Participants:
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000062B
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00:01 I'm glad to welcome our guest Wes Via
00:03 who is working in Allentown at city in Pennsylvania 00:07 here in the United States. 00:08 Wes, thanks so much for joining us. 00:10 Thanks for having me, Gary. 00:11 You're the director of Simplicity 00:12 which is a holistic urban ministry. 00:16 How did you begin involved in this initiative? 00:20 Well, the conference looked at the layout of its population 00:24 and the state of Pennsylvania realized that 00:26 86% of the people live in the cities. 00:28 And so that kind of spurred them to say okay, 00:30 maybe we should start looking about 00:32 how to we have a very intentional approach 00:34 to get into these urban areas 00:36 where most of the people live that are inner region 00:39 so that we can do something to reach those people. 00:41 Fantastic and so you have started 00:43 an urban center of influence right in the heart of the city 00:46 connecting with peoples needs. 00:48 Tell me a story of someone 00:49 whose life has been touched through this ministry. 00:52 Well, one of the big things that we do in the cities 00:54 and this is everywhere you hear about it, 00:56 its children's ministries. 00:57 And so, we have a number of things 00:59 that we do and we started out 01:00 with some small groups for teens and middle school age kids. 01:04 That led to a small group for younger kids 01:07 because their siblings were coming 01:08 and they wanted to come. 01:09 And we have a children's breakfast on Sabbath mornings. 01:12 We teach them principles of health and Bible stories. 01:17 Out of that, out of that network 01:19 there was a young boy named Donavan 01:21 that started coming to the breakfast. 01:22 And the first day that he came, 01:24 he wasn't really into, they're singing the songs 01:25 and he just standing there like I'm not gonna participate. 01:30 But he kept coming and he kept coming. 01:31 Every time we started to see a change in him 01:33 and finally around the end of 2013 01:36 he connected into one of the small groups 01:38 that we were having for his age group. 01:40 And the first day that he was there 01:42 and they were talking about the gospel 01:44 and the missionary that was leading the group 01:45 was telling the kids about 01:48 how Jesus wants to give us eternal life. 01:50 And that he wants to forgive us 01:51 for the bad things that we have done. 01:53 And as soon as they wanted to accept Jesus 01:55 and have forgiveness and He did it that time. 01:58 And sometimes you think 01:59 kids are just kind of go with the flow 02:01 but he got down and he said so you mean to tell me that, 02:04 I get to live forever now because of Jesus? 02:06 And she said, "yeah, that's right." 02:08 And the change in this young man he is nine years old, 02:12 absolutely amazing. 02:13 Another lady that comes and volunteers 02:14 at our center used to live above him 02:16 and she says when she saw him 02:18 she didn't even recognize him. 02:19 He was so mean and he was such a kind of honorary kid 02:23 and she even didn't let her kids play with him. 02:25 Because she said "I didn't even think it was him. 02:26 I thought he had of a twin brother 02:27 that was just nicer just looking at him." 02:30 And he is just on fire for Jesus 02:32 and the other day he was leaving a program 02:34 we had a cooking class for kids after schools 02:36 with healthy snacks. 02:38 And he was getting in the car one of the missionaries 02:40 and he'd brought his sister to the group. 02:42 And so they were driving on the road 02:44 and someone cut him off, something his sister cursed. 02:46 And he looked at her he said "you shouldn't talk like that. 02:49 We're in the presence of God." Wow. 02:51 And so just to see the impact on, on a young person 02:55 that showing concern and care for them 02:58 and just being interested in them can have. 03:00 We have a story time. 03:03 Once a week kids can come in and we read them stories. 03:05 We had three girls that were coming 03:08 two of them were sisters I believe 03:09 and they asked if they could have a Bible 03:10 after about three weeks. 03:11 Just can we have a Bible to take home 03:13 we really want to read the Bible. 03:14 And they came back the next week 03:16 and they had already read like the first 30 pages. 03:18 Well, what's even more amazing is that 03:20 they started writing out summaries 03:22 of what they were reading and then giving it to their mom. 03:25 So their mom could read their summaries 03:27 of what they were reading in the Bible. 