Participants: Gary Krause (Host), Benjamin Baker, Sudhakar Kempaiah, Doug Venn
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000066B
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00:01 Welcome back to "Global Mission Snapshots."
00:02 My guest is Dr. Benjamin Baker, 00:05 and Dr. Baker works at the office of 00:07 Archives, Statistics and Research 00:10 at the Seventh-day Adventist World Headquarters 00:12 here in Silver Spring, Maryland. 00:14 Dr. Baker, thanks so much for joining us. 00:16 Thank you for having me. 00:17 You know, you do a lot of research, 00:19 you are historian but what I love 00:21 is the mission stories that you uncover from the past. 00:24 And you have a terrific story 00:26 to share with our viewers today. 00:28 So why don't you go ahead and share them. 00:30 Thank you, Gary. 00:31 I'm highlighting two woman 00:32 of extraordinary faith and courage. 00:34 Born in 1866, in California, Georgia Ann Burrus 00:38 became a Seventh-day Adventist 00:40 against the will of her parents at age 16. 00:43 She attended today's Pacific Union College 00:46 and shortly after graduating 00:48 volunteered for mission service in India. 00:51 At 29 years old she sailed to the Asian subcontinent 00:55 in January of 1895 and when she set foot 00:58 on the bustling dock in Calcutta, 01:01 became Adventism's first full-time missionary in India. 01:05 Little did she know that she would soon meet 01:07 another single woman who was to be the first of her kind? 01:11 Georgia's first task was to learn Bengali. 01:15 As she grasped the basics of the language 01:17 and immersed herself in the culture, 01:19 she decides to open a school for Hindu girls 01:23 which she did the next year in 1896. 01:26 Upon their request Georgia also began 01:28 visiting her student's families at their homes 01:32 to teach them English from the Bible. 01:34 One day she visited the home of a family called Biswas. 01:39 In those days the houses in India 01:41 were more like compounds, 01:43 extended families living together, 01:45 with the men and women in separate quarters. 01:48 In the zenana or women's quarter, 01:51 Georgia met a beautiful bright-eyed girl 01:54 of 11 named Nanibala. 01:57 Burrus learned that the young girl 01:59 was already a widow, 02:00 her husband having died years earlier. 02:03 An immediate bond developed between the two. 02:07 The missionary continued to visit the Biswas zenana, 02:10 teaching the women English from the Bible once a week. 02:14 At first imperceptible, as the visits continued 02:18 Burrus could see that the Word of God 02:20 was taking root in Nanibala's heart. 02:23 When the other women had lost interest 02:25 in her Bible teachings only Nanibala was left. 02:29 Nanibala expressed to Georgia 02:30 that she wanted to become a Christian 02:33 but was scared of her family's reaction 02:36 which she knew would be hostile. 02:38 Sure enough when her father found out 02:41 that Nanibala wanted to convert to Christianity, 02:43 he forbade his daughter from studying with Georgia 02:46 but Georgia and Nanibala continued in secret. 02:51 When her father found out he beat her so severely, 02:55 that night she ran away to Georgia's Mission House. 03:00 To make a long story short Nanibala returned home 03:04 when her father promised the missionaries 03:07 to be tolerant and allow his daughter 03:09 to practice her new faith. 03:12 But when Nanibala returned home 03:14 her father grabbed her and locked her 03:16 in a room in the house, swearing he'd murder her 03:21 if she tried to escape and murder anyone 03:23 who attempted to free her. 03:26 Nanibala at first sobbing to herself, 03:29 soon dried her tears and pleaded with God 03:32 not just for escape but for the opportunity 03:35 to serve her new-found Savior. 03:38 It was on Sabbath, a day whose sanctity 03:41 she had just recently learned of that her prayers were answered. 03:45 In those days homes in India were built on all four sides 03:49 of an open court forming a complete enclosure. 03:54 All throughout the week workmen had been 03:56 making repairs on the Biswas' house. 04:00 At quitting time on Friday evening 04:02 they had left a ladder 04:03 lying in the open court of the enclosure. 04:07 On Saturday when she arose from her prayers 04:09 Nanibala looked out from her window 04:11 and spotted the ladder. 04:13 She immediately knew that God had answered her prayer. 04:17 At midnight when everyone was sleeping 04:20 Nanibala made her get away. 04:23 With the assistance of sympathetic aunt 04:25 she escaped her room and hoisted the heavy ladder 04:29 against the side of the house, 04:31 nimbly climbing it she poured herself onto the roof, 04:36 scurried across it, then leapt down to the street below. 04:41 By a couple of other miracles the courageous Nanibala 04:45 ended up in front of Georgia Burris that night. 04:49 She had to fight family, upbringing culture, 04:53 cast and religion for Jesus. 04:58 In the coming weeks numberless efforts were made 05:02 by the Biswas family to wrench their little girl 05:05 away from the Adventist mission. 05:08 Her mother and grandmother came 05:10 and with tears begged her to return. 