What happens when a missionary from Mexico 00:00:01.06\00:00:03.83 decides to start an urban church plant 00:00:03.86\00:00:06.75 in one of America's largest cities? 00:00:06.78\00:00:09.73 We'll find out about that and much, much more 00:00:09.76\00:00:12.35 coming up on Global Mission Snapshots. 00:00:12.38\00:00:15.51 Just before He went up to heaven, 00:00:26.27\00:00:28.81 Jesus gave us a command. 00:00:28.84\00:00:31.85 He gave us a mission. 00:00:31.88\00:00:34.63 Jesus said, go. 00:00:34.66\00:00:37.11 Go unto all the world, telling them of His love. 00:00:37.14\00:00:42.06 This is our mission. 00:00:42.09\00:00:44.08 This is our "Global Mission." 00:00:44.11\00:00:46.23 Hello and welcome to Global Mission Snapshots. 00:00:51.33\00:00:53.65 I'm Gary Krause. 00:00:53.68\00:00:55.09 When you are growing up 00:00:55.12\00:00:56.39 what did you think of as the mission field? 00:00:56.42\00:00:59.33 For me it was the South Pacific Islands, 00:00:59.36\00:01:02.27 for others it may have been South America, 00:01:02.30\00:01:04.39 or Africa, or Asia or somewhere else. 00:01:04.42\00:01:07.26 But what about children today? 00:01:07.29\00:01:09.97 I hope they will start naming places such as New York City, 00:01:10.00\00:01:13.69 Hong Kong, Paris, Sydney, Chicago, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, 00:01:13.72\00:01:18.24 Mexico City with more than half 00:01:18.27\00:01:20.47 the world's population now living in cities. 00:01:20.50\00:01:23.71 Major urban areas are the new mission fields 00:01:23.74\00:01:27.44 of today and tomorrow. 00:01:27.47\00:01:29.77 On today's program we'll be talking 00:01:29.80\00:01:31.58 with Pastor Andres Flores, who is starting 00:01:31.61\00:01:33.98 an urban church plant in the city of Chicago. 00:01:34.01\00:01:37.65 We also be talking with Mike Ryan, 00:01:37.68\00:01:39.42 a vice president of the Seventh-day Adventist church 00:01:39.45\00:01:42.70 about the mission to the cities initiative. 00:01:42.73\00:01:46.17 For many years now Global Mission has been 00:01:46.20\00:01:48.25 focusing attention on the cities 00:01:48.28\00:01:50.49 as you'll see in this video Megalopolis. 00:01:50.52\00:01:54.63 In 2005 the world church voted a program 00:01:54.66\00:01:57.89 called Hope for The Big Cities. 00:01:57.92\00:02:00.96 And the vision was that the gospel of Jesus 00:02:00.99\00:02:04.62 will go to millions and millions of people living cities. 00:02:04.65\00:02:08.31 Today, more than half 00:02:08.34\00:02:09.81 of the world's population live in cities. 00:02:09.84\00:02:13.12 For so many years the Adventist church 00:02:13.15\00:02:14.97 is growing in rural areas but we haven't done well 00:02:15.00\00:02:17.79 in the cites and one of the major Tell The World 00:02:17.82\00:02:21.23 initiatives is to focus on sharing 00:02:21.26\00:02:24.49 the good news of Jesus in the cities of this world. 00:02:24.52\00:02:27.87 As a church today we face a great challenge 00:02:34.34\00:02:37.44 and it's not that we haven't seen it coming. 00:02:37.47\00:02:39.81 In 1990 when Global Mission was established church leaders 00:02:39.84\00:02:43.97 identified five key Global Mission challenges. 00:02:44.00\00:02:47.88 One of those challenges 00:02:47.91\00:02:49.11 was the huge urban areas of the world. 00:02:49.14\00:02:55.14 Today, more than half of the world's population 00:02:55.17\00:02:57.29 live in cities of at least one million people. 00:02:57.32\00:03:00.27 Cities are growing at an alarming rate 00:03:00.30\00:03:02.87 and they are growing fastest in developing countries 00:03:02.90\00:03:06.10 many in the 10/40 Window. 