I'm standing in the capital
of the United States of America,
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and in this city you'll
find monuments and statues
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and memorials and museums
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and many, many
administrative offices
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where politicians administrate
and govern the country.
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And speaking of
governing, on today's program,
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we'll see what happens
when followers of Jesus Christ
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let the
principles of His kingdom
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govern their lives
and make a difference
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in their communities.
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Just before He
went up to heaven,
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Jesus gave us a command,
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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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In 1910, the
League of Nations began.
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The first organization devoted
to achieving world wide peace.
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Well, the
Second World War proved
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that this was a dismal failure.
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And during that war,
Franklin D. Roosevelt
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decided that the world
needed another organization
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and in 1945, the
United Nations began.
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And through the
years the United Nations
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has done some wonderful work.
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But it certainly
hasn't achieved world peace.
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When Jesus came to
this earth, he demonstrated
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the peace loving
principles of God's kingdom.
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As Jesus said,
blessed are the peacemakers.
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But we also understand that
peace will never be achieved
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fully on this earth.
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We work for it, we
pray for it but we realize
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that it's not until
Christ's Second Coming
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that true peace will come.
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But as we wait, we are called
to lives of service to others
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and let's visit
a group of people
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who are following
Christ's example in practice.
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Meet Andrew, Carlos,
Miriam, Becca and Fernando.
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They think simple
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as they change
their neighborhood block,
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one person at a time.
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Simplicity isn't just
the name of their Ministry,
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the simple approach they use
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is at the heart of any
successful urban outreach.
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Simplicity missionaries
survey their community
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to understand them.
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After learning
about the neighbors,
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they narrow their attention
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to both sides of
their street block.
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The goal is to build
life long relationships
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with their immediate neighbors.
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This is a low income area.
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People here work several jobs
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and have little time for family,
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home activities
or even house chores.
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So the
missionaries lend a helping hand
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and start by making
a visible difference.
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I help out with a
lot of the clean up
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and that's one of
my favorite activities.
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To be out on the
street, picking up trash,
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just having people see
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that there's a
presence in the community
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that, that cares
for the neighborhood.
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And that's actually my favorite
method of meeting people.
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We went door to
door and asked them
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if they wanted us to,
pick up trash from their yard,
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and cut their
grass or plant flowers
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and so many of them gave their
permission for us to do that.
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And so we've been
doing that every week
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and one lady here,
on the corner said,
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well, we didn't
know if you guys were--
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who you were or
what you were going to do
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but then we saw you
out there cleaning up
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and then we knew that, that
you were doing a good thing.
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There's other reactions like,
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well, these people are
cleaning their community,
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so we should-- we should too.
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And so people have picked
up, you know their, rakes,
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their shovels and they said,
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oh, well, we'll take
care of our own yard.
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We'll just, we're just
going to redo our whole yard.
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One of the neighbors did that.
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We're having to find a way to,
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to let people
see our Christianity,
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to see Jesus
through our actions.
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What they need to see is that
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despite what
culture is telling them,
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what they're seeing on TV,
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what the
perceptions are around them,
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that Christianity
matters in their lives.
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That, um, that it does
bring good to their lives,
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in a tangible way.
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It's obvious to anyone
who crosses this street,
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that there is
something different here.
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It's clean, it's
pretty, it's growing.
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In this community,
there are also many immigrants
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who find it difficult to succeed
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due to the language barrier.
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So the
missionaries and volunteers
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teach English as
a second language.
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One of the teachers,
Carlos, is from Mexico,
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and English is new to him.
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He arrived about one
and a half years ago.
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Today, he is proficient
in the English language
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and is passing
down his knowledge.
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Carlos selected the
bible as one of his text books.
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He believes in the power of God
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to enable even a mute to speak.
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By using the bible,
Carlos empowers his students
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for a life of
service with the new language
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they're learning.
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It's beautiful, it's an
unforgettable experience,
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to learn how to speak
English and at the same time,
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the things of God.
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And I know that it's
wise to fear the Lord,
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because He is the
one who gives us life.
