Participants: Gary Krause (Host), Jan Paulsen, Rick Oliveras
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000039
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00:01 Former General Conference president and former missionary,
00:04 Dr. Jan Paulsen and others talk about their memories of mission 00:08 and church planting in East Central Africa, 00:10 all that and much more 00:12 right here on Global Mission Snapshots. 00:25 Just before He went up to heaven, 00:27 Jesus gave us a command. 00:30 He gave us a mission. Jesus said, go. 00:35 Go unto all the world, telling them of His love. 00:40 This is our mission. This is our Global Mission. 00:44 Hello and welcome to Global Mission Snapshots, 00:52 I am Gary Krause. 00:54 Have you ever wanted to talk to a former missionary 00:56 and hear their stories? 00:58 Well, today we'll be doing just that. 01:00 I'll be taking with Dr. Jan Paulsen 01:02 about his time as a missionary in Africa 01:04 and the events in his life that led his family 01:07 from Norway to West Africa. 01:09 We'll also be talking with Ricky Oliveras 01:12 who recently visited church planting projects 01:14 in the East Central Africa region. 01:17 And we'll visit a Global Mission pioneer who's planting a church 01:20 in a democratic people's republic of Congo. 01:24 But first up let's meet some other former missionaries 01:27 in a video we call "In Their Own Words." 01:31 Many words and phrases are used to describe 01:34 the missionary experience, adventurous, compassionate, 01:37 dedicated, patience, open to exotic foods, 01:41 new languages, willing to transplant their entire families 01:44 thousands of miles away from friends and loved ones. 01:47 And did we mention adventurous? 01:50 Why would someone leave everything 01:51 that is familiar to them, step out of their comfort zone 01:55 and travel to far off lands to share hope and change lives? 01:58 How does someone decide that they want to be a missionary? 02:02 Some of the Adventist church's pioneering missionaries 02:05 shared their experiences, challenges and triumphs. 02:08 Here's their story, In Their Own Words. 02:13 The whole experience is humbling 02:16 because we realized all along 02:19 that what we were doing was nothing, 02:23 it was the things that God did well, through us 02:27 because we had lots of hard experiences 02:31 and lots of disappointments. 02:35 But God overruled in so much of that, 02:39 that it was really a blessing to us, 02:44 probably more of a blessing to us 02:46 than most of the people that we were working for. 02:49 But we were certainly happy that the Lord took over 02:53 and did something for them too. 02:56 So what was your thought when you got that call from GC 03:00 saying want you to go overseas? 03:02 We just answered God, thank God. 03:06 Take that as an opportunity. 03:09 We said, where is it? 03:13 We went to the library, even to read about it, 03:16 it was kind of a cultural shock. 03:18 But I never once said, we are not going there, are we? 03:25 I mean, it just seem like well, that's where we were going. 03:28 Those earliest missionaries still performed 03:32 I think a very important task. 03:35 They are people of incredible courage and commitment. 03:38 And certainly, certainly living conditions were long ways 03:45 from what it was it is in the States 03:48 in the old days when we went over there. 03:50 Just imagine no electricity and no running water. 03:54 Just lacking those two things what a difference it makes. 04:01 They made you feel like asking the question, 04:05 well, I did, what on the world I am here for? 04:09 But when these boys made the statement 04:11 if they would never knows Jesus, 04:13 if weren't in Borneo mountains of Laos. 04:16 I knew what the Lord took us there for. 04:19 For me now, that I am 92, going on 93, 04:25 they want to know how come you live so long, you see. 04:29 And I said, look, I-- I'll say it in Chinese, shall I? 04:34 (Speaking in foreign language) 04:40 Now I must do what is right in God's sight, 04:43 I must do the right thing by other people, 04:47 I must do the right thing by my contentious 04:50 and that gives us good health and a longer life. 04:57 Whatever we opening we can have it should be something 05:00 that's understandable to them now 05:03 and then they will cultivate their friendship 05:08 and we will talk further about things like that. 05:12 I was in the back of the jeep 05:14 and I stood up there and i looked at the sky, 05:17 it was incredibly hot and incredibly beautiful 05:21 just as blue as it could be 05:23 and I thought that same sky is over Washington State, 05:31 that's were my parents were living and my sister. 05:36 I said, oh, I wished I was there. 05:41 But you know, then after a while you really didn't miss it. 05:46 I mean, you just-- this is home 05:49 and that's where you go to visit where you go for furlong. 