Participants: Gary Krause (Host), Mfakazi Ndebele, Julian Kastrati
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000702A
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00:11 Fourteen million people live in the London Metropolitan Area
00:15 and reportedly some 300 languages are spoken here, 00:18 making it perhaps the world's most international city. 00:22 "Mission in London" and much more coming up next. 00:29 Just before He went up to heaven, 00:32 Jesus gave us a command. 00:35 He gave us a mission. Jesus said, "Go. 00:40 Go unto all the world, telling them of His love." 00:45 This is our mission. 00:47 This is our "Global Mission." 00:55 Hello and welcome to "Global Mission Snapshots." 00:58 Taking you around the world to see mission in action, 01:01 today's program is coming to you from London, England, 01:04 full of remarkable landmarks such as Buckingham Palace. 01:08 On today's program, we'll take you 360 degrees 01:11 around the world. 01:12 First up, let's travel to South Sudan, 01:14 and meet a couple 01:16 who are educating young minds for eternity. 01:27 Eyira Adventist Vocational Academy 01:29 is a struggling Seventh-day Adventist school 01:32 located in Southern Sudan. 01:34 It was in 1996 they opened its doors 01:37 and they have been holding the school 01:43 each year since then, even though 01:45 the first eight or nine years were during war. 01:49 Sudanese are flowing to Uganda, to Kenya, 01:51 to look for education opportunities 01:53 in larger numbers. 01:54 That's why I say this so, 01:57 if there is somebody outside there 01:59 who wants to come in here, 02:01 bringing education opportunities 02:03 I think is answering the true need 02:05 of the Sudanese people. 02:12 Lowell and Neria Jenks are heading to Southern Sudan 02:15 to start a vocational program for the school. 02:18 I think that they realize that you know, 02:20 we're like fish out of water, coming all the way over here. 02:24 And they're apparently doing 02:26 what they can to make us fit in, 02:28 feel comfortable and to make it home for us. 02:40 This is brother Lowell Jenks. 02:43 Lowell will be heading up 02:45 the new vocational section of EAVA, 02:49 and his wife Neria who will be librarian 02:52 and giving some assistance in the office as well. 03:00 You've made us feel welcome. 03:02 We're calling this home. 03:05 Thank you. 03:20 You can see, green trees and flowers, pretty full. 03:25 We were originally brought in here 03:27 to initiate a vocational program. 03:30 The name of this school 03:32 is Eyira Adventist Vocational Academy. 03:35 And other than teaching agriculture to the students, 03:39 nothing was being done. 03:41 And I don't know how many years 03:42 it had been since a more formal type 03:44 of a vocational program was going on. 03:47 But they wanted to come in 03:50 and make the part of the vocation 03:53 in the school's name more of a reality. 03:56 With my English, I've got to say things 03:59 three to four or five times sometimes 04:01 before they really grasp what I'm saying. 04:03 So we put a whole outline on the board, 04:06 we explain everything two or three times 04:08 and I try to have some kind of a training DVD or video 04:10 that they can also look at 04:12 because they pick up additional things 04:13 that I'm trying to give them. 04:21 To me, living in South Sudan 04:23 is like going many years back in Belize, 04:27 because when I was growing up, we did everything manually, 04:32 you know, electricity, we didn't have electricity. 04:37 So we go to bed when the sun goes down and rise 04:41 when the sun came up 04:42 and basically that's what we do here. 04:45 Dishes, breakfast and lunch together, 04:47 so we don't use much water. 04:57 You know, we live in a nice house compared to 05:00 what the average Sudanese lives in. 05:02 It was built by somebody from ADRA, 05:05 and it's a brick masonry house 05:07 and we do have power of sorts. 05:09 I think there's one outlet in each room. 05:12 We get power about three hours a night 05:14 from 7:30 to 10:30. 05:15 For somebody like me who goes to bed at 8:30 05:17 I don't always get to advantage myself of it. 05:19 Anyhow, water we catch most of our water 05:23 throughout the year off of the roof, gutters 05:25 and a couple of plastic cisterns. 05:28 Dry months if we're here during the dry months 05:31 we hire a young lady to carry water about a mile 05:34 from the borehole. 05:35 As far as transportation, somebody, 05:38 a former missionary left me a motorcycle. 05:41 And I do go around some on that. 05:43 Although, limited during the rainy season 05:45 because I-- the road gets very slippery. 05:47 The school has a Land Cruiser 05:50 and if we have to we go to town 05:54 but otherwise there are weeks at a time 05:56 that we never, pretty much leave the school. 06:07 My guest is Mfakazi who is planting 06:10 a church here in London. 06:11 Thanks for joining us. Thank you. 06:13 And appreciate the warm welcome here today. 06:16 Mfakazi, you've already planted a church in London. 06:19 How did that start? Tell me the story. 06:22 Well, I was a member of my church 06:28 in East London there and one of my friends, 06:32 we started talking about being more involved 06:36 and really making a greater impact 06:40 with what we have as Adventists. 06:43 So we started reading the book by Barrow, 06:47 "Revolution in the Church." 06:49 And understanding the founding principles 06:53 of our church. 06:55 How pastors were evangelists 06:58 and how they would then train the lay members, 07:03 to then continue leading the church 07:06 and they would move on to planting other churches. 