Participants: Gary Krause (Host), Frank Hardy, Suen Frantzen
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000104A
|
00:04 On today's program
00:06 mission projects that you can reach by boat 00:09 and one place that you will never reach by boat. 00:12 That and much more 00:13 coming up next on Global Mission Snapshots. 00:20 Just before He went up to heaven, 00:23 Jesus gave us a command. 00:26 He gave us a mission. 00:28 Jesus said, "Go, go unto all the world, 00:33 telling them of His love." 00:36 This is our mission. 00:38 This is our Global Mission. 00:45 Hello and welcome to Global Mission Snapshots, 00:48 I'm Gary Krause. 00:49 Today's program is coming to you 00:50 from the capital of Maryland in the United States. 00:54 And Annapolis as you can see is a port city. 00:57 We think today of international travels 00:59 starting and ending in international airports, 01:02 but back a few years ago this is where it all happened. 01:05 International travel started and ended 01:08 in places just like this. 01:10 And today, we could hit out on a boat 01:12 through the Chesapeake Bay and out in to the ocean 01:15 and we could visit many of the places 01:17 that we're going to see on today's program 01:19 but it will take too long. 01:21 So instead we gonna do a quick trip, 01:22 we gonna go to Bergen in Norway, a port city 01:25 and we're gonna talk to a pastor there 01:28 about the many challenges of urban mission. 01:30 Particularly in a country 01:32 that is becoming more and more secularized. 01:35 We also travel to Chicago right here in North America. 01:38 It's a port city but it's in inland sea, 01:40 and the great lakes. 01:42 But first up let's travel to Alaska 01:45 and we'll visit a Global Mission pioneer. 01:49 Togiak, is a small village in the south of Alaska. 01:53 It lies north of Togiak bay and south-west of Anchorage. 01:58 You cannot drive to Togiak, this is a very remote place 02:01 and it takes a couple of airplane rides to get there. 02:05 About 800 people live this rural community. 02:08 This village is mostly made up of two Native American families 02:12 and the people here are very close. 02:15 In this part of Alaska you can have nearly 20 hours 02:18 of sunlight in a summer day 02:20 and close to 17 hours of complete darkness 02:24 in the winter months. 02:25 Chad and Liz arrived here straight out of collage. 02:29 They came with a goal to plant a church. 02:32 Can you imagine leaving your family and friends 02:34 to go to a completely strange place? 02:37 Well, what they didn't know 02:38 is that God had already started to pave the way for them. 02:42 Chad's grandmother had built a very strong relationship 02:45 with people of this community, many years ago. 02:49 Although Chad and Liz would have a rocky road ahead, 02:52 they were warm welcomed by a some 02:54 who remember their grandmas dedicated work. 02:57 Chad isn't any Inuit/Aleut and he understands 03:01 the way of life in this region of Alaska. 03:04 Like many of the men in this village 03:06 he is a fisherman. 03:07 Chad is connecting with his roots 03:09 as he needs the people of Togiak 03:11 inviting them to study the Bible 03:13 and get baptized. 03:15 Before long pioneer Chad and Liz 03:18 realized God had a special work for them here, 03:21 they were called to specially minister to God's little ones. 03:26 Besides they work as teachers at the local school, 03:28 they extend their ministry beyond school gates, 03:31 all the way into the church facility. 03:34 Kids are the future, and I said Lord, 03:38 if you have given my wife and I gift to love these kids, 03:40 like You love us, we're gonna do it. 03:45 The kids love to hear Bible stories, 03:47 play games and experience the love of Jesus 03:50 first hand through the ministry of Chad and Liz. 03:54 We are here for them 03:55 but its like God's love is known here, 03:58 they want to be here. 04:00 Everyday they will come and knock on the door. 04:03 The kids simply love it here. 04:05 They often come with the excuse 04:07 to get a drink of water or use the churches bathroom, 04:09 but really they want to visit Chad and Liz, 04:12 spend time and eat a special meal together. 04:15 We love you, we take you, may we all say. 04:17 Amen. 04:19 Well, summer days are warm and exciting 04:22 winter days bring a challenge. 04:24 The sun rises about 10 in the morning 04:27 and sets around 5 pm. 04:29 It's difficult for any one to focus on healthy activities 04:32 and avoid common problems 04:34 such as drug abuse, drinking, smoking 04:37 and even overeating as people grow depressed 04:40 for lack of options. 