Participants: Gary Krause (Host), Dan Weber, Milton Adams
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000006
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00:07 I'm here in the Mexico,
00:09 right on the edge of the Caribbean, 00:12 and just a few short miles across these waters 00:15 is the island nation of Cuba. 00:18 In many ways this country has been isolated 00:20 from the rest of the world for many years 00:23 and our Seventh-day Adventist family in Cuba 00:26 has been isolated from the rest of the Adventist church family. 00:31 But I want to tell you 00:32 that encouraging things that happening in Cuba 00:34 and later in this program we will be visiting Cuba 00:38 and we'll be seeing a dynamic growing Adventist church, 00:42 and we thank God 00:43 for what is happening in this country. 00:49 Just before He went up to heaven 00:52 Jesus gave us a command. 00:55 He gave us a mission. 00:57 Jesus said "Go, go unto all the world, 01:02 telling them of His love." 01:05 This is a mission. This is a Global Mission. 01:14 Hello and welcome to Global Mission Snapshots, 01:17 I'm Gary Krause. 01:18 For more than 20 years now 01:20 Global Mission has been focusing on the least reached people 01:24 and areas of the world. 01:25 On today's program we feature an historic video 01:29 that features the last interview 01:31 given by Elder Neal C. Wilson, former president 01:35 of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists. 01:38 I had the privilege 01:39 of interviewing Elder Wilson about Global Mission 01:43 which started through his vision. 01:45 I didn't know at the time 01:47 that this was to be the last on camera interview 01:50 that Elder Wilson would give before his death. 01:54 Also, on today's program 01:56 video producer Dan Weber tells us 01:57 about a Global Mission Pioneer in Singapore 02:00 holding meetings under a streetlight. 02:03 We also visit house churches in Cuba 02:05 and we meet with Pastor Milton Adams 02:08 who heads up simple church, a house church network 02:12 that started here in the United States 02:14 but is now starting to spread around the world. 02:19 We often talk about the mission challenge overseas 02:23 and there are tremendous challenges in places 02:26 such as the 10/40 Window 02:28 but even here, right here in North America 02:30 we have a mission field 02:31 and to talk about that with me is Pastor Milton Adams. 02:35 Milton, thank you so much for joining us. 02:38 You have a background as a church pastor, 02:41 you a few years ago started looking at the challenge 02:45 of the mission in North America, 02:47 what did you see? 02:49 Probably, one of the first things 02:50 that caught my attention 02:51 were some researches done by Dave Olson 02:53 where he discovered that about 87% of Americans 02:59 no longer go to church on a given weekend, 03:02 and that for my wife and I raised 03:05 a whole question of missionary work. 03:07 How do you reach a culture that used to be Christian 03:11 but is now turned back secular? 03:15 How do we reach these people? 03:17 Now, may you've viewers might not be aware of this problem 03:20 because they're probably living in the areas 03:22 where there are churches everywhere. 03:25 How deep is this-- 03:26 I mean is this a new phenomenon, what, what's happening? 03:31 America has a Christian background 03:33 and it has in name 03:34 a nominal Christian background even still. 03:37 But there is a growing, there is a growing disconnect 03:42 between culture and the church culture, 03:46 and people more and more are saying, 03:48 I'm very interested in God, 03:51 I'm very interested in spiritual growth 03:53 but if I have to go through the religious, 03:56 don't misunderstand what I'll say, 03:57 but the religious trappings to find God no, thank you. 04:02 I will go to a different venue to try to discover who God is. 04:07 And so we often see people now talking about 04:10 well, I'm interested in spirituality 04:12 but not in the church. Right. 04:14 So, Milton, how-- 04:16 in your experience how did you respond to this? 04:19 What happened? 04:20 Well, my wife and I looked at each other 04:22 we said, how do we reach this people? 04:23 So, that the whole thing started with a missionary quest. 04:27 So we started just kind of an experiment 04:31 in our own home. 04:33 I had transitioned into a teaching environment 04:36 which allowed me then on weekends 04:38 not to be tied up 04:39 with a traditional church environment. 04:41 And we said, we'll start a house church. 