I'm glad to
welcome our guest Wes Via
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who is working in Allentown
at city in Pennsylvania
00:00:03.44\00:00:07.36
here in the United States.
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Wes, thanks so
much for joining us.
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Thanks for having me, Gary.
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You're the
director of Simplicity
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which is a
holistic urban ministry.
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How did you begin
involved in this initiative?
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Well, the conference looked
at the layout of its population
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and the state of
Pennsylvania realized that
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86% of the people
live in the cities.
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And so that kind of
spurred them to say okay,
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maybe we should
start looking about
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how to we have a
very intentional approach
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to get into these urban areas
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where most of the people
live that are inner region
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so that we can do
something to reach those people.
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Fantastic and
so you have started
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an urban center of influence
right in the heart of the city
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connecting with peoples needs.
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Tell me a story of someone
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whose life has been
touched through this ministry.
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Well, one of the big
things that we do in the cities
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and this is
everywhere you hear about it,
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its children's ministries.
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And so, we have
a number of things
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that we do and we started out
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with some small groups for teens
and middle school age kids.
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That led to a small
group for younger kids
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because their
siblings were coming
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and they wanted to come.
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And we have a children's
breakfast on Sabbath mornings.
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We teach them principles
of health and Bible stories.
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Out of that, out of that network
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there was a
young boy named Donavan
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that started
coming to the breakfast.
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And the first day that he came,
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he wasn't really into,
they're singing the songs
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and he just standing there
like I'm not gonna participate.
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But he kept coming
and he kept coming.
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Every time we started
to see a change in him
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and finally
around the end of 2013
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he connected into
one of the small groups
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that we were
having for his age group.
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And the first
day that he was there
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and they were
talking about the gospel
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and the missionary
that was leading the group
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was telling the kids about
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how Jesus wants to
give us eternal life.
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And that he wants to forgive us
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for the bad
things that we have done.
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And as soon as they
wanted to accept Jesus
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and have forgiveness
and He did it that time.
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And sometimes you think
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kids are just kind
of go with the flow
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but he got down and he said
so you mean to tell me that,
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I get to live
forever now because of Jesus?
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And she said,
"yeah, that's right."
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And the change in this
young man he is nine years old,
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absolutely amazing.
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Another lady that
comes and volunteers
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at our center
used to live above him
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and she says when she saw him
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she didn't even recognize him.
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He was so mean and he was
such a kind of honorary kid
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and she even didn't
let her kids play with him.
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Because she said "I
didn't even think it was him.
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I thought he had
of a twin brother
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that was just nicer
just looking at him."
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And he is just on fire for Jesus
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and the other day he
was leaving a program
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we had a cooking
class for kids after schools
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with healthy snacks.
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And he was getting in the
car one of the missionaries
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and he'd brought
his sister to the group.
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And so they were
driving on the road
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and someone cut him off,
something his sister cursed.
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And he looked at her he said
"you shouldn't talk like that.
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We're in the
presence of God." Wow.
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And so just to see the
impact on, on a young person
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that showing
concern and care for them
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and just being
interested in them can have.
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We have a story time.
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Once a week kids can come
in and we read them stories.
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We had three
girls that were coming
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two of them were
sisters I believe
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and they asked if
they could have a Bible
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after about three weeks.
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Just can we have
a Bible to take home
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we really want
to read the Bible.
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And they came back the next week
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and they had already
read like the first 30 pages.
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Well, what's even
more amazing is that
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they started
writing out summaries
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of what they were reading
and then giving it to their mom.
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So their mom could
read their summaries
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of what they were
reading in the Bible.
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Wow. Absolutely, amazing.
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And so you were
telling me recently
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that you're reaching kids
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who come from like
three generations of families
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that have never attend a church?
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Yes.
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Yeah the interesting
thing about our approach
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which is very simple showing
concern and being interested
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in what's going on
in the lives of people
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has had the unintended effect.