05:52 It was hard for me at first, 05:55 I don't about know about him so much 05:57 but I love him and he was there 06:00 and without him I couldn't have handled it. 06:03 My first six years of life, 06:06 actually it was about seven years of life 06:08 were spend in what we would call a mission field 06:10 in Thailand for most of that time. 06:13 And for a number of years there in Thailand 06:16 it was away from civilization up in the mountains. 06:21 And to see the way my parents lived their lives, 06:25 way they related to the people that we were there to serve 06:29 is still an inspiration to me. 06:37 If I thought about it too much 06:39 I could become emotional even in thinking about it. 06:42 With missionaries trying to reach 06:43 the most remote corners of the world, 06:46 the use of small airplanes opened up endless possibilities. 06:50 Dick Hall was one of the first missionary pilots in Asia 06:53 and the first in Laos. 06:55 When we got transferred up into Laos 06:57 there was no other transportation except by air. 07:02 And, or you could walk. 07:05 It might take you a couple of weeks to walk in there 07:08 but there was no river transport and just only by airplane. 07:14 And we saw really the need of an airplane at that time. 07:18 It's been thrilling to go over there just couple of years ago 07:21 and people come up to me and tell me you know, 07:24 if it hadn't been for us take them out in airplane 07:27 they would have die. 07:29 And then also every place we need an airstrip 07:32 we raised up a church. 07:35 And then several churches from that airstrip 07:37 we walked short distance to other villages and raised it up. 07:41 So the airplane is really was 07:45 a God sent assets to our mission work. 07:49 And I was sorry that mission flying 07:51 didn't carry on there in South East Asia 07:54 because I still believe that with an airplane 07:58 they can go way into the island of Borneo, 08:02 places where they can't go unless they can build airstrips, 08:06 otherwise it takes days and weeks to go into there. 08:09 But not long after I left they quit the flying program. 08:12 And I felt that was real mistake. 08:17 So I believe the airplane is still 08:20 a valuable asset in spreading of mission. 08:24 I think early on the church realize 08:26 that there was tremendous needs in the world 08:29 and there was as greater focus on trying to meet those needs, 08:33 a greater focus on trying to spread the gospel. 08:36 And more recently, again the shift is been were. 08:39 We've done well, most of the world already knows 08:42 and so there's this idea that it's not as necessary now 08:46 when that could be further from the truth. 08:50 Tell you the thing that I am most proud of 08:53 and I can say its really proud 08:56 is that the Lord is able to use us 08:59 and reaching some of the mountain people, 09:03 the people of Laos that have went to early school 09:09 and then they became pastors. 09:14 And now they've gone out, raised up churches, 09:18 being mission presidents, pastors 09:21 and I feel that that is really makes me feel good to think 09:27 that the Lord was able to use us 09:30 in helping to bring the gospel to these people. 09:33 If we are still interested in mission and I pray that we are 09:39 then mission offering would still be needed. 09:45 I don't know what I could say it more bluntly than that 09:48 and I am not a big sales person, 09:52 I am not real good at asking people for money 09:55 but if we are serious about mission 09:57 then we need to put our money where our mouth is. 10:01 We would like to encourage each one. 10:05 Let's be liberal with what God puts in our hands 10:09 and use it to be a blessing to help those in need 10:14 and specially those that don't know Jesus and mission service. 10:20 Adventist missionaries changed 10:22 not only the lives of those they work with 10:24 but their own lives are forever transform by their experiences. 10:28 Although the role of missionaries 10:30 has changed over the years 10:32 they will always be on the frontlines 10:34 playing a vital role in the mission of the church. 10:37 Thank you, for you prayers and support 10:39 of missions around the world. 10:41 For more information about missions 10:43 please visit AdventistMission.org. 10:49 It's my pleasure to introduce Pastor Jan Paulsen 10:53 who is known to many of us 10:54 as the former president of World Seventh-day Adventist church. 10:59 Many of us known him as an administrator and as a leader 11:02 but he also served for several years 11:05 as a missionary in West Africa. 11:08 Dr. Jan Paulsen, thank you so much for joining us. 11:10 West Africa, a long way away for a young man from Norway? 11:15 Yes. Yes. 11:17 It is-- it is many, many years now since we-- 11:21 since my young and my wife 11:22 and our very young daughter went tot Ghana, 1962. 11:29 So it's over 50 years since that. 11:36 1962 exactly, 50 years, 51 years since we went there. 11:41 There was--Africa as a whole went through the turmoil, 11:45 they just come out of colonialism 11:48 and they beginning to experience their freedom. 