taj means. 09:16 Is it in area or-- Yes. 09:21 It's the state of India 09:22 where the famous Taj Mahal is located. 09:25 Oh, I got you. Okay. Yes. 09:27 And "Project Taj Evangelism" 09:29 it's just the first reports are thrilling 09:33 because $3,000 and prayer, $3,000 and prayer. 09:39 One region they had 598 baptisms. 09:46 These are the local people. 09:47 These are local people doing the work 09:49 with the prayer support and the financial support 09:51 of Gospel Outreach donors. 09:55 And the Gospel Outreach workers 09:58 were the ones who prepared the ground 10:00 and who were there with the meetings 10:02 and are now there following up. 10:05 The other field had 506 baptisms. Wow. 10:09 And they are asking, can't we do this every quarter? 10:13 Every quarter? 10:14 Every quarter. Of course. 10:15 And the Lord is providing already. 10:20 But this is all done with $3,000. $3,000. 10:24 For the whole of the particular region. 10:27 That's right. 10:28 They concentrate on about 10 villages with that, yes. 10:32 But there's scores in hundreds of villages. 10:35 Oh, yes. We're just touching the surface. 10:38 And when we see what God can do with 10:41 the little bit that He helps us to provide 10:46 we can see that He can do much more. 10:50 James, I am gonna have to you rush you along 10:51 because if we're gonna get all of these pictures in 10:54 we've got to look fast. Okay. 10:56 So let's-- 10:57 Let's have a picture of the Taj, there it is. 11:00 You know, that's one of the world's 11:03 great symbols of love. 11:04 We're going to talk about that in-- 11:06 In the last program 11:07 or the second program. Second program. 11:09 Anyway, here are few of the Gospel Outreach workers. 11:13 They have attended a special meeting to pray 11:19 and to organize their evangelistic team. 11:22 Now each of those has his Bible. Yes. 11:25 We can see that. Right. 11:27 As they go from place to place surely their bible 11:31 is the sword with them. 11:33 Do the people respect the Bible 11:36 when they go to see them? Oh yes, yes, they do. 11:39 When they go to the Hindu 11:41 or Muslim people and to Christian people, 11:44 they go probably first to Christians 11:47 as they know some of those people, 11:49 then they go to the Hindu people 11:51 and then they go to the Muslim people 11:52 is there are Muslims in the area. 11:54 And if there are Sikhs there they go there also. 11:57 But the Lord respects them and the people respect them 12:01 and they have wonderful results. 12:04 What I am thinking, see, 12:05 the Bibles in some miracles providential way 12:11 becomes the connection of the Gospel Outreach Ministry 12:16 and the people of whatever culture 12:19 or religion. That's right. 12:21 And I am going to show you a picture here. 12:23 Ah. This is Rahel. 12:25 Now Rahel has two small children, 12:31 she has a husband, I am going to tell you about that. 12:34 Rahel one evening in February, 12:38 this is--we are in end of April 2013, right? Yeah. 12:43 And in February of this year it was winter in Northern India, 12:50 it doesn't snow in that part but it does rain and cold 12:53 and she was home alone with her children, 12:56 her husband was out drinking 12:59 and about 11 o'clock 13:02 he came home soaking wet from a thunder storm 13:05 and dead drunk. 13:07 She opened the door, he came in. 13:10 They began to talk and he beat her, 13:13 just abused her terribly. 13:15 The children woke up and then he beat them too. 13:19 And Rahel determined that the next morning at 8 o'clock, 13:24 this wasn't the first time it happened. Surely. 13:26 You know, the next morning at 8 o'clock 13:29 she would end it all for herself. Oh. 13:32 And at 7:45 the next morning Mahesh, 13:39 the Gospel Outreach worker knocked on her door. 13:44 And just 15 minutes before-- Before she had determined. 13:48 She had determined. 13:50 And he left an announcement for "Project Taj Evangelism" 13:55 and a little pamphlet. 13:57 She looked at the pamphlet and the pamphlet was 14:01 "How to overcome alcoholism." Really. 14:04 After her husband slept off, 14:06 he got up and little boy handed him that pamphlet, 14:11 he started to read it. 14:13 Suddenly he jumped up 14:14 and ran down through the village to try to find Mahesh. 14:19 He caught Mahesh some place giving out more tracks 14:22 and brought Mahesh back. 14:25 They visited together and Rahel says that 14:29 when she looked at Mahesh 14:31 she was just delighted to see a man of God. 14:35 They all went to the Evangelistic meetings 14:37 Project Taj in March this year. 2013. 14:42 2013 and the husband and wife are both baptized. 14:46 Now let's have that next picture. 14:48 There he is, there's Vijay, her husband 14:52 and how happy they are together. 14:54 The children said, this is--daddy and mummy, 14:56 this is the first time we are seeing you happy together. 14:59 And now I got another report that, 15:03 they are paying the tithe, 15:05 they are gathering other people to worship 15:09 and Vijay has a job, a good city job. 15:15 Wow. It's such a blessing. 15:17 The power of prayer you talked about 15:19 and the fact that the Gospel Outreach worker 15:22 is going at 7:45 AM. 15:25 I don't know that those of us around here 15:28 knock on doors at that time of the day 15:31 but when these people respond to God's call 15:34 they got to go at 7:45. That's right. 