Participants: Gary Krause (Host), Laurie Falvo, Ricky Oliveras
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000058A
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00:01 On today's program Adventist schools in India
00:03 helping children prepare for a better future 00:06 and Global Mission pioneers 00:07 in the African nation of Botswana, 00:09 all that and much more coming up next 00:12 on Global Mission Snapshots. 00:25 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 and welcome to "Global Mission Snapshots." 00:54 I'm Gary Krause. 00:55 If you've ever visited India 00:57 you'll probably never forget the sites, 01:00 the sounds and the smells of the streets 01:03 with the scent of the aromatic foods, 01:05 colorful dress and yes lots of cars honking their horns. 01:10 And if you've never visited India 01:12 just stay tuned and in a few moments you will. 01:16 On today's program we will be talking 01:17 with Ricky Alvarez about India. 01:20 According to tradition the first Christian missionary 01:23 to the Indian subcontinent was the Apostle Thomas. 01:27 Now whether or not that's true today 01:29 it's an even bigger mission field, 01:32 the second most populated country on earth. 01:35 We will also be talking to Laurie Falvo 01:37 about a small country in southern Africa, Botswana. 01:41 It's a country where famous Christian missionary 01:44 Dr. David Livingstone lived and worked. 01:47 But first, let's travel to India. 01:52 In 1898, William Spicer left his home 01:56 and journeyed overseas to the country of India. 01:59 For three years Spicer was the only ordained 02:02 Seventh-day Adventist pastor in all of Southern Asia. 02:05 Southern Asia represents a large territory 02:08 with more than a billion people. 02:11 Just like our modern day missionaries do 02:13 William Spicer had to adapt to a whole new culture, 02:17 he tasted new food, stumble through foreign languages 02:20 and surrounded himself with an unfamiliar environment. 02:24 Despite the great challenges 02:25 William Spicer did a lot to establish 02:27 Seventh-day Adventist church in Southern Asia. 02:30 He founded the first Adventist Periodical in India. 02:34 If you visit India today you can stop 02:36 by the Oriental Watchman Publishing House. 02:39 At this publish house they produce thousands of books 02:42 and magazines everyday. 02:48 Workers feed paper through the machines 02:50 knowing that when the process is complete 02:53 they will have materials containing a valuable message. 02:57 Jagdish Namey has worked here for years. 03:00 He lost some of his fingers in an accident a long time ago. 03:03 Although working like this can be difficult 03:05 Jagdish Namey doesn't let that stop him. 03:08 He works here because he knows the impact 03:10 these books have on the people who read them. 03:13 All of the employees have a passion for their job 03:16 and sharing the good news of Jesus. 03:20 William Spicer continued to work 03:21 throughout India as a church leader. 03:23 He went on to become the General Conference secretary 03:26 and then president. 03:27 His mark was left behind throughout Southern Asia. 03:31 And together we will make it, 03:34 we'll complete, we'll become His workers. 03:37 Education is an important aspect 03:39 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in India. 03:42 Adventist education often plants a seed in the children 03:45 who attend the schools. 03:47 Many students who attend these schools 03:49 are not from Christian homes. 03:51 They hear Bible stories for the first time 03:53 and want to learn more. 03:55 Students of all ages are inspired 03:57 by the stories of Bible characters 03:59 and how God worked in their lives. 04:02 Most Adventist schools in India are full 04:04 because of their good reputation. 04:06 They hold a high standard of learning. 04:09 Both Adventist parents and parents from the community 04:11 are happy to send their children to these schools 04:14 that range from primary school all the way through college. 04:19 Spicer Memorial College was established 04:21 almost 100 years ago. 04:23 Named after William Spicer, 04:25 is a well-respected institute in India. 04:28 Through the years the college has gone through a series 04:30 of progressions to make it what it is today. 04:34 The beautiful campus offers students 04:36 a high standards learning environment. 04:39 A large church building features servers 04:41 and programs every week. 04:44 Students come from all over the world 04:46 to attend Spicer College. 04:49 These students go on to be pastors, 04:51 teachers, principals, 04:52 and find jobs in a variety of other fields 04:54 throughout the Southern Asia region. 04:57 The Southern Asia region of the world 04:59 is made up of only four countries. 05:02 These countries include Bhutan, India, the Maldives, and Nepal. 05:06 More than 90 percent of the population 05:08 are Hindu and Muslim. 05:10 This is one of the fastest growing regions in the world. 05:13 In the cities you will have to fight your way 05:15 through overwhelming crowds. 05:17 Although there are only four countries in this region, 05:20 it boasts a population of about 1.2 billion people. 05:24 Of the 1.2 billion, there are about 05:26 1.6 million Seventh-day Adventists. 05:30 That means that about one of every 750 people 05:33 you meet might be Adventist. 05:35 There is still a lot of work to be done. 05:39 My guest is Laurie Falvo 05:41 who is part of the Office of Adventist Mission 05:43 here at Adventist World headquarters. 05:45 And Laurie is one of the editors for Mission 360 Magazine. 05:51 Thanks Gary. 05:52 You recently went to the country of Botswana 05:54 and there you visited some Global Mission projects 05:58 tell me about one of the pioneers that you met. 06:00 I recently met Pastor Ishmael. 06:03 He's working in southern Botswana. 06:05 For the past two years he's been working 06:07 with the Basarwaor people otherwise known as the Bushmen. 06:10 Every day he starts his day 06:13 by going to talk to the chief in the morning. 06:15 They will talk for a while 06:17 and exchange pleasantries and then pray together. 