00:03:06.13\00:03:08.57 Today, the five largest cities on earth 00:03:08.60\00:03:10.60 are Tokyo, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, 00:03:10.63\00:03:14.40 New York city and Mumbai. 00:03:14.43\00:03:17.48 By 2015 they will probably be Tokyo, 00:03:17.51\00:03:21.26 Dhaka, Mumbai, Sao Paulo and Delhi. 00:03:21.29\00:03:27.94 Dhaka, Bangladesh is one of the world's 00:03:27.97\00:03:29.74 most densely populated cities. 00:03:29.77\00:03:32.43 More than 14 million people call it home 00:03:32.46\00:03:35.17 and they are only about 800 Adventists. 00:03:35.20\00:03:38.67 If you sit in a market and watch the rickshaw 00:03:38.70\00:03:41.03 go by every 10 seconds in down town Dhaka 00:03:41.06\00:03:44.54 you would have to wait two days 00:03:44.57\00:03:46.18 before you saw one carrying an Adventist. 00:03:46.21\00:03:52.13 Istanbul, Turkey links to Europe and Asia 00:03:52.16\00:03:54.73 the West with the East. 00:03:54.76\00:03:56.75 This city grows at a rate of 1400 people everyday. 00:03:56.78\00:04:01.16 More than 13 million people live in Istanbul. 00:04:01.19\00:04:04.88 A city that's both Muslim and Secular. 00:04:04.91\00:04:07.70 It's a city of contrast and compromises. 00:04:07.73\00:04:10.58 And among these 13 million 00:04:10.61\00:04:12.75 people there are only 80 Seventh-day Adventist. 00:04:12.78\00:04:16.22 And of those 80 only 15 come 00:04:16.25\00:04:19.52 from a Turkish background. 00:04:19.55\00:04:24.47 Paris, France is called the city of lights. 00:04:24.50\00:04:26.58 You'd hear the light 00:04:26.61\00:04:27.81 of the Adventist church is still dim. 00:04:27.84\00:04:30.63 The church is making great strides to reach out 00:04:30.66\00:04:33.14 to its urban neighbors yet the challenge 00:04:33.17\00:04:35.50 they face is immense. 00:04:35.53\00:04:41.35 Jakarta, Indonesia, the largest city 00:04:41.38\00:04:44.11 in the largest Muslim country in the world. 00:04:44.14\00:04:47.70 Home to 18 million people the rich and poor, 00:04:47.73\00:04:51.02 the religious and secular. 00:04:51.05\00:04:53.55 There is one Adventist for every 1500 people 00:04:53.58\00:04:56.31 here yet only small handful 00:04:56.34\00:04:58.86 are from the majority Muslim population. 00:04:58.89\00:05:05.42 "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, 00:05:05.45\00:05:09.03 because they were harassed and helpless, 00:05:09.06\00:05:11.35 like sheep without a shepherd." 00:05:11.38\00:05:15.24 I guess my appeal to church members 00:05:15.27\00:05:17.21 and also to the church leaders is that they might 00:05:17.24\00:05:21.70 make the people of the cities their neighbors in heaven. 00:05:21.73\00:05:25.44 I would ask in a very special way 00:05:25.47\00:05:27.85 that we would place a special emphasis on bringing 00:05:27.88\00:05:31.64 Jesus to the lives of people who live in urban areas. 00:05:31.67\00:05:36.26 To learn more about mission around the world, 00:05:36.29\00:05:38.75 please visit AdventistMission.org 00:05:38.78\00:05:43.22 My guest is Elder Mike Ryan, 00:05:43.25\00:05:45.39 the first director of Global Mission 00:05:45.42\00:05:47.06 now a general vice president or the General Conference. 00:05:47.09\00:05:49.83 One of his many responsibilities is to care 00:05:49.86\00:05:52.72 for strategic planning for the world church. 00:05:52.75\00:05:55.36 Welcome, Elder Ryan. 00:05:55.39\00:05:56.79 It's good to here. 00:05:56.82\00:05:58.04 Can you please tell us, 00:05:58.07\00:05:59.10 what is involved in strategic planning for a world church? 