A nurse making a difference
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thanks to an
Adventist school in Sri Lanka,
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hopes and dreams
for Adventist education
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in Timor-Leste
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and what happens when a boy
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falls out of a
tree and survives,
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those stories and
more coming up next.
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Just before He
went up to heaven,
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Jesus gave us a command.
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He gave us a mission.
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Jesus said, "Go,
go unto all the world,
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telling them of His love."
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This is our mission.
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This is our Global Mission.
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Hello, and welcome to
today's program coming to you
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from the beautiful
city of Yangon in Myanmar,
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formerly known as Burma.
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You know, if you stand here
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in the center of
this capital city
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and you imagine
and 3,000 mile radius
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and a circle going all around
that some 5,000 kilometers
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in this relatively
small area 60 percent
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of the world's population lives.
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That's a huge amount of
people and these are people
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who tend to live in poverty,
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they represent
major world religions
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other than Christianity.
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On today's program we
will be looking at mission
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right here in this country,
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we'll also be
traveling to Timor-Leste.
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But first up
let's go to Sri Lanka.
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Sri Lanka is an island nation
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off the
southeast coast to India.
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Because of its
natural beauty and location
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it is known as the
Pearl at the Indian Ocean.
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Sri Lanka is a diverse country,
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its home to many religious
ethnicities and languages
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with a
predominantly Buddhist heritage.
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The Seventh-day
Adventist church membership here
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is only about 4,000
members and 37 churches
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in a population of
some 20 million people.
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Lakpahana Adventist
College and Seminary serves
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as Sri Lanka's
only training center
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for church workers.
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With a growing membership
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this school
means a lot to mission.
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From its humble beginnings
Lakpahana is responsible
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for new members, health workers,
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administrators and
pastors to the mission field
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in Sri Lanka and abroad.
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Currently there are some 370
students attending this school
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with 85 percent
of the student body
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from other religious groups.
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Lakpahana has a tremendous
work and responsibility.
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Several former Lakpahana
students have met Jesus here.
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Through education
church or branch Sabbath school
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people like Jaya Dias have had
their lives turned 180 degrees.
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Jaya comes from a
non-Christian background.
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She found in Lakpahana a
place to live out her new faith.
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Here she learned
values and principals
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that guide her life today.
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Now Jaya works a
mentor and supervisor
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at Lakeside Adventist
Hospital in the city of Kandy.
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Here she has a
unique opportunity
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to connect with people
through healing and teaching.
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As Jaya meets
patients and nurses
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she emphasizes that our
body is the temple of God,
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therefore we must maintain it.
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With words of
encouragement and sincere care
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Jaya finds a way
into every heart.
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For her this is an opportunity
to touch others as Jesus did
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and show them the
light of His love.
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I really blessed to
be part of God's family.
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I really thank
God for picking me
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particularly to serve Him,
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okay, otherwise I would
have been another tea plucker.
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God really blessed
me of stay at Lakpahana.
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Jaya is grateful for having
access to Christian education.
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This education has made
all the difference in her life.
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Lakpahana Adventist
College is now in urgent need
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of your support for expansion.
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The membership has outgrown
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their humble
meeting place of worship.
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We simply don't
have enough seats
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and some of them who
are sitting on the balcony
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down there in the chapel
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and even we need to put some
extra chairs in the corridor
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in order to
accommodate all over them
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who come to the church.
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Lakpahana needs a
dedicated church building
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to accommodate God's people
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and receive many
more every Sabbath.
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As Lakpahana workers do
their part to fill God's church
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please pray for the
many challenges they face.
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This quarter you can take
part in the building project
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through your
13th Sabbath Offering.
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I'm delighted to be talking
to my friend Pastor Gavin Johns
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who's the director
for Adventist Mission
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here in Myanmar.
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It's great to
see you again, Gavin.
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Great. Great.
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And we are here in
the middle of summer
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so it's really warm.
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Can you introduce our
viewers to the country Myanmar?
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Many of us more
familiar with the name Burma
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but just introduce
us to your country.
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Sure. Sure.
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Myanmar is part
of Southeast Asia
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an its between China,
India, Thailand, Laos,
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and it has a lot of neighbors.
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Its a wide country.
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The population
is about 53 million
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and about 85 percent of
that population are Buddhist
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and the Burma has a
lot of tribes in Myanmar,
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135 major tribes and
Bamar is the main tribe.
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And Bamar makes up
about half of the population.
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It's a very friendly country.
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Yes, I've experienced that.
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Now 135 tribes so does
that mean there's 135 languages?
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There's about--
there's about nearly 6,000.
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All right, well,
that's quite a challenge.
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Well, can you introduce us now
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to the Adventist
church in this country?
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The Adventist
church in our country
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is about 100 years old now.
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Two colporteurs came to
the country selling books
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and eventually they
met two Burma people,
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a brother and a sister, Umamav--
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and from them they met him,
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they introduced
them to the church.
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Eventually
Umamav-- visited India
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and he was able to invite
some workers to come and work
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in Burma as it was then owned.
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And then eventually
the church grew from there.
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Wow.
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So more than
30,000 members you have?
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We have more than
30,000 members now.
