Participants: Gary Krause (Host), Rick Kajiura (Host), Alisha Paulson, Carissa Clendenon, Drs. Darryl & Tiffany Priester, Josh Remoket, Judelle Johnson, Julianne Price, Makayla Hemple, Maxine Lehsi, Ryan Johnson, Saul Kepler
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000802A
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00:11 Mexico City,
00:12 one of the world's most densely populated urban areas, 00:16 the largest Spanish speaking city in the world 00:20 with some 22 million people 00:22 in the extended metropolitan area. 00:24 The mission field of Mexico City, 00:26 that and much more coming up next. 00:34 Just before He went up to heaven, 00:36 Jesus gave us a command. 00:39 He gave us a mission. 00:42 Jesus said, "Go, 00:44 go unto all the world telling them of His love." 00:49 This is our mission. This is our Global Mission. 00:59 Hello and welcome to Global Mission Snapshots. 01:02 Coming to you today 01:03 from the huge city of Mexico City 01:06 here in Mexico. 01:07 It is a large city. 01:09 It's growing everyday, 01:10 some 22 million people 01:12 in the greater metropolitan area. 01:15 That's larger than some countries. 01:16 In fact when you look at the economy of Mexico City, 01:20 it is five times the economy of the country of Costa Rica. 01:24 The huge influence, the growing power of cities 01:28 as thousands of people flooding everyday is a reminder 01:32 of the mission challenge 01:33 facing the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 01:35 Historically, we have tended to be a rural church, 01:39 but now we realized 01:40 that with more than 50 percent of the world's population 01:42 living in the cities, 01:44 we need to find new and creative holistic ways 01:47 to share the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. 01:50 We'll be talking a lot more about that on today's program, 01:53 but first up, 01:54 let's travel to Pacific Ocean to Micronesia. 01:57 I wanted to be a student missionary 01:59 ever since I knew what a student missionary was. 02:02 And my dad has gone to Palau, 02:04 so I decided to go somewhere that I always wanted to go 02:06 and that's to an island, 02:09 and I wanted some place remote with mountains 02:12 so I picked Kosrae. 02:14 Welcome to Kosrae, 02:16 one of the four Micronesian Islands, 02:19 an exotic place in the Pacific Ocean. 02:22 It's remote, beautiful, full of life and exotic fruits, 02:27 the perfect place for adventure. 02:30 Awesome. Yeah, it's really neat. 02:33 Actually being in a different country like 02:36 experiencing God in a whole new way. 02:40 It's like, it's like I imagined it in some ways 02:43 and yet better in others. 02:45 But why would someone in their college years 02:47 fly across the planet to stay an entire year? 02:51 So I teach the fifth and sixth grade, 02:54 and I teach all the subjects 02:57 and now I'm teaching 02:58 some of the seventh and eighth grade classes, 03:01 language, arts and then they have science with Carissa 03:05 and I do math and social studies 03:08 and health which is my favorite to teach. 03:10 To have the opportunity to like 03:13 do something that you're totally unqualified for 03:17 which it is like scary but it's also super cool 03:21 because you can just like become intern 03:23 and to learn so much. 03:26 You're leaving 03:27 your important scheduled life back home 03:31 to come help people who you don't know 03:34 but like, you know, I'm leaving my comfort zone 03:36 and I'm coming here where I don't know anyone 03:39 but it's crazy like how fast the bonds like grow 03:43 and they're just your family here. 03:46 This is a work of love 03:48 that with otherwise be no school 03:50 if it wasn't for student missionaries sent from 03:52 Adventist churches and universities 03:54 to nearly all of the islands in the Pacific Ocean. 03:58 These dedicated volunteer missionaries 04:00 are changing lives. 04:08 And it isn't all work here. 04:10 They do have opportunities for fun activities. 04:17 Like it's not all work, it's fun to like 04:22 you can go explore, 04:23 you take the kids with you and go explore. 