Participants: Gary Krause (Host), G.T. Ng, Myron Iseminger, Ted Wilson
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000101A
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00:01 Hello and welcome to the world headquarters
00:02 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 00:04 This particular building, 00:05 known as the General Conference, 00:07 was opened in 1989. 00:09 Inside there are several different entities. 00:12 Let's go inside and look around 00:14 and will meet key leaders who talk about mission. 00:21 Just before He went up to heaven, 00:23 Jesus gave us a command. 00:26 He gave us a mission. 00:29 Jesus said, "Go, go unto all the world, 00:34 telling them of His love." 00:36 This is our mission. 00:38 This is our Global Mission. 00:46 Hello and welcome to "Global Mission Snapshots" 00:48 I'm Gary Krause. 00:49 I'm glad that you will join me today 00:51 as we do a tour 00:52 of the General Conference building. 00:54 One of our stops is the president's office. 00:57 Of course he travels a lot, 00:58 but I believe today he'll be here. 01:01 Let's start our tour at the visitor center. 01:03 Here you can view a timeline of our church's history, 01:06 and you can watch videos on various initiatives 01:09 sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 01:12 Next we come to "The King is Coming" 01:15 by Victor Issa. 01:16 It's a sculpture that has 10 figures 01:18 representing different regions of the world 01:21 The angel represents the guardian angel of the child 01:24 it's carrying. 01:25 Each morning employees gather together 01:27 here in the auditorium for worship. 01:29 This place seats up to 800 people 01:32 and it's used for meetings, conferences, 01:34 and video productions. 01:36 We're now entering the atrium 01:38 where many events such as concerts are held. 01:40 Also here is the Rebok Memorial Library 01:43 which houses more than 14,000 books 01:46 on a variety of subjects. 01:48 The "Blessed Hope" by Nathan Green 01:51 was unveiled during the General Conference Session 01:53 in Atlanta in 2010. 01:56 The painting is part of an art gallery 01:58 called Eden to Eden, 02:00 that church leaders are planning for the headquarters. 02:03 Finally this globe lights up to represent 02:05 each of the 13 world divisions 02:08 and more than 130 unions around the globe. 02:11 Also here is Adventist Risk Management 02:14 which provides solutions to minimize risk 02:17 within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 02:19 And the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, 02:21 known as ADRA, is a humanitarian arm 02:24 for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 02:26 It provides emergency relief to communities 02:29 all around the world. 02:30 Here we have the North American Division 02:32 that represents the church in an extensive part 02:36 of the northern hemisphere. 02:37 Before we continue our tour, let's visit 02:39 some of the North American Division's territory 02:42 and some of its churches. 02:49 The North American region spans over 12 02:52 of the 24 time zones in our world. 02:55 The sun never sets in this region. 02:58 It stretches from Bermuda 02:59 in the east to Palau in the west, 03:02 from the Arctic Circle in the north 03:05 to Florida in the south. 03:08 In this region you'll find perhaps 03:10 the largest diversity of people groups in the world. 03:13 From Native Americans to Islanders, 03:15 representatives from major world religions 03:18 in the 10/40 window, 03:19 and literally people from every kindred, tongue and nation. 03:24 This of course, 03:26 presents a unique opportunity and challenge 03:28 as we think of mission in complex environments. 03:32 In the North American region there is positive 03:35 and meaningful mission work taking place. 03:37 Let's visit the Malibu church 03:39 in a wealthy beachside community in California. 03:46 Each Sabbath in Malibu, California, 03:49 this elementary school gym 03:51 is transformed into a beautiful house of worship. 03:54 Carpets are rolled out, chairs are set up, 03:57 and prayers are sent to God 03:59 in preparation for this Sabbath's church service. 04:03 As members of the Malibu Church add the finishing touches, 04:06 people begin to arrive for Sabbath School. 04:09 Judith Miranda is a full-time nurse 04:11 in the Malibu area with a passion 04:14 to lead people to Jesus. 04:16 Judith played a key role in planting this church. 04:20 One Sabbath, she was visiting Malibu with her husband 04:23 and they couldn't find the local Adventist Church. 04:26 They drove around for hours and found nothing 04:28 before they eventually gave up. 04:31 Later, they were told 04:32 there was no Seventh-day Adventist Church in Malibu. 04:35 That's when Judith felt the call to plant a church 04:39 and reach the residents of this wealthy community. 04:42 Through God's grace, 04:43 the church has grown tremendously. 04:47 The hunger to reach the community 04:49 radiates from the church's members. 04:51 An important part of their worship 04:53 is the weekly mission story. 04:55 This is truly a mission minded church. 05:03 In the kitchen a delicious meal is being prepared. 05:07 Once a month the church hosts a healthy meal 05:10 where people can join in fellowship. 05:14 After the meal, 05:16 a small group will usually go into the community 05:18 to meet and talk with local residents. 05:21 The easiest way to make connections 05:23 is to walk through the neighborhood 05:25 and talk face to face with people. 05:28 Overtime, church members develop relationships 05:31 with Malibu residents 05:32 and get request for more information or Bible studies. 05:36 This is an opportunity for Jesus to work in people's lives 05:40 in whatever way they need. 05:42 The precious words from the Bible 05:44 can speak to anyone's heart 05:46 regardless of social class, 05:48 gender or race. 05:50 God is doing amazing things with His people. 05:54 Please pray for the Malibu Seventh-day Adventist Church 05:57 as they continue to reach their community. 06:01 We're now in the office 06:02 of the General Conference president 06:04 and today we're fortunate that Elder Wilson is here. 06:06 With a world membership 06:07 of some 18 million baptized Seventh-day Adventists, 06:11 Elder Wilson is often on the road visiting, 06:13 doing many things. 