Seventh-day Adventist schools
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preparing
children for the future.
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Pastor Ted Wilson, president
of the General Conference
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of Seventh-day Adventists
and Charlotte Ishkanian,
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veteran editor of
the Adventist Churches
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mission quarterly
magazines all that
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and much more coming up next
on Global Mission Snapshots.
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Just before He went up to heaven
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Jesus gave us a command.
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He gave us a mission.
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Jesus said "Go, go
unto all the world,
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telling them of His love."
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This is our mission.
This is our Global Mission.
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Hello, I'm Gary Krause
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and welcome to
Global Mission Snapshots,
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a program where we
look at what's happening
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with Adventist
mission all around the globe.
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Today we'll be talking
with Pastor Ted Wilson,
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president of the
General Conference
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of Seventh-day Adventist
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about something
many people first learned
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about as a young
child, mission offerings.
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Mission offerings
aren't just for children
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and they're not a
thing of the past either.
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They still play a
vital role in mission
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and they're important for
adults and children alike.
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We'll also be talking
with Charlotte Ishkanian
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who has probably visited more
13th Sabbath Offering projects
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than any other person.
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Projects in places
such as Southern Asia
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which we will visit right now.
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Since, 1912 Seventh-day
Adventist Church members
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have supported a
special mission offering
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called the 13th
Sabbath Offering.
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Although, its only
part of the offerings
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that support
mission work worldwide.
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Your support of this offering
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has helped touch countless
lives through schools, clinics,
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churches, literature
and other mission projects.
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On this Sabbath
in Kollegal, India,
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shoes laying the doorway
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of the
Seventh-day Adventist church.
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Members joyfully
gathered together
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for the Sabbath
school lesson and sermon.
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They listen intently
as the pastor preaches
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the messages on his heart.
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This congregation
ranges from all ages
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but everyone
feels welcomed here.
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Along sides the church sits
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the Seventh-day
Adventist school.
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Many of the children
from the congregation
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attend school here.
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They love to learn about Jesus.
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Today this group is
learning their lesson outside.
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The sun may be hot or
the rain may pour down
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but these children
do whatever it takes
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to get a quality education.
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The other classrooms are full.
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So for now they meet
under a metal covering.
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Many of the
students at this school
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are not from Adventist homes.
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The parents of this community
like sending their children
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to Adventist schools
because they know their children
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will get a good education.
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The students learn
stories from the Bible.
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In a country where
Christianity makes up
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less than three
percent of the population
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these stories are
brand new to most children.
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Imagine, hearing these exciting
stories for the first time.
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It opens a door to
hope in a better life.
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This quarter a portion of
your 13th Sabbath Offering
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will help build new classrooms
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at the Seventh-day
Adventist school in Kollegal.
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Each year more students enroll
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and the needs of
the school are growing.
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Please pray for the
students at Kollegal.
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Pray that they have sufficient
space to learn and grow.
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It's my pleasure to introduce
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our guest Pastor Ted Wilson,
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who is the president
of the General Conference
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of Seventh-day Adventist.
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Pastor Wilson,
thank you for joining us.
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It's great to be here.
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As Adventist we are
called to give 10% of our income
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to God's work and
we are also invited
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to give our offerings
to mission various causes
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and we have the weekly mission
offerings that are collected.
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Why is this process important?
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Well, first of all let's
start with the individual.
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Now with you or with me.
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We are both members
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of the
Seventh-day Adventist church
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that means we can participate
in a spiritual exercise.
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So regardless of
the actual income
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that is derived
from what is given
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or returned to the church.
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It is an, an exercise of loyalty
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and a direct personal connection
between you and your God.
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And the Lord has simply asked us
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and its one of the
fairest areas of requirements
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that you could ever dream of.
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The Lord just says return
to Me 10% as a faith factor.
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I've blessed you, I've
given you what you need,
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just return to Me one-tenth,
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10% as a sign of your
complete loyalty to Me
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and also of your trust in Me.
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And it's
absolutely amazing in our,
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in our experience my
wife's and my experience at home
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I believe that
returning nine-tenths
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and of course it more than that
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because we will talk
about offerings in a moment.
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But even returning nine-tenths
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provides you and
this doesn't seem possible
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but it provides you
with more than the ten-tenths
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that you've started with
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because God just
adds His blessings.
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He keeps you healthy
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or He provides you
with an opportunity
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that you never
thought of or whatever.
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So it's that
spiritual connection.
