Participants: Gary Krause (Host), R. J. Solomon, Myun Ju Lee
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000701A
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00:09 Behind me is the Gateway of India,
00:11 erected to commemorate the landing of King George 00:14 and Queen Mary many years ago. 00:17 This structure was the building 00:19 that greeted people who arrived by boat. 00:22 The first thing that they saw of the city of Bombay, 00:25 today know as Mumbai. 00:26 It's also the first place on our visit 00:29 on today's program to this huge, wonderful city. 00:38 Just before He went up to heaven, 00:40 Jesus gave us a command. 00:43 He gave us a mission. 00:46 Jesus said, "Go, go unto all the world 00:51 telling them of His love." 00:53 This is our mission. This is our Global Mission. 01:08 Hello and welcome to "Global Mission Snapshots." 01:11 I'm Gary Krause. 01:12 Today's program is coming to you from the city of Mumbai, 01:15 formerly known as Bombay. 01:17 And its Republic Day here and hundreds of people 01:20 are out in this park enjoying the day, 01:22 playing India's most popular sport, cricket. 01:24 In fact, I'm taking my life in my hands here 01:27 as cricket balls come through from all angles. 01:30 This is India's most populous cities, some 21 million people. 01:34 In fact, it's one of the world's largest cities 01:36 and every day thousands of families move into this city 01:40 because they have hopes of more opportunities in the city. 01:45 When you look at the crowds, 01:46 when you look at the people you ask the question 01:49 how can the Seventh-day Adventist Church 01:51 even begin to have an impact in a place like this? 01:55 We'll be looking at that question 01:57 and others on today's program. 01:58 And first up, let's travel to Mongolia. 02:07 If you journey through Northern Asia, 02:09 you're likely to experience great diversity. 02:13 From small mountain villages 02:14 to some of the largest cities in the world, 02:17 the Northern Asia-Pacific region has it all. 02:21 In terms of population, 02:23 this region is the largest in the world. 02:26 And we have about 1.6 billion people 02:30 living in our territories. 02:32 So when you hear about China and Mongolia, 02:35 North Korea, and also Japan, you see, 02:38 and then you can imagine 02:39 that we have a huge mission challenges 02:42 in everywhere in our division territories. 02:46 With such diversity and size, 02:48 the challenges are clearly visible 02:50 and can sometimes seem overwhelming. 02:53 Despite the difficulty, God has willing servants 02:56 throughout the territory. 02:59 Many people in our division territories 03:01 they have a passion for mission. 03:03 When we encourage them, 03:05 when we work together with them with much prayer, 03:08 I'm sure that the Lord will continue to bless 03:12 our missionary activities in our division territories. 03:16 God has opened impossible doors in the past. 03:20 Not long ago, the country of Mongolia 03:23 seemed as though the gospel 03:24 could never cross into its borders. 03:27 Mongolia is a country 03:29 where about half of its population 03:30 lives in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. 03:34 The challenge of spreading the gospel here is evident. 03:41 Enkhbayar was one of the first Mongolians to be baptized 03:44 into the Seventh-day Adventist Church back in the 1990s. 03:48 This is a country as considered was a closed country 03:52 because we were 03:54 one of the former communist countries. 03:57 So we all grew up with no religion at all. 04:03 And after 1990s 04:08 when communism collapsed, things get changed. 04:12 Suddenly people found some kind of empty space in their hearts. 04:17 When Enkhbayar was a student, 04:18 she met a foreign woman at a school 04:20 and became friends with her. 04:22 Her new friend and her husband were sent 04:25 by Adventist Frontier Missions to Mongolia. 04:29 One Saturday, Enkhbayar went over to her new friend's house 04:32 and noticed they had just finished studying 04:34 from a book she didn't recognize. 04:38 She was curious so she started asking questions. 04:41 I want to learn that. 04:43 And that just sparked a little flame inside, 04:46 what is that, I want to learn. 04:48 She was encouraged to join them the next week 04:51 and she became eager to learn about the Bible. 04:54 She went back the next week, 04:56 and after a while they became close friends 04:59 as they studied the Bible together. 05:01 Every Sabbath, I think since then 05:03 I never missed a Sabbath meeting. 05:06 Because of friendship I get close to God 05:11 and I always say, I didn't find God 05:14 because I was blind and never interested. 05:18 Only God found me and He made the way to find me. 05:25 When Jesus was on this earth, He cared for people. 05:30 He was their friend 05:31 and He helped them with their problems. 05:34 As we continue to represent God, 05:36 shouldn't we follow Christ's example? 