00:05:59.13\00:06:03.62 Well, that's a very short question-- 00:06:03.65\00:06:08.00 But a good one. Yeah. 00:06:08.03\00:06:10.30 Yeah, with a very, very big answer. 00:06:10.33\00:06:13.67 Actually strategic planning I think for any organization 00:06:13.70\00:06:17.93 is trying to look at the central business of that organization 00:06:17.96\00:06:23.57 and then go about determining how you are going 00:06:23.60\00:06:26.24 to be most effect even efficient at achieving that business. 00:06:26.27\00:06:30.90 Well, when you look at a church organization 00:06:30.93\00:06:33.44 we don't like to refer to it as business 00:06:33.47\00:06:35.46 but we like to refer to it as the gospel 00:06:35.49\00:06:38.79 and how are we gonna go about 00:06:38.82\00:06:41.43 communicating biblical truth. 00:06:41.46\00:06:46.81 And putting the strategic plan together 00:06:46.84\00:06:50.61 that office conducts a lot of research. 00:06:50.64\00:06:53.29 And that research it takes a look at church life 00:06:53.32\00:06:58.97 and it takes a look at institutes 00:06:59.00\00:07:01.37 and financial things and it means a lot of things 00:07:01.40\00:07:04.02 that we look at date that just is unbelievable. 00:07:04.05\00:07:06.72 But as we analyze that there are things that emerge 00:07:06.75\00:07:10.06 and we say, you know, these are very critical issues. 00:07:10.09\00:07:13.00 And of course we try to paint those in a big picture, 00:07:13.03\00:07:16.23 now it happens to be that Tell the World is the program 00:07:16.26\00:07:19.53 that came out of strategic planning 00:07:19.56\00:07:21.56 and it is comprised of three different pieces. 00:07:21.59\00:07:25.36 And the next question is a short one. 00:07:25.39\00:07:27.28 That is three pieces would be. 00:07:27.31\00:07:29.70 Yes. The first, you know, issue that we compare 00:07:29.73\00:07:35.20 this to fact that we have a program called Reach Up. 00:07:35.23\00:07:37.76 And that is communication between an individual and Jesus. 00:07:37.79\00:07:44.49 And much of the research that we have developed 00:07:44.52\00:07:48.28 we found something so that were a little bit alarming 00:07:48.31\00:07:51.64 about half of the church has a regular 00:07:51.67\00:07:54.19 Bible study program, regular prayer life. 00:07:54.22\00:07:57.28 And for a church organization to have about 00:07:57.31\00:08:00.69 half of its members involved in those activities 00:08:00.72\00:08:03.02 it should be of some concern. 00:08:03.05\00:08:05.31 And so there is a program that we now know 00:08:05.34\00:08:08.81 is revival reformation the 777. 00:08:08.84\00:08:12.29 You pray at 7'o clock in the morning, 7 in the evening. 00:08:12.32\00:08:14.73 And we are trying to vision to our church 00:08:14.76\00:08:20.77 the necessity of having that relationship with the Lord. 00:08:20.80\00:08:23.74 The second major focus is what we call the Reach-out Program. 00:08:23.77\00:08:30.15 And this is what Seventh-day Adventist 00:08:30.18\00:08:31.65 are typically been very good at. 00:08:31.68\00:08:33.51 And these are programs that are evangelistic in nature, 00:08:33.54\00:08:38.66 but it's not just what we typically 00:08:38.69\00:08:40.94 in the past have refer to this evangelism 00:08:40.97\00:08:43.46 which is kind of giving Bible studies 00:08:43.49\00:08:44.91 and public evangelism that includes those 00:08:44.94\00:08:47.16 but it also includes things like 00:08:47.19\00:08:50.34 the Life Hope Centers, the programs of literature 00:08:50.37\00:08:56.67 distribution, book distribution. 