Participants:
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000068A
|
00:01 At age 70, Panu hears the name of Jesus
00:04 for the very first time. 00:06 That may sound surprising but it's not unusual 00:09 in this populous region of the world. 00:11 We'll hear the amazing story of a family of new believers 00:15 that reached out to Panu by meeting a physical need. 00:26 Just before He went up to heaven, 00:28 Jesus gave us a command. 00:31 He gave us a mission. 00:34 Jesus said "Go, 00:36 go unto all the world 00:39 telling them of His love." 00:41 This is our mission. This is our Global Mission. 00:51 Hello, I'm Gary Krause 00:53 and welcome to Global Mission Snapshots. 00:56 On today's program we'll travel to Thailand 00:59 to experience the creative work of urban missionaries 01:03 who've humbly dedicated years of their life 01:06 to start new groups of believers. 01:08 We'll also travel to Ukraine to meet children 01:11 who've experienced the power of sincere prayer 01:14 in a marvelous way. 01:16 All of this on today's Global Mission Snapshots, 01:18 but let's start by meeting Lek and Mai 01:21 the dedicated couple 01:23 who introduced Panu to Jesus Christ. 01:36 Welcome to Bangkok, the city of angels. 01:41 Bangkok's temples are a unique part 01:43 of the capital's heart and soul. 01:46 The architecture is breathtaking 01:48 and the glittering decorations shine brightly 01:50 on a thousand pieces of colored glass 01:52 and pottery-adorned structures. 01:55 The glaring gold and the shiny fragments 01:57 may explain one of Bangkok's nicknames, a city of angels. 02:02 Bangkok is the largest city and capital of Thailand. 02:05 Located in East Asia, 02:07 Thailand is home to more than 66 million people. 02:13 The Seventh-day Adventist church is growing slowly in Thailand. 02:17 So far, there one Adventist to almost 5,000 Thai people. 02:22 Undoubtedly, Thailand is a place where many have not had 02:25 much opportunity to learn the story of Jesus, 02:28 not even once in their entire lives. 02:31 Isn't that hard to grasp? 02:40 This is Lek, he is a taxi driver. 02:43 Lek and his wife Mai have recently been baptized 02:46 thanks to the work of a Global Mission pioneer. 02:49 They are so deeply in love with Jesus 02:51 that they decided to convert their house into a church. 02:55 As Lek drives his taxi, 02:56 he shares the Bible with his passengers. 02:59 He often listens to the Word of God 03:01 and encourages people with promises from the Bible. 03:04 He wants to drive his passengers to their destination 03:07 and to the knowledge of a loving Savior. 03:10 As he works, his wife Mai spends part of her time 03:13 visiting neighbors and making friends. 03:16 Her goal is the same. 03:18 She wants to share Jesus' love with others. 03:21 Today, they have a special guest. 03:24 His name is Panu. 03:26 Panu is a retired security guard, 03:28 he could no longer walk 03:29 until he met pioneer Alvin, Lek and Mai. 03:33 After receiving massage therapy and learning new healthy habits, 03:36 Panu can now walk. 03:38 The house church is a special place for Panu. 03:41 Here for the first time in his life, 03:43 he heard the name of Jesus. 03:45 He was 70 years old 03:47 when he started to study the Bible. 03:48 A year later, he continues to attend this house church. 03:52 Lek and Mai often study the Bible 03:54 with the friends they meet. 03:58 There are many pioneers working here in Bangkok. 04:01 Some of them have spent five, six, seven years 04:04 to engage the community and earn their respect. 04:07 Meet Reben a Global Mission pioneer. 04:10 Like Reben many pioneers in this city rent a place 04:13 to live where there is no Adventist presence. 04:16 They tend to live on the second floor 04:18 and reserve the main level 04:19 for activities with the community. 04:21 Here they teach English, cooking, 04:23 health and spirituality. 04:26 On Saturdays the main floor even becomes a place of worship. 04:30 You see, it takes many years 04:31 of tireless effort to establish trust 04:34 and a positive presence in a new community. 04:43 Global Mission pioneers who work in Bangkok 04:45 promote a variety of events to connect with people. 04:49 Nature and spirituality are valued here, 04:51 so one Sabbath a month 04:53 a group of Global Mission pioneers invite children 04:55 and their families for "Nature Encounter." 