04:42 But even in the winter, 04:44 the children have a place at the church 04:46 to learn and sing Christian songs. 04:48 Never in my life have I seen a church 04:50 where kids bring themselves, it changed me. 04:55 It's told me that when the love of God 05:00 is what it supposed to be in the church unconditionally, 05:04 no bias, no judgment 05:07 that kids can see that at such a young age 05:11 and it will inspire them 05:12 to point where they will bring themselves. 05:15 And they want it. 05:18 Chad and Liz continue to focus 05:20 on the kids of this community 05:21 but they never forget that there are others 05:24 who are also hungering for the love of Jesus. 05:27 On a daily basis Chad uses the VHF radio frequency 05:31 to spiritually feed hungry souls. 05:34 I'll turn on the VHF radio and its channel 68 05:38 so the pretty much all of Togiak 05:41 is in this network through VHF channel 68 on that frequency. 05:46 After noon Togiak, this is Pastor Chad Angasan 05:48 of the Seventh-day Adventist church 05:51 and it is about four minutes till 3 o'clock, 05:53 it is the 15th of July, Tuesday 05:57 and it is time for the reading of the day. 06:00 And now I tell them what that verse means to us. 06:03 What it means us personally 06:05 and why and how it applies to our lives and what we can-- 06:09 how we can use that verse in our daily lives. 06:12 God is using pioneer Chad and his wife Liz, 06:15 to touch Inuit people who like Chad, 06:17 who can connect with them through their ancestry, 06:19 but most importantly through the love 06:22 they communicate from God. 06:25 Please participate in this important mission 06:27 right where you are among your people and your friends. 06:31 God can use you to communicate love to a world and need. 06:35 Please also pray for pioneer Chad and Liz 06:38 as they do their part to share the hope of Jesus. 06:43 My guest is Frank Hardy who is a specialist 06:46 in the Navajo people and culture 06:49 and he is also fluent in their language. 06:51 Frank, thank you so much for joining us. 06:53 Very good to be here. 06:54 The Navajo people of course 06:56 a Native American people here in North America. 06:59 What sparked your interest in these people? 07:03 I have always been interested in languages 07:06 and I had a pastor, who worked so hard, 07:09 he had eight or nine churches 07:11 in the southern part of New Mexico. 07:13 And I thought I wanted to study for the ministry 07:16 and if I worked anywhere I wanted to work 07:18 there for them with those needs. 07:20 And so I finished at Union College 07:22 and one part of Central Union, 07:25 they called it Central Union at that time that overlapped 07:28 with the Texico Conference was Farmington. 07:32 So I went there to sell books after school 07:34 and they invited me go to La Vida Mission. 07:37 What did you discover about the Navajo people? 07:39 What what's special about them to you? 07:41 Oh, they're just so quiet, 07:45 it's impossible to shout in Navajo. 07:52 And they have so many needs, they are just very dear people. 07:56 I love them. 07:57 They are kind of gentle people? 07:59 Would you describe them, yeah? 08:00 Now, but not before. Right. 08:02 The reason for the long walk 08:04 was because they made themselves such a terror 08:07 in the southwest stealing sheep and attacking saddlers 08:09 that they were marched 08:11 over to the eastern part of New Mexico 08:13 and then they came back that was the long walk. 08:15 So why did you learn their language? 08:18 Well, when I went there 08:20 I wasn't thinking of learning of Navajo, 08:21 I was only thinking of gaining some experience 08:24 before I went on to do graduate work. 08:27 And when I got to the reservation 08:30 I purchased a copy the Navajo New Testimony 08:32 which I have here. 08:34 This is the copy that I brought. 08:36 This is the 1956 edition 08:38 and it was just so strange, so different 08:42 and it became an objective of fascination to me. 08:44 I read this book three times. 08:46 Yeah, so give us an example of Navajo language, 08:51 perhaps a Bible verse in Navajo. 08:53 Okay, Isaiah 1:17-- 09:14 This is the passage that says 09:17 "Come, let us reason together, says the Lord. 09:20 Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be white as snow, 09:22 though they be like crimson, they will be white as wool." 09:25 But the Navajo does not say as white as wool. 09:28 That would be-- that's not what they say. 09:31 They say-- 09:34 which means as white as white wool. 09:37 Because not all well under reservation is white. 09:39 So they clarify it. 09:40 They clarify. 09:41 So Frank, the gospel among the Navajo people 09:45 because their traditional believes 09:48 would be very different I imagine? 