05:39 Enkhbayar's heart was touched 05:42 because those missionaries first shared Christ's love. 05:46 There are so many things attracted to me 05:48 because of their kindness 05:51 and sincerity to Mongolian people. 05:54 Even they served to poorest people 05:58 that we would never think of to helping them. 06:03 But they are so kind and nice people. 06:06 And finally I found it's because of God in their heart 06:10 they became-- they are so kind 06:12 and they became very close to my heart. 06:15 And through their friendship 06:17 I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. 06:19 And because of their kindness 06:22 I learned how to be kind to others. 06:25 Because of their true friendship 06:27 I became close to Jesus as my friend. 06:30 Since then, other Mongolians 06:32 have come to know the love of Jesus. 06:35 Thanks to Adventist Churches and schools 06:38 people in Mongolia can learn about Jesus. 06:41 Despite the challenges in countries like Mongolia, 06:44 God is now using faithful servants 06:46 like Enkhbayar to spread His message. 06:50 Please continue to pray for territories 06:52 like those in the Northern Asia-Pacific region. 06:56 Pray that the work can move quickly 06:58 through these difficult areas. 07:00 But these countries are beautiful tour 07:03 and God has blessed these countries in many ways. 07:07 And we hope that that we can spread 07:09 the gospel message 07:10 to the people in our territories 07:13 so many people can be saved into the kingdom of God. 07:24 My guest is Dr. Solomon 07:26 who is a behavioral science researcher 07:29 and teacher here in the city of Mumbai. 07:32 Dr. Solomon, thanks for joining us. 07:33 Thank you. 07:34 Now, you are a Seventy-day Adventist church member 07:36 who has been living here for how long? 07:38 Yeah, about 28 years. 07:39 Twenty eight years, so you know this city well 07:41 and you are one among 21 million people 07:47 and I think I've seen almost all of them today 07:49 because it's such a busy place. 07:51 Well, tell us about this city. 07:53 What's distinctive about it, what makes it tick? 07:56 Yes. 07:57 In India, Mumbai is considered to be the city 08:00 that is a magnet for migrants. 08:03 This is so because this is a place 08:06 which is considered to be a dream city 08:07 for the people of India because people believe that 08:09 they can come over to India 08:11 and they can get jobs and make a life. 08:13 There have been lots of stories of people 08:15 who came with almost nothing and they became millionaires. 08:18 So people around India they think that 08:21 Mumbai is a wonderful city 08:22 that they also can come about and become big persons. 08:26 And I think that's what attracts people. 08:28 And one more real truth is that nobody 08:30 who comes to Mumbai goes empty handed, 08:33 they all get jobs and they get settled down over here. 08:36 They find difficulty in finding I mean, 08:38 accommodation and other things, 08:40 but jobs they will always get 08:41 and that's why people come over here. 08:43 Right. 08:44 So obviously in this city there is some fabulous wealth 08:48 but I've also seen people who are struggling to survive. 08:51 But it all comes together in a mass of people 08:55 and you look at this and you say, 08:57 okay, we're in Adventist Church here of maybe 10,000 members. 09:02 What sort of impact can we make on this city? 09:04 What do we have to offer? 09:06 Well, I believe that Adventist Church is a very unique church 09:10 having a very unique message than most other people. 09:13 And if only we can make use of that unique message, 09:17 whether it is a health message or message for the youth 09:21 these messages can have a strong impact on people. 09:24 And I feel that in a city like this, 09:26 there are lots of people 09:28 who are experiencing loneliness. 09:30 You know, as I said, lots of people are coming over 09:32 to the city and they come and try to make a life. 09:35 But when they come to the city, they find they find very lonely 09:38 and they also find that life is quite tough. 09:41 And they are looking for some sense 09:43 and meaning in their life and they want to really see 09:46 that their life is, you know, pleasant 09:50 and that they are able to adjust very well. 09:52 And they are the people, I suppose, 09:54 that we can reach them 09:56 and present them about the message of love 09:58 and peace that Jesus offers to us. 10:00 Yeah. 10:01 Now Dr. Solomon, you have been involved for some time 10:04 in a in-depth longitudinal study of young people, 10:08 working with researchers 10:10 in America, Australia, and here. 10:12 What are you finding out about the youth here in India? 10:16 Well, I have began this study way back in 2010. 10:19 The study name is called 10:20 as International Youth Development Study. 10:23 This study has been conducted in three nations, 10:26 three continents, and in three cities. 10:28 Melbourne city in Australia and Seattle city in USA 10:31 and Mumbai city in India. 