04:59 Here they sing Bible songs, 05:00 so the children can learn 05:02 the amazing stories of men and women 05:04 who conquered their challenges with God's help. 05:12 The families eat a nutritious meal together, 05:15 and then explore the beautiful faces of nature 05:17 as they encounter the artistic creator. 05:21 The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Thailand 05:24 sees a need and fills that need. 05:26 People in the city, often live busy lives. 05:29 They forget to properly care for their body and their health. 05:32 So church members hold a special health expo to remind, 05:36 educate and encourage a positive change. 05:39 Here nurses, doctors, psychologists, 05:41 educators and pastors 05:43 are united to serve the community. 05:45 All of the services are offered free-of-charge. 05:49 The health fair was held outside MBK, 05:51 one of the largest shopping centers in Bangkok. 05:55 Thousands came to assess their health 05:57 and discover how to better care for their body, mind and soul. 06:06 Because of dedicated men and women, 06:09 missionaries and pioneers, the Seventh-day Adventist church 06:12 is making an everlasting impact in Bangkok. 06:17 Through large health expos or humble pioneers like Alvin, 06:20 a chain-reaction begins. 06:30 We pray God will continue to send 06:32 His angels to Bangkok, His city. 06:48 My guests are Don and Laura Noble 06:50 from Maranatha Volunteers International. 06:52 Don and Laura, thanks for joining us. 06:54 Thanks. Good to be here. 06:55 Maranatha Volunteers in a nutshell what do you do? 07:00 We build churches and schools 07:02 and a lot of it with volunteers around the world 07:04 and try to respond to the requests 07:06 from the Seventh-day Adventist church 07:08 which of course right now about 180,000. 07:11 About 180,000 requests around the world. 07:14 So this year we will be doing 07:15 a little more than 1,700 buildings. 07:17 Yeah, that's-- Kind of be a scope. 07:19 That's a huge amount. 07:20 It is for a year but you know 07:22 when you think about that total number 07:24 that were requested to us you know-- 07:26 Now Gary, those we haven't went every where those locations 07:29 but and there's a lot of other ways the things could be done 07:32 but that's just the specific requests 07:33 we have so, its good thing 07:36 because gospels going around the world, 07:38 moving into new areas of the world. 07:39 Yeah, that's what it really means 07:40 is the Seventh-day Adventist church is really growing. 07:42 Yeah, so it's a good sign. It's a good sign. 07:44 It's absolutely a good sign and, 07:46 you know, since we've started doing the one day church, 07:50 you know, connection with ASI 07:51 it's allowed us to hit more locations faster 07:55 so that's not the only type of building we do 07:58 but it's able to function quite well 08:01 in certain parts of the world. 08:02 Now the volunteer part of your name, 08:04 how important is that to what you do? 08:07 Oh, what do we say it's our middle name. 08:09 Yeah. 08:10 It's absolutely critical 08:11 because when people go their lives 08:13 are changed, they come back, 08:14 they get excited, they get their church excited 08:16 and then they support the projects around the world. 08:18 They get more involved in their local church, too. 08:21 So the mission of Maranatha is really to build people 08:23 and part of that happens with the volunteer 08:26 and part of that happens with the people we leave 08:29 or the people we join in our local country. 08:32 So it's on both sides of the fence 08:34 and I think it's really phenomenal what happens. 08:36 I mean my personal life has been changed completely 08:39 by going on Maranatha trip. 08:42 That's interesting. 08:44 Personally spiritually but also it's how you got know Don, 08:48 right and got married? 08:49 Actually that's a very long story. 08:51 That's a long story, yeah. We won't go into that. 08:52 Actually I knew Don long before that. 08:54 Okay. Yeah. 08:55 Well, now when I first met you Don, 08:58 that was in Cuba many years ago and what's happening there now? 09:02 Well, we've been there about 20 years now 09:04 and I can remember the first time and there was, 09:07 you know, with a certain amount of fear 09:08 we didn't know what to expect. 