04:44 Now, house church that we ended up calling Simple Church, 04:48 is not taking a conventional church environment 04:52 squeezing it through the front doors and expanding it. 04:55 It is a whole different paradigm that takes place 04:59 and it's primarily a relational paradigm 05:02 that centers around ultimately sharing 05:05 the everlasting gospel with people, 05:08 but it is in an informal environment 05:12 that breaks down the barriers 05:14 for them to say, okay, I trust you 05:18 now I'm willing to take next steps. 05:21 Okay, so what you are saying is that there are people 05:24 who would never set foot 05:25 within the four walls of a traditional church 05:28 but they might be open to coming to your home. 05:31 So how did you start? 05:34 We asked one other family, 05:36 one other Adventist family committed family to say, 05:41 would you be willing to join us in this experiment? 05:44 From there it has grown, it is now a global network. 05:50 Where committed people who are humble 05:54 but who want to live the mission experiences 05:57 as supposed to the traditional go overseas to be a missionary, 06:02 it's a way of life, who you live your mission story 06:06 in your own hometown, in your own apartment complex, 06:08 in your home neighborhood. 06:10 And that's part of a beauty about Simple Church 06:13 is that in environments where there is no presence, 06:17 no Christian or Adventist presence, 06:19 way out in a country it is very possible to use this, 06:23 but even more so in the city environments. 06:26 I'm told continually over and over, 06:28 we are having a more difficult times sustaining 06:33 the cost factors in reaching these major cities. 06:39 Simple Church doesn't have those cost overhead implications 06:43 in its grassroots its simple and it's done by laypeople. 06:49 Now, so how many of these Simple Churches, 06:52 home churches are there now? 06:54 We are in to about three years, 06:58 just over three years, three and a half years 07:00 and as of this morning, as of two days ago there was 30, 07:04 which is not a lot. 07:05 That's great. 07:07 But I looked this morning we have 32, 07:09 so two more have started just in the last couple days. 07:14 Now, these are Seventh-day Adventist groups? 07:16 They are Seventh-day Adventist groups. 07:17 Meeting in homes? 07:18 Meeting homes led by laypeople, who have a missionary heart 07:23 which means I leave my comfort zones of conventional church 07:29 which is a challenge, but its, for missionaries it's the norm. 07:33 I fly overseas, I learn different language, 07:37 different food, new culture I dress differently. 07:40 We are taking those same missionary principles 07:42 and applying them in the secular cultures 07:45 of North America, Australia, New Zealand, Western Europe. 07:49 Now, can you tell me an experience of somebody 07:52 whose life has been changed through Simple Church? 07:56 I've gotten permission, 07:57 I have to be very careful with stories 07:59 because this is built in a context of trust. 08:03 Yes. 08:04 So many of these stories 08:06 are too raw and they are too recent 08:08 but I got permission to share a story. 08:10 There is a family who came from a background 08:15 of one of the larger marijuana producers 08:20 for their particular state. 08:23 It was a very interesting scenario on how they ended up 08:26 coming to our home to Simple Church. 08:28 Simple Church, at first they were resistant 08:31 but once they realized that it was authentic, 08:34 it was real, it wasn't look 08:37 a certain way, act a certain way, 08:39 they could be who they were in spite of their background. 08:44 Over time that family 08:47 began to ask much deeper questions. 08:51 The whole marijuana scene is now a thing of their past, 08:55 the whole gator poaching, now that may be puts it 08:59 into the south part of the United States 09:01 is a thing of their past. 09:04 A couple years ago they were, they were baptized 09:08 and to see the change 09:09 coming from very hard secular people 09:17 in the core, in the heart of much of the marijuana scene 09:21 and to see a 180 degree turn in their lives, 09:25 it's just been incredible. 09:26 But it's happened because trusting relationships 09:29 were built in an informal environment. 09:31 Fantastic. 09:32 Milton, thank you for sharing with us today, 09:34 I appreciate it very much. 09:36 Viewers at home, if you are interested 09:39 in this home church movement 09:41 please just go to AdventistMission.org, 09:43 there you'll see a Simple Church logo 09:45 you can click on there and find out more information 09:48 how you too may be involved in this movement to reach people 09:54 who may not be reached in any other way 09:56 but to find a worshipping group 09:58 in a home, in a relational environment. 