09:49 Yes. 09:50 How has the gospel entered among the, the people? 09:54 There is a long history 09:55 of Christianity on the reservation. 09:57 Catholics where established 09:59 in early presence at St. Michaels, Arizona 10:02 and also the Dutch Reformed 10:04 have had a congregation in Shiprock for like forever-- 10:07 it's a very old congregation. 10:10 Seventh-day-- well, I should mention it 10:13 about half the tribe is Christian 10:15 now, about 50 percent. 10:17 All their religion is maintained 10:18 at about five percent 10:20 the remaining 45 percent is peyote, 10:23 the Native American church. 10:25 And the Adventist work in the Navajo, 10:28 how would you describe that? 10:29 I-- we have an established work. 10:36 First I have to give you some geography. 10:39 The box of the reservation is in Arizona. 10:41 So think of a box of your favorite breakfast cereal, 10:45 and then if we go down from the top 10:47 we go a third of the way down the box 10:49 and halfway over toward the middle. 10:51 Now that's almost the reservation 10:53 form the right edge you have to go 10:55 little bit further right over in to Arizona 10:57 and from the top you have to little further up 10:59 in to Utah, that's the reservation. 11:01 Now our work is in two bands, two parallel bands, 11:05 one across the north of the reservation 11:07 the other across the south. 11:09 So across the north you would start in Shiprock 11:12 then Monument Valley then Page 11:14 and this is late breaking news the work in Page 11:16 is just starting out and this is exciting stuff 11:19 Allan and Kelley Fowler heading that up. 11:22 But then across the south you have a Gallup 11:25 and Window Rock and Kinlichee 11:28 and I think they might have some work in Ganado also 11:32 and then Chinle halfway between. 11:34 Now do we have Navajo believers 11:38 who are leading the work there? 11:39 Do we have any Navajo pastors? 11:42 Yes, at Monument Valley Pastor Charlie Whitehorse 11:47 is a native speaking Navajo and he has his D.Min. degree 11:52 from the Andrews University Seminar, 11:55 a layperson working in Page is Allan Fowler, 11:58 Allan and Kelley. 12:00 Both men left the Reservation temporarily 12:02 Allen to work, Pastor Whitehorse to steady. 12:06 But these people are not submission assignment 12:09 they are home. 12:10 This is their place. Among their own people. 12:12 Among their own people. 12:13 So Frank, as we finish up here 12:15 what is the importance of speaking to people 12:19 in their own language? 12:21 The importance is speaking to people in their own language 12:24 is they can understand it. 12:25 Right. 12:26 In the 2000 census, 12:27 I'm sorry don't have numbers from 2010 census 12:31 the Navajo people reported 12:33 over 7, 000 monolingual speakers of Navajo. 12:37 Now not every one is a monolingual speaker 12:41 but that 7,000 rounds up to eight. 12:43 Their actual number was 7,616 monolingual speakers of Navajo 12:50 who is going to reach those for the gospel. 12:52 Well, I can tell you it's gonna be, 12:53 it's gonna be somebody 12:54 that speaks among the language they know. 12:56 Yeah, exactly. 12:57 Now you have a couple of books that you have written 12:59 in Navajo there, Frank, Load of Wood? 13:01 Please do describe those. 13:02 Okay, this is the first one, 13:05 and this is not the reason the reason why we are here. 13:06 Right. 13:07 This book, I'm sorry this book is the reason why we were here 13:12 but this book is the first one to come out. 13:14 This was published in 1978 Christ Bihigii 13:18 that's means things that belong to Christ, 13:21 and it was little missionary book 13:22 that published in 10,000 copies. 13:25 And then this one Jesus Hol Yi'ashgo 13:28 is an adaptation not a straight up translation 13:30 but in adaptation of Steps to Christ. 13:33 The copyright holders the white estate 13:35 it was printed at the Review and Herald. 13:36 Wonderful. 13:38 Frank, thank you so much for sharing with us 13:40 and among the people that most of us 13:43 have heard little or no contact with 13:45 or we know that they are very special in the heart of God. 13:48 Yes, they certainly are. 13:50 Let me just mention my personal desire and hope 13:54 would be that our Navajo Adventist people 13:56 and that Navajo people generally will learn to know 13:59 and to appreciate this book, this is the 2000 Navajo Bible, 14:03 the complete Bible in the Navajo language, 14:05 it is beautifully well done. 14:07 Wonderful. 14:08 Thank you so much, Frank. 14:10 And we'll be right back straight after this break. |
Revised 2015-01-29