Welcome back to Cairo Egypt.
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Next up we travel to Pune, India
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with Rick McEdward.
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Thank you, Gary.
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I'm here in India.
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So much color, so
much spice, so many people
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are focusing on this country.
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They want to come,
they want to visit,
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they want to see
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but there is a larger challenge
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and here with me
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is Andrew Tompkins,
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the associate director
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for the Center for
South Asian Religions.
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And Andrew we're here,
where are we at right here?
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Well, we're right here in
front of my home here in India.
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Okay.
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And how long have you
been coming and going to India?
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Often on for the
past nine years actually.
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All right, tell us about
how you got started here.
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I got started kind
of in a strange way.
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I was interested in
going somewhere for a summer
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and I ended up
coming to India, liked it,
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came and went several more times
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and eventually lived
here for several years.
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Wow. So that was
pretty life changing.
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Yes. In many ways.
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Many ways.
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It set your course
in ministry. Right.
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But I think
there's another way, right.
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Yeah, I also found my spouse
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who I married to
now for five years.
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She is Indian, very
happily married together.
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And you're
serving together here?
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Correct. Yeah.
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You know, being the center,
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the associate
director for Center
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for South Asian Religions
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it's a big responsibility,
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there's a lot of
misunderstanding.
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But I wonder if for a
minute you could talk about
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the challenge that
we face in South Asia.
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Yeah, there is a
variety of challenges
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as you hinted at the beginning
India is a complex place,
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many people,
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they come from
various social backgrounds
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and also various
religious backgrounds.
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Majority are Hindu but
a huge number of Muslims,
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Sikh's, Jains and then
some Christians as well
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that itself is a major challenge
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how do you interact
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with all these
different types of people
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and meaningful
and respectful ways.
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So navigating
all that is not easy,
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it takes a lot of
patience and learning
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but we're doing that
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trying our best to do that here.
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we know, you are, we are saying
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actually describes a
really complex place,
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really complex people and I mean
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South Asia is made up of
much more than just India,
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it's Nepal, Sri
Lanka, et cetera.
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So there's actually
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a deeply rooted
tradition of various religions.
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Yes.
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And as we think about that
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how do you feel about to the way
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the church has related
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whether it's faith or service
or God's love to the community?
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Has it been the
fullness to head all these,
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these segment of society?
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Right.
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Certainly we have
seen positive things
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a church has done for the last--
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more than 100 years
but also at the same time
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we find there have been times
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and maybe we haven't
done as good as we could
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in understanding
the local culture
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the local
religion, how best to relate
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to people who come from
such a different background
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in the normal Christian
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that we might find
in the west and so on.
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That has been a challenge
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how do we relate to these people
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in a way they can understand
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and be
respectful at the same time.
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So part of your
role would then be
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to help the
Christians, Adventist
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understand the culture
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and the religious
context that you have, right?
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Right and we believe that
God of course loves all people
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and He is gone before us
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and part of our
job is to understand
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how He is already
working with people
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and how we can join with Him
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in understanding
those people better
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and then working
together, training each other
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to also reach out
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beyond the normal
borders that we have.
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You know, when you
speak of where God is working,
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you know, reminded of some
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beautiful
stories around the world.
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I wondered if there's any
story that kind of hits you
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that you'd like to share
with our viewing audience.
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Sure.
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As I've been here
in the last few years
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we spent quite a bit of time
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working with young people
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who grew up in the church
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but actually
have not reached out
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to many non-Christians
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and it's been
inspiring to me to watch
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particularly for
young people who have spent
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week after week coming to me
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and we engage in discussions
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on how best to relate to people,
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how best to interact with others
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and they have then taken that
and gone out into the community
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and are engaging
with other types of people
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that in the past they
would not have even talked to.
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Sometimes in
multi-religious society
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people tend to meet
only with their own people
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and don't tend to get
acquainted or build friendships
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and sounds from
what you're saying
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that that's happening now.
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Yeah, definitely and it's been
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challenging for them at times.
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It's not natural
sometimes for us to do that
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but at the same time they feel
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that it's been a
blessing to them,
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not just for the
people they're reaching out to
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but also in their
own growth in life.
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They've grown spiritually
through the experience.
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You know, I really appreciate
the thought and perseverance
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that you put
into your work here.
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You know, as we think about
the mission around the world,
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you know, Ellen White says
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some that we should not
be one-sided in our work,
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we should have
multiple dimensions
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in what we do and how we,
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how we present the glory of God,
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the love God to the nation's.