00:08:56.70\00:08:58.61 I can go though many, many different programs 00:08:58.64\00:09:01.33 of how we impact the community with the values 00:09:01.36\00:09:05.79 and the teaching of the church. 00:09:05.82\00:09:07.45 And I can describe that a lot more. 00:09:07.48\00:09:09.97 A third area is what we call Reach Across 00:09:10.00\00:09:13.89 and one of the things in the data that came out 00:09:13.92\00:09:16.69 is that when people come into the church, 00:09:16.72\00:09:20.98 there are many of them that stay for a period of time 00:09:21.01\00:09:23.66 and then they leave the church. 00:09:23.69\00:09:25.35 And we also found that young people, 00:09:25.38\00:09:28.73 who grow up in Seventh-day Adventist homes 00:09:28.76\00:09:31.34 they reach a certain age and then they also disappear. 00:09:31.37\00:09:36.02 And so we knew that this Reach Across program 00:09:36.05\00:09:39.05 had to began to address the issue of nurture 00:09:39.08\00:09:42.52 and retention and having people feel ownership in the church. 00:09:42.55\00:09:48.69 And so, you know, as we take a look 00:09:48.72\00:09:50.81 at these three areas there is many programs 00:09:50.84\00:09:54.82 that surround them and lot of data 00:09:54.85\00:09:56.90 that backs it up, but primarily this is really 00:09:56.93\00:09:59.80 what the churches focusing on. 00:09:59.83\00:10:02.76 So, Mike, we have the vision 00:10:02.79\00:10:05.03 that we need to be reaching up, 00:10:05.06\00:10:06.53 we need to be reaching up and reaching across. 00:10:06.56\00:10:09.71 How do we make sure that the actions steps 00:10:09.74\00:10:13.14 are in place so those are achieved? 00:10:13.17\00:10:16.27 Yeah, well, obviously there are certain bullet points 00:10:16.30\00:10:21.84 that were concentrating on. 00:10:21.87\00:10:23.74 And we will come back and assess 00:10:23.77\00:10:28.68 this through surveys and evaluation 00:10:28.71\00:10:31.54 is to whether we are making any progress 00:10:31.57\00:10:33.53 and we are moving that beachmark and improving it. 00:10:33.56\00:10:38.08 The more typical question 00:10:38.11\00:10:40.53 I have is what's the greatest need of the church? 00:10:40.56\00:10:45.16 Well, I, you know, I think revival and reformation 00:10:45.19\00:10:48.15 certainly is the foundation. 00:10:48.18\00:10:49.87 But probably one of the things that probably 00:10:49.90\00:10:52.30 concerns me and looking at a sort of a comparison of data 00:10:52.33\00:10:57.08 is that the data sort of indicates that little by little 00:10:57.11\00:11:03.32 we are loosing the culture of involvement. 00:11:03.35\00:11:07.44 It's easy for people just to come to church, 00:11:07.47\00:11:09.62 they go home, they go well, I've taken care 00:11:09.65\00:11:11.28 of my church obligation, paid my tithe, 00:11:11.31\00:11:13.65 gave my offerings and if you look at the early days 00:11:13.68\00:11:17.86 of the church and how the church exploded in growth 00:11:17.89\00:11:21.09 and we traveled to many places around the world 00:11:21.12\00:11:23.64 and through huge sacrifice made it go forward. 00:11:23.67\00:11:26.61 It's because every person had a job and that culture 00:11:26.64\00:11:31.75 of I've got to be involved and that urgency 00:11:31.78\00:11:35.32 might be veining just a little. 00:11:35.35\00:11:36.77 So that culture I think we have to rebuild. 00:11:36.80\00:11:39.05 And many people say, well, 00:11:39.08\00:11:41.23 are we gonna be able to afford this Tell the World? 