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That's first of all,
so vitally important.
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Now in returning 10%
and then as the Bible says
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to give freewill offerings
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according to how you've been
blessed in your relationship
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with the Lord you
might want to give 5%,
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you might want to give
10%, personally my wife
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and I are
returning 10% in offerings
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or in donations for
charitable activity.
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So that's 20%.
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But in reality that
eight-tenths that is left
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I find to be ample
for what I actually need.
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And of course, there
is a difference between
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what we need and what we want.
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But God has promised
in the Book of Malachi
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open the windows of heaven
and pour out these blessings.
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In reality, we
could go on talking
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about stewardship in general
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but in reality how
it relates to mission.
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The tithe is
provided for the sustaining
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of the gospel proclamation
for ministers of the gospel,
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for the activity of the church
and then mission offerings
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are provided for a
augmenting of that entire work
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for the mission
expansion of the church.
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A lot of people are
giving lot of donations
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to various organizations
that are good organizations
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and mission
oriented organizations
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and that's good
in many respects.
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But we would
implore our church members
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to remember that when
they see mission offering
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or world budget
that they are then able
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to give to the expansion
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of the mission
program of the church,
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mission outreach,
various initiatives
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that are very creative in nature
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and reaching
into unentered areas.
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So when you're giving
even though you may not know
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every detail about it
you can be a very assured
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that God's money
because it becomes God's money
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after you return it,
return it back to Him.
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Really God owns
everything. That's right.
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But He is just
entrusting some of it to us.
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But then you return some of that
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and really it is used for
wonderful mission outreach.
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And I think it's exciting.
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In fact, recently I
have increased personally,
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I haven't broadcast this
much but now I guess I've. Good.
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I've increased the
amount that I'm giving
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for the world
budget because I want
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to help the
expansion of God's work.
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And the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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is not shrinking by God's grace
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and through His
blessing it is expanding
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because this is His
movement, His church
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and it's so
exciting to be part of it.
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So that's why
returning your tithe
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because we don't give our tithe
we return it its God's anyway
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and then giving
freewill offerings especially,
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you know,
notably to world mission
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will really increase
the expansion of God's work
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in especially unentered areas
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as well as more
developed areas of the church.
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I think it's just
an enormous privilege
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to be part of
trusting God with the funds
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that He gives us
in helping expand
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His great advent
movement here on this earth.
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He doesn't need the
money but He needs our loyalty
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and He needs our
commitment and when we do that
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we are spiritually
participating with Him
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in the outreach of
this great final message.
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And those of us
who have been blessed
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the luminaries of the
world where we perhaps have
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our high income some of
their brothers and sisters
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its helps
support a worldwide work.
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Its does absolutely.
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And however we are seeing a
very interesting phenomenas.
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We are seeing that
people around the world
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because now let's
just take North America
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it represents only about
6% of the church membership
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around the world and
historically it is provided
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great support, financial support
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and personal
support and continues
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to do so for which
we are very grateful.
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But we're finding that
with God's great blessing
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in many places around the world
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the mission
offerings are increasing
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beyond anyone's imagination.
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And I believe it's
the blessing of God
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and the understanding that,
that you can participate locally
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and also on a worldwide basis.
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Now there is one
thing I just want
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to share before we end.
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When you give
to mission activity
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outside of your own
immediate area there is what
00:10:40.56\00:10:45.80
the Spirit of Prophecy terms
more or less a reflex action.
00:10:45.83\00:10:50.72
What happens is
when you think of people
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beyond your circle outside
of your own immediate area
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and you give the
local church doesn't suffer
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because your active
giving energizes you
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to give even more locally.
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And so in almost every situation
where people are presented
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with an
opportunity to help someone
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far beyond where they are
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the local income
increases as well.
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And that's just a reflex action
that is a blessing from God.
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Thank you so much Pastor
Wilson, for sharing with us.
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Viewers at home
if you would like
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to contribute
to the mission work
00:11:28.82\00:11:30.74
of the
Seventh-day Adventist church
00:11:30.77\00:11:33.01
in North America on
your tithe envelopes
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you can just fill
out for world budget
00:11:35.11\00:11:37.48
or wherever you
are you can go online
00:11:37.51\00:11:39.96
to AdventistMission.org
and right there
00:11:39.99\00:11:42.58
you can give
your mission offerings
00:11:42.61\00:11:44.90
the one deserved technology.
00:11:44.93\00:11:46.07
May God richly
bless each one of you.
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