Bangkok, Thailand, sometimes
known as the City of Angels.
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It's the commercial and
political hub of Thailand.
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And of course many sites
and attractions bring tourists
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from all around the world
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from the gleaming
stupas of Wat Arun,
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to the grand palace, to markets,
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to huge shopping malls.
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But of course
underneath all the tourist glitz
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and glamour is also a seamy
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underbelly of
prostitution and poverty.
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There are tremendous
needs here in Bangkok.
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Just before He
went up to heaven,
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Jesus gave us a
command. 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, and welcome to
"Global Mission Snapshots"
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coming to you today
from Bangkok, Thailand.
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Thailand of course
is a Buddhist country
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and 95 percent
of the people here
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practice what is
known as Theravada Buddhism.
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And it's been said that Buddhism
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is not so much
religion, it's a way of life.
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It permeates the way
people think, the way they act,
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the way they structure
their lives, their world view.
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Thailand is a
very tolerant nation
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and there are many
different religions
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perhaps a million Muslims,
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a quarter of the
million Christians,
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there are Sikhs,
there are Hindus and others.
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Almost hundred years ago
the Seventh-day Adventist
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movement began here in
1919 with two missionaries.
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And the church has
grown to some 14,000 members
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but that's 14,000
among some 66 million people.
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And most of those
Adventist believers have come
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from minority tribal groups,
a tremendous mission challenge.
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And as you think
about those numbers,
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let's travel to
the country of Russia
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to visit a humble
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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The city of Kazan is
considered Russia's 3rd capital
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and the only sports
capital of the country.
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This multiethnic
city is honored by UNESCO
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and famous for
Muslims and Christians
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living side-by-side in peace.
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This is a territory where
beautiful mosques were erected.
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There are approximately
55 magnificent buildings.
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One of them is the Kul Sharif
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that sits inside
of the Kremlin Walls.
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The Tatarstan people here
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are accustomed to
such sights of grandeur.
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But as they come
into the rented space
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of a Seventh-day
Adventist church,
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the people find a
very different picture.
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The members of
this simple church
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travel from far to
reach this location.
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When they come,
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they are welcomed
into the warm building
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and gladly worship together.
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Here they sing
hymns to praise God
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and spend
quality time in groups,
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examining the
quarterly Sabbath School lesson.
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They are treated to choir music
and they pray with one another.
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The children also
have a space for themselves
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to learn the precious
life-lessons of the Bible.
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Although just a
table in a cluttered room,
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they have a chance to interact
and build character here.
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There is room for all ages
in this Adventist community.
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Today, Albina is
visiting the church again.
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She was invited
by her friend Timur.
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Timur believes the
Bible has well outlined
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how we should conduct ourselves
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and he isn't afraid to
live out his conviction.
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I think that
people can see in my life
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the difference from others.
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Most of the
people smoke and drink
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and do other bad things.
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So when they see that
I don't do such things,
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they begin to ask
why I am different
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and ask
questions about the church
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that has made a
difference in my life.
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Timur's deportment
sparked interest in Albina
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who was searching for answers.
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Through his invitation
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she began attending this church.
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I like coming to this church
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because I love to sing
and I like to pray as well.
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Plus there are a lot of
kind and friendly people here.
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Albina plans to
keep coming to church
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and has made known
her desire to be baptized.
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As the church invites guests
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and studies the Bible with them,
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they are faced with a challenge.
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As you can see there are
many people in this hall.
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Many people are sitting outside.
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When we invite new
people to study the Bible,
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we have to give the study
right here in this crowded room
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among all these old things.
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That's why we
need a new building.
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Of course, we do outreach
work outside the church,
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distributing
literature and inviting people.
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But we also need to do
some work inside the church.
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The leased
apartment they are using
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is one of three
churches in the city.
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Because two of the
churches are rented,
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there is no guarantee
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that they can continue
using this space indefinitely.
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In answer to these challenges,
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the pastors have acquired
land in a prime location
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to hold services
near the center of town
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and close to public transport.
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We chose this place
because there is a metro,
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also there is a bus
stop and train station.
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We are planning to
build a church here
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and to hold
different evangelistic programs
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and social programs
to this new community.
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Now the members are praying
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for the funds to start building.
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The leaders here have
big plans for the new church.
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This will also be a center of
influence with many initiatives
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to connect with the community.
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Please pray that God will
both establish this church
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physically and spiritually.
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This quarter's
13th Sabbath Offering
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will help fund a
new church for Kazan,
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as well as many other projects
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that we'll learn
about later in the program.
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The next step.
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The amazing story of
Pastor Monteiro jailed in Togo.
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Rick Kajiura has that story.
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Rick? Thank you, Gary.
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Our guest today is
Pastor Anthony Monteiro
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who's been serving in the
West Central Africa division
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of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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Seventh-day
Adventists around the world
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had been praying for him
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because Pastor Monteiro spend
nearly two years in prison.
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He was falsely
accused of a crime
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that he didn't commit,
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but they still put him
in jail, there was no trial.
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And so Seventh-day Adventists
around the world prayed for him
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and recently he was released
and he's talking with us today.
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Pastor Monteiro, it's
very good to have you here.
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Many people
don't know your story.
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Can you briefly tell us
how did you end up in prison?
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One day I
received in my office a man
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who wanted to talk to me.
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He came in just
to speak with me.
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When he entered my
office he said he needed money
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since he did not work.
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He also said he needed food.
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I asked him if he was
a Seventh-day Adventist.
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He said, "Yes I'm a
Seventh-day Adventist,
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I go to church."
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So I presented him to the elders
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for them to take
care of this man.
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It was only three
months later that I found out
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the elders of the
church did not help him.