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We didn't set out to do it
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but with, with few exceptions
the people that we interact,
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with the people
that are engaged with us
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to take Bible
studies or come to our center
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for the various services
are all un-churched people.
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And so these kids their parents
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are not much older
than them in some cases.
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These kids are hearing
the stories for the first time
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because their parents
didn't know the stories.
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Because they weren't
taught by their parents.
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And so there is this
systemic issue in North America
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where there is
generations been raised up
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that have
absolutely no knowledge of God
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and no knowledge of the Bible
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and so when they hear
these stories for the time
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its like fresh water
you know to parched lips.
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And that's where,
where I really feel
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that when come to this
we have to be aware of that.
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That we're coming to an audience
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that doesn't have
a baseline knowledge
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that where we can just launch
into Bible studies all the time.
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There is some,
yeah they we get there
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and they see that we
might offer Bible studies
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and they want them
and they're hungry.
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Some people ask us to
teach them how to pray.
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There is a, an
desire for spirituality
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but there is a lot of people
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where we have to
start very foundationally
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and show like Christ
this caring concern for them
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where they will,
will be wanting to hear
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what we have to share
with them about Jesus.
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Wes, you'd mentioned prayer
and you had instances where,
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where some of the
young people working with you
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have offered to pray for people
00:05:04.92\00:05:06.20
and its touched their
life's, tell me about that.
00:05:06.23\00:05:08.40
Yeah, we have
one lady we met her
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and she came to the door
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and was really going
through a rough time.
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Some legal issues of children
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and forcedly
removed form her house
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because of some
false allegations
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and they talk with her
and as they were talking
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whether she opened
thought them what was going on
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and they
offered to pray for her.
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And when they
did that this lady,
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this lady she said I only
said that they could pray for me
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because they
didn't want to be rude.
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They seem like nice people
but she was not a Christian
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she didn't
believed in this stuff.
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In her words it's the
Holy Spirit came on her
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and she said and just peace
and just power just came over
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as they were
praying with this assurance
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that everything was
gonna work out all right.
00:05:46.78\00:05:48.73
And the very the
next day she went to court
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they got the kids back.
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And the, the actually
the case was just dismissed
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this last week.
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And it's totally
revolutionized her life
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she is sold out to Jesus.
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She says "I can't believe on
one of those Jesus frictional
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and everyone I taught
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I want to tell
them about Jesus."
00:06:03.11\00:06:04.48
That's wonderful. Yeah.
00:06:04.51\00:06:05.85
So Wes, if some of
our viewers I think
00:06:05.88\00:06:09.18
well, this is a
something that I believe in
00:06:09.21\00:06:11.93
and they would like
to support financially
00:06:11.96\00:06:13.58
how can they do that.
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Right now we are ministry
in Pennsylvania Conference
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and so they could reach me
00:06:17.00\00:06:18.28
through our website
SimplictyMissions.org.
00:06:18.31\00:06:21.39
And then they could make
a tax deductible donation
00:06:21.42\00:06:24.29
through the conference.
00:06:24.32\00:06:25.50
And of course, you
welcome prayer as well.
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Yes, Always. Yeah.
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Fantastic, thanks
for joining us today.
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Thanks, Gary.
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Viewers at home,
remember SimplicityMissions.org
00:06:32.59\00:06:35.59
and please pray
for Wes and his team
00:06:35.62\00:06:37.95
as they ministry
in the mission field
00:06:37.98\00:06:40.44
of an urban center
right here in North America.
00:06:40.47\00:06:43.68
And please pray for
mission all around the world.
00:06:43.71\00:06:46.89
And if you want to
find out more about
00:06:46.92\00:06:48.59
Mission to the
Cities in general,
00:06:48.62\00:06:50.47
please go to a
MissionToTheCities.org.
00:06:50.50\00:06:54.08
If you'd like to receive
this free mission calendar
00:06:54.11\00:06:57.05
don't forget go to
AdventistMission.org
00:06:57.08\00:06:59.76
or simply call our toll
free number 1-800-648-5824.
