Participants: Gary Krause (Host), Daniel Weber, Rick Kajiura
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000001
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00:07 Hello, I'm Gary Krause, and I'm standing in front of
00:10 the house here in North East Cambodia, where a Global Mission 00:13 Pioneer is sharing the love of Jesus. 00:16 Welcome to Global Mission Snapshots where we take you 00:19 right to the front lines of mission around the world. 00:27 Just before He went up to heaven, Jesus gave us a command. 00:31 He gave us a mission. Jesus said go unto all the world 00:39 telling them of His love, this is our mission, 00:44 this is our Global Mission. 00:52 Hello, and welcome to Global Mission Snapshots, 00:54 I'm Gary Krause. 00:56 If you walked out your front door and asked your neighbors 01:00 if they had ever heard the name Jesus, what would they say? 01:04 Of course if you lived somewhere such as India, or Burma, or 01:08 Mauritania, or anywhere in the 1040 window for that matter. 01:12 You'll probably get a very different answer than if you 01:15 lived in the Bible Belt of the United States. 01:18 If we look at the entire world population, more than 01:22 seven billion people, only one in three consider themselves 01:27 a follower of Jesus Christ. 01:30 Let me tell you, it's a sobering thing to meet a young person 01:36 or and adult who in their entire lives has never, ever 01:40 even heard the name JESUS. 01:42 Jesus gave us a commission to carry the good news to every 01:47 tribe, language, and people, and that's what Global Mission 01:51 is all about, helping lead people to know and accept Jesus. 01:55 On today's program Dan Weber introduces us to 01:59 Seventh Day Adventists in China who are following 02:03 Jesus' example, and literally touching the lives of lepers. 02:07 I'll also be talking with Rick Cagerra about Global Mission 02:12 Pioneers, those front line lay church planters 02:15 who are carrying the good news to unreached areas 02:18 and unreached people groups. 02:20 But first up, let's meet some Global Mission Pioneers from 02:24 Ethiopia and a pioneer mission movement pastor in Japan. 02:35 This Pastor Lee Sunghu, a pioneer mission movement pastor 02:40 from Korea, he is leading the Amami Oshima Church in Japan. 02:45 Pastor Lee has been working here for the past five years 02:49 and has grown this small church to more than 30 members. 02:52 But things were not always this way. 02:55 Amami Oshima is a small island located off the 02:59 southern coast of Japan. It has beautiful sandy beaches, 03:03 smooth rivers that wind through the mangroves and is home to 03:07 silk plantations that produce some of the finest fabrics 03:10 in the world. About 66,000 people live on this 03:14 semi-tropical island, whose warm weather is an attractive 03:19 alternative to the cold mainland. 03:21 When Pastor Lee first arrived there were only a handful of 03:25 members and he found it very different from what he was 03:27 used to in Korea. Not only was the culture different, 03:31 but the church members were different as well. 03:33 He found it hard to relate to his members and struggled 03:36 in trying to earn their trust. After a few years, Pr. Lee 03:41 decided to take the matter to the Lord in prayer. 03:44 He submitted himself and his ministry to God, 03:47 it was then that he found the answer. 03:50 He dedicated his ministry to becoming a servant 03:54 to his members. Pr. Lee then felt that he truly reached them 03:59 and the church became like a family. The members then 04:02 wanted to share this new feeling with their families and friends. 04:05 and at that point the church started to grow. 04:08 Mr. Fukomoto is the head elder of the Amami Oshima church, 04:13 he and his wife run a small Sushi Shop not far from where 04:17 the church meets. When he became and Adventist 04:20 he decided to close his shop on Sabbath, the busiest day 04:23 of the week. His friends expected his shop to close, 04:27 but instead it thrived. His commitment to God allowed 04:31 his business to busier than ever. Mrs. Osaka has been 04:35 a long time member of the church, her husband however 04:39 would not attend church, he is an avid Kendo Instructor 04:42 and felt that he didn't need the church in his life, 04:45 Kendo was his religion. 04:47 But recently he started to attend the church because of 04:50 the happiness that his wife feels there. 04:54 This quarter a portion of your 13th Sabbath offering 04:57 will provide a much needed church for the group 05:00 of believers in Amami Oshima. 05:02 They currently rent a small room above a restaurant 05:05 and on each Sabbath the church is packed for church. 05:08 The new church building will provide more evangelistic 05:11 opportunities to this small group. 05:13 Growth for the Adventist Church has been slow in Japan, 05:16 so it's a blessing to have such a vibrant and growing 05:19 congregation. Thank you for your faithful support 05:24 of the mission of the Seventh Day Adventist Church 05:27 Around the World. 