00:11:41.26\00:11:43.10 Man that's a lot of programs. 00:11:43.13\00:11:44.97 You know, it really does some take much money 00:11:45.00\00:11:47.21 if we pay attention to the culture of involvement 00:11:47.24\00:11:50.22 because our greatest resource is the involvement of members. 00:11:50.25\00:11:54.69 Thanks, Mike, for joining us. 00:11:54.72\00:11:55.94 It's a privilege. 00:11:55.97\00:11:57.62 Elder Ryan has left us with a challenge 00:11:57.65\00:11:59.79 that we can talk about mission, we can pray for mission, 00:11:59.82\00:12:05.02 we can support mission financially, 00:12:05.05\00:12:06.99 but are we involved? 00:12:07.02\00:12:09.69 Is that something the is part of our life 00:12:09.72\00:12:11.72 that we think it's important enough that we give our time 00:12:11.75\00:12:15.34 to help make disciples of men and women. 00:12:15.37\00:12:18.66 Some 50 years ago, Adventist missionary 00:12:56.11\00:12:58.55 spent 40 days traversing the rough jungles 00:12:58.58\00:13:01.24 of Papua New Guinea, to reach out to people 00:13:01.27\00:13:03.30 who would never before heard the name of Jesus. 00:13:03.33\00:13:06.49 They heal the sick, feed the poor 00:13:06.52\00:13:08.30 and provided spiritual heeling to God's children. 00:13:08.33\00:13:11.29 Today this same trip can be done in 15 minutes. 00:13:11.32\00:13:14.42 Thanks to a mission plan that was paid 00:13:14.45\00:13:16.39 for with your mission offerings. 00:13:16.42\00:13:18.34 The mode of transportation may have changed, 00:13:18.37\00:13:20.61 but the message of hopping Jesus is still the same. 00:13:20.64\00:13:24.70 We are finding an urban mission 00:13:33.14\00:13:35.02 that we need long term 00:13:35.05\00:13:37.34 on the ground commitment to Holistic Ministry. 00:13:37.37\00:13:40.33 It's no good to use what I call, drive by evangelism 00:13:40.36\00:13:44.22 and I'm delighted that Andres has joined me today. 00:13:44.25\00:13:47.36 And, Andres, you have a commitment 00:13:47.39\00:13:48.70 to Holistic Ministry in Chicago, how did it start? 00:13:48.74\00:13:55.35 The passion to break the status quo 00:13:55.38\00:14:00.77 in terms of what was happening in that area, 00:14:00.80\00:14:04.41 in Chicago, interjected the passion for 00:14:04.44\00:14:07.47 dealing a conference, the passion 00:14:07.50\00:14:09.07 for the Lake Union Conference and my own personal passion, 00:14:09.10\00:14:12.64 the passion of some of my friends, 00:14:12.67\00:14:15.25 that we deiced, you know, 00:14:15.28\00:14:17.62 the sense of urgency is driving us. 00:14:17.65\00:14:20.89 Well, if it a Holy Spirit 00:14:20.92\00:14:22.27 that is driving us to do something different. 00:14:22.30\00:14:26.04 We approach missions, 00:14:26.07\00:14:27.49 urban missions in a different way. 00:14:27.52\00:14:29.78 So your background has been as a youth pastor 00:14:29.81\00:14:32.67 for the Seventh-day Adventist church. 00:14:32.71\00:14:34.13 But you and some friends, past church leaders 00:14:34.16\00:14:36.74 together kind of this vision that we can do something here. 00:14:36.77\00:14:41.41 Now this is just a recent plan, 00:14:41.44\00:14:44.55 you only started like last year right? 00:14:44.58\00:14:46.66 Yes. I mean, our first service 00:14:46.69\00:14:48.97 was October 28th, so over three months now. 00:14:49.00\00:14:52.52 Okay, now on any given Sabbath, 00:14:52.55\00:14:56.49 how many people from the community 00:14:56.52\00:14:58.05 do you have with you and how many sort of like 00:14:58.08\00:15:00.35 already established Adventist church members? 