Participants: Gary Krause (Host), Greg, Amy, and Tyler Whitsett, Gilbert Cangy, Bob Lemon, Rick Kajiura
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000803B
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00:10 Welcome back to Ayutthaya, Thailand.
00:12 Our next stop we talk to General Conference treasurer, 00:15 Pastor Bob Lemon about the Give Them the Keys 00:18 initiative empowering young people for mission. 00:22 Imagine young Seventh-day Adventists 00:26 turning the world upside down for Jesus. 00:31 Choosing, owning and implementing 00:33 life-changing outreach projects. 00:39 Please support the 2015 00:41 General Conference Session Offering 00:43 and help thousands of youth driven mission projects 00:46 around the globe. 00:48 Give Them the Keys. 00:56 Give them the keys is-- 00:59 I believe in new philosophy in terms 01:01 of how to engage young people 01:04 in the mission of the church, right. 01:05 We are going beyond the notion of-- 01:08 we have a plan and this is how 01:09 you can participate in the plan. 01:11 We're moving on to tell them God has entrusted you 01:16 with gifts with the Holy Spirit. 01:18 Every one of you is gifted through the Holy Spirit. 01:21 Now we want you to prayerfully 01:24 engage that spiritual giftedness 01:27 with the needs of your community. 01:29 Too many time we put the pause button 01:32 because we said they are too young, 01:33 waited a little older, 01:35 so we pressed the pause button but we shouldn't. 01:37 We should let them go and come alongside them 01:40 and get them involved. 01:44 Young people are where the church needs to put 01:47 its emphasis and not just say 01:49 they're the future of the church, 01:51 they are today of the church. 01:52 And so we said this will not only be used for them 01:56 but they will make the decisions on it. 01:58 Now the way it works is 02:00 that we would like to encourage the division, 02:04 or the union level to set up a committee 02:08 made of at least 75 percent of young people and-- 02:11 or younger 25 years old younger 02:14 can be to teenagers and early teens 02:16 so that they become involve and they are-- 02:20 with then in the committee. 02:22 We want to encourage them to be creative 02:25 come up with new novel ideas for evangelism 02:29 and outreach that have never been done before. 02:35 The young people can say one of the things 02:37 we've had in the past is the problem is well, 02:40 this will be part of the money 02:41 but there must be some matching funds or something. 02:43 We would be glad to have the divisions, 02:45 the unions and conferences and missions 02:47 match some of the money 02:49 but it gets held up when it's there 02:51 at the local church because well, 02:52 we don't have the match so we can't apply for the funds. 02:55 In this particular case the committee will decide 02:58 how but we do not want any restrictions 03:00 that's say if you have a good idea 03:01 coming from some young people that well, 03:04 if you don't have the matching funds 03:06 you can't get out of this. 03:07 It's to be used by them to do outreach 03:11 and bring people to Jesus. 03:16 We would do not want to limit them to one or two. 03:19 If they are five, you know, 03:21 in this group that they think they could go out 03:23 and reach out to the community go for it. 03:26 And we want to encourage them if it is an ongoing project, 03:29 we continue to support it with their union funds 03:33 and put aside a budget for it. 03:35 But this offering is going to be the one that launch them 03:38 into beginning that and we really encouraged 03:41 because we know young people are waiting to be, 03:43 able to be used that wonderful energy 03:46 and creativity for the Lord. 03:48 So come together regions of the world 03:51 with your youth leadership 03:53 or administrative leadership of your division, 03:55 come together. 03:56 Young people reflect on the needs of your community 04:01 and prayerfully work out ways 04:03 in which through your giftedness you can reach out 04:06 and pursue the mission of the church. 04:08 So its giving them the keys, 04:09 its giving them the initiative under the jurisdiction, 04:12 under the umbrella 04:14 of the working of the Holy Spirit. 04:30 I'm here with Bob Lemon 04:32 who is the treasure of this world 04:34 Seventh-day Adventist Church. 04:36 And Bob, we just saw that video 04:38 about the General Conference Session Offering, 04:40 Give Them the Keys. 04:42 What can you tell us about that offering? 04:45 Well, you know every General Conference Session 04:47 we take offerings that are for special projects 04:50 but we decided this time that not only would we take it 04:54 for the young people 04:55 and I'm talking about 25 04:57 and under not many of us 45 or more, 04:59 think we're still young. 05:01 But that they would be able to use the offering 05:04 for projects and things 05:06 that word reach people for Christ. 05:09 Okay, before we even get to that there may be 05:11 people who don't know in General Conference Session is, 05:13 so every five years Seventh-day Adventist Church 05:17 has a world gathering where major decisions are made 05:20 and at that time there is 05:22 a very special offering taken up 05:24 with given a special emphasis. 05:25 So that's all we're talking about right now. 05:27 So again why young people, why this offering this time. 05:32 Well, you know, often we say young people 05:33 are the future of the church, 05:35 but the reality is young people are the church of today. 05:38 And what we want to do is empower the young people. 05:41 We want to be able to give them not only the ability 05:47 to do things but also the funding 05:50 that can help do that. 05:52 And I think a lot of times 05:53 we hear ideas from young people, 05:55 we love to do this, we love to do that 05:57 and then when they go to ask for permission to do it 06:00 or whatever and that's the answer they get. 06:02 There's no funding. So this is set up. 06:05 So how will this actually work in terms 06:07 of how they get the money? 06:09 Okay. 06:10 The funds are actually taken up worldwide 06:12 from all of our churches on several Sabbaths leading up 06:16 and the Sabbath of the first Sabbath 06:18 of General Conference Session. 