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They already knew
this man and his history
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and decided not to
give him any money.
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He later visited my
office a couple more times
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and told me about Bruno Omar
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a man that could help
him to purchase a car.
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So I spoke with
Bruno Omar on the phone
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on behalf of this
man, and Bruno told me
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that if he's able to
help out he will do it.
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So the man left my office
and called couple of days later
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to enquire about Bruno Omar
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and the help he
hope to receive from him.
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So I told him that
Bruno had not called yet,
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so the man hang up
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and I did not see him
again until the 13th of May.
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He came one more
time to speak with me,
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but I was extremely
busy and could not see him.
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Then on the 15th of May
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the police came to
me and detained me.
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As I entered the police
station I saw this man in cuffs.
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They asked me if I knew this man
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and I answered
yes, I know this man.
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Then the police
officers informed me
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of the accusation the man made.
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The man said that I
ordered him to bring fresh blood
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for some secret
sacrificial rituals
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in the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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I answered that I had
never ordered such a thing
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and that he couldn't
even have approached me
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about something like this.
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This was
definitely something stage
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then that someone used
this man to incriminate me
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and to accuse
Bruno Omar as well.
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That's what we believe.
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Nothing could be proved then,
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and we were in
prison without evidence
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and without proper explanation,
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that's the summary of
what forced me into prison.
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So from that time
you are in prison,
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you were not released
until nearly two years later.
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When you first
went there, did you?
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How did you feel
about your situation?
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Did you have any idea
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that would be as long as it was?
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When I was taken to
prison on March 28th 2012,
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when I entered prison I saw that
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this was a
totally different world.
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They were 2,000 people inside.
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The situation was
chaotic to say the least.
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The place was
degraded, a terrifying place,
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but what I could I do, I
was sentenced to be here.
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So I spend the
first night in the room
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with 82 other people.
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It was a very
difficult situation,
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I did not sleep.
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The next day they send me
to a room with 27 other people.
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I had a bit more room then.
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But there were a
lot of people everywhere
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and I spend this
long period in jail.
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Actually I never expected
to stay there for so long.
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Initially I thought it was only
going to be a couple of days.
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The lawyer also encouraged me
00:10:09.61\00:10:11.04
that it wasn't going to be
long and they would release me.
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Also I couldn't
believe they would put me
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as an innocent person in prison.
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I thought it would
take a couple of days
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for them to sort out the
facts, acquire more evidence,
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talk to other
witnesses and resolve this.
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But as it ends up, I
was there 22 long months.
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Now at what point
did other prisoners learn
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that you were a pastor?
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When I arrived in
prison, even the first night
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the whole prison already knew
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that a Seventh-day Adventist
pastor had arrived there.
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I spend the night with 82 people
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and the next night
everyone in the prison cell knew
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that I was a pastor.
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So two days later
they came to speak to me
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and asked me if I would preach
in our prison cell on Tuesdays.
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So I tested them by saying,
no, I came here as criminal,
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how can you ask me to preach.
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To that they replied
you have to preach to us.
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We know you now.
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We have seen you and
you are a man of God,
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so please we want you
to preach here on Tuesdays.
00:11:23.45\00:11:28.57
In this manner they recognized
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my vocation from the first days,
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and everyone respected
me and protected me there
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because they
knew I was a pastor.
00:11:35.76\00:11:38.82
And God helped me to live there
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and to help some of
them without any problems.
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I'm curious,
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what was your first
sermon about in that prison?
00:11:49.39\00:11:52.55
To speak to prisoners
it's something difficult,
00:11:57.30\00:11:59.69
because they are
very sensitive people.
00:11:59.72\00:12:03.01
One needs to carefully select
00:12:03.04\00:12:04.37
and consider the
topics for a sermon.
00:12:04.40\00:12:07.45
You don't want to hurt the
delicate feelings of anyone.
00:12:07.48\00:12:12.18
My first sermon
came from Isaiah 60:1-3.
00:12:12.21\00:12:16.76
It talks about this Christ
00:12:16.79\00:12:18.18
that came to set
the captives free
00:12:18.21\00:12:21.46
and set prisoners at liberty.
00:12:21.49\00:12:24.28
It was along the lines
that I directed my talk
00:12:24.31\00:12:26.27
with those prisoners.
00:12:26.30\00:12:28.90
Christ came to free us
00:12:28.93\00:12:30.10
and we should feel at
liberty spiritually speaking.
00:12:30.13\00:12:33.95
The physical liberty would
come later as time pass by.
00:12:33.98\00:12:38.46
But this was the
topic of my first sermon.
00:12:38.49\00:12:43.50
Past Monteiro, thank you
very much for being with us.
00:12:43.53\00:12:47.02
And for you viewers at home,
00:12:47.05\00:12:49.23
Pastor Monteiro has
been through a difficult time
00:12:49.26\00:12:51.81
but thanks to your prayers,
he is now with us today.
00:12:51.84\00:12:56.57
But there are others,
people who are with him,
00:12:56.60\00:12:59.44
the people around the world
00:12:59.47\00:13:00.70
who are in prison are
suffering for their faith.
00:13:00.73\00:13:03.57
Please pray for those
00:13:03.60\00:13:05.08
who go through hardships
for what they believe in.
00:13:05.11\00:13:08.69
Thanks Rick, that was just part
one of Pastor Monterio's story.
00:13:08.72\00:13:12.45
Stay tune to
future programs to hear
00:13:12.48\00:13:15.14
and learn more
about Pastor Monterio.
00:13:15.17\00:13:17.84
We gonna take a short break.
Then we will be right back.
00:13:17.87\00:13:20.69