06:14 So let's visit with him for just a few minutes. 06:18 Elder Wilson, thank you so much for giving us some time. 06:21 Yeah, absolutely Gary. 06:23 It's a privilege to see you. 06:24 Now, you know, I was just saying that 06:27 there's a world church of 18 million members, 06:29 so many institutions, churches initiatives. 06:33 There's only 24 hours in the day, 06:35 how do you balance maintenance of what God has given us 06:39 with the mission to go forward? 06:42 It's an extremely important question you ask 06:46 because if you're not careful, 06:48 the mechanics and the bureaucracy, 06:51 if you want to call it that, 06:52 the normal process of how things work 06:55 will overtake the bigger picture of mission 07:00 and why we're even here. 07:02 So at times you simply have to sit back and kind of say, 07:08 okay, Lord, now what do You want us to do? 07:10 How can we approach this or how can it work? 07:14 And even when you come up with ideas like that, 07:17 you've got to then put into that 07:19 the mechanics of how you get it done. 07:21 So again even in doing mission 07:24 you could get caught up in the details 07:27 rather than the big picture. 07:30 Interestingly, just this morning, 07:33 I just got back from a trip yesterday, 07:37 and woke up early this morning. 07:39 As you know very well many times that happens, 07:43 and I got an email from someone who works very closely with me, 07:48 who is sharing absolutely incredible things 07:51 that are happening out of our emphasis 07:54 on mission to the cities 07:56 and comprehensive health ministry and outreach 08:01 and that combined with an experience I just had 08:05 in a particular country where we came from, 08:09 the Lord just put into my mind 08:14 some expanded ideas as to how we can really do something 08:19 through His power, 08:20 because it's only through His power, 08:22 something extraordinary in terms of mission. 08:25 And so here I am, typing away 08:28 early this morning 08:29 on something that is getting me so excited 08:34 because I have to be honest with you, 08:36 many times when we go to a lot of meetings 08:38 and we sit and we do a lot a routine stuff 08:40 you tend to get dragged down a bit in terms of, 08:46 but what are we here for mission. 08:48 And then the Lord sense something, 08:50 and it's absolutely the Lord, 08:52 sending that email through one of my closest colleagues 08:55 and then marrying that 08:58 with some on the ground experiences that I just had 09:03 and all the sudden it all comes alive again. 09:06 Mission! This is what it's all about. 09:08 So the big picture takes over 09:11 and the only way that that can really be sustained 09:13 is by personal connection with the Lord 09:18 and allowing the Bible 09:21 and prayer to be the foundation 09:25 for the Holy Spirit inspiring us 09:28 with not only taking care of all the details, 09:31 which you know a lot about with Adventist Mission 09:34 and so many things that are happening, 09:37 but also the big picture. 09:39 How you keep that all balanced 09:41 depends on your relationship with the Lord 09:44 and also being sensitive and open 09:48 to how the Lord will intervene 09:51 even in your own daily activities to say, 09:54 wow, isn't that incredible! 09:57 Isn't that something that could really happen 09:59 and why can't it happen through the power of the Holy Spirit? 10:02 So that's interestingly a very fresh thing 10:05 that's just happened in the last 24 hours 10:08 that's gotten me even more excited 10:11 about the overall proclamation of the Three Angels' Messages, 10:15 Christ's love for people, salvation, and His soon coming. 10:19 And much of it has to do with 10:21 something you'll be very excited about 10:23 and that is our church members, local church members, 10:28 because really unless local members unite 10:33 as we're told in the Spirit of Prophecy 10:36 and in writings that are of great value 10:39 to the Seventh-day Adventist Church 10:41 through scripture and through these writings, 10:43 unless church members become intimately involved 10:50 with pastors and church leaders 10:54 we will not have success. 10:56 So this is not some professional group 10:58 trying to work things out 10:59 from offices and micromanage everything. 11:02 This is everyone working together, 11:05 church members and church leaders 11:07 in order to accomplish the mission of the church 11:10 and it's exciting. 11:11 Yeah, wonderful. 11:12 And there's so many good things happening, Elder Wilson. 11:15 We have mission to the cities, 11:16 comprehensive health evangelism. 11:18 So many things happening 11:20 but as I said before only 24 hours in the day 11:24 and the young people of today 11:26 with getting involved in various ways, 11:29 we talk about them being the future 11:30 but they're the present as well. 11:32 And viewers at home, 11:34 I want you to please pray for Elder Wilson. 11:37 He has so much to juggle, so much on his plate. 11:39 But there are some wonderful things happening 11:41 as we see that God is opening up doors, 11:44 we see church planting, we see mission to the cities, 11:46 we see comprehensive health evangelism, 11:49 and we see hope being brought to people around the world. 11:52 Elder Wilson, do you have a finishing comment 11:54 before we leave your office? 11:55 Yeah, absolutely, 11:56 in fact it's just kind of providential 11:59 because just before coming here to my office 12:03 and then having this interview. 12:06 I met with young people 12:08 who have been involved in One Year in Mission. 12:11 They're down on the second floor, 12:13 working with our youth ministries department 12:15 in helping to create a manual for the future for young people 12:18 and very practical aspects of mission. 12:22 I want to tell you when you're with young people, 12:24 you get excited. 12:25 And I just know God is going to do extraordinary things 12:30 through young people as He already is. 12:32 So all of us working together, 12:34 keeping our eyes focused on the Lord, 12:36 we can accomplish this incredible mission 12:39 that God has entrusted into our hands by His Spirit. 12:42 Exactly. 12:43 Thank you so much for giving us time this morning. 12:45 Oh, it's been great. Thank you. 12:47 Thank you, Gary. 12:48 Viewers at home, don't go away, 12:50 we'll be right back after this break. |
Revised 2015-03-05