07:09 And how this was so attractive 07:11 to other congregations to the extent that 07:15 their used to come to us and say, how is it that 07:18 the Adventist Church is growing so fast? 07:21 And the principles there 07:23 which are in the book of Acts were coming out, 07:27 that this is the model that Paul used 07:30 and this is what we use. 07:32 And based on that understanding, 07:35 I couldn't sit on that information. 07:38 I then resolved to go out and try and create, 07:44 encourage a lay church planting movement 07:47 in the South England Conference. 07:50 And just went out and started Sure Way Community Church. 07:54 Well, just so that our viewers know this, 07:57 you were fully employed as a software engineer 08:00 or designer, you were in IT. 08:03 Yes, I am in IT and working a full day 08:09 as you can appreciate these days. 08:13 As a solution architect consultant in IT, 08:16 but I see ministry as actually of primary importance. 08:20 Wonderful, so you decided with your friend 08:22 that you are going to plant a church. 08:23 What happened? 08:26 Well, we started, in the first year, 08:28 we started reading this book. 08:29 We used to meet every Wednesday, 08:32 but at the end of the year 08:34 I went to the SEEDS Conference in Andrews University in 2000 08:40 and when I came back, I said to my congregation, 08:44 I wouldn't be continuing, 08:46 I would go out and plant a church. 08:47 So I worked with the local church 08:50 and put together a church planting plan 08:54 that got approval from the church 08:56 and the church board and we went out 08:59 to start planting the church. 09:02 But the curious thing is, whenever you set out, 09:07 it's good having an intellectual assent, 09:10 it's another thing to actually take a step out 09:13 and plant the church, 09:14 so those I started with did not continue. 09:19 But with my family and a few others about half a dozen 09:23 or so of us went ahead and planted the church. 09:27 And in this-- well, it's a community 09:31 with very few Adventists. 09:33 And an area of deprivation, 09:40 a lot of social problems. 09:42 So we established the church there 09:44 and it's still going strong today. 09:47 Wonderful, and the good news is you've already started 09:49 on planting your second group of believers. 09:52 Yes, so two years ago I went out into 09:56 another neighboring area 09:58 and with a group of about 12 people 10:02 and we are now in our beginning 10:06 of our third year in planting that church 10:09 and the vision in this particular community 10:13 is to establish a center 10:15 of influence on the high street, 10:17 so that the church can be present 10:20 at least six days a week, 10:22 rubbing shoulders with people in this community 10:25 and us making a difference in that area. 10:29 I just love that. So what are the-- 10:32 You're starting a center of influence, 10:34 what are the principles that guide you 10:37 as you seek to start this group of believers? 10:41 Well, as I said, one of the principles 10:45 I believe in is that 10:46 the church should be part of the community. 10:50 Wonderful. 10:51 So one of the principles is that 10:52 people who belong to this church 10:54 must be within a specific radius of the church, 11:00 so that they can be dissolved. 11:02 And so we can do the mingling and the mixing. 11:05 And we can put into practice Christ's method. 11:09 So some of our ministry ideas 11:12 are all about mixing and mingling. 11:14 So one of the examples 11:16 that we are currently doing is that once a month, 11:19 there is a farmer's market in the High Street in this town 11:24 and we have taken a stall in that farmers market. 11:28 And so every first Sunday of the month, 11:30 we're out there, on the stall, sharing healthy food 11:36 and also our church literature. 11:39 We run health seminars, again people come 11:44 and we share with them the principles 11:48 of the church in terms of health 11:50 and that is the way we continue to build 11:53 relationships with these individuals. 11:56 Okay, so no community church 11:58 where people drive in and then go away, 12:01 you're actually embedded in the community. 12:03 We're trying to be part of that community 12:05 and be embedded in the community. 12:07 Know the issues that 12:09 we share in common with those people. 12:12 While we do surveys but at least 12:14 we know some of the issues directly ourselves 12:17 because we live in the community. 12:19 Now are you funded entirely by the church? 12:23 No, Obviously, no. 12:25 In fact we haven't taken any funding at all 12:27 from the conference for this program. 12:31 It's entirely sacrificial. 12:34 What we are actually doing, 12:35 one of our founding principles is, 12:39 as the churches are saying, 12:40 the original church is now returning 12:44 a significant amount of tithe. 12:46 To the conference and of course, 12:48 within that church we don't have a paid employee. 12:52 Its lay lead. 12:53 Its lay lead which means the funds 12:55 that are generated by this church plant 12:59 or this new church, can be used 13:01 by the conference to target an un-entered area. 13:05 Where they can send an evangelistic pastor 13:08 to go and raise a church in that community. 13:12 So we're bringing about a greater level 13:15 of involvement of people 13:17 who would otherwise be warming benches 13:19 in the big mother church 13:22 but when they come into this smaller community, 13:25 there can be a greater level of involvement. 13:27 But we are also facilitating the growth 13:31 of our aggressive mission 13:33 by actually saying to the conference, 13:35 here are our resources, we don't need a pastor here, 13:39 you use that money to send an evangelist somewhere else. 13:43 Fantastic, wonderful story 13:45 and God bless you and your ministry. 13:47 Thank you. 13:48 What an exciting thing 13:50 that's happening right here in London, 13:52 in a territory of so many million people. 13:55 Don't go away, we'll be right back 13:57 straight after this break. |
Revised 2015-06-22