03:28 Wow. Absolutely, amazing. 03:30 And so you were telling me recently 03:32 that you're reaching kids 03:35 who come from like three generations of families 03:38 that have never attend a church? 03:39 Yes. 03:40 Yeah the interesting thing about our approach 03:42 which is very simple showing concern and being interested 03:45 in what's going on in the lives of people 03:47 has had the unintended effect. 03:49 We didn't set out to do it 03:50 but with, with few exceptions the people that we interact, 03:54 with the people that are engaged with us 03:55 to take Bible studies or come to our center 03:57 for the various services are all un-churched people. 04:00 And so these kids their parents 04:03 are not much older than them in some cases. 04:06 These kids are hearing the stories for the first time 04:08 because their parents didn't know the stories. 04:10 Because they weren't taught by their parents. 04:12 And so there is this systemic issue in North America 04:15 where there is generations been raised up 04:18 that have absolutely no knowledge of God 04:20 and no knowledge of the Bible 04:21 and so when they hear these stories for the time 04:23 its like fresh water you know to parched lips. 04:27 And that's where, where I really feel 04:29 that when come to this we have to be aware of that. 04:31 That we're coming to an audience 04:33 that doesn't have a baseline knowledge 04:36 that where we can just launch into Bible studies all the time. 04:38 There is some, yeah they we get there 04:40 and they see that we might offer Bible studies 04:42 and they want them and they're hungry. 04:43 Some people ask us to teach them how to pray. 04:46 There is a, an desire for spirituality 04:48 but there is a lot of people 04:49 where we have to start very foundationally 04:51 and show like Christ this caring concern for them 04:54 where they will, will be wanting to hear 04:56 what we have to share with them about Jesus. 04:59 Wes, you'd mentioned prayer and you had instances where, 05:03 where some of the young people working with you 05:04 have offered to pray for people 05:06 and its touched their life's, tell me about that. 05:08 Yeah, we have one lady we met her 05:11 and she came to the door 05:13 and was really going through a rough time. 05:16 Some legal issues of children 05:17 and forcedly removed form her house 05:19 because of some false allegations 05:21 and they talk with her and as they were talking 05:24 whether she opened thought them what was going on 05:26 and they offered to pray for her. 05:28 And when they did that this lady, 05:30 this lady she said I only said that they could pray for me 05:32 because they didn't want to be rude. 05:33 They seem like nice people but she was not a Christian 05:35 she didn't believed in this stuff. 05:38 In her words it's the Holy Spirit came on her 05:40 and she said and just peace and just power just came over 05:44 as they were praying with this assurance 05:46 that everything was gonna work out all right. 05:48 And the very the next day she went to court 05:50 they got the kids back. 05:52 And the, the actually the case was just dismissed 05:54 this last week. 05:55 And it's totally revolutionized her life 05:57 she is sold out to Jesus. 05:59 She says "I can't believe on one of those Jesus frictional 06:02 and everyone I taught 06:03 I want to tell them about Jesus." 06:04 That's wonderful. Yeah. 06:05 So Wes, if some of our viewers I think 06:09 well, this is a something that I believe in 06:11 and they would like to support financially 06:13 how can they do that. 06:15 Right now we are ministry in Pennsylvania Conference 06:17 and so they could reach me 06:18 through our website SimplictyMissions.org. 06:21 And then they could make a tax deductible donation 06:24 through the conference. 06:25 And of course, you welcome prayer as well. 06:28 Yes, Always. Yeah. 06:29 Fantastic, thanks for joining us today. 06:31 Thanks, Gary. 06:32 Viewers at home, remember SimplicityMissions.org 06:35 and please pray for Wes and his team 06:37 as they ministry in the mission field 06:40 of an urban center right here in North America. 06:43 And please pray for mission all around the world. 06:46 And if you want to find out more about 06:48 Mission to the Cities in general, 06:50 please go to a MissionToTheCities.org. 06:54 If you'd like to receive this free mission calendar 06:57 don't forget go to AdventistMission.org 06:59 or simply call our toll free number 1-800-648-5824. 07:05 Now let's visit an Adventist School in India. 