Welcome back to
"Global Mission Snapshots."
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My guest is Dr. Benjamin Baker,
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and Dr. Baker
works at the office of
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Archives,
Statistics and Research
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at the Seventh-day
Adventist World Headquarters
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here in Silver Spring, Maryland.
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Dr. Baker, thanks
so much for joining us.
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Thank you for having me.
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You know, you do
a lot of research,
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you are
historian but what I love
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is the mission stories
that you uncover from the past.
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And you have a terrific story
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to share with our viewers today.
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So why don't you go
ahead and share them.
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Thank you, Gary.
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I'm highlighting two woman
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of extraordinary
faith and courage.
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Born in 1866, in
California, Georgia Ann Burrus
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became a Seventh-day Adventist
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against the will of
her parents at age 16.
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She attended today's
Pacific Union College
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and shortly after graduating
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volunteered for
mission service in India.
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At 29 years old she
sailed to the Asian subcontinent
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in January of 1895
and when she set foot
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on the bustling
dock in Calcutta,
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became Adventism's first
full-time missionary in India.
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Little did she know
that she would soon meet
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another single woman who
was to be the first of her kind?
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Georgia's first task
was to learn Bengali.
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As she grasped the
basics of the language
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and immersed
herself in the culture,
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she decides to open a
school for Hindu girls
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which she did the
next year in 1896.
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Upon their
request Georgia also began
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visiting her student's
families at their homes
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to teach them
English from the Bible.
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One day she visited the
home of a family called Biswas.
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In those days
the houses in India
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were more like compounds,
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extended
families living together,
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with the men and
women in separate quarters.
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In the zenana
or women's quarter,
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Georgia met a
beautiful bright-eyed girl
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of 11 named Nanibala.
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Burrus learned
that the young girl
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was already a widow,
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her husband having
died years earlier.
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An immediate bond
developed between the two.
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The missionary continued
to visit the Biswas zenana,
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teaching the women English
from the Bible once a week.
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At first imperceptible,
as the visits continued
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Burrus could see
that the Word of God
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was taking root
in Nanibala's heart.
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When the other
women had lost interest
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in her Bible teachings
only Nanibala was left.
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Nanibala expressed to Georgia
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that she wanted
to become a Christian
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but was scared of
her family's reaction
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which she knew would be hostile.
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Sure enough when
her father found out
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that Nanibala wanted to
convert to Christianity,
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he forbade his daughter
from studying with Georgia
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but Georgia and
Nanibala continued in secret.
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When her father found
out he beat her so severely,
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that night she ran away
to Georgia's Mission House.
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To make a long story
short Nanibala returned home
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when her father
promised the missionaries
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to be tolerant
and allow his daughter
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to practice her new faith.
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But when Nanibala returned home
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her father
grabbed her and locked her
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in a room in the house,
swearing he'd murder her
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if she tried to
escape and murder anyone
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who attempted to free her.
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Nanibala at first
sobbing to herself,
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soon dried her
tears and pleaded with God
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not just for escape
but for the opportunity
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to serve her new-found Savior.
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It was on Sabbath,
a day whose sanctity
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she had just recently learned of
that her prayers were answered.
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In those days homes in India
were built on all four sides
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of an open court
forming a complete enclosure.
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All throughout the
week workmen had been
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making repairs on
the Biswas' house.
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At quitting time
on Friday evening
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they had left a ladder
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lying in the open
court of the enclosure.
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On Saturday when she
arose from her prayers
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Nanibala looked
out from her window
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and spotted the ladder.
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She immediately knew that
God had answered her prayer.
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At midnight when
everyone was sleeping
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Nanibala made her get away.
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With the
assistance of sympathetic aunt
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she escaped her room
and hoisted the heavy ladder
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against the side of the house,
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nimbly climbing it she
poured herself onto the roof,
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scurried across it, then
leapt down to the street below.
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By a couple of other
miracles the courageous Nanibala
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ended up in front of
Georgia Burris that night.
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She had to fight
family, upbringing culture,
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cast and religion for Jesus.
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In the coming weeks
numberless efforts were made
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by the Biswas family to
wrench their little girl
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away from the Adventist mission.
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Her mother and grandmother came
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and with tears
begged her to return.
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A rich woman from
another Christian denomination
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hired by the Biswas
tried to enticed Nanibala
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with deceit and
cunning words and promises
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of unimaginable comforts
to come back to her home.
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Her father even station
men at the mission gates
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to grab his daughter when she
walked by, but all to no avail.
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The 11-year-old
widow was baptized in 1895,
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the first Hindu to
convert to Seventh-day Adventism
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You know it's
just incomprehensible,
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an 11-year-old
widow, different world.
