Welcome back.
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This is the 25
anniversary of Global Mission
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an initiative that
was started in 1990
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by the Seventh-day
Adventist World Church
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and my guest is
Pastor Michael Ryan
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who is the first
director of Global Mission.
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Mike, thanks for joining us.
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Yes, I'm glad to be
here. I was the first director.
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Yeah, 25 years ago. Yes.
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Now when you came
into that position,
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that responsibility
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what was the
emplace beside the concept?
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Well, they have voted
Global Mission as a concept
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at the annual council in 89
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but between then and the session
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really not
anything have been done
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and they knew
what they wanted to do.
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They knew that they
wanted to put churches in places
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where we didn't have them
and they named as priorities,
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they were then
former Soviet Union, China,
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India and then
the Islamic world.
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And but beyond
that it was sort of a--
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they had a rough outline
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but none of the mechanics
of the program were in place.
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There really wasn't
funding set aside other than
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to cover the operating
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and then they
called for study centers
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and they called
for a lot of things
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but there really wasn't funding.
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So it was kind of a
name and so to begin with
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you just, everybody was
wonderful Global Mission
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what is it, you know,
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so it was that kind of a thing.
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Right.
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Now you are the
time well, living in Asia
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and you kind of liked this idea
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and you started running with it,
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tell me what you were doing.
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Well, at first they
started presenting it about 88
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and I went to a couple meetings
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and so we came
back and I thought,
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hey, this is great idea.
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And so we quickly
analyzed the territory
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and divided it into
little groups of a million
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and we discovered
that we had 27 of them
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that didn't have any presence.
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In which area?
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Most of it was in Southeast
Asia, Singapore, Thailand,
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but also Indonesia
had a fair number of them.
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And so, you know,
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at that juncture we
said, well, hey, you know,
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let's just go
ahead and get started.
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So we put
everything on the computer
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and back in those
days the computer wasn't
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what it was today and, you know,
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and went about organizing,
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we met with the
unions, develop plans
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and I can remember my office
we had several shelves of plans
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but time we got to
the GC session in 1990
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we had actually eliminated
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a lot of them
in a lot of places.
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I mean, they aren't intruders
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we planted
churches and sent teams in.
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So it kind of began there
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and so, you know,
as I looked around
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what is successful
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well, then you begin
to develop methodology.
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Right.
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And so, Mike, today
most Seventh-day Adventist
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are familiar with
church planting in new areas,
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Global Mission
pioneers, Global Mission centers
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well, these weren't
there when you started.
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No, no, they weren't.
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Matter of fact
the Global Mission
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pioneer program
actually was an idea
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that was born in east Indonesia.
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I went out there
one time to visit
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and they said, oh,
we are just sending
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laypeople out to these areas
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and we, the mother
church kind of sponsors them
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and they have an
assignment to plant a church.
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Well, I went out to
visit several of them
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and they were
meeting in living rooms,
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houses, they were
meeting in apartments,
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they were meet-- you know,
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and I thought, you
know, it's not a bad idea.
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You know, the investment
you have is very little.
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These people all
speak the language,
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there is nobody who
is happen to counsel them
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on how fast they can get
in trouble by saying this
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or saying that, you know.
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And so them I thought,
well, you know, this is an idea
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we can carry with us.
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And yeah, so, you
know, and to say-- you know,
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I thought of it or I dreamed
of it I don't believe that.
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I think, I think
the Lord just, you know,
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let me come across
things and then that, you know,
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were good ideas but
then you have a good team.
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Just the Lord led in getting
very good people together
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and little by little
the pieces began to grow.
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What about the
Global Mission centers
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that used to be
called study centers
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that you started,
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what was your vision for them?
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Well, of course that the mandate
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and the document
that was voted in 89
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at the annual counsel
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was that we should
have study centers to learn
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methods of how we were to go
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about our work in
establishing churches
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in these vast populations
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in which we had
nothing, I mean nothing.
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And of course they
call for one for Buddhist,
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one for Hindus, one
for Islam, one for Jewish,
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Jewish study center and
then there was a little, hint,
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that, you know,
you could add others
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as there were needed
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And so the idea was to
get, to get something going
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but the biggest
challenges that we ran into
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was that there wasn't any money.
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They didn't give you any
money to pay any salaries
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or any budgets.
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And so when they
first started like,
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I don't know we get
divisions to pay half of it
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and then we would kind
of put in a little money
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and little by little
well, here's some travel budget
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we just sort of built
it in to the point now
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where, you know, you know,
they are on regular budgets
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most of them with travel
and their functioning centers
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that really contributes.
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And I know that you have
repeated over and over again
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that those centers as to come
up with new models for us to
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more effectively
do, because before 1990,
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Mike, I don't want to say
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we ignored
other religious groups
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but there weren't
central of the radar.
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No. No.
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And I think that
we just didn't think
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in terms of contextualization.
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And people groups.
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Yeah, we had kind of one model
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and we took our
model around the world
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but then we and after 15
or 20 years somebody said,
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you know, this model
is not working real great
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because we still have
all these vast territories
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with no churches in them.