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As the students become
fluent, they receive assistance
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in drafting a career
path and finding a job.
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This is a simple
program, but it touches people
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where they need most.
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It's like when
Jesus healed the blind.
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This is helping
people to see and navigate
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in a different culture.
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We'll be traveling
back to Pennsylvania
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to learn more about
Simplicity in a few minutes.
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But my guest is
Pastor Robert Lemon,
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who is the treasurer
of the General Conference
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of Seventh-day Adventists.
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Thanks so much
for joining us, Bob.
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Now in your work, you're
dealing with a lot of funds,
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mission
offerings, tithes, et cetera,
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but it's there for a
purpose, which is mission.
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Where did you first capture
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your interest and
passion for mission?
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Well, I had the privilege
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of being born of
missionary parents
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and the, what was at that time,
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the Belgian Congo,
later the Congo's I hear,
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the Democratic
Republic of Congo,
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so I grew up in
the mission field
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and had the privilege
of watching my parents,
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then I also went
back there with my wife
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and we served for 11 years
in the mission field ourselves.
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Now how did it impact you,
living and working in Africa?
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Well, it's
interesting because people ask
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well, what was it
like being born in Africa,
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and I say yeah,
well, what was it like
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being born in the United States
or anywhere else in the world?
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Ah, for me, that was just life.
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But I had the great privilege
of being able to observe
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first hand, different cultures,
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different religious backgrounds,
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individuals being
taught Christ's saving grace.
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Coming from various
different backgrounds
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and it was a real privilege
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and it's exciting to
see people accept the Lord.
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Yeah, now when you
go to Africa today,
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you can visit
graves of missionaries
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who went to Africa,
they never went home,
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they gave their lives.
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Is, is it worth it,
I mean, is it worth it,
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the money that is spent,
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the lives that are
sacrificed, is it worth it?
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Well, I don't think
there's any question,
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it's worth it.
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Certainly, I've
visited the graves
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of a number of our missionaries
and some of their children.
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You know, in those days,
when my folks first went out,
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it was 7 years
with no trip home.
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Ah, went by boat and took
more than a month to get there.
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Now a days, we want
to come back every year
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for a vacation, and to
visit the family and all,
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it's very different.
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But times are different
but the mission is the same
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and it's certainly worth it.
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If your parents were to
come back to Africa today,
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how would it be different
from what, when you were a boy?
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The Adventist
church, how has it changed?
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Well, in the
country where I was born,
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in the Democratic
Republic of Congo,
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when my parents first
went there before I was born,
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we only had about
5,000 Seventh-day Adventists
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in the country
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and now we're up half three
quarters of a million people
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in the country, who
are Seventh-day Adventists.
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So they would be
terribly excited to see
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the growth of the
work that they had a part
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in the early stages of.
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So when we look at
it, Bob, through prayers,
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through mission service,
through financial giving,
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literally millions of
lives have been changed
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on the continent
of Africa, alone.
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Yes, absolutely.
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Tremendous growth
on that continent.
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Now, Bob, when people
give their mission offerings,
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when Seventh-day Adventists
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give their mission
offerings every week,
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what happens to those
funds, just in general terms.
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Most of the mission offerings
go into two categories,
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there's the general mission,
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which we take up at our Sabbath
School on Saturday morning,
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when we have Sabbath School.
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They go for a wide
range of supporting
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various mission
programs and missionaries.
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We also have what we call
the 13th Sabbath offering,
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which is a special
offering once a quarter
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that is more
directed at projects,
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more directed at specific items,
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but yet covers a
broad range of items.
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And when you look at
the 13th Sabbath offerings,
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how is that growing in
your time, working in treasury?
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Well, the average quarter
now, meaning three months
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for the 13th Sabbath offering
is over a million dollars
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and it was only two
hundred and some thousand
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when I came here to
the General Conference,
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on average.
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But the total mission offering
giving around the world,
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not just in North
America, but around the world
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has increased multiple
folds over the last 20 years.
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Now, Bob, when you
look at the challenges
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around the world, and you
look at the tithes and offerings
00:10:00.76\00:10:03.64
that the church does receive,
what could be accomplished?
