Participants: Gary Krause (Host), Sam Gungaloo & Ana Costescu
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000704A
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00:13 Listen closely, its 10:45 here in London
00:17 and Big Ben is here to faithfully remind us. 00:20 Mission in London and other parts of the world 00:23 coming up next on this program. 00:30 Just before He went up to heaven, 00:32 Jesus gave us a command. 00:35 He gave us a mission. 00:38 Jesus said, "Go, go unto all the world, 00:43 telling them of His love." 00:45 This is our mission. 00:48 This is our Global Mission. 00:56 Hello and welcome to Global Mission Snapshots 00:59 coming to you today from London, 01:01 the beautiful, the historic and the cold city of London. 01:05 Behind me you'll see this landmark known as Big Ben. 01:08 It's the world's second largest four faced chiming clock 01:13 and it's remarkably reliable. 01:16 Every quarter hour you'll hear the chimes 01:18 and on the hour you'll hear the big bell sound. 01:22 The noise that you'll hear is said to be a variation 01:25 on the air, "I know my redeemer liveth." 01:29 And in this secular city it's a gentle reminder 01:32 that our redeemer does indeed live. 01:35 The redeemer who is also the Creator 01:37 of all things including time 01:41 and it's a reminder for of the seventh day Sabbath, 01:44 that special time every week created especially by God. 01:48 On today's program we'll be look at 01:50 how a group of creative young people 01:52 are taking this concept literally to the street 01:55 as they take the Sabbath sofa into the streets 01:58 and introduce people to the concept 02:00 of this special time created by God. 02:15 Kamala is a Global Mission pioneer in New Delhi, India. 02:27 Global Mission pioneers are sent out 02:29 to start new groups of believers 02:30 in un-reached neighborhoods. 02:33 Kamala speaks the language. She knows the culture. 02:36 She mingles with the people. 02:43 New Delhi is one of the most densely populated cities, 02:46 with millions of people who don't know Jesus. 02:51 This is a challenging area to spread the gospel. 02:54 Over time, Kamala has made friends in her community. 02:57 Her relationships have allowed her 02:59 to share her Christian faith. 03:04 By God's grace, people have been open 03:06 to the gospel message 03:08 and want to learn more about Jesus. 03:16 Kamala speaks every Sabbath to a growing congregation 03:18 that meets in this small room. 03:27 Initially there was no organized group here. 03:30 There were just some people 03:32 scattered around here and there. 03:34 I used to pray to the Lord to give me a congregation here. 03:38 Slowly people started coming to listen to the message 03:41 that I presented. 03:44 Kamala visits people in their homes to talk 03:46 and get to know them. 03:48 Through relationships and word of mouth, 03:50 this group has grown from a small few, 03:52 to a crowded room. 03:57 I take my children to school 03:59 and after that I take some of the ladies 04:02 from my congregation with me 04:04 and we go to different houses where the needs are. 04:07 May be the need for prayer, the need for visitation, 04:10 the need for conversation 04:12 because they are all feeling down. 04:15 That's how I do it. 04:17 I do small group meetings, visiting door to door, 04:21 house to house, 04:22 and that's how people enjoy the church here. 04:25 One of the members who helps is Karishma. 04:28 She came to know Jesus because of Kamala. 04:32 Kamala visited Karishma's house regularly to talk. 04:36 Karishma's mother had been sick in bed for 25 years 04:39 with little hope for recovery. 04:42 Since she was always home, 04:43 she heard them talking about Jesus. 04:46 Karishma's mother did not want her daughter 04:48 to become a Christian. 04:50 She warned her not to trust Kamala. 04:59 Karishma didn't want to upset her mother, 05:01 but she truly believed the Adventist message. 05:04 So she went against her mother's advice 05:06 and was baptized. 05:08 She prayed faithfully for her mother every day. 05:12 Kamala continued to visit 05:13 and began telling Karishma's mother 05:15 of Jesus' healing power. 