Welcome back.
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Next up, a fascinating
interview in Bangkok, Thailand.
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Thanks a lot, Gary.
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Here with me in
Bangkok, Thailand
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is really a group
that represents history.
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It's good to have
you gentlemen with me,
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and happy that we have
over 20 years of the history
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of the Buddhist
Study Center here.
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Starting with Clifton Maberly,
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who was, I think, the
very first of the directors
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of the Buddhist Study Center.
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Cliff, what was it
like when you first got here
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and what kind
of work did you do?
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I was very daunted with the task
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because we hadn't had one before
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and we really didn't know much
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about Buddhism at a high level.
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So I decided to start
the Center of Buddhism
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next to the Buddhist University
and attracted probably
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50 or 60 Buddhist
monks per day into the center
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and we just listened and talked,
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and listened and talked
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and gradually
began to understand
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what Buddhism was at that level.
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So the monks
actually came to you
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and you could
exchange ideas and learn a lot.
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They came and
worked in our study center
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and discussed
things among themselves
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and we discussed
things with them as well.
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How long were you here?
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Seven years.
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And in that time, it
wasn't just in Thailand,
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there were other
projects in places
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that you had influence there.
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No, as I learned what
Buddhism was at that level,
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I used to do
seminars and workshops
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in probably 10 of
the Buddhist countries,
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different places here and there.
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Well, next to
you is Scott Griswold
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who was here for some time too.
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When did you come, Scott?
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Came in 2002.
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So you followed Cliff.
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And what was the
focus of your ministry
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during the 10 years
or so that you were here?
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Well, with him working closely
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with the level
of Buddhist monks,
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we felt a real need to
work at the local level
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where most of the
Buddhist people are,
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where they don't know as much
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but they still
have that background,
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that's very much in their mind
and it affects strongly the way
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they're thinking about,
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the message they're
hearing, the Christian message.
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So we need to try to
help our church wrestle
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through how do
you speak to somebody
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who is not from
another Christian background
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but somebody who's really,
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has that eastern
mind type of thinking.
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So did some
resources come out of that?
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We started
working on Bible studies,
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on health approach,
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different ways
of trying to share,
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and we ended up with
materials like something
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we call Bridge
of Hope that starts
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with no knowledge of
God, no knowledge of the Bible
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and then builds
to an understanding
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of the basic Bible truths.
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It sounds like an approach
where we're meeting somebody
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where they are,
which is a devout Buddhist,
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but we're actually
trying to carry them
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through not only
devoting their life to the Lord
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but actually to be disciples
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and there's a
lot of gaps in there
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from what we usually
have-- create materials for.
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So, where are you at now?
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Back in the United States
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where Buddhism continues to grow
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and where people from
many Buddhist countries
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are moving and
continuing to call people
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to be involved, to think
about the incredible beauty
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of the Gospel of Jesus
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and how it can be
attractive to Buddhist people.
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And now next to
you is Greg Whittset,
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and Greg was the one that
followed you in the center.
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And tell us a little
about what's going on right now
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with the center for
East Asian religions.
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Well, I have the
advantage of building
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on the progress
of my predecessors
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and I'm indebted to the
lessons learned over the years.
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As I kind of looked
at it in my experience
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and how, you know,
where do you begin,
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where do you add?
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Came to the idea that
really, maybe it's a good time
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to survey where
people are seeing needs are,
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the leaders across
the region here in Asia.
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What are the issues
that remain to be addressed
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or that we need to
continue to emphasize
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if we are
already, but need to keep
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that at the forefront.
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And so we're
doing something exciting
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and that we're inviting
people to share their ideas
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about what the issues are,
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present those together
in our annual conferences
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and try to get more voices
involved in addressing those
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so that we can
be more effective.
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Even as we speak
there's quite a group
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that is gathered to
have this conversation
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and what's a
specific emphasis this year?
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Yeah, I'm very excited,
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we have about a hundred
leaders from across Asia here
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focusing on the topic
of Ministry to Mourners.
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Reaching our East Asian brothers
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during a time of funerals,
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of grieving over
the death of loved ones.
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And this is actually perhaps
the most important ceremony
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or ritual in the
Eastern religions.
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It could be compared
to Christian baptism,
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so, but of course
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it's a universal
human issue, death
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and then how do we
deal with our differences
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and minister to people.
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Often times it's
one of those key moments
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where a person's
heart may be open and if we,
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if we can be appropriate
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in how we
respond to their grief,
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we may be able to help them.
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Exactly, that's right.
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One question for each of you.
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As you look forward now,
what would your prayer be,
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your hope for ministry
over the next few years,
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months and years?