05:14 A rich woman from another Christian denomination 05:17 hired by the Biswas tried to enticed Nanibala 05:21 with deceit and cunning words and promises 05:24 of unimaginable comforts to come back to her home. 05:27 Her father even station men at the mission gates 05:30 to grab his daughter when she walked by, but all to no avail. 05:37 The 11-year-old widow was baptized in 1895, 05:42 the first Hindu to convert to Seventh-day Adventism 05:48 You know it's just incomprehensible, 05:50 an 11-year-old widow, different world. 05:55 Different world, different time. 05:57 What courage for someone so young 06:02 and you know what I was interested in 06:04 as you were telling that story, 06:05 how do you discover this story, 06:07 I know this is a hundred years ago? 06:09 I mean you know the story but how do you do it? 06:11 I work in the Archives. Okay. 06:12 And I'm constantly you know, looking in the old boxes 06:17 and reading the old magazines and the periodicals 06:20 and I come across these stories and they inspire me so much. 06:25 That I say they'll probably inspire others 06:27 if I write them and tell them and so that's what happens. 06:31 Well, thanks so much for sharing with us today, 06:33 Dr. Baker, I appreciate it very much. 06:36 The office of Archives, Statistics and Research 06:38 where Dr. Baker works, you can actually 06:42 go to their website at adventiststatistics.org. 06:45 That's adventiststatistics.org. 06:47 And adventistarchives.org. And adventistarchives.org. 06:51 Is it the same website just a different? 06:53 Statistics is a different website 06:55 but they're all in the same. 06:56 Together, okay. Thank you very much. 06:58 Next up, we'll travel from India to the country of Myanmar. 07:03 The country of Myanmar is located 07:06 between the countries of China, India, Bangladesh, 07:09 Thailand and Laos. 07:11 Its coastline lies on the Bay of Bengal 07:14 and the Andaman Sea. 07:16 Home to more than 59 million people, 07:19 it is one of the poorer nations in this division 07:22 and it's seen political and economic strife 07:24 since its creation in 1948. 07:28 The capital city Yangon is a bustling mixture of cars, 07:32 motorbikes and pedestrians. 07:34 The majority of the people who live in Myanmar 07:37 are Buddhists and Yangon is home to the giant pagoda temple. 07:47 Every day people come here to pray 07:49 and offer up incense to Buddha. 07:52 The golden temple is an impressive landmark 07:55 on the Yangon's skyline. 07:58 On the outskirts of town is the Yangon Adventist seminary. 08:02 Currently the school is housed in a series of small buildings 08:06 and the classrooms are tightly packed 08:08 and full of children eager to learn. 08:11 They study math, language arts including English, 08:15 science and of course, they learn about Jesus. 08:19 They also love to play. 08:25 The Yangon Adventist seminary 08:27 has outgrown its current physical plans. 08:30 The school has more than 450 students 08:33 and there's a long waiting list of families 08:36 eager to have their children attend the school. 08:43 People send their children here for three reasons. 08:46 The first is that they like the Christian values 08:48 that we teach because they feel 08:50 that this will help their children 08:51 grow up to be better citizens. 08:54 The second is that we teach English, 08:56 something that the government schools do not offer. 08:59 We also have relationships with other schools 09:01 outside Myanmar, where the children 09:03 can continue their studies after graduating from here. 09:07 The majority of the students here come from 09:09 non-Adventist homes, so the school plays a major role 09:13 in reaching into the community. 09:15 Every morning, the children meet for worship 09:18 where they sing songs that tell of Jesus' love. 09:38 This school serves as a wonderful example 09:40 of how education can be a ridge to communities 09:43 that are sometimes hard to reach. 09:46 Please pray for the people in Myanmar 09:48 and pray for the Yangon Adventist School 09:51 as it continues its role of teaching 09:53 young people through Christian education. 09:58 Well, I hope you have enjoyed our snapshots 10:00 of mission from around the world today. 10:03 From the deserts of Arizona to floods in Bangkok, 10:06 from densely populated India to the unique sites of Myanmar, 10:10 people in all these places 10:12 are learning about the love of Christ. 10:15 If you've enjoyed hearing mission stories today, 10:18 you'll enjoy mission 360 Magazine. 10:21 This magazine is full of stories 10:24 and pictures of mission around the world. 10:26 And we love to send you a free copy 10:27 if you live in North America. 10:29 Just call the toll free number on your screen 10:32 or visit our website at anytime. 10:34 You'll read stories of how God's blessing 10:37 in guiding the lives of dedicated 10:39 men and women around the world. 10:42 And please pray for the people in places 10:44 you've seen here on this program. 10:46 And pray for the Global Mission Pioneers 10:48 working in so many countries around the world 10:51 in challenging situations. 10:54 And thank you for your continuing prayerful 10:56 and financial support of mission 10:59 that helps make so much of this possible. 11:02 Thank you so much for joining us, 11:04 I am Gary Krause. 11:05 And I hope you can join me next time 11:07 right here on "Global Mission Snapshots." |
Revised 2014-12-17