00:15:00.38\00:15:02.81 So we have returning Adventist, we have ex-Adventist, 00:15:02.84\00:15:06.41 we have people from the community, 00:15:06.44\00:15:07.87 we have homeless people. 00:15:07.90\00:15:09.28 In total we would probably have 80 to 90 people, 00:15:09.31\00:15:12.48 that turn in every Sabbath. 00:15:13.82\00:15:15.16 We have, you know, we have 10-15 kids, 00:15:15.19\00:15:19.43 but these are young adults and many of them 00:15:19.46\00:15:22.31 are just new to the community. 00:15:22.35\00:15:25.19 And so in less than a year 00:15:25.23\00:15:28.53 you have this group of people active, 00:15:28.56\00:15:31.47 involved focusing on Jesus. 00:15:31.50\00:15:35.61 Tell me what sort of activities 00:15:35.64\00:15:39.71 are the group involved in? 00:15:39.74\00:15:44.44 We are very interested in developing 00:15:44.47\00:15:47.17 relationships with a local community. 00:15:47.20\00:15:49.23 So the biggest most important activity 00:15:49.26\00:15:53.01 we have right now is called Free Hugs. 00:15:53.04\00:15:55.23 Free Hugs. Yes. 00:15:55.26\00:15:56.77 Okay, tell me about that. 00:15:56.81\00:15:58.18 So all we do is we send teams of young people, 00:15:58.21\00:16:01.96 young adults to a community to offer people free hugs. 00:16:01.99\00:16:06.43 And what they do is just embrace them and they are just happy 00:16:06.46\00:16:11.68 to offer human contact recognition and validation 00:16:11.71\00:16:14.98 to people in the community. 00:16:15.01\00:16:16.80 And once I heard that it is worse 00:16:16.83\00:16:19.15 to be starve of human contact than to be an in starve of food. 00:16:19.18\00:16:24.24 So are the communities really embarrassing that now? 00:16:24.27\00:16:27.34 We even have regulars, we have people at every week, 00:16:27.37\00:16:30.05 weekend they look for us, they look for this group 00:16:30.09\00:16:33.82 from Epic Church, and they are looking 00:16:33.85\00:16:35.45 for us in Facebook and Twitter. 00:16:35.48\00:16:37.06 They are creating Twitter hashtags about our church. 00:16:37.09\00:16:42.06 This is on church people talking about Epic Church. 00:16:42.09\00:16:45.35 So you have people from the church 00:16:45.38\00:16:49.60 going standing on the street 00:16:49.63\00:16:51.64 with a sign up offering free hugs. 00:16:51.67\00:16:54.62 Okay, and so friendships have developed from this? 00:16:54.65\00:16:59.14 Yes, of course. 00:16:59.17\00:17:00.25 We have people that-- we have as a matter of fact 00:17:00.28\00:17:03.69 I can probably think about 00:17:03.72\00:17:05.22 three different families units or individuals 00:17:05.25\00:17:07.86 that have attended our services as a result of this activities. 00:17:07.89\00:17:12.97 We have a photographer that is offering 00:17:13.00\00:17:16.23 to take free pictures of the group. 00:17:16.26\00:17:18.11 Professional photographer and he is contacting us through 00:17:18.14\00:17:21.61 Facebook and been very interested 00:17:21.64\00:17:23.51 in knowing more about Epic. 00:17:23.54\00:17:26.87 Now the name Epic where does that come from? 00:17:26.90\00:17:29.19 It means "Every Person in Christ." 00:17:29.22\00:17:32.00 Every Person in Christ, because our mission 00:17:32.03\00:17:34.65 is to have disciples, making disciples, 00:17:34.68\00:17:37.33 disciples having people to be in Christ. 00:17:37.36\00:17:41.01 But it also it's an illusion to our narrative approach 00:17:41.04\00:17:44.71 through preaching and to relations, 00:17:44.74\00:17:47.12 relationships, which means you know, 00:17:47.15\00:17:50.40 epic is a poem, it's a narrative. 