10:06 Have you ever walked city streets 10:08 and looked, just looked. 10:13 Looked at the people Jesus died to save? 10:20 The words of Jesus 10:22 eco down through the centuries, go, go, go. 10:28 Go into all the world and make disciples. 10:35 In the late 1980's the Seventh-day Adventist Church 10:39 began looking at where the church was growing 10:42 and where it was struggling. 10:45 My conviction was that we were coming to the close of time. 10:51 It has become more and more certain to some of us 10:55 that the church really does need global strategy. 11:01 After much prayer, study and planning 11:04 the 1990 General Conference in Session 11:07 voted the Global Mission initiative with one primary task 11:11 to start new Seventh-day Adventist congregations 11:15 among new people groups and in new areas. 11:23 In the past 20 years the church has grown 11:25 from six million to nearly 17 million. 11:29 The inclinational ministry of Global Mission Pioneers 11:32 has established thousands of new groups of believers 11:35 around the world. 11:37 In the past 20 years 11:38 Global Mission religious study centers around the world 11:41 have pioneered new methods and models 11:44 to build fresh bridges of understanding 11:47 to reach out with compassion 11:48 to the people of Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam 11:54 and the world of the Secular and Postmodern. 12:00 We praise God for the tremendous growth of the church. 12:04 There are now believers 12:05 in hundreds of new people groups, 12:07 new countries and territories have been entered. 12:11 The 10/40 Window has received 12:12 far more attention and resources 12:15 and the church there has grown rapidly. 12:18 But we're still here. 12:20 We've been told that it's not a time 12:22 but a task that separates us from the coming of Christ. 12:26 This gospel of the kingdom 12:28 will be preached in all the world. 12:30 We're witness to all nations then will the end come. 12:32 If we want the end to come 12:34 we want to finish the task that's been given to us. 12:38 With a great purpose of Global Mission 12:41 is even more current than it's ever been. 12:51 Today in 2010, 12:53 we face an even larger Global Mission challenge than in 1990. 12:58 We need a fresh and greater vision 13:00 for the needs of the world. 13:04 Once again we need the power of the Holy Spirit 13:07 to move us outside our comfort zones. 13:11 We must find new and fresh ways 13:13 to reach the unreached with hope. 13:16 We need to recommit ourselves 13:18 to look on the crowds with compassion, 13:21 just like Jesus our Savior. 13:34 When we look at the mission challenge that still reminds 13:37 we can not ignore the growing urban areas of the world. 13:41 In fact, in 2007 for the first time 13:44 in the history of the world 13:46 more people started living in cities and outside of them. 13:50 My guest is Dan Weber, 13:51 a video producer for Adventist Mission. 13:54 Dan travels the world gathering mission stories 13:56 and Dan, you were recently in Singapore 13:59 which is a country which I guess is 100% urban. 14:03 Totally urban. Yeah. Yeah, just one big city. 14:05 One big gigantic city. 14:06 Now, what is happening there in terms of mission? 14:10 It's a tough place to reach people. 14:12 Very, very secular. 14:15 Singapore probably is considered a Muslim country 14:18 but really it's a very secular country 14:22 and it's a very expensive place, 14:24 it's a very hard place to get mission off the ground. 14:28 People are very focused on making money? 14:31 Focused on making money, 14:32 the government sets up restrictions. 14:33 The guy who was my host there and took me around, 14:36 he is a driving a five year old car. 14:39 And he said to me, do you know how much this car costs? 14:42 And I guessed $5000-$10,000 dollars. 14:45 He said $50,000 dollars. 14:47 But he said you have to have 14:48 a license to be able to buy a car. 14:50 And the license cost another $ 50,000 dollars. 14:54 So, he spent $ 100,000 dollars on a five year old car 14:57 and you're only allowed to keep the car for 10 years. 15:00 It's all 10 years old 15:01 because they want everyone drive new cars. 15:03 So then you have to get rid of the car 15:04 and go through the whole process again. 15:06 It just the example how expensive 15:08 and how hard it is to get things done there. 15:11 And people are living in high-rise apartments 15:13 and even just to get access to talk to people-- 15:15 Very, very hard. Logistically very hard. 15:17 Yes. Yes. 15:18 Now, tell me about a project 15:20 there that involved Global Mission 15:23 trying to reach out to people. 