00:10:03.67\00:10:06.60
What opportunities are there
if we had the funds available?
00:10:06.63\00:10:10.56
Well, you know, half of
the world isn't reached yet.
00:10:10.59\00:10:12.92
We tend to talk
about the part of the world
00:10:12.95\00:10:14.86
that's been reached,
00:10:14.89\00:10:15.93
the part that we have
a lot of Christians in.
00:10:15.96\00:10:19.45
There's no
question, if we have far more
00:10:19.48\00:10:22.08
in the way of mission offerings
and in the way of tithe,
00:10:22.11\00:10:25.36
we would be able to
reach parts of the world
00:10:25.39\00:10:28.36
in ways we've never
reached them before.
00:10:28.39\00:10:30.62
With the digital age, but
also with people on the ground.
00:10:30.65\00:10:36.02
What gives you most hope
as you look to the future,
00:10:36.05\00:10:39.25
when you look at the
future of this church,
00:10:39.28\00:10:40.88
I mean, we know the challenges,
00:10:40.91\00:10:42.37
but what brings
you the most hope?
00:10:42.40\00:10:45.29
Well, you know,
they say that the youth
00:10:45.32\00:10:47.66
is the future of the church,
00:10:47.69\00:10:49.37
it isn't, it's the
present of the church.
00:10:49.40\00:10:51.68
Seventh-day Adventist church,
if you go back in our history
00:10:51.71\00:10:54.16
was started by
very young people,
00:10:54.19\00:10:56.24
would make us look
like great grandfathers.
00:10:56.27\00:10:59.80
And our young people
are on fire for the Lord,
00:10:59.83\00:11:02.87
I have no question that
the church is in good hands.
00:11:02.90\00:11:08.12
I believe that the work is
going to be finished quickly.
00:11:08.15\00:11:12.07
So in 2015, there's going to be
00:11:12.10\00:11:13.95
a special General Conference
session offering collected,
00:11:13.98\00:11:17.57
what is that
money going to go to?
00:11:17.60\00:11:20.77
There's a special offering
we take once every 5 years,
00:11:20.80\00:11:23.90
both at the
General Conference session
00:11:23.93\00:11:25.62
as well as around the world.
00:11:25.65\00:11:28.05
And all of the funds
from the General Conference
00:11:28.08\00:11:30.43
session offering this time,
will go for our young people
00:11:30.46\00:11:34.32
to do outreach and to
reach people for the Lord.
00:11:34.35\00:11:37.78
Not only will it
go for them to do it,
00:11:37.81\00:11:40.35
but the committees that decide
00:11:40.38\00:11:43.27
what projects
are to be approved,
00:11:43.30\00:11:45.62
are all to be a majority
of young people deciding it.
00:11:45.65\00:11:49.58
That's wonderful, and
when you say, young people
00:11:49.61\00:11:51.51
you mean young people, right?
00:11:51.54\00:11:53.52
This is like
children and I think
00:11:53.55\00:11:55.57
the maximum is 21 years of age.
00:11:55.60\00:11:57.33
21 and down to 6, 7, 8,
00:11:57.36\00:12:01.31
we want every
age to be involved.
00:12:01.34\00:12:03.52
In the decision making
00:12:03.55\00:12:04.66
as well as in the
actual use of the funds.
00:12:04.69\00:12:07.48
That's wonderful, I
think, I think that young people
00:12:07.51\00:12:09.88
will catch a vision from this.
00:12:09.91\00:12:11.71
Bob, thank you so much
for sharing with us today.
00:12:11.74\00:12:14.33
It's been great.
00:12:14.36\00:12:15.40
And the viewers at home,
don't forget to support mission
00:12:15.43\00:12:19.48
not only with your
time and your prayers
00:12:19.51\00:12:21.05
but also with your tithes
and your mission offerings.
00:12:21.08\00:12:23.25
It does make a,
makes a big difference.
00:12:23.28\00:12:25.91
We'll be right
back, after this break.
00:12:25.94\00:12:28.09