06:00 Tellesakanow has lived in these rugged Ethiopian hills 06:05 his entire life. The vast majority of the country's 06:11 85 million people live outside the cities surviving on the food 06:16 they manage to grow. 06:20 Each day he travels by foot to meet with his neighbors, 06:25 he speaks their language, he knows their struggles, 06:30 he is trusted by those around him. 06:33 Tellesa is a Global Mission Pioneer. 06:45 After Bible study and prayer he continues 06:48 to the next home, at times an eight hour journey. 07:01 He built a church for the growing congregation 07:04 with his own money. 07:06 Many people from this region believe in idol worship, 07:14 they are haunted by superstition and fear. This is the first time 07:21 they will have heard the name Jesus. 07:34 Please continue to pray for our Global Mission Pioneers. 07:37 Around the world thousands of pioneers like Tellesa 07:41 are working to share God's message of love with those 07:45 around them. Because of your support Tellesa is finding much 07:51 success on the hillsides of ? Ethiopia. 08:08 I just that video showing the sacrifice, the commitment, 08:12 the sheer hard work of becoming a Global Mission Pioneer. 08:16 I have been joined by Rick Kajiura who is the 08:18 Communication Director for Global Mission and Rick, 08:22 Global Mission Pioneers, the program began almost 08:25 20 years ago in 1993. In a nutshell, what is a 08:29 Global Mission Pioneer? 08:30 A Global Mission Pioneer is a lay church planter who goes out 08:35 into unreached areas and lives there for several years 08:38 on a small stipend. His goal is to share Jesus with the 08:39 people and start a small congregation. 08:45 Now these pioneers are usually young people but we've had 08:48 pioneers into their 70's, there is no age limit. 08:51 Now, they have a seminary education, they have PhD's 08:55 and Theology and church planting... 08:57 Now they do get some training, but these are lay people 08:59 who just have a real burden and a heart to share Jesus 09:02 with people who have never heard the gospel. 09:05 Now, we don't have the exact statistics, but there are some 09:08 that say the majority of new Seventh Day Adventist Churches 09:11 that have been planted in the past 20 years were planted by 09:14 Global Mission Pioneers. 09:15 Right! We don't have the statistics because we don't 09:17 track it that specifically, but we do know that when we go to 09:21 different areas of the world, we are always seeing new churches 09:25 and pioneers who are at the heart of those. 09:27 You get the opportunity to visit some of those pioneers 09:31 where they are working. Do you have a favorite story 09:34 that you can share with us? 09:35 Well trying to choose one is hard sometimes because 09:39 pioneers are inspiring people, they love what they are doing 09:42 and I can think of one pioneer in the country of India 09:46 and you were there, we both met him and he shared how 09:49 he had gone into a village and he started talking about 09:53 Jesus in the village square, and a crowd gathered 09:57 and in this village he said you didn't see very often 10:00 where you had a crowd like that and it was 10:02 attracting attention. And it attracted the attention of 10:05 some people who didn't want Christians in the village. 10:07 So they came to him and said we don't want you in this 10:10 village, and we especially don't want you talking about 10:13 Christ, if you keep doing it we are going to kill you. 10:17 And he kept doing it, so they grabbed him and they started 10:20 to beat him, and they held him for several hours 10:23 and finally somebody called the police and the police 10:26 came out and he is thinking ah, at last the police have me... 10:29 They took him to the police station and they kept him there 10:32 for hours and interrogated him, trying to get him to admit 10:36 that he was doing something wrong, like he was bribing 10:38 people to come listen to him or something. 10:39 He said when he wouldn't confess, they started to 10:42 beat him too, and he said I just didn't know what to do 10:46 so finally I said look, call the Seventh Day Adventist Church 10:48 Headquarters in the country here, and finally somebody did 10:51 and somebody explained. They still kept him till 10:54 late into the night before they finally let him go. 10:57 You know for most people when you've had that experience 11:00 and you are working in a district, you know that's the 11:02 one area that you wouldn't go back to. 11:04 Right! You would go to some other area and say... 11:06 You know they don't want me there, let me try and see 11:08 if things are a little better here. 11:09 But no, he went back to the village and he started talking 11:13 about Jesus in the Public Square again 11:15 and those people came again and they said, 11:19 we told you not to come here you know, we don't like 11:21 Christians get out. And he said, I am here, I am not 11:27 leaving, and I am talking about Jesus, 11:29 and they slowly just sort of melted away in the crowd. 11:32 It reminds me of a Bible story, but they just melted away 11:35 and he said he started talking about Jesus. 11:37 In that whole district he had about 2,000 people 11:41 when he finished his time as a pioneer. 11:44 Amazing, just, it's humbling when you meet a pioneer 11:47 like that. Now, speaking of which... About a month ago I was 11:50 in Cambodia in Southeast Asia and I got to meet some 11:55 Global Mission Pioneers working there and in Cambodia 11:59 we didn't have any Seventh Day Adventist believers. 