07:11 Meet Dapjur he attends Flaiz Adventist College in India. 07:16 One of the campuses favorite activities is volleyball. 07:22 Everyone gets in on the fun even the college president. 07:28 Dapjur is studying theology 07:29 with hopes to become an Adventist pastor someday 07:32 but Dapjur was not always an Adventist. 07:35 Before he was an Adventist, 07:37 Dapjur would walk from his home 07:39 to a nearby village to visit an Adventist friend. 07:43 They would discuss religion 07:44 and Dapjur would always try to find fault 07:46 with Adventist message. 07:48 One day they discussed the Sabbath 07:50 and Dapjur found that he didn't have all the answers. 07:54 He decided to study the subject on his own 07:56 and spend some time in prayer. 07:58 After studying he was convinced 08:00 that the Adventist believes were true. 08:08 He couldn't keep it to himself 08:09 so he decided to tell everyone in his village the good news 08:12 that he learned from the Bible. 08:14 Dapjur walked from door to door 08:16 telling people about the Sabbath. 08:18 Some seem interested 08:20 but not everyone is open to his new believes. 08:23 The village leaders told him if he wanted to be an Adventist 08:27 then he could not be part of their village. 08:29 This is where Dapjur grew up where his family lived. 08:32 This was his home. 08:34 He was sad but eventually Dapjur made the decision 08:37 that was most important to him. 08:39 He was forced to leave his village. 08:42 He went to the train station to find a place to go 08:45 while at the train station he met someone his age 08:48 and started talking to him. 08:50 Dapjur came to find out that he was an Adventist. 08:53 Dapjur could hardly believe it, 08:55 his new friend told him that he was going 08:57 to Flaiz Adventist College to study theology. 09:00 Dapjur prayed and felt God was calling him to go too. 09:03 The two of them rode trains and buses together 09:06 for the week long journey to Flaiz. 09:09 Now Dapjur loves his theology classes, 09:11 he has learned so much about the Bible at Flaiz. 09:14 He has made new friends who support each other 09:16 and study the Bible together. 09:19 Many of these students travel far from home 09:21 to receive a quality Adventist education. 09:24 Although Dapjur's decision to leave home was not easy, 09:27 he knows that God will reward his faithfulness. 09:31 Please pray for Dapjur and other students at Flaiz. 09:34 Pray that they will continue to find the strength 09:36 to be faithful servants of God. 09:39 Thank you, for supporting mission. 09:48 I hope you enjoy watching Adventist Mission stories, 09:51 as much as we enjoy sharing them with you. 09:53 And I hope you've been challenged about 09:55 what you have seen and heard on today's program. 09:58 If you would like to learn more about Adventist Mission 10:01 or to support mission work around the world 10:03 visit AdventistMission.org. 10:06 There you will find mission stories, 10:08 missionary videos, missionary blogs, 10:11 pictures and much, much more. 10:14 And please pray for Cheryl Doss 10:16 and her team of Institute of World Mission 10:19 as those they've trying serving God and mission around. 10:23 And please pray 10:24 for the Seventh-day in Pennsylvania 10:27 and center in urban areas all around the world. 10:30 Pray that they're multiplied. 10:32 Pray that they'll touch many, many lives 10:35 with the healing hand of Jesus Christ. 10:38 As we close this program 10:39 we leave you with this song called "Honor the Lord." 10:43 Thank you for joining us here on Global Mission Snapshots 10:46 until next time I'm Gary Krause, God bless. 11:41 Trust in the Lord with all your heart 11:47 Lean not on your own understanding 11:52 In all your ways acknowledge Him 11:58 He shall direct your paths 12:03 Do not be wise in your own eyes 12:09 Fear the Lord and depart from evil 12:15 It will be health to your flesh 12:20 And it will be strength to your bones 12:28 Honor the Lord 12:33 With all you have to offer 12:40 Even the small 12:44 Is enough to bring honor 13:15 Trust in the Lord with all your heart 13:20 And lean not on your own understanding 13:24 In all your ways acknowledge Him 13:29 And He shall direct your paths 13:34 Do not be wise in your own eyes 13:38 Fear the Lord and depart from evil 13:43 It will be health to your flesh 13:47 And it will be strength to your bones 13:55 Honor the Lord 13:59 With all you have to offer 14:05 Even the small 14:10 Is enough to bring honor 14:16 Honor the Lord 14:21 With your humble service 14:27 Honor the Lord 14:32 This is your purpose |
Revised 2014-12-17