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And I just want to
through out to you audience
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that maybe there's a new way
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that you can share
with your neighbor,
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love your community
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and be the glory of
God in your community.
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Back to you, Gary.
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Welcome back to Cairo, Egypt
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and more
specifically to the Nile River.
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Coming up next
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we go to another
part of the world.
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In northern
Thailand a village sits high
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on top of the
mountainous landscape.
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This is an ideal place
to grow tea and other herbs.
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This region of Thailand
has a strong Chinese influence.
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Many the older
people in the village
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still speak the language.
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Most of the younger
villagers only speak Thai
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or local hill tribe languages.
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Retaining their
cultural heritage
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has always been important
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to the older
members of this village
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but over the years
that has been a struggle
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to keep the
Chinese language alive
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in the younger generations.
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A few years ago, two
young administer in China
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heard about the need
to revitalize the language
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among the youth
in the community.
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So they left their home in China
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and traveled all the way
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to the small village in Thailand
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to teach
Chinese to the children.
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Eventually, they
started their own school.
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Parents in the
community were so happy
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that their
children can learn more
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about their
heritage and culture.
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Over the years
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more Chinese
missionaries have come to work
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at this Global
Mission Center of Influence.
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God is doing amazing things
through His willing servants.
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The school has
grown in size and support.
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The children like
coming to this school so much
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that they are
willing to attend this school
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right after
their regular school.
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Some of them are even
picked up in the truck
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so they don't have to
make the long trek across town.
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Children of all ages
come to learn and socialize.
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In recent years
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they have also
started a dormitory
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where students live and work.
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The Chinese
missionaries gathered to pray
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for the students
who were in their care.
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The students get room and board
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and attend the
local schools by day
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because they're
staying in the dorm
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they learn Chinese much faster.
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Several of the
students have become
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Seventh-day Adventists.
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Thanks to the Center Influence,
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many of the
students are now skilled
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in speaking the Chinese language
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and the younger
students in particular
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seemed to learn the fastest.
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This school not only
has academic influence
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but includes
spiritual education as well.
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Through this school,
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many other children have
been introduced to Jesus.
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They pray before class
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and their lessons frequently
revolve around God's word.
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Each morning dormitory students
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gather together
for morning devotions.
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As breakfast is being
prepared by staff members,
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they sing, pray and
praise God for His blessings.
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Jesus is making His way
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into the people's
hearts in this village.
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If it wasn't for assessing
the needs of this community
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these children
may never have wanted
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to learn about Jesus.
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Please pray that this
Chinese Center of Influence
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will continue to bless
the lives of the villagers.
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Pray that God's love
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can spread
throughout Thailand and beyond.
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Thank you, for supporting
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Global Mission
projects like this.
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Well thanks for
joining us on today's program
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and I hope that you've
been challenged and inspired
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by what you've seen and heard.
00:09:43.24\00:09:45.15
Thank you so much
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for your
continuing prayerful support
00:09:46.55\00:09:48.38
of mission around the world.
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And as a small thank you
for your continued support
00:09:50.35\00:09:53.56
would love to send
you a small book called
00:09:53.59\00:09:56.46
"A Taste of Travel."
00:09:56.49\00:09:58.59
This book is full
recipes from all over the world
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and they even be
one from the Egypt
00:10:01.50\00:10:03.10
I'm not sure but it's written by
00:10:03.13\00:10:04.70
Adventist Missions, Nancy Kyte
00:10:04.73\00:10:07.07
and I know that
you will be delighted
00:10:07.10\00:10:09.60
by the different tastes
00:10:09.64\00:10:11.07
that you get from these recipes.
00:10:11.11\00:10:13.51
If you live in North America,
00:10:13.54\00:10:15.14
just contact us
and it we'll be happy
00:10:15.18\00:10:16.81
to send you a free
copy as supplies last.
00:10:16.85\00:10:20.25
Well, thanks for
joining us on today's program
00:10:20.28\00:10:22.55
and I hope that you've
been challenged and inspired
00:10:22.58\00:10:25.79
by what you've seen and heard.
00:10:25.82\00:10:27.72
Thank you so much
00:10:27.76\00:10:29.09
for your
continuing prayerful support
00:10:29.12\00:10:30.93
of mission around the world.
00:10:30.96\00:10:32.59