00:06:59.79\00:07:05.91
Now let's visit an
Adventist School in India.
00:07:05.94\00:07:08.59
Meet Dapjur he attends Flaiz
Adventist College in India.
00:07:11.03\00:07:16.70
One of the campuses favorite
activities is volleyball.
00:07:16.73\00:07:19.67
Everyone gets in on the
fun even the college president.
00:07:22.98\00:07:28.39
Dapjur is studying theology
00:07:28.42\00:07:29.90
with hopes to become an
Adventist pastor someday
00:07:29.93\00:07:32.91
but Dapjur was not
always an Adventist.
00:07:32.94\00:07:35.91
Before he was an Adventist,
00:07:35.94\00:07:37.85
Dapjur would walk from his home
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to a nearby village to
visit an Adventist friend.
00:07:39.70\00:07:42.98
They would discuss religion
00:07:43.01\00:07:44.52
and Dapjur would
always try to find fault
00:07:44.55\00:07:46.50
with Adventist message.
00:07:46.53\00:07:48.52
One day they
discussed the Sabbath
00:07:48.55\00:07:50.28
and Dapjur found that he
didn't have all the answers.
00:07:50.31\00:07:54.01
He decided to study
the subject on his own
00:07:54.04\00:07:56.16
and spend some time in prayer.
00:07:56.19\00:07:58.38
After studying he was convinced
00:07:58.41\00:08:00.46
that the Adventist
believes were true.
00:08:00.49\00:08:02.72
He couldn't keep it to himself
00:08:08.06\00:08:09.49
so he decided to tell everyone
in his village the good news
00:08:09.52\00:08:12.60
that he learned from the Bible.
00:08:12.63\00:08:14.89
Dapjur walked from door to door
00:08:14.92\00:08:16.83
telling people
about the Sabbath.
00:08:16.86\00:08:18.93
Some seem interested
00:08:18.96\00:08:20.20
but not everyone is
open to his new believes.
00:08:20.23\00:08:23.64
The village leaders told him
if he wanted to be an Adventist
00:08:23.67\00:08:27.00
then he could not be
part of their village.
00:08:27.03\00:08:29.72
This is where Dapjur grew
up where his family lived.
00:08:29.75\00:08:32.59
This was his home.
00:08:32.62\00:08:34.48
He was sad but eventually
Dapjur made the decision
00:08:34.51\00:08:37.04
that was most important to him.
00:08:37.07\00:08:39.14
He was forced to
leave his village.
00:08:39.17\00:08:42.45
He went to the train
station to find a place to go
00:08:42.48\00:08:45.73
while at the train
station he met someone his age
00:08:45.76\00:08:48.13
and started talking to him.
00:08:48.16\00:08:50.02
Dapjur came to find out
that he was an Adventist.
00:08:50.05\00:08:53.39
Dapjur could hardly believe it,
00:08:53.42\00:08:55.47
his new friend told
him that he was going
00:08:55.50\00:08:57.07
to Flaiz Adventist
College to study theology.
00:08:57.10\00:09:00.31
Dapjur prayed and felt
God was calling him to go too.
00:09:00.34\00:09:03.91
The two of them rode
trains and buses together
00:09:03.94\00:09:06.14
for the week
long journey to Flaiz.
00:09:06.17\00:09:09.03
Now Dapjur loves
his theology classes,
00:09:09.06\00:09:11.73
he has learned so much
about the Bible at Flaiz.
00:09:11.76\00:09:14.72
He has made new
friends who support each other
00:09:14.75\00:09:16.86
and study the Bible together.
00:09:16.89\00:09:19.02
Many of these
students travel far from home
00:09:19.05\00:09:21.29
to receive a
quality Adventist education.
00:09:21.32\00:09:24.19
Although Dapjur's decision
to leave home was not easy,
00:09:24.22\00:09:27.62
he knows that God will
reward his faithfulness.
