Participants: Gary Krause (Host), Marshall & Rosemary McKenzie, Early Simon
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000038
00:01 I am walking down Lechaion Road in Greece,
00:03 this is the ancient city of Corinth 00:05 where Paul came to preach about 2,000 years ago. 00:08 There's a lot of history to this place, 00:09 so you want to stay tuned 00:11 because Global Mission Snapshots starts right now. 00:26 Just before He went up to heaven, 00:28 Jesus gave us a command. 00:31 He gave us a mission. Jesus said, go. 00:36 Go unto all the world, telling them of His love. 00:41 This is our mission. This is our Global Mission. 00:51 Hello, I am Gary Krause 00:53 and welcome to Global Mission Snapshots. 00:55 As we just saw Earley Simon recently visited 00:58 the ancient city of Corinth 01:00 where one of God's great missionaries 01:02 the Apostle Paul lived and worked 01:05 while on one of his missionary journeys. 01:07 Today we'll be talking with Earley about Corinth 01:10 and how those ancient streets relate to mission today. 01:14 We'll also be talking with Marshall and Rosemary, 01:16 a young couple serving in a very challenging area 01:19 of the 10/40 Window. 01:21 We'll learn how Adventists are touching lives in that area. 01:25 But first up, let's watch a video story 01:28 shot by Todd Gasley called My Greatest Find. 01:37 When I am on vacation, lots of times 01:39 come out here to Montana and always told myself 01:42 I am gonna live out here some day. 01:45 And in 86, I decided I'm gonna work my way around the country 01:49 and this is where I ended up. 01:51 A husband, in 1993 a husband and a daddy found me 01:55 and that was as far as I went with Lewistown, Montana 01:58 and today I am in Whitehall to picking up garbage. 02:01 Other people's trash is other people's treasure. 02:03 You know. There's never a boring moment. 02:07 One time I picked a bag out of a barrel 02:11 what sort of we used to have the 55 gallon drums, 02:14 there was a black bag, it was heavy 02:16 and I thought it was kitty litter, 02:18 I didn't think too much of it, 02:19 and I flung it in the back of the hopper 02:21 and it broke and pennies went all over. 02:25 And I shovel pennies into a box, 02:28 put them in the truck and took them home 02:29 and I washed them all off. 02:31 And I think my wife took them to the bank 02:34 where the counter, she had some like $134 in pennies. 02:37 There were three gallons of pennies. 02:40 Well, and that happens quite frequently 02:42 were you find stuff like that. 02:44 I've known Zeke for some years now. 02:47 We both worked in radiator shops 02:50 and even asked me to check out, I am way with him at one time. 02:55 I failed to talk to him about Jesus. 03:00 And now I often wondered you know, 03:03 why he never knocked on my door five, six, eight, ten years ago. 03:10 Yeah, I even actually one day roll over to Zeke's place 03:16 and chickened out, 03:21 turn around, went home. 03:26 My biggest find, I believed the most valuable thing 03:29 to me that I have ever found 03:31 was the "Conflict of the Ages" series by Ellen white. 03:38 Because we grew up with my dad had one years and years ago 03:42 but it was probably 10, 12, years old a German one 03:46 but it was only the first book, the Patriarchs and Prophets one. 03:49 And I remember with kid-- as we were kids growing up 03:52 my brother Paul and I, my sister Margaret 03:55 and we would read those that book and grew up. 03:58 So I was kind of familiar with it. 04:00 I was born and raised on Hutterite colony 04:03 in northeast corner of South Dakota 04:06 and I had a very strong religious 04:09 upbringing that kind of stuff. 04:10 I did a lot of work on the colony. 04:12 They taught communal living and communal lifestyle that-- 04:16 we have all things in common kind of 04:17 out of the second chapter of the Book of Acts. 04:20 They have all things in common, you know, 04:22 they're goods and everything. 04:24 They're sold and they shared with everybody 04:26 so nobody had want or need. 04:29 When I was 17 years of age, I run away from home 04:33 and I got into all kinds of trouble. 