15:37 And the rest is a miracle story. 15:40 Who do we have here? Well, we have a whole village. 15:43 In India what we call when we call it a joint family 15:48 when you know the father and mother and their children 15:51 and the uncle and aunt and growing children 15:54 and married children all live in one household. 15:57 And you know, that's such a blessing 16:00 when the whole group comes together. 16:02 And they chose, they make their choices together. 16:04 They make their choices together. 16:06 And that makes for happy families, 16:10 it makes for strong churches 16:11 and it makes for peace in the community. 16:13 Wow. Yes. 16:14 Wow, beautiful, beautiful analogy there. 16:16 Let's move along. Okay. 16:20 After the baptisms this is one of the groups, 16:24 this is a group that had a church. 16:26 Most of the groups don't have churches 16:28 but this group had a church. 16:30 Talk to us just a minute, James, 16:32 about the value of a church building 16:35 as far as the work of Gospel Outreach 16:38 and the gospel are concerned. 16:40 Well, you know it distinguishes Christianity 16:45 in India from some other faith, 16:51 in that people worship together in a congregation. 16:56 The Hindus don't very often have congregational meetings. 17:00 They will have big, big fairs or they call them, 17:08 they have a special name for that. 17:09 Anyway, they gather together in thousands 17:12 before an eclipse of the moon 17:16 or some other auspicious occasion. 17:18 But they don't have regular weekly worship 17:21 as a congregation but Christians do 17:23 and they need to have a place for that worship. 17:26 And I've understood that to have 17:28 a place of worship, a sanctuary, a building 17:32 in which to worship gives a level of credibility 17:36 and respect that may not be true of other religious groups. 17:42 Right. It does. Okay. 17:44 Let's move along to more picture here. 17:46 Is this the Sabbath worship scene? 17:48 This is another Sabbath worship scene 17:50 where the people have gather together. 17:52 You can see how nice they look. Oh, yes. 17:56 And how happy the people are. 17:59 Here are three of the Gospel Outreach workers. 18:03 Now what's taking place here is 18:05 that they are being ordained as local elders 18:10 of their congregations 18:12 and that gives them, well, it's a recognition 18:16 that they are serving God in the special way. 18:19 On that same day two former Gospel Outreach workers 18:24 who are now regular pastors 18:25 were ordained to the gospel ministry. 18:28 And I mean, that is a great tribute to experience 18:33 that these people get serving as Gospel Outreach. 18:36 And you know, I am always so impressed 18:39 and see it again here there are children, 18:43 lots of children, there are women of course 18:47 but there are lots of men 18:48 who are resounding to the gospel as well. 18:49 Lot's of men, yes, that's right. 18:51 These are some of the leaders 18:52 and the three Gospel Outreach workers 18:54 are kneeling in front of them. 18:55 Oh, this is the ordinary-- This is the ordinary scene, yes. 19:00 And here's one of the baptisms taking place. 19:03 Now this gets us down 19:05 kind of close to the end of our first program, 19:07 doesn't it? Well, yes. 19:10 I think you got another picture there maybe. 19:12 Oh yes, we have. Oh yes. 19:15 Here's Adopt-a-Worker. 19:18 Now this-- This you know, 19:20 I was in a place only two days ago 19:23 and somebody explained to me 19:26 that they had heard something about Adopt-a-Worker 19:29 and they asked me. What about that? 19:32 Yes, well, some folks here-- some of the volunteers 19:36 who work here in the Gospel Outreach office 19:39 are working very hard on this Adopt-a-Worker program 19:42 and already I think more than 200 workers have been adopted. 19:47 Now most of those are brand new workers. All right. 19:51 Let's try and put this in a practical application. 19:56 We saw these three Gospel Outreach workers 19:59 in the earlier picture here. Right. 20:01 And each of them has a name, each of them had a region, 20:04 each of then is active in their Gospel Outreach Ministry. 20:09 They constitute a worker, right? That's right. 20:11 They are Gospel Outreach worker 20:14 and they have a specific village for which they are working. 20:17 Now they may work of four or five villages 20:19 but one of them is their special target. 20:21 And we could have the Jones here 20:24 or the Brown's or whom ever as a family here 20:28 and be impress that Gospel Outreach is a ministry 20:32 they want to be involved in 20:33 but they really want connection with the work. Okay. 20:38 Well, what happens is that we get the name 20:41 of the perspective worker 20:43 and we get the village in which they'll work. 20:46 We get a little background on them, 20:49 what experience they have had 20:50 and something about the village 20:53 where they are going to work, 20:54 why have we chosen that village, what are the prospects there 20:59 and get all that information to a sponsor. 21:04 And the sponsors then can pray specifically 21:08 for that new worker and pray for that village 21:13 and then they can send the funds. 