15:26 I met with a pastor, pastor, pastor Raj 15:28 and he went around 15:30 and there is a large immigrant worker community there. 15:33 These are people who work, who come from overseas, 15:37 the majority of them come from India 15:38 and Bangladesh and Pakistan. 15:40 So they are either Hindu or Muslim 15:42 and they are coming in 15:43 and they pay a large amount of money 15:46 to come over for five years 15:48 and then they are tied to a contract, 15:49 they have to work for company for five years 15:51 but they do this 15:52 because they are able to send money back home 15:54 to the villages where they are poor. 15:56 But they are put in this large dormitories, 15:59 one dormitory we visited had 15,000 people in it 16:03 and what Pastor Paulraj has been able to do is 16:06 he gets to go into some of these dormitories 16:09 and meet with the people 16:11 and he is sharing Jesus with these immigrant workers. 16:14 Great. Now you made a video of this project. 16:17 And I brought along this, take a look at it. 16:19 Yeah. 16:37 Several times a week 16:38 pastor Paulraj visits dormitories 16:41 on the outskirts of Singapore. 16:43 The men who live here are migrant workers 16:45 from the countries of India and Bangladesh. 16:48 They have left their families 16:50 so that they can come to Singapore and earn money 16:52 that they can send back home. 16:54 Pastor Raj meets with them in small groups 16:56 so that he can share the Gospel. 16:59 They trust him 17:00 and appreciate his concern for their well being. 17:03 Many of them have become members 17:05 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 17:07 Thanks to you. 17:08 Global Mission is able to support 17:10 the work of Pastor Raj 17:12 and it is one of the many ways that he is reaching out 17:14 to the people living in Singapore. 17:17 Each Sabbath a group of Indian immigrants 17:19 meet in a rented room for church services. 17:22 Most of them have recently arrived in Singapore 17:25 and appreciate the chance to worship together 17:27 with fellow Adventists in their own language. 17:30 They enjoy singing together, 17:32 studying the Sabbath school lesson 17:33 and then listen to a sermon from a lay pastor. 17:36 Sabbath for them has become a true day of rest 17:39 and Christian fellowship. 17:48 With some of the migrant workers in the dormitories 17:50 do not have the luxury of visiting church 17:53 their jobs don't let them have Sabbath off. 17:56 They are required to work 17:57 so that they can fulfill their contract. 18:00 For them Pastor Raj has a unique solution. 18:14 This is a streetlight church. 18:17 Several times a week and each Sabbath evening 18:19 a group of migrant workers meet on the side of the road 18:22 under a dim streetlight. 18:24 They first few times they met they were hassled by the police 18:27 because it is illegal to gather as a religious group 18:30 in such a manner. 18:31 Pastor Raj then noticed that other groups were allowed 18:34 to meet on the roadside and drink alcohol. 18:36 The next week the group showed up with bottles of juice 18:40 and the police have left them alone ever since. 18:43 He will do anything for you. 18:44 You will be prosperous, 18:45 you will have blessings, you'll have all such things-- 18:47 Pasto Raj shares the gospel with the roadside group 18:50 and gives them strength and encouragement. 18:52 As they face the hardship of working 18:54 in a foreign land away from their families. 18:57 At the end of the informal service 18:59 he gives them listening devices 19:01 with religious recordings in them 19:03 as a way of nurturing their spiritual growth. 19:05 Each one of them is suffering as a modern day Joseph. 19:09 Set away to work in a foreign land 19:12 and Pastor Raj is there to lead them 19:14 to be one who can fill the void in their lives. 19:23 Your faithful support to Global Mission 19:26 helps to fund projects just like the streetlight church. 19:30 Please continue to pray for the thousands 19:32 of Global Mission Pioneers all over the world, 19:35 who are working on the frontline of mission. 19:39 To learn more about Global Mission 19:41 please visit our website at www.AdventistMission.org. 19:52 Well, that's a side of Singapore that most tourists don't see. 19:56 No, no. 19:57 They work for long hours for very low wages. 20:01 Now the pastor just describe him for me. 20:03 He seems pretty energetic type of a man. 20:05 Very energetic. 