04:37 I drink a bottle of whiskey a day 04:39 and there was a time in my life, I had reached a time 04:42 when I was miserable drinking and I was miserable being sober 04:46 and there was no not much use left to live, why live? 04:51 For a long time, the Lord has put on my heart to go 04:55 and see him and I chickened out. 05:00 Dad always talked about that there was a series of them 05:03 and he never had the others, you know. 05:07 So that to me was a valuable find. 05:08 That was priceless to me. Thank you, Lord. 05:12 Yes. That was worth it. 05:15 You know, that tremendous wisdom and knowledge of the scripture, 05:19 I should say the Father's word 05:21 because He's is our Father, you know, we are His children. 05:24 The Father's word and the interpretation thereof, 05:27 that wisdom in un-- it's priceless. 05:31 I still got them at home. I read them daily. 05:34 I was teaching at Sunday school one time at a church 05:37 where I went to and we went through the Book of Ezekiel 05:40 and I came to Ezekiel 20, okay. 05:43 And where God says, the Sabbath day is a sign 05:47 between you and Me, that you may know who I am. 05:51 Okay. God's speaking. 05:52 And I brought this up in the church and I never knew 05:57 leaders in a church could be--could get so upset 06:00 because I dare bring up the Sabbath day, you know. 06:03 I like that, Ezekiel 20:20, Ezekiel 20:20 vision, you know. 06:07 Some day I am going to get a license plate 06:09 and its going to fit just perfect. 06:11 Well, that's what I planed, you know, 06:13 That has been my walk. 06:14 I've gone to a lot of different churches over the years 06:18 and I would always hear this, 06:20 where the law was done away with at the cross, 06:22 the Ten commands do not apply 06:24 and then I'm like, why are they in there then? 06:26 One preacher even told me one time, 06:28 you may not even be welcomed here, 06:31 you know, because of some of the questions that I asked 06:36 pertaining to the Sabbath day, for number one. 06:40 I have always thought about 06:43 going to the Seventh-day Adventist Church 06:45 and a minister told me one time, 06:47 the last pastor that I had, "If you really want to get 06:50 into legalism, that's what you'll get into." 06:54 And I got to thinking you know, how can that be possible? 06:57 When they teach the Father's word you know, 07:00 "Thy word is a light unto my feet and a lamp unto my path." 07:04 The Father's word and God spake all these words saying 07:08 and you considering Sunday School 07:10 and talk about we ought to be obedient and not to sacrifice. 07:14 It's better to obey than to sacrifice. 07:17 Obey what? 07:19 The Father's word and God spake all these words saying, 07:22 "I am the Lord thy God who brought you 07:25 out in the land of Egypt." 07:26 I know that Ten Command by heart. 07:29 Yeah, I learned them. 07:31 And, so, why don't they apply? That's been my question. 07:42 There was another week before I went back. 07:53 Hey, hey, Karl. Hey, Zeke. 07:55 Nice to seeing you. All right. 07:57 How you've been? Come on in. 07:59 All right. Yeah. 08:00 Don't want to stand outside. 08:02 All right. Anyhow what's up? 08:03 Oh, I just coming By, you know, 08:05 it's like we've been talking and stuff about doing some study 08:11 and stuff together and everything 08:13 and I was just kind of coming over to see 08:15 how we got this seminar going on. 08:19 And I just like to invite you to it. 08:23 Oh, like that prophesy seminar thing I read about, the big-- 08:25 Yeah, the pro-- Yeah, that's the same one. 08:27 Hey, what took you so long? 08:30 You know, I am here for eight years or better, you know. 08:34 Yeah, I'd love to. All right. 08:37 And then we sat for around about for a couple of hours 08:40 and we talked about different things 08:42 from the scripture 08:47 about the law and the commands. 08:51 I just had a fantastic visit that whole evening with him. 08:58 I'm a janitor for Fergus Electric 09:00 and Courtesy Chevrolet in Lewistown Montana. 09:04 I became Christian 14 years ago 09:07 and I don't want anybody anymore to come to me 09:11 and say what was it that took you so long 09:15 to come and visit me. 09:17 You don't want that happening to you either. 09:20 So I just implore you today, when the Lord speaks to you 09:26 just get out there and do what He asked, 09:30 what He tells you to do. 09:31 When He tells you to invite someone 09:33 to some of these meetings, get out there and do it, 09:36 don't be a chicken like I was, don't be afraid. 