21:16 The average around the 10/40 Window 21:20 where Gospel Outreach works is a $150 a month. 21:25 You know what I am wishing, 21:28 we had here today 21:30 as we're talking to our Gospel Outreach family 21:33 about the work of Gospel Outreach, 21:35 I wish we had a map here somehow James, 21:40 that you could say, and this is a village. 21:44 I mean, you've been to them. Yes. 21:45 And a village like this 21:47 and a Gospel Outreach worker like this 21:50 and the work in that village 21:53 will be regularly reported to you 21:56 with information from that Gospel Outreach worker 22:00 so that you can pray specifically for this region 22:04 and this worker and also understand 22:07 where the gift with which God has blessed you 22:10 is going to advance the work. 22:12 And right now the folk 22:15 who run the technical part over here, 22:17 the volunteers who are so good at computers 22:20 and all that, they have found a program, 22:24 a map program 22:25 where they can actually pin point 22:27 and show us, quite often show the picture 22:30 or at least the major town close to their village. 22:34 So what I am understanding James, to said, 22:37 if you would like to Adopt-a-Worker 22:42 you can know preciously where that worker will be assigned 22:47 and all the prospects of that spot on the map, 22:51 that village, that community of people 22:54 and what happens with the work there 22:57 and how your gift is enlarging 23:00 the cause of God in a very particular space 23:03 with a very particular person. Yes. 23:06 And pictures-- we get pictures 23:09 of the workers and their families. 23:11 And the goal is to have these reports 23:17 come to the sponsors at least every three months. 23:21 And listen, talk about mission stories 23:24 we Seventh-day Adventists have kind of been 23:29 surviving on inspired by 23:33 mission stories all of our history 23:35 and here you get a personal mission story 23:40 that is-- you didn't get to go all the way to that place 23:45 and become a missionary 23:47 but by extension your family is a missionary there 23:52 through that Gospel Outreach worker. Yes. 23:55 I had a--you know, once in a while 23:58 I just have to fall on my knees 24:00 and praise the Lord for what He is doing. 24:04 We've been praying especially 24:06 that this Project Taj Evangelism 24:11 would result in something that would really glorify God. 24:16 You know, I have my pride 24:19 and I would like to see things happen in my area 24:23 but I had to humble myself 24:26 and say, Lord, You do it Your way. Amen. 24:29 You do it Your way 24:30 because You are gonna do it right. 24:33 I can easily make mistakes. 24:35 But I get confirmation for what the Lord is doing. 24:40 You know, today is Monday, isn't it? Yes. 24:45 On Friday, last week somebody sat down 24:50 and wrote a check for $18,000. 24:55 Now everybody can't do that. Surely. 24:57 But this person is trusting the Lord 25:02 for results in his business and does it. 25:06 And $15,000 of that was for Adopt-a-Worker. Wow. Yes. 25:13 And $3,000 for another series of Project Taj. 25:18 So is this person adopting 10 workers in for a year? 25:20 Actually, he adopted some time ago 25:25 and his was a $100 a month rather than $150 25:29 so he's got 15 worker. Wow. 25:32 Well, that just gives us 25:34 a little picture of what is happening at Gospel Outreach. 25:39 And thank you so much James, for this report and appeal. 25:46 And since this is a program on the Power of Prayer 25:50 I think it would be appropriate for us to pray 25:52 as we conclude this program. It would be. 25:55 Please pray. 25:57 Thank you Lord, for these wonderful, 26:01 wonderful opportunities that You've provided 26:05 through the ministry of Gospel Outreach. Amen. 26:09 And feed me now with my words Lord, 26:12 I hold up before You all of these workers 26:17 and all of the people involved with Project Taj Evangelism. 26:23 Thank You for our leaders like James Campbell 26:27 and thank You for every person 26:30 who is a part of this Gospel Outreach family 26:34 like every person viewing right now, 26:36 joining us in prayer. 26:38 We give You praise and glory 26:40 as we anticipate the completion of Your work in the earth 26:48 welcoming Jesus here. Amen. 26:51 In His name we thank You, Amen. Amen. 26:55 Well, God bless you, see you next time. 27:16 I need to spell the gospel here at home. 27:19 Where is the 10/40 Window anyway? 27:22 Those people live too far away. 27:25 Someone else can tell them about Jesus. 27:28 Maybe they could just watch TV. 27:31 Nearly three billion people to reach, my head hurt. 27:36 There's nothing I can do. 27:38 I give up. What's the point of trying? 27:41 I can't make a difference. 27:44 Actually, you can make a difference. 27:46 And Jesus asked you to go to all the world. 27:50 Where? All the world. 27:53 How can I go, I have commitments? 27:56 You can pray. 27:58 You can volunteer your talents. 28:03 You can tell others. 28:06 You can give money to sponsor Bible workers. 28:09 Millions of people are searching for hope and meaning. 28:12 But they won't find it without you. 28:14 Be the spark. Light the fire. 28:17 Finish the work. Finish the work. 28:21 Be the spark! |
Revised 2014-12-17