20:07 Little tiny guy 20:08 but the most people next to be are little tiny guys. 20:11 Full of energy, he has a real passion to do this. 20:15 There is a couple of the dormitories 20:17 he's allowed to actually go inside 20:20 but most of them they don't allow 20:21 any kind of religious meetings inside 20:23 so that's why they end up on the streets side of the road. 20:25 Now, obviously he's an immigrant himself to Singapore. 20:28 So, he may have gone through a similar experience? 20:30 Yeah, yeah. 20:31 He really understands what they are going through. 20:32 Yeah. 20:33 Thanks for joining us Dan, sharing the story. 20:35 You are welcome. 20:36 And viewers at home, you know, around the world today 20:39 we have so many different types of people groups, 20:42 different countries, different languages, different backgrounds 20:46 and Global Mission finds ways to dress 20:49 the gospel in cloths that people will understand. 20:53 Not compromising, not braking down the message 20:56 but making it appropriate and meaningful to people. 20:59 So please pray for Global Mission Pioneers 21:02 on the frontline of missions 21:04 who are there sharing God's love 21:06 in practical ways to touch people's lives for eternity. 22:19 Its Sunday morning here in Downtown, Havana 22:22 and as I walk the streets and taking a few photos 22:26 and talk with some of the people 22:27 trough the limitations of language, 22:30 its like a different world to me 22:31 but I see this buildings and they decaying, 22:35 they haven't have the economic resources 22:36 to keep them maintained. 22:39 I tend to get little philosophical 22:41 you think about the goal of the restoration 22:43 of the God's image in humanity. 22:45 And that's a goal that we're part of 22:48 as we seek to fulfill the mission 22:50 Jesus has given to tell people about His love. 22:53 And just further up the street as we're just walking along 22:55 we came across this door 22:58 and it have the Adventist Church logo on it 23:00 and I spoke to a translator 23:02 and he explained that this was a house church, 23:05 they call them houses of life here. 23:07 So right here in the center of Havana 23:09 we have a group of Seventh-day Adventist believers 23:12 who are sharing God's love. 23:19 With the prohibition of new church buildings, 23:22 house churches have sprung up 23:24 allover Cuba as the churches grown. 23:28 Local leaders estimate the church 23:30 has more than doubled and almost tripled 23:33 since restrictions were loosened close to 15 years ago. 23:38 These house churches also serve 23:41 as a witnessing tool to the community. 23:44 Lay members to get to know 23:46 those people living near the house of worship, 23:49 inviting them to come and learn about a loving God 23:54 who wants to fill the void that they have in their lives. 23:59 The house churches are lay led 24:02 and the members that share their faith do so with a passion 24:07 that's contagious to those who listen. 24:17 The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cuba is growing, it's alive. 24:22 It's making a difference in its community, 24:26 its reaching out. 24:28 The church in Cuba has only one wish, only one goal. 24:33 Thank you so much for your prayerful support 24:37 of the mission of this church. 24:39 Thanks for doing your part 24:42 in helping tell the world about Jesus. 26:25 The office of Adventist Mission 26:27 is constantly producing videos of mission 26:30 from around the world 26:31 including Global Mission Pioneers, overseas missionaries, 26:35 medical hospitals, schools and so much more. 26:38 Please go in our website 26:39 and also onto a Quarterly Adventist Mission DVD. 26:43 If you live in North America 26:45 we'd like to send you a free sample of this DVD. 26:48 Just call us toll free at 1-800-648-5824 26:54 and ask for Adventist Mission DVD or Offer Number 303 26:59 or you can visit our website and request Offer 303. 27:04 Don't forget to clearly state your name, full address 27:07 and be short of mention 27:08 Adventist Mission DVD or Offer 303. 27:12 Again for your free Adventist Mission DVD 27:15 simply call the toll free number 27:17 on your screen 1-800-648-5824 27:22 and ask for Adventist Mission DVD or Offer 303 27:27 or visit our website at AdventistMission.org/Offer303. 27:33 I hope you've enjoyed today's program 27:35 and have been blessed by a glimpse 27:37 into the life of mission in Cuba 27:39 and around the world. 27:41 Please pray for our brothers and sisters 27:43 who are meeting in small groups in homes around the globe. 27:47 And thank you for your continuing support 27:50 of mission offerings in Global Mission. 27:53 For Adventist Mission, I'm Gary Krause 27:55 and I hope you can join us next time 27:57 for Global Mission Snapshots. |
Revised 2014-12-17