06:20 We then track how much came and from each division, 06:24 each area of the world, 06:25 each territory and two-thirds of the money will go back 06:29 to that area to use and one third plus 06:31 all that's taken in San Antonio on the two Sabbath 06:34 will be divided equally among the territories 06:37 and then they will use that for young people 06:39 with the young people making the decisions 06:41 as to how it's to be used. 06:44 So as a young person, you know, 06:47 this sends a certain message while as a person-- 06:49 when I was a young person it's under certain message 06:51 that that we have a role to play 06:54 and maybe we haven't always sent that to the young people. 06:58 As a church leader how do you see this impacting the lives 07:01 and young people in terms of their relationship with God 07:03 and their relationship to the people 07:05 that they live and work with every day? 07:08 From personal experiences well as watching others 07:10 there's nothing that gets you more involved 07:13 with the church or with God in a spiritual way 07:16 than going out and actually doing the work. 07:18 And we have a tendency to say well, 07:20 we planned this for you and plan that. 07:22 But let's let them do the planning, 07:23 let's them make-- 07:25 let's let them make the decisions 07:27 as to how it will be done. 07:29 I know when I see young people 07:31 who actually get involved in something 07:34 it really does strengthen their spiritual relationship 07:37 with Christ and there's nothing like being 07:39 asked a question as to what you believe 07:42 to get you back in and saying, 07:43 you know, let me make sure I got that right, 07:45 I thought I knew. 07:48 If you had a message for people out there 07:50 as to how they could support the offering 07:53 and support young people what would you say to them? 07:56 I think you know one of the most 07:59 important things in finishing the work 08:01 of reaching people for Christ is to support our young people. 08:05 We can turn in the offering through the local church 08:08 and through but you can also donate directly 08:11 to the General Conference Offering. 08:13 But we need to make those high profile 08:15 and we need to make it really say something 08:19 and really do something. 08:20 It's not just a token thing of saying 08:22 we want to see great results from this. 08:25 Thank you very much, Bob. 08:27 You know, to those of you out there 08:29 if you really want to support this offering 08:30 you can also go to adventistmission.org 08:33 and make a donation online 08:35 to the Give Them the Keys Offering 08:37 or supported in your local Seventh-day Adventist Church. 08:41 The Seventh-day Adventist Church 08:42 is committed to training and equipping 08:44 its young people for service. 08:46 Our next stop is Bangladesh where a portion 08:49 of your 13th Sabbath offerings 08:51 this quarter will go to help a university 08:54 to more effectively reach out 08:56 and help the community with their health needs 08:59 in this very challenging poor and needy country. 09:13 Another year and its graduation time again 09:16 at Bangladesh Adventist Seminary College 09:18 or BASC for short. 09:21 The school has been operating in the outskirts 09:23 of Dhaka since 1969. 09:26 Here countless students have graduated 09:28 to serve both God and their nation. 09:37 Graduation is a special time for students and parents. 09:40 As the graduates prepare to march down the aisle 09:43 and receive degrees many of them are thankful 09:45 for more than just academic education. 09:49 Eddie Joydore is such a student. 09:51 She came to BASC from a non-Christian background 09:54 and as she interacted with friends and teachers 09:56 at school she noticed something different 09:59 about the people here. 10:03 My teachers behave and teach with a different attitude. 10:06 They care about us and our development as people. 10:10 The students in this campus also pray in a different way 10:13 and it makes this campus a very special place. 10:24 Eddie's interest in the Bible grew 10:26 and she began to study and pray. 10:29 Her biggest fear was to acknowledge her new faith. 10:32 She did not want her family to be ashamed 10:34 or socially embarrassed because of her faith in Jesus. 10:37 So she decided to keep this a secret 10:40 but after Eddie's father and mother passed 10:43 she could no longer wait so she was baptized. 10:54 Now Eddie wants to use what she learned at BASC 10:57 to help and teach others. 10:59 Eddie is graduating with a bachelor's degree 11:01 in office management and a minor in teaching. 11:04 Her goal is to use her education 11:06 to be a blessing to others. 11:17 BASC administrators have plans 11:19 for an additional school building 11:21 where they will accept a greater number of students 11:23 and teach new field of study. 11:25 Your 13th Sabbath offering this quarter will assist 11:28 with the construction that is taking place at BASC. 11:31 It will also build Timor-Leste first Adventist 11:34 educational institution in addition to construction 11:39 of a church in Lakpahana University 11:42 and materials for children's programs 11:44 in the southern Asia Pacific Division. 11:49 Please pray for this quarter's project. 11:52 Your generous support continues to shed light, 11:55 love and help around the world. 12:07 Well, that's about it for today's program 12:09 and I hope that you've been inspired and challenged 12:12 by what you've seen on Global Mission Snapshots. 12:15 Around the world today from remote areas 12:17 such as Timor-Leste to more populous areas 12:21 such as Thailand and Bangladesh we can see mission 12:24 moving forward under the power of the Holy Spirit. 12:28 And thank you for your continuing prayers 12:29 and financial support 12:31 and personal involvement in mission, 12:33 it is making a difference. 12:35 Before we go I would like to send you a free small gift 12:39 as a small thank you for your continuing support for mission. 12:43 You can see the details on your screen. 12:45 It's the Mission Spotlight DVD full of stories 12:49 like you see on this program. 12:51 Well, for Adventist Mission I'm Gary Krause 12:54 and I hope that you can join me next time right here 12:57 on Global Mission Snapshots. |
Revised 2015-08-27