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Well, the fact that
we're all three here shows
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that we really need to
continue to engage all people
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who have a
burden, to share Christ
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with our East Asian
brothers and sisters and so,
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what I see in the
future is a greater unity,
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working together and
realizing that the problem
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is bigger than any one of us--
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we need to pull together.
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Spending time looking
at how to word our message
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for Buddhist people
has made that message
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that we have come
alive so much more to me.
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And so it's my
hope that as the church
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continues to look
at their neighbors
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and figure out ways
to reach out to them,
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that they will find and
experience a deep revival
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of their walk with God
and their understanding
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and be able to
share it powerfully
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until it's finished.
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I moved to Korea in
order to be able to help them
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reach out to Buddhists,
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but they didn't and haven't.
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And I put my
spurs up on the hook
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and haven't
really thought much about
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Buddhism for quite a while,
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just preparing
Koreans to be missionaries.
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But Greg is dragging
me back into this world
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even though I'm off to
Egypt now to get to be familiar
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with Coptic
Christians and Muslims.
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I don't think
he's gonna let me go,
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so he's still gonna
squeeze everything at me
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that he can get so.
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I think he's the one
that we gonna look to
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for the future of this project.
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Gentlemen,
Cliff, Scot, and Greg,
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thank you so
much for joining us,
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really appreciate your time.
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Gary, back to you.
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Religious liberty is something
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that's easy to take for granted,
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but in many parts of the
world it doesn't even exist.
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Religious liberty is a
fundamental human right
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and it's something
that is worth fighting for.
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The Seventh-day Adventist Church
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has an active
missionary presence
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in over 200
countries and territories.
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But around the
world religious hatred
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exposes itself
in countless ways.
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If anyone says I love God
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yet hates his
brother, he is a liar.
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For anyone who does
not love his brother
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whom he has
seen, cannot love God
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whom he has not seen.
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Unfortunately, men never do evil
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so completely and cheerfully
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as when they do it
from religious conviction.
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But we hold true that religious
liberty is a God given right,
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the end of law is not
to abolish or restrain
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but to preserve
and enlarge freedom.
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For in all the
states of created beings
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capable of law,
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where there is no
law there is no freedom.
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We believe in the
natural and inalienable right
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of freedom of conscience,
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to have or not
to have a religion.
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To adopt the religion
or belief of one's choice.
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To change religious
belief according to conscience
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and to manifest
one's religion individually
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or in community with others.
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Nevertheless, it's
evident that freedom of religion
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is increasingly under
attack around the world,
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diminishing our
ability to pray, worship,
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and share the love
of Christ with others.
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We sometimes see
religion twisted in an attempt
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to justify
hatred and persecution
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against other people
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just because of who
they are or how they pray.
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But to harm anyone
in the name of faith
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is to diminish our
own relationship with God.
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Every faith is a candle we
light in the public domain.
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A little light
drives away much darkness
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and no one else's
candle diminishes mine.
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But if we all light
our candles together,
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we can turn a dark
world into one full of light
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and that is why working together
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for the cause of
religious liberty
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is so
fundamental and so precious.
00:10:11.37\00:10:16.51
In support of our efforts
to defend religious liberty
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for all people around the world,
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we ask that you
pray, that you write,
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and that you rally because
the world is a dangerous place
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not because of those who do evil
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but because if those
look on and do nothing.
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Well, thank you so
much for joining us today
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on "Global Mission Snapshots"
00:10:51.75\00:10:53.47
coming to you
from the beautiful city
00:10:53.50\00:10:55.55
of Annapolis here in Maryland.
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Please continue to pray
for mission around the world.
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Pray for the
people and the places
00:11:00.79\00:11:02.53
that you see on this program.
00:11:02.56\00:11:04.39
Front line mission
work can be exciting,
00:11:04.42\00:11:06.84
it can be invigorating
but it can also be lonely
00:11:06.87\00:11:09.44
and at times even discouraging.
00:11:09.47\00:11:12.09
So it's encouraging to know
00:11:12.12\00:11:13.52
that there is a world
church praying for you.
00:11:13.55\00:11:16.32
Before we go I'd
like to offer you
00:11:16.35\00:11:17.89
the free Global
Mission calendar.
00:11:17.92\00:11:20.50
This calendar is full
of wonderful mission images
00:11:20.53\00:11:23.27
from around the world,
00:11:23.30\00:11:24.58
and it's a terrific reminder
to pray for mission each day.
00:11:24.61\00:11:29.55
Well, that's it
for today's program.
00:11:29.58\00:11:31.08
I am Gary Krause
for Global Mission.
00:11:31.11\00:11:33.14
And I hope that you
can join me next time
00:11:33.17\00:11:35.26
here on "Global
Mission Snapshots."
00:11:35.29\00:11:37.60