00:17:50.43\00:17:52.14 So we are here to tell the narrative, 00:17:52.17\00:17:53.86 the great controversy theme of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:17:53.89\00:17:57.26 Wonderful. Now you've mentioned 00:17:57.29\00:17:59.08 that you are connecting with homeless people 00:17:59.11\00:18:00.92 but this is an a downtrodden neighborhood 00:18:00.95\00:18:04.29 by any stretches of the imagination 00:18:04.32\00:18:05.95 and this is actually quite an expensive 00:18:05.98\00:18:07.63 neighborhood you are working in. 00:18:07.66\00:18:08.84 Describe the area where are you working. 00:18:08.87\00:18:11.08 Yes, this is one of the centers for hipsters. 00:18:11.11\00:18:16.32 So Chicago is one of the most important centers 00:18:16.35\00:18:20.17 concentrations for hipsters. 00:18:20.20\00:18:22.47 They live there, they are post modern 00:18:22.50\00:18:24.16 artistic people, very highly interested 00:18:24.19\00:18:27.55 in the arts, highly interested in music. 00:18:27.58\00:18:30.40 So we are connecting with them. 00:18:30.43\00:18:32.99 They are young adults, they are professionals. 00:18:33.02\00:18:34.96 But the NGOs who have diversity, 00:18:34.99\00:18:36.56 you also have very poor people congregating especially 00:18:36.59\00:18:41.04 on the actual park-- on the actual wicker park. 00:18:41.07\00:18:45.35 So you have this conversions of culture, 00:18:45.38\00:18:49.03 you have poor people, rich people, professionals, 00:18:49.06\00:18:52.00 young people you know, kids though converging 00:18:52.03\00:18:56.76 into the wicker park areas just an interested neighborhood. 00:18:56.79\00:19:00.14 Yes, quite a mission filed. 00:19:00.17\00:19:02.18 It is. Where are you meeting? 00:19:02.21\00:19:04.53 What sort of facilities that you are meeting in? 00:19:04.56\00:19:06.50 We rent the auditorium of a school. 00:19:06.53\00:19:09.07 The pre-school auditorium, we meet every weekend there. 00:19:09.10\00:19:14.15 So it's more of an open environment. 00:19:14.18\00:19:16.48 Poor people come, they feel at home, 00:19:16.52\00:19:18.62 it's not regular church sitting. 00:19:18.65\00:19:21.90 Right, so you are not walking in with four walls 00:19:21.93\00:19:23.80 and a chair and peers and people wearing suits and ties. 00:19:23.83\00:19:27.54 Yes, absolutely, some more relaxed environment. 00:19:27.57\00:19:30.45 Okay, Andres, thank you so much 00:19:30.48\00:19:32.64 for joining us today and wishing you Gods richest blessing 00:19:32.67\00:19:35.39 for what you are doing. 00:19:35.42\00:19:36.45 My pleasure. And viewers at home, 00:19:36.48\00:19:38.92 this is mission as Jesus conceived it. 00:19:38.95\00:19:42.73 As Ellen White tells us, "Christ's method 00:19:42.76\00:19:45.24 was to mingle with people, show sympathy, 00:19:45.27\00:19:49.14 minister to needs, win confidence, 00:19:49.18\00:19:52.05 and bid people to follow Jesus." 00:19:52.08\00:19:54.18 And it's not easy, the mingling, the showing sympathy, 00:19:54.21\00:19:57.53 the ministering to needs this takes makes time 00:19:57.57\00:19:59.52 and it takes commitment. 00:19:59.55\00:20:00.85 And I invite you to please pray for Epic. 00:20:00.88\00:20:04.42 Pray for Pastor Andres, pray for his team 00:20:04.45\00:20:08.28 and the many people who are coming to know Jesus Christ. 00:20:08.31\00:20:10.99 Church at Epic church is pretty amazing. 00:20:28.51\00:20:30.64 For one thing the people there are so friendly. 