06:20 And then he will go to the clinic 06:22 where he will meet with the staff 06:24 and he'll share a scripture, 06:25 or a very short devotional with them 06:27 and pray for them and their ministry 06:29 with the- with the patient's. 06:30 And then he will go into the back room 06:32 where the patients are he'll speak with each one individually 06:35 and pray with them and ask them 06:36 for the concert- their concerns 06:38 what's weighing heavy on my heart 06:39 and then pray with them. 06:41 And then he'll go to the school 06:43 where he will sing with the children 06:45 and he tells- he told me that the children just love to sing. 06:48 They love learning songs about Jesus. 06:51 And at night as he is walking around the village 06:53 he can hear them in their homes 06:54 singing their songs before they go to sleep. 06:58 I was able to worship with- there's a church plant there 07:02 and I was able to worship with the congregation 07:04 and after worship I asked them 07:08 how important the work up a Global Mission Pioneer is? 07:11 How would your life personally be different 07:14 at the Pioneer had never come to work in your village? 07:17 And one of the young man immediately called- 07:21 said out loud I'd be dead. 07:24 And that got my attention 07:25 so I asked him to explain what he meant. 07:28 And he said that 07:31 he like many other people- men in the community 07:33 spent most of his time in bars drinking and brawling 07:37 and here's this angelic face 07:38 singing hymns it's kind of hard to imagine. 07:41 But he lived a pretty dangerous life before 07:44 and a lot of these men get killed in the bars. 07:46 Is it, Laurine? 07:47 Yeah, so he looked at our Pastor Ishmael 07:49 not only as saving his physical life 07:52 but also in helping him to find new life in Jesus. 07:55 Fantastic. 07:57 So what sort of challenges is he facing? 08:00 He faces quite a few, Gary. 08:03 First of all the people that he's working 08:05 with that- there's extreme poverty 08:08 and lot of disease and a lot of despair. 08:12 Yeah, they have a lot of hard knocks as a people. 08:15 And another challenge is the language barrier. 08:21 It's a huge problem because their language 08:23 is extremely difficult to learn and on top of that 08:27 there are 13 dialects of the language. 08:30 So the only reason he could communicate with them 08:32 at all is because a few with them 08:34 speak a little of his language. 08:37 So where is he from? 08:39 He is from Botswana. But just different area. 08:42 Yeah, a different area and in many of these- 08:45 these other groups of people they have their own languages 08:48 that are extremely different- 08:49 my understanding is the people- 08:51 the different people speak a different dialects 08:53 cannot understand each other. 08:55 So there's no literature to share with these people 08:57 to help him in his ministry. 08:59 In fact it if I have my fax right what I've heard 09:03 is that the New Testament of the Bible- 09:06 only the New Testament has been translated 09:08 into language that the Basarwaor people speak 09:12 and only one at the 13 dialects. 09:15 So his people cannot- 09:17 cannot read the Bible for themselves at all. 09:20 And you say that there's poverty 09:23 in this area is AIDS- HIV/AIDS a problems as well? 09:27 Yes, it is a big problem there. 09:30 And probably, you know, his greatest challenge 09:32 is reaching the people spiritually. 09:35 They are not a trusting people, 09:37 so he spent his first year just trying to earn their trust 09:40 and that would involve things like going to funerals, 09:43 playing with their children, 09:45 going to their homes to visit the sick, 09:47 putting Christ method of ministry into practice. 09:51 The chief there and his wife are Seventh-day Adventist 09:54 and they became members 09:56 when a former Global Mission Pioneer 09:58 started to church plant several years ago. 10:01 And when that, that pioneer left most the people 10:04 left the church as well, they quit coming. 10:07 So through the years he sadly 10:08 watched the congregation diminish 10:11 but he's- he has seen a lot of change people. 10:16 He says since Pastor Ishmael has come 10:19 the hearts of my people have been softened 10:21 and they are a bit more open now. 10:24 And Pastor Ishmael has helped 10:25 most of the former members to come back 10:27 and he has baptized eight new members 10:30 so there's a lot I hope now in that community. 10:34 The chief says that he seen 10:35 tremendous change in the lives of people 10:37 and he doesn't believe this would have been possible 10:39 had a Pioneer not come to do ministry there. 10:43 So on behalf of the congregation 10:45 and the chief I'd like to thank everybody 10:48 who- who's watching, who has helped support 10:50 the ministry of Global Mission 10:51 either through their finances or the prayers or both 10:54 because it is making a difference. 10:56 Yeah and for those viewers who may not be familiar 10:58 with the Global Mission Pioneer who are they? 11:01 A Global Mission Pioneer goes to an area 11:04 where there is or a people group in- 11:08 where the church either has no presence at all 11:10 or has a very small presence 11:11 and its struggling to get established. 11:13 And they will raise up a new group of believers, 11:15 they will get Bible studies 11:16 and they will start a church plant. 11:18 Yeah and as you say the Christ method into practice 11:21 they live among the people, they mingle, 11:23 they show sympathy, they minister to the needs, 11:25 they win confidence and they bring people to Jesus. 11:29 Just briefly in a sentence how does it make you feel 11:32 when you meet a Pioneer like Pastor Ishmael? 11:35 Very humbled at their dedication. 11:38 And humbled by how much they love and care about people. 11:41 And he told me he said these people are just looking 11:45 for somebody to love them. 11:47 When you love them they began to open up 11:49 and they will trust you and then they will believe 11:51 that God loves them too. 11:52 Fantastic. 11:53 Laurie, thank you for joining us today. 11:55 You are welcome, Gary. 11:56 Viewers at home we'd like to give you a free offer 11:59 to remind you of Global Mission 12:00 and it is the faces a mission Global Mission calendar 12:04 and if you go to the August month 12:05 you'll find a picture taken by Laurie in Botswana. 12:09 This is just to help you remember 12:11 to pray for mission every day. 12:14 You can call our toll free number 12:16 or you can go to adventistmission.org. 12:19 We'll be right back after this break. |
Revised 2014-12-17