09:09 We heard a lot of stories 09:10 and people said you couldn't do anything. 09:13 So we said well, let's find out. 09:15 And we went in and it was difficult 09:17 but the Lord has really blessed, 09:19 the church has grown tremendously 09:21 and we've been blessed 09:23 to be able to do over 200 projects there. 09:25 And been neat to see what's happened, 09:29 the people now have places to worship 09:34 in most of the places in the country. 09:37 There's a current project 09:39 that's been on the list for 19 years now. 09:42 It's shortly we started there it came on as a request level 09:47 and it's been so complicated to get permission. 09:50 From the government? From the government. 09:52 They've worked well with us I have to say that 09:54 but this one has been tough. 09:57 And I'll just tell really quick story about that congregation, 10:01 they meet in a terrible little place. 10:03 In fact, every single Sabbath people come there, 10:07 people just leave because it's just too crowded. 10:09 And they had heard 10:12 that we're gonna build them a church 10:13 and they knew that we built a lot of other churches. 10:15 And we're there on a Sabbath in Havana, 10:20 we decided to go and just take a look at that building 10:23 where somebody tipped them off, 10:25 we didn't know it. 10:26 We came by lately afternoon 10:28 and they'd all been sitting all day waiting for us. 10:32 And so I thought, oh, boy, what are we gonna do? 10:34 Because we can't build them a church, 10:36 we have no permission, we have no money 10:38 and so I was just gonna get back in van 10:40 and leave and they said no, I got to talk to them. 10:43 I said I won't talk to them. Yeah. 10:45 Because we know what the answer is gonna be. 10:46 Because I can't tell what they want to hear. 10:47 You know, it's like a... 10:48 But so I went in there, I stood up and I thought, 10:51 Lord, what do I say to these people? 10:52 They're sitting there with expected faces 10:55 and I said well, tell the truth. 10:58 So I said why do you think we're here? 11:00 You're gonna build us a church. 11:02 I said well, I'm sorry. 11:04 We don't have permission, we don't have money. 11:06 And they started to cry out loud. 11:10 Most of the members there 11:12 absolute tears running down their face. 11:14 That was just a horrible feeling 11:16 so I said, give me send up a prayer, what do you do? 11:20 Tell them that there's still hope, they can pray. 11:24 And there is hope with prayer. 11:26 So they said okay, let's do it right now this is good idea. 11:29 So they said, let's select 11:30 one person from the congregation 11:32 and they'll go up and they'll pray, 11:33 so they selected a little 11-year-old girl. 11:36 And she marches up to the front with no fear it didn't appear. 11:40 She turned around, you know, 11:43 she looked up to heaven, 11:45 folded her hands and she says, Dear Jesus, thank You 11:47 for giving us our new church, amen. 11:51 Oh, wow. A prayer of faith. 11:53 Oh, that's certainly going. 11:56 I think this church is gonna happen. 11:57 Yeah. 11:58 No pressure but this is gonna happen. 12:00 Well, you know, God has never said no to that. 12:02 We're very close now to get ready 12:04 to start that church, so it is gonna happen. 12:07 And when you first started in Cuba, 12:08 it was very, very difficult 12:10 because I mean for any foreign entity 12:13 to come in and do anything, 12:14 it was kind of almost unprecedented. 12:15 Yeah, absolutely. 12:17 So it's been great but, you know, 12:20 around the world, different places of-- 12:22 working lot in Africa, still in India. 12:24 Yeah, Gary, one other things 12:25 we're doing in India right now is education. 12:27 I have heard it said that one of the geniuses 12:30 of the Adventist system is our educational system. 12:33 And it's just so important to grow children 12:36 up in a system learning to know Christ at a young age 12:40 and so we're really trying to emphasize that as well. 12:43 Fantastic. 12:44 Well, thank you, Don and Laura, 12:46 for all that you're doing through Maranatha Volunteers. 12:48 It's a privilege. 12:49 And viewers at home, 12:50 please remember Maranatha Volunteers in your prayers 12:53 and to find out more information, 12:55 just go to Maranatha.org. 12:57 We'll be right back after this break. |
Revised 2014-12-17