00:09:27.65\00:09:31.03
Please pray for Dapjur
and other students at Flaiz.
00:09:31.06\00:09:34.78
Pray that they will
continue to find the strength
00:09:34.81\00:09:36.94
to be faithful servants of God.
00:09:36.97\00:09:39.66
Thank you, for
supporting mission.
00:09:39.69\00:09:41.87
I hope you enjoy watching
Adventist Mission stories,
00:09:48.68\00:09:51.03
as much as we enjoy
sharing them with you.
00:09:51.06\00:09:53.78
And I hope you've
been challenged about
00:09:53.81\00:09:55.09
what you have seen and
heard on today's program.
00:09:55.12\00:09:58.63
If you would like to learn
more about Adventist Mission
00:09:58.66\00:10:01.61
or to support
mission work around the world
00:10:01.64\00:10:03.76
visit AdventistMission.org.
00:10:03.79\00:10:06.70
There you will
find mission stories,
00:10:06.73\00:10:08.60
missionary
videos, missionary blogs,
00:10:08.63\00:10:11.57
pictures and much, much more.
00:10:11.60\00:10:14.01
And please pray for Cheryl Doss
00:10:14.04\00:10:16.19
and her team of
Institute of World Mission
00:10:16.22\00:10:19.16
as those they've trying
serving God and mission around.
00:10:19.19\00:10:23.38
And please pray
00:10:23.41\00:10:24.44
for the
Seventh-day in Pennsylvania
00:10:24.47\00:10:27.05
and center in urban
areas all around the world.
00:10:27.08\00:10:30.61
Pray that they're multiplied.
00:10:30.64\00:10:32.23
Pray that they'll
touch many, many lives
00:10:32.26\00:10:35.12
with the healing
hand of Jesus Christ.
00:10:35.15\00:10:38.17
As we close this program
00:10:38.20\00:10:39.46
we leave you with this
song called "Honor the Lord."
00:10:39.49\00:10:43.31
Thank you for joining us
here on Global Mission Snapshots
00:10:43.34\00:10:46.34
until next time I'm
Gary Krause, God bless.
00:10:46.37\00:10:49.32
Trust in the Lord
with all your heart
00:11:41.42\00:11:46.97
Lean not on your
own understanding
00:11:47.00\00:11:52.62
In all your ways acknowledge Him
00:11:52.65\00:11:58.09
He shall direct your paths
00:11:58.12\00:12:03.84
Do not be wise in your own eyes
00:12:03.87\00:12:09.43
Fear the Lord
and depart from evil
00:12:09.46\00:12:15.30
It will be health to your flesh
00:12:15.33\00:12:20.35
And it will be
strength to your bones
00:12:20.38\00:12:24.95
Honor the Lord
00:12:28.58\00:12:33.28
With all you have to offer
00:12:33.31\00:12:40.08
Even the small
00:12:40.11\00:12:44.85
Is enough to bring honor
00:12:44.88\00:12:50.89
Trust in the Lord
with all your heart
00:13:15.87\00:13:20.21
And lean not on
your own understanding
00:13:20.24\00:13:24.90
In all your ways acknowledge Him
00:13:24.93\00:13:29.45
And He shall direct your paths
00:13:29.48\00:13:34.03
Do not be wise in your own eyes
00:13:34.06\00:13:38.50
Fear the Lord
and depart from evil
00:13:38.53\00:13:43.15
It will be health to your flesh
00:13:43.18\00:13:47.47
And it will be
strength to your bones
00:13:47.50\00:13:52.01
Honor the Lord
00:13:55.01\00:13:59.38
With all you have to offer
00:13:59.41\00:14:05.88
Even the small
00:14:05.91\00:14:10.46
Is enough to bring honor
00:14:10.49\00:14:16.79
Honor the Lord
00:14:16.82\00:14:21.23
With your humble service
00:14:21.26\00:14:27.67
Honor the Lord
00:14:27.70\00:14:32.09
This is your purpose
00:14:32.12\00:14:38.00