12:02 After the Pol Pot Regime we actually had Adventists 12:08 workers going in to see if they could locate any Adventists 12:11 in the entire country. Today the church is growing rapidly 12:15 but the logistics are difficult in a country like Cambodia 12:20 just getting from one church plant to another. 12:22 This pioneer had a motorbike... Last time I was in Cambodia 12:27 most pioneers didn't even have a bicycle and they've got lots 12:30 of territory to cover. And they are working with people 12:35 who come from just a completely different background. 12:38 They... You know I was telling you earlier Rick that I was 12:43 walking along the road and I started talking with some people 12:47 there and there were two girls, teenagers, and I said to them 12:51 have you every heard of the name Jesus? 12:53 They looked at each other looked puzzled, frowned and 12:56 and the interpreter said no, and that really hit me hard, 13:00 and so we have pioneers working in these sort of circumstances, 13:06 willing to go out, willing to go out, but they can't sort of 13:09 just like open up the Bible and just have it recognized. 13:12 The people have never seen a Bible before. 13:14 So they build relationships with the people, 13:17 They build confidence with the people and then they get the 13:22 opportunity to share about Jesus. As I saw these people 13:25 worshipping for the first time, it just touched my heart 13:30 that because of the dedication of the pioneers, 13:33 people are learning for the first time about Jesus. 13:35 Global Mission Pioneers, I mean, the heart they have and 13:40 the places they are willing to go, and the obstacles 13:42 they are willing to overcome. 13:43 We're looking, I'm not sure exactly how much in Cambodia, 13:47 but I am guessing maybe 60 to 100 dollars per month 13:50 is what they are living on, just a basic stipend which 13:54 gives them a room to live in and a few materials, 13:57 but often they are supporting their entire families. 14:00 So it is not an easy task, but you never meet a Global 14:03 Mission Pioneer complaint. I don't think I ever have. 14:07 Well, thanks for joining us Rick and sharing just quickly 14:11 a little bit about Global Mission Pioneers. 14:13 It's good to be here and to viewers at home, 14:16 thank you so much for your continuing prayers for pioneers. 14:20 It can get lonely, it can be challenging, 14:22 it can be very difficult on the front lines of mission. 14:25 Please don't go away, we will be back soon after this break 14:28 to visit the country of China. 15:07 Welcome back! China, nearly 1.4 billion people, 15:12 what a complex, changing dynamic place. 15:15 Dan Weber, you are the video producer for Global Mission. 15:20 Yep! You get to visit places like China and you know 15:24 your visits there, you meet with pastors, lay people, 15:27 you go to the churches... What has touched your heart 15:29 when you visited there? 15:30 There's more than 400,000 members there. 15:33 People realize...Some people think that China's a black hole 15:36 and there's no members there. We have a large population 15:39 there. I mean not large compared to the whole population 15:41 of the country, but there is a good number of members there. 15:43 One thing struck me. My first Sabbath in a church there, 15:48 I'm in Chen Yang, which is up the northern part, 15:51 north of northern Vietnam, very cold! 15:54 The largest Adventist church in the world is there, 15:56 over 7,000 members. 15:59 Pastored by a woman, started as a church plant in 1985 with 16:02 five people. Now, it itself has spread out and there is 16:06 and there is 118 church plants that have gone off of that one 16:10 church plant that has started. 16:11 But I am sitting in church service on Sabbath, 16:14 and what really touched me was, when the sermon is done 16:17 the members sing a song, and it blew me away. 16:22 I was not prepared for what happened, 16:24 and we have that song for you in a video right now, 16:26 Let's take a look at that. 18:05 That's beautiful Dan, it brings back some memories of when I 18:09 visited Chen Yang some years ago and visited with the pastor 18:13 and with her elders, and I can't remember how many elders 18:15 there were, but these leaders larger than your average 18:20 Adventist Church. This was the biggest Adventist Church I've 18:22 ever visited in my life, but as you say, church plants 18:25 all around it, many home churches. 18:28 We spent a whole day just going and visiting 18:31 church plants. We only made it to eight of them, 18:33 and we drove for hours just to get out to these places. 18:36 It really shows what church planting can do, 18:38 how it can start, and grow, and multiply... 18:40 Multiply, exactly. But what really is great there 18:43 is the involvement of the lay members. 18:45 It started off as something small, but they get the members 18:48 involved and they have prayer meeting every Friday morning 18:53 at 5:00 a.m. and the members come together and they have 18:57 prayer service together and then they go out and 18:58 do things in the community... do outreach in the community. 