Participants: Gary Krause (Host), Claudio Gulyas, Doug Venn, Percy Dias
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000801A
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00:10 Athens, the capital of Greece,
00:12 one of the world's most ancient cities, 00:14 the birthplace of western civilization 00:17 and democracy, 00:18 that and much more coming up next. 00:25 Just before He went up to heaven, 00:28 Jesus gave us a command. 00:31 He gave us a mission. 00:33 Jesus said, Go, 00:36 "go unto all the world telling them of His love." 00:41 This is our mission. 00:43 This is our Global Mission. 00:52 Hello and welcome to Global Mission Snapshots. 00:54 Coming to you today 00:56 from the ancient city of Athens in Greece. 00:59 The Apostle Paul walked 01:00 these streets some 2,000 years ago. 01:03 And Acts 17 it tells us the story of how 01:06 when he was in the marketplace, 01:08 he talked about Jesus, 01:09 and how he went to the Jewish synagogue 01:12 and talked about Jesus. 01:13 And then he was invited up here to Mars Hill 01:16 to meet with the Areopagus next to the Acropolis. 01:19 And there he reasoned with the philosophers 01:22 they were interested to hear new ideas 01:24 and he talked to them about the resurrection 01:26 and about Jesus, but before that 01:28 he made sure that he connected with their culture 01:31 and their understanding. 01:33 And so he talked about the altar to the unknown God 01:36 that he had seen 01:38 and he connected that to the one true God. 01:40 And he even quoted pagan poets to them, 01:44 "In him we live, and move, and have our being, 01:47 and also we are His offspring." 01:50 He took those pagan poems 01:52 and related them to the one true God. 01:55 As we look at the mission field 01:57 we face today around the world in so many places, 02:00 so many cultures, we need to follow the principles 02:03 that were shown by the Apostle Paul 02:06 of making the good news about Jesus attractive, 02:09 meaningful, and understandable to people in their context. 02:13 Well, more about that on today's program, 02:15 but first up let's travel to East Timor. 02:28 The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste is a country 02:31 located in Southeast Asia. 02:34 It lies on the eastern half of the Island of Timor. 02:36 This small yet beautiful island is home to 1.2 million people 02:41 who make up one of two 02:42 predominantly Christian nations in Southeast Asia. 02:45 Statistically 98% of Timorese people are Catholic. 02:50 East Timor's official languages are Portuguese and Tetum, 02:54 which help explain the history of this country. 02:57 After 450 years of Portuguese colonization, 03:00 East Timor was almost 03:02 instantly brought under its neighbor Indonesia. 03:05 It was only recently in 2002 03:07 that East Timor became independent, 03:09 the first new democracy of the 21st century. 03:13 The Seventh-day Adventist Church 03:14 was first organized in this new country in 2009. 03:18 Currently, there is one official church, 03:21 three companies and some 500 members 03:23 spread throughout the island. 03:27 Today it's Sabbath here in Timor-Leste 03:30 and we're inside the only Seventh-day Adventist Church 03:33 on this remote island. 03:34 The people here are happy 03:36 and they have a place to worship 03:37 the God who made them. 03:39 They sing. 03:49 They study. 03:51 They hear the word of God. 03:53 They raise their voice as high in gratitude 03:56 for God's grace and protection. 04:04 Adventist members in Timor-Leste 04:05 face regular difficulties when they join the church 04:08 and start following the biblical Sabbath. 04:11 Members are often rejected, 04:12 persecuted, threatened, expelled or fired 04:16 and at times physically attacked. 04:43 This is Lospalos, a remote town 04:46 on the eastern shore of Timor-Leste. 04:53 We came here to visit an Adventist member 04:55 who took a brave stand for God. 04:58 Jorkina is a Seventh-day Adventist member 05:01 who lives in Lospalos. 05:03 Her home is humble. 05:04 It is also her shop and workplace. 05:07 Jorkina is a tailor. 05:09 She sews clothes, purses and many creative items 05:12 to earn a living. 