11:52 And that had a series of challenges also 11:55 for people who came from overseas 11:58 to fit into the system and to help them build nation. 12:03 Now, what were you doing there? 12:05 The first-- we were in West Africa for six years. 12:08 The first two years we served in Ghana 12:10 at a teacher training college that we have 12:13 up in outside Kumasi in Ashanti country. 12:18 Our church is very, very strong in that part of Ghana. 12:23 And for two years I taught Bible 12:26 to students who were in training to become teachers. 12:32 And I was pastor also for the local college church. 12:36 So it was a mixture of these two things. 12:39 A wonderful, wonderful time, wonderful life. 12:43 And from Ghana you went to-- From Ghana we went to Nigeria. 12:46 We had just established a new institution 12:50 for the training of our ministers. 12:53 It called Adventist College of West Africa at that time. 12:56 Today, 50 years later, it is the largest university 13:01 that we have as a church globally. 13:03 Is that right? With 10,000 plus students. 13:06 Wow. It's a wonderful institution. 13:10 So if you have a good feeling 13:12 about having being part of the infancy 13:14 or what has become an incredible instruction. 13:18 I came there to teach theology to our students 13:22 and within a fairly short time I was also the principle 13:27 or president of the college for a short period 13:29 before we went to Europe. 13:31 Now, Dr. Paulson, it must be very rewarding 13:34 to see young men that you helped train, 13:36 start to take leadership positions in the church. 13:39 Yes, it is that. 13:42 One of the things, one of the remarkable, 13:44 maybe not so remarkable but it is reality 13:47 that we should take note of is when we came to Ghana 13:51 there were 11, 000 Adventists in Ghana as a whole. 13:56 And one organizational structure a mission structure. 14:00 Today, they have a union, they have seven conferences 14:06 and almost half a million members in Ghana alone. 14:09 The missionaries were key person in establishing 14:12 an infrastructure for our church in Africa 14:15 but the explosive growth that we've seen as a church in Africa 14:19 happened when National Leadership and Ministry 14:23 took control of the development of the work. 14:25 So it's been a wonderful interplay 14:27 between the work of missionaries 14:30 in setting up a strong infrastructure 14:33 and the phenomenal growth that our national ministers 14:37 and leaders have made possible in Africa. 14:41 Now when you were serving as president for some time there 14:45 the secretary for the World Church 14:47 was one of your former students. 14:49 Yes, that is right. Yes. 14:51 The one at the world headquarters 14:53 when I served there as president the one who was the secretary. 14:57 You are right, Pastor Bediako, 14:58 he was my student at the Bekwae in Ghana. 15:02 And then he was my student for the four years, 15:04 he was at college in Nigeria. 15:07 And yeah, I have a wonderfully warm feeling when I see that 15:13 some of the current ministers or leaders in our church 15:16 whom I had the privilege to have as my students back then 15:22 have responded wonderfully to the call 15:25 that God has placed in their hearts 15:27 and taken hold of the assignment He has given to them. 15:30 Demonstrate the richness of their spiritual gifts 15:34 and their work has gone forward. 15:36 Dr. Paulson, it's fashionable in some circles today 15:40 to speak very negatively of missionaries 15:43 that their cultural imperialist, 15:44 that they have done more damage than good. 15:47 How do you view that? 15:49 Oh, I think that is a caricature which is unfortunate 15:52 because that generally is not true. 15:55 You will find the odd one maybe 15:57 who is not as wise as he or she should be 16:00 but by enlarge the workers who go out as missionaries 16:04 men and women they do it because they have 16:08 a strong calling in their hearts and they love the assignment, 16:14 they love the people, they love the Lord, 16:17 they want to bring up their best skills 16:19 that training the talents to see that the church is made strong 16:23 and that the name of God is on it. 16:27 They have no agenda, they are no politically driven. 16:30 No, they go there to serve the Lord. 16:33 Look, we have only one master, only one. 16:37 And at the end of the day we're gonna face Him 16:39 and He's going to say, how did you do this? 16:43 And so there is a-- I think a close attachment 16:48 between the missionaries and the one who has called them. 16:51 And they go there with pure hearts. 16:54 Dr. Paulson, I wish we had more time. 16:56 Thank you, so much for sharing with us. With pleasure. 16:58 And viewers at home, there are still hundreds of missionaries 17:01 serving all across the globe. 17:04 Even in West Africa where Dr. Paulson served 17:06 so man years ago. 17:08 Please remember them in your prayers. 