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And, you know,
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you can go to
certain places in the world
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where maybe 60, 70
percent of the world lives
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and publicevangelism
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simply is not
going to be accepted
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because you
either end up in prison
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or they will
kill you or, you know,
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and you just can't use
that you have to choose
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something else and
besides that you need to choose
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something that identifies
with the needs of the people
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that they can appreciate.
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And of course it
didn't take rocket science
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if you just pause and read
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that really all people will
identity with Christ method.
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And if you just practice
that you don't have to worry
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about creating a lot of things.
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So I think this is how
it's kind of progressed.
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Wonderful.
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Mike, thanks so
much for sharing with us.
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And since 1990
when Global Mission
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began the Seventh-day
Adventist church has grown
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from six million
members to more than 18 million,
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thousands of new
congregations have been planted
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among new people groups.
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And so thank you for
your continuing prayers,
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your support,
you financial support
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and your involvement in mission
that helps make this possible.
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Next up we travel to Zimbabwe.
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In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe a
small orphanage is making
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a huge difference
in children's lives.
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Around the world Seventh-day
Adventist are aiming to give
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children the best
opportunity to succeed in life.
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Schools,
churches and summer camps
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are just some
examples of how church members
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are implementing
programs for children's growth.
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These programs focus
holistically on physical,
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mental, and spiritual growth
to equip children for life
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and guide them toward a
relationship with Jesus.
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In Southern Africa
you can find many examples
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of children focused initiatives.
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Education is highly valued
in this part of the world.
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Sometimes children are not given
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the same level of opportunity.
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In the country of
Zimbabwe the Queen Elizabeth
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Adventist Children's Home
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or QEACH is the only
orphanage officially operated
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by the
Seventh-day Adventist church.
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Adventist began
managing and operating
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this orphanage in the 1980s.
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These children
have been orphaned,
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dumped on the
doorstep and sometimes abused
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and sent here for a
safe living environment.
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Many of the
children come because of HIV,
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this is a big problem
in this region of the world
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and one that the staff
does their best to deal with.
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Samuel! Samuel, look there.
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For children like Samuel
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this was his only
chance of survival.
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Samuel was a
fragile two days old
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when he was
brought to the orphanage.
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At such a young age
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without parents
to take care of them
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life was uncertain.
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The staff at QEACH
lovingly took him in
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and nurtured him to the
best of their abilities.
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Now Samuel is growing strong
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and bonding with the
other children who live here.
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Although he may not understand
everything that has happened
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God has certainly
been watching over him.
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The challenges in this
part of the world are very real.
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Other children have a
similar story to Samuel.
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They are left here
as young as one day old.
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The staff works tirelessly
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to nurture these precious lives.
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Up to 32 children are
able to live here at one time.
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When they are old
enough they study, they pray,
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they sing and they love.
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The staff want to children
to grow up loving the Lord
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and developing a
relationship with Him.
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From a young age they are taught
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how to talk to Jesus
and listen for His voice.
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With this great responsibility
there are great needs.
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Regulations are changing
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and the orphanage
needs to be updated.
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For many reasons
this is a huge challenge.
00:10:08.00\00:10:11.41
One of the necessary
renovations are the bathrooms.
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The children need new toilets
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and showers to keep
clean and prevent diseases.
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Some of the toilets
don't even flush anymore.
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You can imagine this
is a sanitary problem.
00:10:22.32\00:10:25.59
Children all
across Southern Africa
00:10:25.62\00:10:27.66
could use your
prayerful support.
00:10:27.69\00:10:29.72
There are great needs
throughout this territory.
00:10:29.76\00:10:33.19
Please pray for this orphanage
as they continue to care
00:10:33.23\00:10:36.03
for the children in Zimbabwe.
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Pray that they grow up
to love Jesus and serve Him.
00:10:38.37\00:10:42.34
Thank you for
supporting mission.
00:10:42.37\00:10:48.44
Well, that's about it for
Global Mission Snapshots today.
00:10:48.48\00:10:51.05
I hope that you've
been challenged and inspired
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by what you've seen and heard.
00:10:53.85\00:10:55.82
From many countries
on the African continent
00:10:55.85\00:10:58.05
to cities such as San Antonio
here in the United States
00:10:58.09\00:11:02.16
Seventh-day Adventist
00:11:02.19\00:11:03.69
are sharing the
light of God's love
00:11:03.73\00:11:06.29
and I'm gonna thank you
for your continuing support
00:11:06.33\00:11:08.50
for mission around the
world through your finances,
00:11:08.53\00:11:11.33
through your prayers
00:11:11.37\00:11:12.70
and through your
personal involvement.
00:11:12.73\00:11:14.67
Before we go I would like
to send you a small free gift,
00:11:14.70\00:11:18.07
just a little thank you
for your support of mission.
00:11:18.11\00:11:20.61
It's the Mission 360 magazine
00:11:20.64\00:11:23.18
that General Conference
Session special edition.
00:11:23.21\00:11:26.45
I know that you
will enjoy this magazine
00:11:26.48\00:11:28.18
that is full of
stories and pictures
00:11:28.22\00:11:30.89
of mission around the world.
00:11:30.92\00:11:32.95
Well, for Adventist
mission I'm Gary Krause
00:11:32.99\00:11:35.09
and I hope that you
can join me next time
00:11:35.12\00:11:37.36
right here on
Global Mission snapshots.
00:11:37.39\00:11:40.33