04:26 They took us to the waterfall 04:27 like the first week you were here. 04:29 And it was just fun like getting to know them 04:31 and they were like all going spear fishing 04:33 I was like, wow, that's awesome, 04:38 so we go out with like metal spears 04:40 and like working under rocks 04:41 and shining the flashlights and stepping on coral 04:44 and everything and they're like stab it, 04:46 stab it, stab the fish, 04:48 I'm like, okay, like stab miss, yeah. 04:52 As the volunteer missionaries 04:53 engage the children, nature and themselves, 04:57 they create a special bond 04:58 and memories they would carry for life. 05:02 This year nobody expected 05:04 what was just ahead. 05:07 As the student missionaries learned the condition of Chuuk, 05:10 a neighboring island 05:11 that is several flight hours away. 05:14 They were sad to hear 05:15 that some students could not attend school 05:17 for lack of teachers. 05:19 Kosrae on the other hand was fully staffed, 05:22 so Julianne and Carissa decided to help. 05:26 So, being a student missionary 05:29 wasn't really a huge leap of faith for me. 05:33 It's what's happening right now, 05:36 that is a huge leap of faith. 05:37 In the Bible God says to go, 05:39 and I'm taking that literally and I'm going. 05:43 Although it's really sad that these girls are leaving, 05:45 it's cool how they see a need somewhere else 05:50 and God is going to qualify us 05:52 to be able to take care of 05:54 the gap that needs to be filled here, 05:56 as they are filling the gap somewhere else that needs it. 06:00 It took a leap of faith 06:01 to serve God in a remote island, 06:03 then a huge step in faith to move to a more needy place. 06:07 Carissa and Julianne were warmly welcomed in Chuuk, 06:10 and they will for sure be remembered in the hearts here 06:13 and in the books of heaven. 06:15 I am sure by the time 06:17 I leave my perspective on life will be absolutely torn up 06:23 and a new one will be in place. 06:25 Already it's changing so much 06:28 just for a couple of weeks here, 06:31 and I love it. 06:34 It's like the best thing I've ever done, 06:38 like the best choice I've ever made. 06:40 It's so worth it. 06:41 It's the most rewarding thing you'll probably ever do 06:45 and you'll definitely grow closer to God. 06:48 Each year hundreds of Adventist volunteers 06:51 take opportunities across the globe to serve, 06:54 to love and to teach others about the love of Jesus. 07:00 You can too. 07:02 Visit Adventist Volunteers.org 07:06 The effective urban mission is a partnership 07:08 between church leaders, pastors and church members 07:12 and with me I have three people here 07:14 involved in urban mission, 07:16 Pastor Kepler, Manuel and Flavio. 07:20 And Flavio and Manuel are church members 07:23 who have a passion for mission. 07:25 And, Flavio, tell me what is the purpose of 07:27 what you're doing right here in Mexico City? 07:33 You in Mexico City, 07:35 you'll find an interesting project, 07:37 a project that obeys the divine mandate 07:40 of Mark 16:15 that tells us to go 07:43 and preach the gospel to all people. 07:46 The world's Seventh-day Adventist Church 07:48 has caste a vision 07:49 to reach the large cities of our planet, 07:52 so here in Mexico City, 07:54 we launched the project to work with the affluent 07:57 or the wealthy of the city and of this country. 08:01 This is often times a neglected group, 08:04 so we began to offer Bible studies 08:06 through small groups of study. 08:09 There are currently Adventist members meeting 08:11 in a special place with the people and families 08:14 that are interested in learning the Bible. 08:17 In attendance to the small groups 08:19 are diplomats, entrepreneurs, 08:22 business executives and many others. 08:25 We believe God can open a door here. 08:27 There are currently three groups working hard 08:30 to establish a Seventh-day Adventist presence 08:33 in this part of town, in this part of Mexico City. 08:36 Gracias. 08:37 And, Manuel, 08:39 what sort of methods are you using for urban mission? 08:45 Our method is to present the gospel 08:47 in its proper diamond like face. 08:50 But how? 08:52 Well, by presenting the health principles 08:54 of physical, mental and spiritual health. 08:58 For this our goal is to share 09:00 the beautiful truths of the gospel with others. 