05:13 Jorkina has a physical condition 05:15 that causes her a lot of pain and challenges. 05:19 One day she felt so weak 05:20 that she prayed for God to help her. 05:23 It was then that two Adventist missionaries 05:25 came to her house, prayed with her 05:28 and gave her a Bible. 05:29 As Jorkina learned the Bible, 05:31 she decided to become a Seventh-day Adventist. 05:34 Unfortunately there is religious discrimination 05:37 in this area. 05:38 Soon Jorkina's neighbors 05:40 filed an unjust complaint against her 05:42 and she was taken by the police. 05:45 It was a difficult time for Jorkina. 05:47 But after this incident 05:49 she became even more encouraged to abide 05:51 by her Bible based faith. 05:54 She made the decision to be baptized 05:56 and join the small local Seventh-day Adventist group. 06:00 Her persecution is still evident at times, 06:03 but Jorkina finds the opportunity to speak 06:05 about God every chance she gets. 06:09 On Saturdays she closes her shop 06:11 and people have to wait until after Sabbath for her services. 06:15 This small community in Lospalos 06:17 is working hard to plant a new church. 06:21 There are also other groups in Timor-Leste 06:23 who ask for your prayer 06:24 and support for the many challenges 06:26 they face daily as they follow Jesus. 06:29 Please pray for the people here. 06:31 Pray also for the global mission pioneers 06:33 and missionaries working in this beautiful new nation. 06:47 My guest is Pastor Claudio Gulyas 06:50 who is the president 06:51 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 06:52 here in Greece. 06:54 Pastor, thank you so much for joining us. 06:56 Thank you for inviting me and give me this opportunity. 06:58 And at a very historic place. 07:01 Please tell our viewers where we're standing? 07:03 Now, we are standing, there're lot of stones around 07:06 and we're standing over lot of stones. 07:08 It has to do with the place 07:09 where Apostle Paul was here challenging 07:12 the Athenians and telling about the unknown God. 07:16 So it's a very famous place, 07:18 very well known from the biblical perspective 07:22 and also we're in a country where the democracy was born. 07:26 So it's very important place. 07:28 So we're standing on Mars Hill 07:30 where the Areopagus meant 07:32 and we understand from Acts 17 that 07:35 Paul was down there in the marketplace 07:36 talking about Jesus and came up here. 07:40 Now, we're some 2,000 years later 07:43 and we see it's obviously 07:46 a very different place in many ways, 07:49 but the good news about Jesus, 07:51 He is still being shared in this city. 07:54 And what about the Seventh-day Adventist Church specifically? 07:58 What sort of activities are we involved with in here? 08:03 Now with this financial crisis, 08:08 we have two challenges 08:12 and opportunities at the same time. 08:14 The challenge is dealing with this environment, 08:19 Greek Orthodox pass more than environment. 08:24 Everything is relative, relativity 08:27 knowing to seeking in other religion, belief, 08:30 so but in the same time 08:33 this crisis have done very important thing. 08:36 It changed the way that people see life 08:40 and change their orientation. 08:42 So they are more open, not specifically to religion 08:48 but to any kind of help from outside. 08:54 So we're working in that way 08:57 because public evangelism is very difficult here. 09:01 People will not come in open event, 09:03 so we're trying to appose them on one to one evangelism 09:09 and they're more sensitive to the human needs 09:13 and we're working on that level. 09:16 I'm guessing pastor if you were to rent a hall 09:20 here in Athens and invite people to come 09:24 to hear some talks on spiritual things, 09:26 you would probably find an empty audience. 09:28 They will not come, only a very few of them, 09:31 that they'll not but that is now-- 09:33 They're not interesting in that right now. 09:36 They're interesting in what they're going to eat tomorrow, 09:41 they're lost in their jobs, 09:43 so we have to work 09:44 on that level to meet their needs first. 09:47 Now, I'm guessing that Adventism is probably 09:50 seen as some sort of a foreign group, 09:53 it's not same as a Greek owned thing is that right. 