09:40 There's nothing to be afraid of, 09:42 the Lord is there and He's gonna go before us. 09:44 I'm sure glad Karl finally decided to do that 09:47 and did that and I was so excited to be coming 09:51 to their prophesy seminars that they were having. 09:53 And what I realized, didn't realize this 09:55 and I found out from that is Jesus is coming back soon. 10:00 This past Sabbath day when I got baptized 10:03 it was... 10:06 it was very, it was a very relaxing time. 10:10 I was nervous, I will say that 10:14 because had all those people watching 10:16 and I get stage fright really easy. 10:21 And after baptism it was like this garbage can 10:25 that's I just dumped, it's empty, it was light. 10:29 Moving it back, compare to the way it was pushing it in. 10:32 And once I came out of that water I was refresh, 10:34 I was--I felt empty, I felt renewed, 10:37 a new creation in Christ Jesus. 10:40 What a tremendous feeling. 10:43 And the biggest thing I like about the whole thing, 10:46 there's my wife and children were there to see that. 10:50 That in itself was just a tremendous peace. 10:55 Who is the Lord putting on your heart right now? 10:59 Who are you going to go and ask? 11:03 Don't be afraid, okay? 11:06 To learn more about mission, 11:08 please visit adventistmission.org. 11:15 I am very happy to welcome Marshall and Rosemary McKenzie 11:19 who are visiting from the Middles East 11:22 where they are serving in, doing what, Marshall? 11:26 We are doing several things. 11:28 We try to provide literature that meets relevant needs 11:33 because there's many different needs in the Middle East. 11:36 And it's exciting to be able to meet with the people, 11:39 find out what those needs are 11:40 and then be able to supply them with materials 11:44 that can help them to grow personally, 11:46 it helps them to grow spiritually 11:48 and then at the same time to work with the young people. 11:51 You realize in the Middle East, 11:52 there's lots of young people and they are very active, 11:56 they are always wanting to learn. 11:58 And we are learning from them 12:00 as much as they are learning from us. 12:01 And so it's exciting to put those two things together. 12:04 Fantastic. 12:06 Now the Seventh-day Adventist church is focusing 12:09 very much on what can we do in the large cities 12:12 and I know in the Middle East you have huge cities. 12:16 I was very interested to hear about a center 12:18 that you've been working with, a center of influence. 12:22 I think you call it For Your Life Center 12:25 or something like that. 12:26 Yeah, it's all about health and it's about health awareness. 12:31 But the center is also there to help people with English, 12:33 if they want to learn English. 12:35 The center is there to help them overcome smoking. 12:37 You know, where we live in the Middle East 12:41 they passed a new law that you can't smoke in the buildings. 12:43 Oh, good. 12:44 But a lot of the population still smokes. 12:47 And, but as we are meeting people at the center 12:49 they wanted to stop, they wanted to quit. 12:52 And so we offer you know, stop smoking. 12:55 We do general health screening. 12:57 So there are just different things that we exist there 13:01 for to just help the community with their needs. 13:04 The mayor of the community was-- 13:05 he came actually for the opening of it 13:07 and they were excited about the potential 13:09 of us just helping our neighbors. 13:12 And it was exciting to see the response of our neighbors 13:16 as we had the opportunity to open this center. 13:20 Excellent. Now, tell me about some of the responses, I mean-- 13:23 We had responses, matter of fact 13:25 we had some of the young people that came in 13:28 that weren't from Middle East University. 13:30 They came through with their parent, 13:32 one of them was a senior in high school 13:34 and she saw what was happening and she said, "Can I translate?" 13:39 And so here we now have this relationship 13:41 with an 18 year old, who is a senior in high school 13:44 and she's-- we keep contact with her. 13:46 And she actually helped us translate for three days. 13:48 And so we have young people that were making contact with. 13:52 We also had other people, 13:54 there's a lady that came in to the center 13:56 that didn't realize she had diabetes. 