19:01 It's a great example for all of us, we really can learn from it. 19:04 And you come to church on Sabbath morning and there is 19:07 church members there at 5:00 praying, 19:09 they start early. Now recently you also visited 19:12 a special ministry to lepers, tell us about that. 19:15 Well, again this kind of goes along the point where 19:18 lay members get involved and last year I was getting ready 19:23 for my second trip to China to go visit. 19:25 I'm sitting on the plane in Baltimore and I get an email 19:29 on my phone, and I check it, and it's from Charlotte, 19:32 standing in her office, she writes the mission quarterly, 19:34 and she says I've just got this great story, 19:36 you need to be able to film this, and I looked over her 19:41 story real quick and I said I'll try. And I shot an email off 19:44 to the guy who was meeting me in Shanghi about a day later, 19:48 and said, can we get this story? 19:50 When I landed in San Francisco there was an email back from him 19:55 saying, we're going to get this story whatever it takes. 19:58 A day later, I was up at 7:00 in the morning to go catch 20:02 a train to drive out to this... to get this great story 20:05 about young people who are committed, very, very committed, 20:09 I've never seen commitment like this before, it's wonderful. 20:12 Now, we get the picture sometimes that in China 20:17 restrictions are so strict that the church can't operate... 20:20 It can operate at a certain level, in certain places 20:23 and it varies from place to place. 20:25 Well I really want to have a look at this video, 20:27 but before we look at it, how many young people are involved 20:31 in this ministry? 20:32 There's probably about 80 young people, 20:34 and they have 18 different locations throughout China, 20:37 and in the story we will see more, it's just that I was 20:41 blown away, the young girl she is 18 years old, 20:44 she had a career path set for her and she decided 20:47 that she wanted to make a commitment to serving His 20:51 Christ's Hands here on earth. 20:52 Wonderful, well we've heard the introduction, let's travel 20:56 to China now to see how the ministry to leper's 21:00 is taking place. Sometimes we only think of it in Bible times, 21:03 here it is today. 21:39 In the country of China, the situation of the lepers has 21:42 become a great tragedy. 21:45 There are 600 colonies and more than250,000 lepers. 22:15 The first time I saw the lepers, and I looked upon their faces 22:19 I felt a great pain inside my heart, but I felt called 22:24 to serve them, because they are the sons and daughters of God. 22:46 These people were abandoned by society and they feel that 22:50 they don't belong. Our goal is to help them 22:53 feel special, that they are loved. But we also want them 22:57 to know that Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for them, 23:00 that they are redeemed and there is a kingdom for them. 23:18 I went to China in 2006 and saw the situation with the lepers 23:23 and found out that not one Adventist was working to 23:27 help them, I wanted to do something to help. 23:58 We are involved with 18 projects and we have more than 24:02 70 volunteers. 24:06 We live among the people in the colony, we eat with them, 24:10 we serve them. 24:12 Jesus Christ served the people, He provided for their needs, 24:22 that is what we are trying to do here, we want to help 24:26 these people and to provide for their needs just like Jesus did. 24:33 So far 327 lepers have been baptized. 24:41 My goal is to train these new converts to serve and help 24:44 other lepers. 25:14 The first time we touched the wounds of the lepers 25:17 it helps them to feel that someone cares about them. 25:20 Through this we are showing the love of Jesus to them, 25:23 we are earning their trust. 25:53 Welcome back to Global Mission Snapshots. 25:55 You know it means so much to global mission pioneers 25:59 to know that there are people around the world supporting them 26:02 and praying for them. Each quarter Global Mission produces 26:07 a newsletter with stories, news, photos, prayer requests, 26:12 and so much more, direct from the front lines of mission. 26:15 If you would like to see and read more about 26:18 Global Mission Pioneers, then make sure your receiving 26:22 Front Line Edition. 26:24 In North America you can simply call Toll Free: 26:31 and request this Free Offer. Offer 301. 26:34 Or you can visit our web site at: 26:40 Don't forget to clearly state your name, full address, 26:44 and be sure to mention Front Line Edition 26:47 or offer 301, so we will know what you are requesting. 26:51 Again in North America just call Toll Free 26:54 the number on your screen: 26:59 and ask for Offer 301, or Front Line Edition. 27:03 Or, it's easy to visit our web site at: 27:10 Well thanks for joining with us today on 27:13 Global Mission Snapshots, and thank you so much 27:16 for your continuing prayers, personal involvement, 27:20 and financial support for Global Mission Pioneers 27:23 who are starting new Seventh Day Adventist 27:26 congregations in so many parts of the world. 27:28 From Global Mission I'm Gary Krause 27:31 and I hope you can join us next time right here on 27:34 Global Mission Snapshots. |
Revised 2014-12-17