17:10 It encourages them to know 17:11 that a world church is praying and supporting them. 18:00 It's my pleasure to introduce our guest Ricky Oliveras. 18:03 Ricky, thank you for joining us. 18:05 Thanks for having me. 18:06 You are one of our video producers 18:08 and you do some beautiful video work that we see 18:10 right here on this program, thanks for that. 18:13 I also see some of your work on the front cover 18:16 on this new mission magazine, Mission 360. 18:21 This is literally off the press last week. Yeah. 18:24 And more importantly 18:27 this is not just going to be a print publication 18:29 but it is an online digital magazine. 18:33 So what sort of platforms will be able to carry this magazine? 18:36 You should be able to find it on the iPad, on Kindle, 18:39 on you know, all different kinds of tablets and computer. 18:42 Yeah, fantastic. 18:44 So you just go online to mission360mag.org 18:49 and this is full of stories of mission, 18:52 exciting stories about church planting, Adventist world radio, 18:56 Global Mission pioneers, centers of influence, 18:59 urban mission and it's totally free. 19:02 Okay, Ricky. Yeah. 19:03 Church planting, the heart beat of Adventism. 19:06 You were recently in East Central Africa, 19:10 what did you see there? 19:11 Well, I saw a lot but some of the things I saw were you know, 19:17 new congregations being formed 19:19 and it was really cool to see 19:21 because in East Central Africa everybody is in favor, 19:26 everybody is dedicated to building new churches. 19:30 From the administration where they are trying 19:33 to start new programs to build new churches 19:35 to the pastors where they are you know, 19:38 they are reaching out to the community 19:39 and down to the members where the pastors are, 19:43 you know, telling their members 19:44 you know, go talk to your neighbors, 19:46 go, go bring them to church, 19:48 you know, let's build our churches. 19:50 And so that was really cool to see 19:53 because it's not often that you find 19:55 everybody on the same page about something so. 19:59 So when you say build churches 20:01 you are not talking about building buildings, 20:02 you are talking about starting new congregations. 20:05 Right. Exactly. 20:08 Churches usually being you know, in small groups 20:11 and somebody going to their neighbors' house 20:14 and offering to pray with them, reading the Bible with them, 20:17 you know, something very simple 20:18 and that builds up where they invite another neighbor. 20:22 And you know, things like that can spiral 20:25 and from there buildings come up of course 20:29 once you get enough people. 20:31 Building will come up in certain area 20:34 I'll give you an example, when I was in Mwanza, Tanzania, 20:38 they have over 30 churches there 20:41 but they didn't start off with 30 churches. 20:43 They started off with a few churches 20:45 and people there reaching out 20:48 to their neighbors building congregations. 20:52 And one person that I saw there was, her name was Priska 20:55 and she is really adamant about out and visiting 21:01 you know, doing studies with people 21:04 and just reading the Bible with people. 21:06 And it's contagious because you see the work she does, 21:11 you know, it's like a chain to build new people. 21:16 Now our frontline church planters 21:18 are called Global Mission pioneers. 21:21 Did you meet some pioneers? 21:22 I did meet some pioneers when I was in the city of Kinshasa 21:27 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 21:30 I always like to try to you know, 21:31 at least meet a couple pioneers. 21:33 So I asked the pastor that I was with you know, 21:35 tomorrow can we talk to a Global Mission pioneer, 21:38 maybe follow him around for the day? 21:41 And he said, "Oh yeah. Sure, it's no problem." 21:43 So the next day we get to the church 21:46 where they are gonna meet us 21:48 and there were 20 or 30 Global Mission pioneers in the room. 21:52 So it was overwhelming for me to see that because you know, 21:57 I was expecting one or two people to talk to. 22:00 And so it was overwhelming 22:01 but also very encouraging to see that 22:04 because there are so many people who are wiling to go out 22:09 and serve and reach out to their communities. 22:12 Tell me about one of the pioneers. 22:14 Well, one of the pioneers I followed, 22:16 his name was Serge and he--we started off, 22:20 we met him at the church and we went to his house 22:23 where you know, he was getting ready for 22:25 to meet a group of people that he witnesses to. 22:30 So we met him at his house, he was reading his Bible 22:33 and what he does everyday, every few days he goes 22:37 and meet this group but he has to walk 22:40 you know, miles and kilometers there, 22:43 kilometers and kilometers to see his small congregation. 22:48 And they meet on this property own by a church member. 22:52 This church member donated some land, 22:55 their backyard basically to build the little church. 