Behind me is the...
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site of the first
Seventh Day Adventist Church,
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planted here in Mexico City
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and since that time
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there have been
hundreds of churches
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started around this vast city.
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Church planting, taking
the good news to all the world,
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coming up next, on this program.
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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,
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"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
Global Mission Snapshots.
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Coming to you today
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from the streets of Mexico City.
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And it's in neighborhood
such as this across the city,
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that small groups of
believers have been planted,
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as church leaders, as
pastors, as church members,
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focus on starting
new groups of believers.
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You know, the Seventh
Day Adventist Church began
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as a church planting movement
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and it has only
continued to grow
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as it is continued that focus
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on starting new
groups of believers.
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Last year in 2014,
every three and a half hours,
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a new Seventh Day
Adventist Church was established
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and of course, many more
small groups and congregations.
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On today's
program, we'll be focusing
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on the mission of starting
new groups of believers.
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First time, let's
travel to Sri Lanka
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and meet some
Global Mission pioneers
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who are planting new churches.
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Global Mission
pioneers are laypeople
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who volunteered
at least one year
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to establish a new congregation
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in un-entered area
within their own culture.
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Pioneers have the advantage
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of understanding
the culture and customs
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as well as speaking
the regional language.
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These dedicated men and women
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easily blend in with the locals
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and are able to
impact lives for good.
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I'm Pastor Dhanaraja,
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from the Sri Lanka Mission
of Seventh Day Adventist.
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I am the director for
the Global Mission pioneers
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of our country.
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And now we are traveling to
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visit some of these
Global Mission territories
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and we are in a place called,
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high Forest in the hill country
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which is one of the
estates in the Central Province,
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the Nuwara Eliya District.
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And our work is
going on in several areas.
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As the pioneer
arrives to an un-entered area,
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he seeks to
understand the challenges
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and needs of the
people in this region.
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Our Global Mission pioneers
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in these areas are
working with these people
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who have so many
problems, health problems,
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practical ways of
living and especially,
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they are into the
habit of drinking alcohol,
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smoking and chewing betel.
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These are serious
problems they are facing
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and as a result
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their families are
deprived of the finances.
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Economically they
are becoming poor.
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And health wise,
they become diseased
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and they need a lot
of money for treatment
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and our workers,
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Global Mission
pioneers are helping
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these people to
overcome these habits
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by distributing tracks
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which talk about smoking,
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drinking, and
chewing betel and so on.
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And some people are
able to overcome these habits
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and there by slowly
they introduce Jesus Christ.
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Also, and some of them accept
Christ as their personal savior
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and God is blessing our work
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and our workers in this area.
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God has been using
Global Mission pioneers
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around the globe to
bless, heal and teach His word.
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Since 1994,
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Global Mission
pioneers have helped
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build more than 11,000
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new Seventh Day
Adventist congregations
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through a holistic approach.
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Pioneers have
brought good in this life
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and for eternity.
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We request you to pray for us
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and our work of
Global Mission in Sri Lanka.
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Thank you, for your
support for global mission
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in our country.
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When we see the statistic
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that every three
and a half hours,
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a new Seventh Day Adventist
Church has established,
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established, in some
parts of world we say,
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well, we don't
see this happening.
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Well, here in Mexico City
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there is a very strong
focus on church planting
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and my guest is Pastor Eleazar
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and he is supervising
a church planting project
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in this region of the city.
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What has been your goal
for church planting here?
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Well, since the year 2010,
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we set a goal of
50 new congregations
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within the
Mexico City boundaries.
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We focused especially
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in the North West
region of the city
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in precisely in this place.
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We find a
combination of this dream.
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It was in the year 2010,
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that we held a special congress
with small group leaders.
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And there, we cast a vision
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to those who wanted
to step out in faith.
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We asked these leaders
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to take on the
challenge of church planting,
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church planting
so many new churches.
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At the time, more
than 80 small group leaders
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raised their hands
affirming their commitment.