13:58 And when she found she actually had diabetes, 14:01 there was a lot of stress she was carrying. 14:03 And she just let it all out. 14:04 And she spends literally an hour or more there just in tears 14:08 and some of our young people were next to her 14:11 and they were helping her. 14:13 And now they visit her every weekend. 14:15 They go to her home to just encourage her 14:17 and see if she needs anything 14:19 and they just want to provide 14:21 those needs that she hasn't. 14:23 So they are developing that relationship 14:25 and so we met that. 14:27 So we've had-- 14:28 Matter of fact construction workers, 14:30 they were on the job and they were like, 14:32 they came over and they went through 14:33 the health screening and in the process they said, 14:36 "Hey, here's my friend, take care of him. 14:38 I got to go back to work." 14:39 So it just, I mean, taxi drivers 14:43 that were saying you know, 14:44 I'll take you in your taxi 14:46 but you need to come into the center first. 14:48 So it's just a lot of different experiences 14:50 we had down at the center. 14:51 So, Rosemary, it's all about 14:53 making connections with people. 14:54 That's right. 14:55 And it's really exciting to see 14:57 how those connections are made. 14:59 We are able to because of that center help 15:02 in a special way displace people 15:05 that are in the country 15:06 because of war in their region. 15:08 They've come into our country 15:10 and so we're able to provide a special opportunity 15:13 to provide screening for them 15:14 and help in some of their other needs. 15:17 There's a lady that was-- 15:20 That needed to have a surgery 15:21 so that she could keep her baby 15:23 and so because of this center 15:25 we're able to connect with her 15:26 and help her provide the medical care 15:28 that she needed, not at our center, 15:30 but to help her to get the care she needed. 15:34 Now these refugees coming in 15:35 from a war torn countries, 15:36 are we talking like tens of people, 15:38 hundreds of people, thousands-- 15:40 How many people? 15:41 Hundreds of thousands. Wow. 15:43 So that really makes things 15:45 very interesting looking at it. 15:47 It does and you see the needs are real 15:50 and the needs are deep. 15:51 It's not just, you know, 15:53 can you give me $5 or whatever 15:55 because I need some food. 15:56 It's in multiple areas of their life. 15:59 And to be able to be there 16:01 and help them with that, 16:02 that's really what it's all about. 16:03 You know, connecting with them 16:05 and making those relationships eventually. 16:08 Now, Rosemary, you have a three-year-old, 16:11 a six-year-old and a nine-year-old, 16:13 I know you are vitally involved in this ministry. 16:15 How do you juggle every thing? 16:18 That's a very good question. 16:21 You know, my first focus is our home and our children 16:24 and so then after that then I have opportunities. 16:27 You know, some days I am like, 16:29 I look at the week I am like, 16:30 I didn't really do anything 16:32 other than just take of my kids and my house 16:33 but then other weeks like, every thing like 16:36 pours in and I am like, wow, 16:39 I did this and this and this and this, 16:41 all in this one week. 16:42 So it kind of comes and goes 16:44 which makes it easier, you know, 16:46 better for our family. 16:48 Yeah. Now there maybe a young person 16:50 watching this program and if they are thinking about 16:54 maybe going for overseas mission service 16:56 what would you say to them? 16:58 I would say definitely take advantage of the opportunity 17:01 while you are younger and really look at it 17:06 as a long term commitment eventually. 17:09 You know, the short-term is wonderful, 17:11 but you want to-- 17:13 You see, if it fits you and really pray about it 17:15 because the need is just tremendous. 17:18 And we need young people to be involved in these 17:22 service opportunities around the world. 17:24 Rosemary and Marshall, 17:26 thank you so much for joining us. 17:27 And viewers at home, 17:29 please pray for Marshall and Rosemary, 17:32 their children 17:33 and the hundreds of mission workers 17:35 all around the world. 