22:58 And this church is pretty unique 22:59 because it's just made out of sheets you know. 23:03 Sheets of metal. No, they are like bed sheets. 23:07 Oh, bed sheets. Yeah. 23:08 And so it's you know, it's a humble church to me then 23:12 but to them you know, that's their church. 23:14 They are very proud of it. 23:16 So to us you know, we wouldn't normally see that 23:18 here in North America a church made out of bed sheets. No. 23:23 To them that's their house of worship. Yeah. 23:26 Well, we are talking about a very poor area. 23:28 Very poor area, very poor area. 23:30 There's a-- the houses are very small, 23:33 they are--the houses are made out of you know metal sheets 23:37 and wood sometimes that you just find flying around. 23:41 Whatever you can patch your house up with. 23:42 Yeah. Amazing. 23:45 Ricky, thank you so much for sharing with us today. 23:47 Yeah. Thank you. 23:48 Viewers at home, you know, 23:50 many of our brothers and sisters around the world 23:52 are living below the poverty line. 23:55 Some are earning less than a dollar a day. 23:58 So it does make difference when we give our mission offerings 24:00 when we make donations to Global Mission 24:02 to help start and establish work 24:05 where otherwise it would be a challenge to begin. 24:08 Please pray for Global Mission pioneers 24:10 who are starting new congregations 24:12 all around the world. 24:22 The city of Kinshasa, 24:24 the capital of a Democratic Republic of Congo 24:26 and home to more then ten million people. 24:30 Despite the size of this city 24:31 only about 8,000 Adventists live here. 24:34 Reaching the people here comes with great challenges. 24:38 People here don't want to stop and listen, 24:40 they don't want to make time for religion. 24:42 But those who do catch a glimpse 24:45 of God's word hunger to learn more. 24:58 This is Serge, he is a Global Mission pioneer 25:01 working in this challenging city to ensure 25:03 that more people come to know Jesus. 25:06 Serge prepares at his home 25:07 to share a message of hope with a small group. 25:10 He leaves his humble home to face the vast urban jungle. 25:14 His motivation is reaching those 25:16 who have never heard the Adventist message. 25:25 He walks far to reach the makeshift church 25:27 where the people are already waiting for him. 25:30 This humble church sits on a local church member's land, 25:33 tucked away from the busyness of the street. 25:36 Its walls are made from sheets and tarps 25:39 but God welcomes all people into His house of worship. 25:43 As our pioneer greets the people he can see their hunger 25:46 to learn more of the stories and lessons from the Bible. 25:51 As they worship and reads from the Bible lives are transformed. 25:55 The small group hears the stories 25:57 of how Jesus lived on this earth to die for our sins. 26:06 This is the work of a Global Mission pioneer 26:09 to help reach the unreached people around the world. 26:13 As Global Mission pioneers they were called 26:15 not only to tell of Jesus' love ibut also to show it. 26:20 Although this urban setting 26:21 maybe a challenging place to work, 26:23 Global Mission pioneers like Serge 26:25 are willing to accept the challenge 26:26 so others can learn about Jesus. 26:29 Please pray for Global Mission pioneers here in Kinshasa 26:33 and thank you, for your support of mission around the world. 26:41 Today, we've looked at two models of mission, 26:44 Global Mission pioneer who plant churches among their own people 26:47 and cross cultural missionaries 26:49 who traveled to another place and work in another culture. 26:53 Many missionaries learned to love the people, 26:55 cultures and foods of the places where they've served. 26:58 And many of you who watched this program have the same interest. 27:02 If you are one of these people and you enjoy cooking 27:04 and you enjoy eating we'd like to send you 27:06 a free copy of a book called A Taste of Travel. 27:10 This beautifully illustrated vegetarian cookbook 27:13 features soups and stews 27:15 from more than 130 countries of the world. 27:18 So if you live in North America and you like a free copy 27:21 please call our toll free number 1800-648-5824 27:27 or visit our website and ask for your copy 27:29 of A Taste of Travel or the soup cook book. 27:33 But hurry because supplies are limited. 27:35 Please remember to clearly state your name and mailing address. 27:40 Thank you so much for joining us on today's program. 27:43 I hope this program has inspired you 27:45 to pray for the people and places you've seen. 27:48 And a special thank you to those of you 27:50 who support mission offerings in church 27:53 or who go online at Adventist Mission 27:55 to financially support Global Mission projects. 27:58 From the office of Adventist Mission I am Gary Krause 28:01 and I can hope you can join me next time 28:03 right here on Global Mission Snapshots. |
Revised 2014-12-17