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Unfortunately,
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not every church plant survived.
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However this far,
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we have 48 new congregations
opertaing here in this area.
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What we see here today
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is the
advancement of God's kingdom,
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with a
multiplication of His church,
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there were a lot of
baptisms that happened
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for the honoring Glory of God.
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In many new places of worship,
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like the one we
are in at this moment.
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This church is called Heros
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And this church
has grown so much
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that it will become a
part of a new territory
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and this new
territory has been named
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The Mexican Region,
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a new field of the
Central Mexican Union Mission.
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Needless to say,
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it was very interesting to see
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and to follow the development
of our Adventist church
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here in Mexico City.
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Now when you
look at the community
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that you are seeking to reach,
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describe that community for me.
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Well,
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the community around us
is of middle lower class
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with a very dense population
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of approximately
five million inhabitants.
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In such a dense population
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many people
engage in market economy
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with lots of
businesses and factories.
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But the majority
of the working class
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leaves work very early
and returns at late hours.
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The work is intense
and it makes it difficult
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for those who want
to preach the gospel
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and even with
all this hard work,
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the living conditions
here are still very tough.
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So how do you even begin
to start new congregations?
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What sort of methods do you use?
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Our main tool of choice
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has been using the
small groups of study.
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In the beginning
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we had approximately 420
small groups of Bible study
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and this far, we have maintained
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about the same
number of small groups.
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But now even more
leaders are embracing
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the challenge
of church planting.
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They are owning this initiative,
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they are taking it to heart
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and the number of
churches grow and they multiply.
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Today, we're happy to
say that we have a new field,
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a new field with administration
that continues to assist
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in the territorial
expansion of our church.
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So far we have reached
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40 new municipalities
here in Mexico City.
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Can you tell me a
story pastor of someone
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whose life has been
touched through this program?
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There are a lot
of people who faced
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the difficult
challenge of traveling
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to the city center
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to worship in a
large congregation.
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Because of this challenge
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we emphasized on
the establishment
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of small groups of Bible study.
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To further the
learning of these individuals,
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we want them to
learn the word of God
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and to be able
to join the church.
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I specially remember
our family of five members.
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It was nearly
impossible for them
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to travel to the city
center and attend the church.
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So local Seventh
Day Adventist members
00:10:24.12\00:10:26.52
engaged them in
small groups of study
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and from this a brand
new church was started.
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The wife of this family of five
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was from a different
Christian faith at the time.
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She was a woman of faith
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but it was only through a
personal study of God's word
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that this woman was able
to change her life for good.
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And after all this,
not only one person,
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but the entire
family decided for baptism
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and were baptized.
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Wonderful, Pastor.
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Tell me why is
church planting so important
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for the Seventh
Day Adventist Church?
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First of all,
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it's very important to
plant or start a new church
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because God commissioned us
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to take the good
news of salvation
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to every nation,
tribe and language
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but also this process improves
our relationship with God
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and it's evidence
of a true maturing
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in the Christian life and
walk and through this process
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we avoid the falling
away from the higher path.
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But above all,
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when a brother
brings another one
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to the feet of Jesus
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through conversion or baptism,
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they save another person.
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But they also save themselves.
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It's also good to remember
from the books of Ellen White,
00:11:56.61\00:11:59.81
where she states
that she saw in vision,
00:11:59.85\00:12:02.18
many lights in the end of time
00:12:02.22\00:12:04.69
when the Holy Spirit
descends on the people,
00:12:04.72\00:12:07.12
these lights will shine,
illuminating the path to God.
00:12:07.16\00:12:11.39
Then the conclusion
of the great commission
00:12:11.43\00:12:13.76
will happen.
00:12:13.80\00:12:15.63
Gracious.
00:12:15.66\00:12:17.00
Pastor, thank you very much
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and we'll have
more front line mission
00:12:18.57\00:12:20.60
coming up right
after this break.
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