Participants: Gary Krause (Host), Greg, Amy, and Tyler Whitsett, Gilbert Cangy, Bob Lemon, Rick Kajiura
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000803A
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00:09 Empowering young people from mission
00:11 through the "Give Them the Keys" initiative 00:14 and educating young people in Timor-Leste and Bangladesh. 00:18 These stories and 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, go unto all the world, 00:38 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 from Ayutthaya, Thailand. 00:57 This is the site of the ancient capital 01:00 of the Siamese Kingdom. 01:02 It had its glory days for some 400 years. 01:05 Today we know it as Thailand. 01:07 Like all ancient civilizations, 01:09 like all governments, like all institutions 01:12 eventually they crumble into dust 01:14 but the word of Lord stands forever. 01:16 And so when we look at the challenges 01:18 facing the church today number one, 01:21 is to keep our focus on missions 01:23 so that's we do not become just a form, an institution. 01:27 On today's program we will be talking about 01:28 pass on the torch of mission to young people. 01:31 The first stop, let's travel to Timor-Leste 01:34 and meet the only Seventh-day Adventist pastor 01:37 in that country. 01:39 Timor-Leste is the newest nation 01:41 of the 21st century. 01:43 After many years of conflict 01:45 this nation now has independence. 01:47 Although a country with religious freedom 01:50 Timor-Leste is hesitant to accept new groups 01:53 that could potentially cause conflict 01:55 and a divide this nation once again. 01:58 Timor-Leste is 98% Catholic 02:01 therefore much of the country operates on Saturday 02:04 and shuts down on Sunday. 02:06 This makes it difficult for Adventist children 02:08 who cannot attend school on Saturday 02:10 in order to observe the biblical day of rest. 02:13 Every week Adventist students have a tough choice to make. 02:17 To miss lectures on Sabbath could mean embarrassment, 02:20 a beating and often being expelled from school. 02:23 Nathanya like many other young ones 02:26 attends a public school. 02:27 She studies hard and strives for the best grades. 02:31 She has no other option but to do her very best 02:34 because she spends one last day in school 02:37 then the rest of her class. 02:39 Nathanya has made a bold decision 02:42 to respect the Sabbath and attend church. 02:45 Nathanya's family taught her from a young age 02:47 to love Jesus and read the Bible. 02:50 From the Bible Nathanya and her sister Lavina 02:53 learned to do good and to love others. 02:56 They also learn to pray for the things 02:58 that concern the heart. 03:00 Today Lavina and Nathanya are praying about school. 03:03 They had explained to the teachers 03:05 why they cannot come to school on Saturdays 03:07 but it has been difficult for them. 03:10 This time again they have been threatened 03:12 to be expelled from school. 03:14 For them this is unthinkable. 03:16 They know they need an education 03:18 and they love going to school with the other kids. 03:21 After daily worship the girls leave for school. 03:24 As the school day goes on 03:26 it appears that the teacher forgot 03:28 they missed school this past Saturday. 03:30 The girls come home 03:32 thankful that one more time Jesus has helped them. 03:36 This family has been praying for more than 10 years 03:39 than an Adventist school could open here in Timor-Leste. 03:42 This school will accommodate Adventist students 03:44 as well as other faith groups 03:46 who cannot attend school on Saturday. 03:49 A new school would also be an opportunity 03:51 for children who do not have the privilege 03:52 of an education as schools here in Timor-Leste 03:56 are operating overcapacity. 04:00 Pastor Inaciu da Kosta is the only ordained 04:04 Timor-Leste Seventh-day Adventist pastor 04:06 in the entire country. 04:08 He has been working hard to start 04:09 a Seventh-day Adventist school in Timor-Leste. 04:12 He has time and again requested assistance 04:15 in funds for this project. 04:17 Fortunately this quarter 04:19 Adventist church members around the world 04:21 will join hands to help make it possible 04:23 for Timor-Leste to open the first 04:26 Seventh-day Adventist school in their country. 04:36 I'm in Bangkok Thailand with Greg and Amy Whitsett 04:39 from the Center for East Asian Religions 04:41 and also their son Tyler. 04:43 Thanks for joining us today. 04:45 Yeah. 04:46 Tyler, I'm gonna start with you this time. 04:48 Tell me what is the most challenging thing 04:52 about living in a totally different culture? 04:55 The most challenging thing for me is, 04:59 I that you have to learn how to act in society. 05:03 Hence when we came here I had to learn how to-- 05:09 learned a new way of social life. 05:11 How to hang out with my friends, 05:13 what cool what's not cool 05:15 hence also being away from family 05:18 that can also quite hard. 05:19 Yeah, now you've been in Thailand 05:21 for a few years now, where were you before that? 05:24 We were in Laos, in Laos. 05:26 Now there's a good chance that it might be many viewers 05:28 who couldn't even find that on a map, 05:30 tell me about Laos. 05:32 Laos is a very small country. 05:33 It's the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. 05:38 Its to the East of Thailand and west of Vietnam. 05:46 Okay. 05:47 And you were pretty young when you moved there, right? 05:50 Yeah, I was, I was three-years-old 05:52 when we move there. 05:53 Amazing. 05:55 Now Tyler, just to be little bit personal here 05:56 I see a little bit of redness around your eye, 05:59 can you please describe to me what happened there? 06:01 Oh, that happened quite recently. 06:05 We were having a fireworks party for New Year 06:08 and basically we were lighting off 06:11 the grand finale of the biggest show 06:14 and it came up and hit me in the head 06:17 and I was in the hospital for few days. 06:19 So Amy, that must have been a fairly frightening time? 06:22 Yeah, for sure. 06:25 Very scary but at the same time you know knowing that 06:29 God had called us here 06:30 we knew that God was in it somewhere 06:32 and we just had a look for Him where was He in it. 06:35 And actually 06:36 Tyler strength had calm during that time. 06:38 You know, he wasn't all panicking and upset. 