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Different world, different time.
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What courage
for someone so young
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and you know what
I was interested in
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as you were telling that story,
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how do you discover this story,
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I know this is a
hundred years ago?
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I mean you know the
story but how do you do it?
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I work in the Archives. Okay.
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And I'm constantly you
know, looking in the old boxes
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and reading the old
magazines and the periodicals
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and I come across these stories
and they inspire me so much.
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That I say they'll
probably inspire others
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if I write them and tell
them and so that's what happens.
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Well, thanks so much
for sharing with us today,
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Dr. Baker, I
appreciate it very much.
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The office of Archives,
Statistics and Research
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where Dr. Baker
works, you can actually
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go to their website at
adventiststatistics.org.
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That's adventiststatistics.org.
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And adventistarchives.org.
And adventistarchives.org.
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Is it the same
website just a different?
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Statistics is a
different website
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but they're all in the same.
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Together, okay.
Thank you very much.
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Next up, we'll travel from
India to the country of Myanmar.
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The country of
Myanmar is located
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between the countries of
China, India, Bangladesh,
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Thailand and Laos.
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Its coastline lies
on the Bay of Bengal
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and the Andaman Sea.
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Home to more than
59 million people,
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it is one of the poorer
nations in this division
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and it's seen
political and economic strife
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since its creation in 1948.
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The capital city Yangon is
a bustling mixture of cars,
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motorbikes and pedestrians.
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The majority of the
people who live in Myanmar
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are Buddhists and Yangon is
home to the giant pagoda temple.
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Every day people
come here to pray
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and offer up incense to Buddha.
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The golden temple is
an impressive landmark
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on the Yangon's skyline.
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On the outskirts of town is
the Yangon Adventist seminary.
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Currently the school is housed
in a series of small buildings
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and the
classrooms are tightly packed
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and full of
children eager to learn.
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They study math,
language arts including English,
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science and of course,
they learn about Jesus.
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They also love to play.
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The Yangon Adventist seminary
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has outgrown its
current physical plans.
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The school has
more than 450 students
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and there's a long
waiting list of families
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eager to have their
children attend the school.
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People send their
children here for three reasons.
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The first is that they
like the Christian values
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that we teach because they feel
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that this will
help their children
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grow up to be better citizens.
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The second is
that we teach English,
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something that the
government schools do not offer.
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We also have
relationships with other schools
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outside Myanmar,
where the children
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can continue their studies
after graduating from here.
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The majority of the
students here come from
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non-Adventist homes, so
the school plays a major role
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in reaching into the community.
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Every morning, the
children meet for worship
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where they sing songs
that tell of Jesus' love.
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This school serves
as a wonderful example
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of how education can
be a ridge to communities
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that are
sometimes hard to reach.
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Please pray for
the people in Myanmar
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and pray for the
Yangon Adventist School
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as it continues
its role of teaching
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young people
through Christian education.
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Well, I hope you
have enjoyed our snapshots
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of mission from
around the world today.
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From the deserts of
Arizona to floods in Bangkok,
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from densely populated India
to the unique sites of Myanmar,
00:10:06.56\00:10:10.33
people in all these places
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are learning about
the love of Christ.
00:10:12.59\00:10:15.81
If you've enjoyed
hearing mission stories today,
00:10:15.84\00:10:18.31
you'll enjoy
mission 360 Magazine.
00:10:18.34\00:10:21.84
This magazine is full of stories
00:10:21.87\00:10:24.03
and pictures of
mission around the world.
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And we love to
send you a free copy
00:10:26.15\00:10:27.77
if you live in North America.
00:10:27.80\00:10:29.67
Just call the toll
free number on your screen
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or visit our website at anytime.
00:10:32.25\00:10:34.51
You'll read stories
of how God's blessing
00:10:34.54\00:10:37.31
in guiding the
lives of dedicated
00:10:37.34\00:10:39.15
men and women around the world.
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And please pray for
the people in places
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you've seen
here on this program.
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And pray for the
Global Mission Pioneers
00:10:46.63\00:10:48.82
working in so many
countries around the world
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in challenging situations.
00:10:51.80\00:10:54.08
And thank you for
your continuing prayerful
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and financial support of mission
00:10:56.97\00:10:59.18
that helps make so
much of this possible.
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Thank you so
much for joining us,
00:11:02.59\00:11:04.13
I am Gary Krause.
00:11:04.16\00:11:05.48
And I hope you
can join me next time
00:11:05.51\00:11:07.36
right here on
"Global Mission Snapshots."
00:11:07.39\00:11:10.04