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We have five missions
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and the union is
situated in Yangon
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and we have about 300 workers
over 100 ordained pastors.
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So they are too
employed by the church.
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Now Gavin, when we look
at the history of the church
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for many viewers
who are Adventist
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their knowledge of this country
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is through the
stories of Eric B. Hare.
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What is the
significance of Eric B. Hare
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to the church in this country?
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Eric B. Hare is the
most outstanding person
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well known by the church
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because he was the
one that came to Burma
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and you know, he sort
of started the work here.
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And in fact, he is well known
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because of his
down to earth attitude.
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He usually visit the
villages, eat in their homes,
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eat the fish paste
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that even they used
to give him, you know.
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Yes.
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Because there was
nothing special those days.
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Sleep on a bamboo
floors. So he is well-known.
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And I think he is well known is
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because of his music
bands that he used to have.
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In fact some of old
senior workers still remember
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the days when he
used to lead out the band
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and there were
members in his band
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used to play the drum,
used to play the trumpet.
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They still remember the
days. Oh, how wonderful.
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Yeah.
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And so the church is
actually celebrating 100 years
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since he first
came to this country.
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Well, yes in a
certain way but not so widely.
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Yeah, but it's an anniversary.
Yes, an anniversary.
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Now, I'm really interested
in what you're talking
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about the way that he came
in had an incarnational ministry
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where he didn't just
keep himself separate,
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he became one with the
people to be in his ministry.
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Right. Right, yeah.
00:09:08.01\00:09:09.58
Now Gavin, as we look
at the church here today
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what are the major
challenges that you face?
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Well, as I mentioned 85 percent
of the population is Buddhist.
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So in this hard to
evangelize in Burma
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because there is a lot
of restrictions you know,
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done by other religions.
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And so we don't
have open air meetings.
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We can't conduct
those open air meetings.
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We can't do much
outdoor activities.
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Mostly the activities
we do in the church today
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is within the church
only, we can't go out.
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But of course we can print,
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but even for printing we
have through different sensors
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that restrict the
language in certain ways,
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the usage of language
in certain ways you see.
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And now we have a school,
00:10:03.60\00:10:05.27
we have our own
Seventh-day Adventist schools
00:10:05.30\00:10:07.04
but they are known as
seminaries not as schools,
00:10:07.07\00:10:10.51
because we are not
permitted, you see.
00:10:10.54\00:10:13.54
And of course apart
from that work is not so bad.
00:10:13.58\00:10:16.51
We can move our
around, yeah, we can do.
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Now, I was very
encouraged today to visit
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a central
influence within the city
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and this facility was
actually opened yesterday.
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What are the
goals of this ministry?
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Well, the goals of this ministry
00:10:29.39\00:10:31.13
is for the community
to be aware of the health
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and to know that there is a God
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that is interesting and
wanting them to be healthy.
00:10:38.80\00:10:42.50
So because many people
don't understand Christianity.
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They think it's the western
religion imported to Myanmar.
00:10:45.71\00:10:50.88
So we want them to
know that there is a God
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and He is interested in them.
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And the best way is
through the health message.
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Right, so it's a practical way
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of connecting with
needs in the communities.
00:11:01.92\00:11:04.09
Very right. Yeah.
00:11:04.13\00:11:06.63
Now tell me a little
bit about the schools.
00:11:06.66\00:11:08.90
Do you have any--
00:11:08.93\00:11:10.27
how many schools do
we have in this country?
00:11:10.30\00:11:12.73
We have five missions in Myanmar
00:11:12.77\00:11:16.40
and each mission has
their own elementary school.
00:11:16.44\00:11:19.17
Okay.
00:11:19.21\00:11:20.54
Plus they have
their primary schools
00:11:20.58\00:11:23.95
and middle schools.
00:11:23.98\00:11:25.85
We have one seminary in Yangon.
00:11:25.88\00:11:28.88
So the school's
yes, are functioning well
00:11:28.92\00:11:31.89
and they are
overcrowded I should say.
00:11:31.92\00:11:34.06
Yes. Very overcrowded.
00:11:34.09\00:11:35.92
Because there's a big demand to.
00:11:35.96\00:11:37.39
Big demand, yeah.
00:11:37.43\00:11:39.39
Well, thank you so
much for talking to us today
00:11:39.43\00:11:42.76
and may God continue to
bless your ministry here.
00:11:42.80\00:11:45.57
My pleasure, Gary.
00:11:45.60\00:11:47.10
And viewers at home,
00:11:47.14\00:11:48.47
please pray for the
church here in Myanmar.
00:11:48.50\00:11:51.41
Pray for the young people,
00:11:51.44\00:11:52.84
the children and
the many challenges
00:11:52.87\00:11:55.41
that are faced here.
00:11:55.44\00:11:57.05
This is not a rich church,
their resources a very limited.
00:11:57.08\00:12:02.32
So please pray that
God will continue to bless.
00:12:02.35\00:12:05.02
Pray for the
center of influence,
00:12:05.05\00:12:06.55
pray for the schools
that are reaching out.
00:12:06.59\00:12:08.92
And we'll be right back
straight after this break.
00:12:08.96\00:12:11.56