09:03 And we're working with 09:05 the variety of professionals here in the city. 09:08 Through three small groups of Bible study, 09:10 to be able to establish a new church, 09:14 in order to honor and glorify the name of Jesus. 09:22 Wonderful, gracias. 09:24 And Pastor Kepler, 09:26 you're the pastor of this big church 09:27 here in the centre of Mexico City 09:30 and you have lay people working with you, 09:33 what is actually happening on the ground? 09:36 All right. We need to work together. 09:39 We need to the blessed 09:41 and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our life. 09:44 We need to work with one mission. 09:49 The message is for all the people. 09:50 God believes for all the people in all the world 09:54 that in this city, in this specific area, 09:57 we have not gone. 09:59 We need to go. 10:00 But we need to do with something, 10:02 some methods that we need to learn, 10:06 we need to do, we need to imagine 10:08 and the Lord give us intelligence for doing. 10:11 We need to do friendly with these people 10:13 because they're businessmen whose houses are a closet. 10:18 And we need to 10:20 that these people open their houses. 10:22 How we can do this? 10:24 Only because this people don't need food, 10:26 don't need medical service, 10:28 do not need a some help 10:33 but these people need a real friendly. 10:37 Right, so traditional ways 10:40 that we might reach many other people, 10:42 they're not going to even touch these people 10:44 and so what you're talking about, 10:46 what you're describing to me is Christ method 10:48 where you mingle and you make friends first. 10:50 All right. 10:52 Somebody enters to meet these people 10:54 and I present myself like I am. 10:57 In fact, they told me-- 11:00 In the beginning they don't tell me pastor, 11:03 they tell me for my name, 11:04 hey, you're so and after they invite me to his houses 11:09 and I invite him to my house and they eat with me 11:13 and I eat with them with these people. 11:16 And after I told him all right, 11:20 I'm a Christian, you can know the Jesus Christ. 11:24 Wonderful. 11:26 What sort of friendships have you made so far? 11:29 All right. 11:31 At first we're studying the Bible 11:33 with the businessmen. 11:36 He works with the building 11:38 and he is administration of building 11:41 like he is a business man 11:45 and there people are political people 11:49 who we're working with them 11:51 because somebody come by to my church, 11:54 somebody introduce me 11:56 and I talk to him about Jesus Christ, 11:58 first friendly after Jesus Christ 12:00 and many of them-- 12:02 one man is a Colonel Elio, he has helped me 12:08 because he preached the Lord word 12:12 and when I come by other people and some artist of the city, 12:16 I come by, I come by you, he is my friend 12:19 and another friend going to preach about Jesus 12:22 and he is the council of the Brazil 12:24 and the people will say, 12:25 oh, it's so important I can go to listen to him 12:28 and the people come. 12:29 In fact 15 days ago somebody told me 12:33 hey, what are you doing here? 12:34 Are you diplomatic? 12:36 I told him, no, I'm not and ask her, 12:39 are you diplomatic too? 12:40 Oh, I'm not, 12:42 I'm business woman and I live here. 12:44 I told him you come to pray with us. 12:47 Really, are you come to pray. 12:49 All right and she will come with us next, 12:53 in next meeting. 12:54 Wonderful. 12:56 Pastor, thank you so much for sharing with us today, 12:58 and thank you too Flavio and Manuel. 13:01 Mission of the cities, urban mission is a challenge. 13:04 It's expensive to work in the cities. 13:06 There are places that we can't even physically reach 13:10 unless we know somebody in department block. 13:12 There are so many different cultures, 13:14 so many different languages, 13:15 so many different socioeconomic levels 13:18 and it's so encouraging here in Mexico City 13:21 to see ministry to people who are on the streets, 13:24 people who don't know 13:25 where their next meal is going, coming from 13:27 and also people who maybe more rich 13:30 and increased with goods 13:31 but still need to know about Jesus Christ 13:33 as their savior. 13:35 Please pray for mission to the cites 13:37 here in Mexico City. 13:39 Don't go away, 13:40 we'll be right back after this break. |
Revised 2015-08-27