09:56 Tell me about that? 09:57 Yes, yes, you're right 09:59 and basically here if you're an Orthodox 10:03 you have to be Greek, 10:04 it's very sentimental with nationality. 10:07 So it's almost like a state religion to-- 10:09 To state religion, you're right. 10:10 And has very big influence and impact on people's life, 10:13 even though they say we're Orthodox Greeks 10:18 but usually they don't attend a church, 10:21 they're not open to any other religion, 10:24 something different. 10:26 So it's more a cultural commitment from most people 10:28 and I guess in many parts of the world those of us 10:31 who call ourselves Christians, 10:33 we may only go to church for Easter 10:35 or for a wedding or something like that, 10:38 so you were talking to me earlier 10:40 about the early stages of a plan 10:43 for a center of influence, 10:44 a center of hope here in the city. 10:46 What sort of thing would you like to see happen? 10:49 What we would like to do is based 10:50 on their needs is try to find to cooperate 10:56 with some professional like doctors, lawyers, 11:00 to rent a place and each day to have a different person, 11:05 a lawyer one day for couple of hours 11:08 to give advice for free to the people, 11:10 the next day we have a doctor, 11:12 medical doctor to give them advice on medical issues, 11:15 another day probably Sunday has to do with the family, 11:20 something like that to give them advice for free 11:23 to the people and it will work, I'm sure. 11:26 Well, I'm sure it will work too 11:28 because it's basically Christ method in ministry, 11:30 isn't it, where you're mingling, 11:31 you're showing sympathy 11:33 and you're ministering to needs. 11:35 Do you have within the church 11:37 this sort of professionals you'd need for this? 11:41 We have but not as much as we want. 11:44 So we have to go outside which is very good. 11:47 Because you're involving the community 11:49 in as a community service. 11:50 And they, you know, they feel like 11:52 they're doing something good so did I say earlier 11:54 this crisis makes people to be more sensitive 11:57 about the people needs. 11:58 So I think it would be 12:00 a big problem to find volunteers. 12:02 To reach out for the people. 12:04 As you look to the future what are your hopes, 12:07 what would you like to see happen here in Greece. 12:11 I mean for the-- 12:12 For the church? For the church. 12:14 Yeah. 12:15 From my point of view 12:16 I'm-- 12:18 we're working on trying to... 12:21 ..to focus not on numbers. 12:25 Have baptisms, but to go out 12:29 and to live out doctrines, live out what we believe. 12:33 To mingle with people to be the salt of the herbs, 12:36 the light of the world, 12:38 so that's where we're working on that, 12:40 to be really involving 12:42 the society to make God known in Greece. 12:44 Yes. 12:46 Look at the outcome it will be to have some baptisms, 12:50 but that's not our focus on baptism. 12:53 To live our life 12:54 that's I'm looking forward to getting 12:56 for the Greek Adventist starts to be known in Greek society. 13:02 Yeah. Because you're-- 13:04 or you're reminding us 13:05 that we're really called to be faithful. 13:07 The baptisms are the work of the Holy Spirit. 13:10 Well, you know, 13:12 when we look at a city like Athens, 13:14 how many people do we have here? 13:15 I mean we have millions upon millions of people 13:20 and I guess rather than having someone come 13:22 and preach at them, 13:23 they wanting someone who can show 13:25 how Christianity works in practice. 13:26 You're right. You're right. 13:27 People are wanting to see now to be able to help them, 13:33 just to be-- 13:35 to see that we're human beings as they are. 13:37 you know, when we look at, 13:39 go back to 2,000 years to when Paul stood here. 13:42 He actually taught us that principle just don't come 13:44 and preach at the people, 13:45 you listen to them first 13:47 and then you connect it to their needs. 13:48 Pastor Claudio, 13:49 thank you so much for joining us. 13:51 Thank you. Thank you. And thank you. 13:52 And we'll be right back after this break. |
Revised 2015-08-27