00:20:30.67\00:20:33.48 I tell you they go through the same exact things 00:20:33.51\00:20:36.19 I go through and that makes me feel so comfortable. 00:20:36.22\00:20:38.67 I could just to be me. 00:20:38.71\00:20:44.42 Epic church is we need because it encourages people 00:20:44.45\00:20:46.47 to take their interest and talents and use it for God. 00:20:46.50\00:20:49.82 To get to know who God is through them subjectively. 00:20:49.86\00:20:52.35 I've been so incredibly bless by the short amount 00:20:59.06\00:21:01.42 of time that I've been at Epic. 00:21:01.45\00:21:02.79 I just come to see Jesus and I definitely like to. 00:21:02.82\00:21:05.57 This is see that He is someone who is just 00:21:05.60\00:21:09.16 so loving and has a personality. 00:21:09.19\00:21:11.03 I can't express just how beautiful 00:21:11.06\00:21:12.96 its been each weekend that I've come. 00:21:12.99\00:21:14.83 This whole experience has just been epic. 00:21:14.86\00:21:16.98 I wasn't sure if this was gonna be the right church for me, 00:21:22.78\00:21:26.14 and after five minutes I knew that I was in the right place. 00:21:26.17\00:21:30.49 I found friends and family. 00:21:30.52\00:21:33.57 They really care about me. 00:21:33.60\00:21:34.86 I'm really happy to be part of the Epic family. 00:21:34.89\00:21:39.23 Your definition of Jesus is going to shape, 00:21:39.26\00:21:41.33 your definition of church. 00:21:41.36\00:21:43.14 But really what we find in the Bible 00:21:43.17\00:21:44.75 is an amazing epic Jesus Christ that this moving the community 00:21:44.78\00:21:49.25 is letting to disciples and His followers 00:21:49.28\00:21:51.72 know about His personality. 00:21:51.75\00:21:53.89 Epic Church is all about facilitating young people 00:21:53.92\00:21:57.88 to embrace Jesus as their own saver. 00:21:57.91\00:22:00.32 We are so passionate about helping to develop 00:22:00.35\00:22:02.54 a stronger relationship with Christ. 00:22:02.57\00:22:04.42 Develop new disciples and plant 00:22:04.45\00:22:06.99 new churches for down of His name. 00:22:07.02\00:22:09.71 If you enjoy stories of Global Mission pioneers, 00:23:08.98\00:23:11.84 missionaries and mission, then we would like to send 00:23:11.87\00:23:14.61 you a copy of the mission stories for kid's DVD. 00:23:14.64\00:23:17.92 It maybe designed for children, but parents 00:23:17.95\00:23:20.56 and grandparents love them too. 00:23:20.59\00:23:22.67 If you live in North America simply call our toll free number 00:23:22.70\00:23:26.42 1-800-648-5824 or visit our website 00:23:26.45\00:23:31.22 and ask for the mission stories 00:23:31.25\00:23:32.93 for kid's DVD, or offer number 304. 00:23:32.96\00:23:37.44 Don't forget to clearly state your name and address. 00:23:37.47\00:23:41.28 Well, that's it for today's program. 00:23:41.31\00:23:43.42 I hope you've been inspired and challenged 00:23:43.45\00:23:45.80 by what you've seen. 00:23:45.83\00:23:47.40 From the countries of Asia, and Africa to the cities 00:23:47.43\00:23:49.83 of North America, God's mission work is still moving forward. 00:23:49.86\00:23:55.02 So on behalf of the Adventist Missionaries 00:23:55.05\00:23:56.94 and Global Mission pioneers serving in countries 00:23:56.97\00:24:00.39 all around the world thank you for your continuing prayers 00:24:00.42\00:24:04.47 and financial support for Frontline Mission. 00:24:04.50\00:24:07.70 As we close we say thank you 00:24:07.73\00:24:10.06 with this music video called Gracias. 00:24:10.09\00:24:12.53 Until next time, I am Gary Krause 00:24:12.56\00:24:14.49 for Adventist Mission. God bless. 00:24:14.52\00:24:16.74