06:40 His first words were somebody pray for me. 06:44 Please pray for me. Is that right? 06:45 You know and just-- 06:47 I think that helped me 06:49 but just the assurance that God is in it somewhere 06:51 and just have to look for Him. 06:53 Yeah. Yeah. 06:54 So Amy, how many years now 06:55 have you as a family been living in Southeast Asian? 06:58 Almost 13. Thirteen. 07:01 So most of your ministry has been overseas? 07:04 Yes. 07:05 Tell me what is the, what is the most challenging 07:08 thing about mission service for you? 07:10 What's the most difficult thing? 07:12 I think my answer would have been 07:13 different 10 years ago. 07:15 It would have been something related to food 07:16 or language or something. 07:17 But now I think really the hardest thing for me 07:20 is just the distance from family. 07:22 You know, distance from my parents 07:23 and nieces and nephews and having the-- 07:27 you know, the influence of grandparents on 07:29 how to raise kids 07:31 and suggestions on how to raise teenaged boys 07:34 and, yeah, I think just distance from family 07:37 is the hardest. 07:38 And what's the most rewarding thing? 07:40 Most rewarding thing is just seeing people light up 07:44 when they really experience God, 07:47 when they've had God touch them 07:50 in a personal way in their life 07:51 in the way it transforms their life 07:52 is just unbelievable, unexplainable. 07:57 Definitely worth it. Wonderful. 07:59 And so if somebody was watching this program 08:02 in thinking perhaps, that could be me, 08:04 I could be involved in mission service 08:06 what would your counsel be? 08:08 We need you. Okay. 08:09 We need you, God needs you. 08:11 If you're feeling-- we actually had a pastor 08:14 counselors we talked him about it and he said 08:16 if you're feeling the call, how many people feel the call? 08:19 If you're feeling the call it's got to be from God, 08:22 follow it. 08:23 So if you're feeling the call come. 08:25 Wonderful. Pray about it and come. 08:26 Good. 08:28 Greg, we're just finishing off some meetings here 08:30 for the Center for East Asian Religions, 08:32 what was the focus of the meetings? 08:34 The meetings were talking about mission issues 08:37 and sharing Christ for this 08:39 and how to do a better job of that 08:40 because traditionally we've not done a real good job. 08:44 Well, why is that? Why is that? 08:46 Well, its it's interesting-- 08:48 really its what I have talked to people about it 08:52 is this kind of golf and football. 08:55 In football or soccer as we call in America, 08:57 you know, there's two teams in the say controversy 08:59 but with golf it's kind of on your own 09:01 and you have different things. 09:02 And so we can talk about both playing with balls 09:05 and playing out on the grass and enjoying the sunlight 09:07 but actually the rules 09:09 are that both games very different. 09:10 And when a Buddhist hears about Christianity 09:14 they hear some things that sound familiar 09:16 but so much of it is just very foreign idea. 09:18 Yeah. 09:19 And doesn't sound very attractive. 09:20 They don't know how to apply that on a golf course 09:23 which is what their life is like. 09:24 So that's getting to the essence 09:25 of the purposes your center, right? 09:27 Right. 09:29 Yeah, now at our center the whole focus is just 09:31 to network with the church around 09:33 and come along side, ask what's working 09:35 and kind of guide them 09:36 and thinking about the questions 09:38 they should think through and how to be more effective 09:39 in sharing Christ with people. 09:41 What are some of the or one or two of the major mistakes 09:45 that we make when we try to communicate 09:47 with people from a different culture 09:49 or religious background? 09:51 Well, we assume that 09:53 because we can, you know, speak their language 09:56 or translate into their language 09:57 with different things 09:58 that we have something that we must share with them. 10:00 And in actuality we have two eyes, a nose, 10:04 and two years which have a lot of sensory input 10:06 to learn and we need to come first 10:07 with the learners attitude 10:09 to understand what are the needs 10:10 and what are the perceptions of the people 10:12 and then how do I show Christ to meet them 10:14 on the same ground. 10:15 Right. Yeah. 10:17 So often we come with our own package 10:18 of what we think 10:19 they need rather than listening first 10:21 is what you are telling me? 10:22 Yeah, exactly. 10:23 We preconceive notions that because its truth. 10:25 Therefore it must be relevant to them. 10:27 And but really present truth, relevant truth 10:29 is everything we know to be as Adventist 10:31 but also we need to make sure that 10:33 its actually touching a spot that they also understand 10:38 is a need that they have to fill. 10:39 Right. Yeah. 10:40 So Greg, for people 10:42 who want to find out more information about 10:43 the center where do they find that? 10:45 Well, a great place to look is 10:46 at the adventistmisson.org website. 10:48 Well, said. 10:50 And of course just add the prefix, 10:52 instead of the www just add CEAR for the Center 10:56 for East Asian Religions. 10:57 So CEAR.Adventistmission.org. 11:00 Wonderful. Yeah. 11:01 Well, thank you Amy and Tyler and Greg, 11:03 for sharing with us today. 11:04 All right, thank you. 11:05 And please remember the Center for East Asian Religions 11:08 and the tremendous challenge that they face 11:11 and pray for missionaries all over the world. 11:14 Sometimes frontline mission 11:15 can be exciting and rewarding, 11:17 other times it can be discouraging 11:19 and it's very encouraging for them to know that 11:22 there is people praying for them. 11:24 We will be right back after this break. |
Revised 2015-08-06