17:37 It can be lonely, it can be discouraging, 17:40 but it can also be tremendously exciting 17:42 and it's wonderful for them to know 17:44 that a world church is praying for them. 18:31 It's my pleasure to introduce 18:33 our guest Earley Simon. 18:35 Earley, thank you for joining us. 18:36 My pleasure. Now you are 18:37 one of the video producers at Adventist Mission. 18:40 Responsible for many of the beautiful videos 18:42 that we see on this program. 18:44 Thank you for that. Now, Earley, 18:46 I am kind of jealous because not so long ago 18:48 you went to the city of Corinth. 18:50 Tell us about Corinth. 18:52 You know, it was an amazing experience 18:54 just to be there because you read those 18:56 stories in the Bible and sometimes you can't really 18:58 place where this is unless you like geography, 19:01 go look in the map which is not the case for me. 19:03 All right, so being there is-- it was really amazing, 19:06 the Bible is like coming to life. 19:08 And I actually went back and read the chapter 19:10 where Paul visited Corinth. 19:11 And now I know because I was there, 19:14 I actually got to walk down 19:15 some of the ancient streets from 2,000 years ago there. 19:19 So it's pretty amazing experience. 19:20 It's a beautiful place, 19:23 it's located in the middle of two ports. 19:25 So there's a port where it connects to Italy and Europe 19:29 on one side and there's a port from Asia. 19:31 So it's a pretty central hub for a lot of the trading 19:33 there that would happen there. 19:34 They still happens there but that 19:35 happened in ancient days as well. 19:37 So Paul came to that city, 19:40 a huge city, a metropolis. 19:42 They said there were estimated 19:44 700,000 to 800,000 people that lived there. 19:46 And so Paul is going there to do mission 19:50 to the cities, you know. 19:51 He's not going to talk to small groups 19:53 he's going to talk to the masses. 19:54 And the Bible tells us when he reaches that city 19:58 he looks for people that he can connect with. 20:00 And I don't know who were the first people he found there 20:03 but he met Aquila and Priscilla and that he stayed with them. 20:08 And one of the connecting factors that maybe linked 20:12 Paul and Aquila and Priscilla so well is that 20:14 they were tent makers. Paul is also a tent maker. 20:17 And a tent maker means that they made tents 20:19 so they might have shared a lot of you know, 20:21 secrets of the trade and special ways of making 20:24 different types of tents. 20:26 But that wasn't what Paul went there for, 20:28 to learn new techniques, he went there to evangelize. 20:31 And this was just his way of supporting 20:33 his ministry as he was there. 20:35 And just to be able to see those surroundings 20:39 and where he preached was pretty exciting. 20:41 On the beginning of the program you saw 20:43 Lechaion Road from the ancient city. 20:46 And that's a pretty well preserved area. 20:47 When we were there, they were actually 20:49 renovating this center square which is a high platform 20:54 where people preached there. 20:56 And that's the place that is believed 20:58 that's where Paul preached to the people. 21:01 And from the surroundings that's so there of the remains 21:03 you can still tell that this like was downtown, 21:05 you know, center of the town. 21:07 And Paul probably came there 21:08 many times and preached to the people. 21:10 As you walked down those roads you see shops, 21:12 you see places where people 21:14 took baths because there is a mountain nearby 21:15 that the water would come down and 21:17 people took baths there in the middle of downtown 21:20 which is pretty different concept for us nowadays. 21:23 But there also prisons that's something 21:25 that caught my attention. 21:26 There were several prisons there and I guess at that time 21:29 it was the point to bring people there 21:31 for being judged if they were going 21:33 really go to jail, if they really had committed 21:36 the crime or if they are gonna be freed. 21:38 And they brought those people there 21:40 so at the center of town they would be recognized 21:42 and they would-- people would see 21:44 the crime that they did. 21:46 It was suppose to bring shame to them. 21:47 So there's a lot of stuff happening 21:49 at that one place that we got to visit there. 