05:18 Eventually, Karishma's mother 05:19 accepted Jesus into her life as well. 05:23 As soon as she accepted Jesus into her life, 05:26 she was able to walk again. 05:28 After 25 years of sickness, she was healed. 05:32 God's healing power transcends all impossibilities. 05:38 As congregations like this continue to grow, 05:41 so does our world's population. 05:43 Millions of people around the world don't know Jesus. 05:47 Global Mission pioneers are working hard to keep up 05:50 with the great need. 05:52 Please pray for Global Mission pioneers like Kamala, 05:56 who are sharing Jesus' love. 05:59 Thank you for supporting mission. 06:03 Well, it's a cold winter's day here in Watford, 06:07 a suburb of London 06:08 and it's raining so we're under a bridge. 06:11 And I am talking with Ana and Pastor Sam, 06:15 and we are sitting on 06:16 what is known as a Sabbath sofa. 06:19 Ana, what is a Sabbath sofa? 06:21 The Sabbath sofa is a place where people can sit down 06:25 and rest and take a break from the craziness of life. 06:30 Okay, and this is a portable sofa? 06:32 Yes. Okay. 06:34 Where did this idea come from, Sam? 06:36 Well this idea originally came from a team 06:39 of three pastors who put our minds together 06:41 to see how can we be creative 06:44 in expressing the principle of the Sabbath to everybody, 06:48 and so we thought why not place a random sofa in a busy area 06:52 and invite people to come and sit down 06:54 and just experience it for themselves 06:56 even in a small way, 06:58 and we hope to inspire people that way. 06:59 Okay, so where did you first trial it 07:02 and what happened? 07:04 Wow, it was in Central London 07:07 in a busy area called Marble Arch. 07:12 One of my friends and Pastors Vili Costescu 07:16 helped me out to set it up. 07:17 We set the sofa in a van 07:19 and we came down into Marble Arch 07:22 and I was initially very scared to do it. 07:26 I thought people were going to reject me immediately. 07:29 We plopped it down, there were people walking 07:31 left, right, and center and the first lady 07:33 that came to sit down on the sofa was so receptive. 07:38 I'm still in contact with her to today. 07:40 Is that right? So it's really, really-- 07:42 It's been such a blessing and an inspiration. 07:44 Okay, now Ana, you've done this many times, 07:47 tell me about one of the experiences 07:49 that you've had on the Sabbath sofa. 07:51 I think the most incredible thing about 07:53 this project is the relationships 07:56 that we've been able to maintain 07:58 with these people even after such a long time 08:01 and so many people write to us on Facebook 08:04 and share their experiences of the Sabbath 08:07 and that's the icing on the cake for us. 08:10 That's why we're doing this and it really makes us happy. 08:14 Well I remember, what was it last year 08:16 or the year before, summer up in Wales, 08:19 you invited me to trial the Sabbath sofa. 08:22 It was under much happier circumstances 08:24 where I wasn't freezing. 08:25 But I was just amazed at how many people would stop 08:29 and just sit down and just unload, 08:32 they would start talking about their experiences. 08:34 Now you have something you say to these people about 08:37 the Sabbath, what do you say? 08:38 Well, first of all the key to trying to engage people, 08:42 is well we connect and laugh and have a joke, 08:45 and after we kind of try and break down that barrier. 08:49 I ask people to image with me a world 08:52 where they can take 24 hours out of their busy schedules 08:55 from a Friday sunset to a Saturday sunset and rest. 09:00 I ask them to what does a day sound like to them? 09:04 I have to be honest and say 100 percent 09:07 of the responses I get on this sofa, 09:09 I kid you no lie, is that sounds amazing, 09:12 that's wonderful! 09:14 And people are just genuinely shocked about 09:16 a concept like this to the point that 09:17 they feel well actually that sounds amazing 09:20 but not that feasible. 