10:34 In these three cities what we are doing 10:36 is that we have been offered the young people, 10:39 especially from the schools and we reach them 10:42 and we administer of psychological tests 10:45 a survey questionnaire that we administer. 10:47 And we have been following these youth 10:49 for year after year as it is a longitudinal city. 10:52 The purpose of this study is to find out 10:56 how young people's lives are being influenced 10:58 because of the globalization factors. 11:01 You know the life has been moving very fast these days 11:04 and information technology has impacting them 11:07 and it's not only impacting the young people 11:09 but also impacting what young people are connected with, 11:12 that is their families, and their schools, 11:15 their peers, even their church also. 11:17 I mean the religious organization 11:19 that they are connected. 11:20 So we are trying to find out how these connections 11:23 are influencing the young people 11:26 and how this connections are making the young people 11:29 to adopt themselves effectively. 11:31 And that's determining their behavior 11:34 whether the behavior is going to be a risk behavior 11:37 or problem behavior or a behavior 11:39 which is supported with lots of protective factors. 11:44 So the areas that you're talking about surely 11:47 we as Seventh-day Adventists would have something 11:50 to say to contribute to help in that. 11:53 Yes, I do agree with you and I believe strongly 11:55 that this research helps us to understand at least 11:59 what are the needs that young people are facing 12:02 in these large cities in general. 12:05 And it also helps us understand that 12:09 which context are very strongly influencing people 12:12 like for example, whether it is a context of peer groups 12:15 or it's a context of families. 12:17 So when we know that for example, 12:19 if we come to know that families are weak, 12:23 families have got risk factors such as, 12:24 you know, in some families 12:26 there is a problem of addiction and things like that. 12:28 When we come to know that, 12:29 I mean, as a church I suppose 12:31 we can also work with the families 12:33 and help them to turn these families 12:37 as a source of strong protective factors, 12:40 you know, we can help families to be, 12:43 I mean, built up, 12:45 help the people to get themselves 12:47 out of these risk behaviors 12:49 where through which they are setting 12:50 a wrong examples or wrong model to these young people. 12:54 So in that way, I think that this research can help 12:57 the church to know about, 12:58 what are the needs and what are the problems 13:00 that we see in the society. 13:02 Dr. Solomon, you have been involved 13:04 in health ministry here in Mumbai, 13:07 briefly tell me what that's been incorporating. 13:12 Well, we do notice that in the city 13:15 like this as a large number of people come, 13:17 they have problems of accommodation 13:19 and they do face several different, different problems. 13:23 And being a crowded city, 13:25 there are limits for effective sanitary systems and all that. 13:29 For all these reasons, we do have a problem health, 13:33 serious health problems, you know, 13:34 people often fall sick to say suppose malaria 13:39 and dengue and during the monsoon period 13:41 that people also fall sick to gastroenteritis. 13:44 And people fall sick to these illnesses partially 13:49 because they are unaware of how to take care of their health. 13:53 Now Seventh-day Adventist church 13:55 is having a unique health message, 13:57 the message that helps people 13:58 to prevent themselves from falling sick. 14:01 So what we do is that we organize health camps 14:05 and we also organize health expos 14:07 through which we are bringing about a greater awareness 14:10 among the people about the need to take care of their health. 14:16 So you have various specialties that you share. 14:21 You have physiotherapists, 14:23 you have massage, you have doctors. 14:25 Yes, yes. Yeah. 14:27 In our church we do have people 14:28 from several health science backgrounds 14:31 and as you say that we have-- I am a psychologist myself, 14:34 and then we have a physiotherapist, 14:37 and we have one doctor and several nurses we've got. 14:41 And usually when we organize a health fair 14:45 all these people work with us and also there are people 14:48 who have studied health sciences broadly. 14:50 They also come and help us in organizing this. 14:53 And there are people 14:54 who are experts in massage, okay. 14:57 And these people provide their skills and abilities 14:59 and as a result of which we are able to help people 15:03 through these fairs to help themselves 15:05 to take care of their personal health 15:07 and thus they will be able to prevent themselves 15:09 from falling sick. 15:11 Fantastic. 15:12 Dr. Solomon, thank you so much for joining us today. 15:14 Thank you. 15:16 And we'll be right back, right after a short break. |
Revised 2015-06-11