21:51 And that's the location where Paul preached. 21:54 You know Earley, you remind us of something 21:57 very important that Paul 21:59 was planting churches in urban areas. 22:02 And when you read through the Book of Acts 22:04 it's basically the story of urban mission 22:07 and the Christian churches were established in the cities 22:11 because these are the places where the people were 22:13 and there were also the places of influence 22:15 from where the gospel would go. 22:16 And in fact the word pagan meant from the country. 22:20 That's kind of interesting. 22:22 I remember visiting Ephesus 22:25 and again Paul ministered there as well. 22:28 And it just struck me, how closely people 22:29 were living together and these churches 22:32 were meeting in people's homes in the heart of the city. 22:35 They didn't have a church building like we do. 22:38 Now, Earley, when you left that place 22:41 what sort of feelings did you have? 22:44 I felt part of the story. 22:49 I felt like it really happed and it helped me 22:52 to focus on some of the things that Paul did 22:55 in reaching the cities, you know. 22:56 Sometimes we think that we just 22:59 connect with people on Facebook or Twitter 23:01 or we tell them to go watch a TV program 23:03 like this one which is a way for people 23:06 to get connected with Jesus and to know Jesus 23:08 and for us to make connections with people. 23:10 But I think Paul's example is very unique in a sense 23:13 that he went there, he was there. 23:16 He went where people were, 23:17 he preached from there, he wasn't afraid, 23:19 he made special connection with individuals and it worked. 23:24 The Bible tells that there's a lot of a baptism 23:26 that he reaped from there. 23:28 He followed Jesus' example of mingling among people. 23:31 Yeah. Earley, you mentioned 23:33 tent making and I am glad you mentioned 23:35 that because today, viewers at home, 23:38 we need more tent makers. 23:39 This is a term we use for people who support their ministry 23:43 through their own trade, 23:45 their own business, their own profession. 23:47 Many parts of the world, we cannot send missionaries, 23:50 we cannot do traditional evangelism 23:52 but we need tent makers. 23:55 And Earley, I want to talk to you 23:56 a little bit too about this magazine, 23:58 Mission 360, full of stories. 24:01 Brand new magazine, 24:03 you can find it online at Mission360mag.org 24:07 and there you can download it on to your iPad, 24:11 down to your iPhone, to your Kindle whatever. 24:14 But this is full of stories 24:16 and there will be tent maker stories here as well. 24:19 Earley, thank you so much for sharing 24:21 with us about the Apostle Paul. 24:22 The Apostle Paul is like Jesus, 24:25 he's our example of coming among the people, 24:28 ministering to them, mingling, showing sympathy, 24:30 winning confidence and leading people to Jesus. 27:06 I hope your hearts were touched by that music video 27:08 all the way from Krasnodar, Russia. 27:11 Let's pray that God will melt our hearts 27:13 and make us even more receptive 27:16 to His words in our lives. 27:18 There are so many people 27:19 whose hearts are longing to learn of God's love. 27:22 Here at Adventist Mission we've created 27:24 mission cards for kids featuring pictures of children 27:28 from all around the world. 27:30 They were especially designed for Sabbath school teachers 27:32 to give to each child to take home. 27:36 Perhaps you might like to order some but you'd like to also see 27:38 a sample set of cards first. 27:40 No problem, just call us or visit our website 27:43 and asks for mission cards for kids or ask for 27:46 offer number 302. 27:49 Please remember to clearly state your name, 27:51 mailing address and be sure to mention 27:53 mission cards for kids or offer 302. 27:58 Well, that's about it for today's program. 28:00 I hope you've been challenged and I hope you've been 28:02 inspired by what you've seen and heard. 28:05 For Adventist Mission, I am Gary Krause 28:07 and I hope you can join me next time 28:09 right here on Global Mission Snapshots. |
Revised 2014-12-17