09:22 And at that point I guess I neatly come in 09:26 and say well, its funny you should say that 09:28 because there happens to be 18 million of us 09:31 around the globe who do this regularly. 09:35 So it's an opportunity to inspire people about 09:37 the conversation of the Sabbath 09:39 and who we are in terms of our identity as well. 09:42 I remember from that one experience of people 09:45 would sit down they would visibly relax 09:48 and then when you'd say that to them 09:49 they would say oh, if only there were 24 hours. 09:53 Ana, what sort of things do you do beside the sofa 09:56 to like to back up what you're doing? 09:58 Ana? 09:59 We have a very strong social media 10:02 part of our project, so we-- 10:05 Sam and I do weekly challenges for people 10:09 where we do a Sabbath sofa challenge 10:10 and its different things. 10:12 We ask them different ways that 10:14 they can experience the Sabbath. 10:16 So either if its just enjoy the nature, 10:19 or call up someone you haven't spoken to in a long time. 10:23 It doesn't have to be something big, yeah. 10:25 And we also produce info graphics 10:28 that we post everyday on the Sabbath sofa 10:31 just to keep people engaged and remind them of the Sabbath. 10:34 Yeah, I saw those little cards that you have as well. 10:38 If you can dig that out so we can show the viewers. 10:40 Let's say. 10:42 That's the front and that's the back. 10:43 So it's got the links 10:45 for the social media and the website? 10:48 The beautiful thing about 10:50 these particular cards is they're simple. 10:53 Most people don't want to be lumbered 10:55 with a whole bunch of books and stacks and things. 10:58 It's very simple, you put it in their hands 11:00 and people are willing to go and check it out 11:02 and it's really quite, quite inspirational 11:05 how people respond to it. 11:07 Yeah, tell me another story of someone 11:10 who had the Sabbath sofa experience. 11:12 Okay. 11:15 All right, I'll tell you a story about a Jewish guy 11:18 who came and sat on the sofa. 11:21 We were in Soho, In London? 11:25 In London, yes, I rehearsed this speech 11:27 and obviously it changes per person 11:29 and I remember this guy came and sat down 11:32 and I was going through this speech 11:34 as I'm used to and I said, well, 11:37 have you ever heard of the Sabbath? 11:38 And he said, yes, I have. 11:40 And he sort of took me by surprise, 11:42 I wasn't ready for this. 11:43 So, you have? Yes, I'm a Jew. 11:48 Oh! Yeah, we invented this. 11:50 Right. 11:51 And that's almost exactly what happened 11:53 and so I had to change my whole spiel. 11:55 I actually sat back on the sofa, I rested 11:59 and I asked him to teach me about the Sabbath. 12:03 And I was absolutely blessed 12:05 when he broke down the Sabbath in such a way 12:08 where he basically said, the Sabbath is the time for God 12:11 and man to spend intentional time together 12:15 and that from the words from a Jew. 12:16 So that was one experience 12:18 where I got taught about the Sabbath, 12:19 which was pretty awesome. 12:21 Yeah. 12:23 What, have you had any negative responses? 12:26 Have I had any negative responses? 12:32 I'm struggling because I can't. 12:35 No, because it's a Sabbath blessing. 12:37 Yes. 12:38 The most negative response that 12:41 we've had would be the Sabbath is a great idea 12:45 but it's not feasible. 12:46 Right, it's not practical. 12:47 It's not practical but by our experiences 12:50 we show them that it is. 12:52 So, that's about as negative as it gets. 12:56 Because it's a positive experience. 12:58 Ana and Sam, thank you so much 13:00 for sharing with us about the Sabbath sofa. 13:02 Thank you. Thank you so much. 13:03 And I want to see hundreds of these in cities 13:05 around the world. 13:06 Well, let's hope so. 13:07 Yes, that's what we want as well. 13:09 Defiantly. 13:10 Viewers at home, pray for those involved in the Sabbath sofa 13:12 and maybe this is an idea that you could try at home 13:15 and you can go to the website up on the screen 13:18 and find out more information. 13:20 We'll be back right after this break. |
Revised 2015-08-20