Participants: Gary Krause (Host)
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000901B
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00:12 Welcome back.
00:14 This is the 25 anniversary of Global Mission 00:17 an initiative that was started in 1990 00:20 by the Seventh-day Adventist World Church 00:22 and my guest is Pastor Michael Ryan 00:25 who is the first director of Global Mission. 00:28 Mike, thanks for joining us. 00:30 Yes, I'm glad to be here. I was the first director. 00:33 Yeah, 25 years ago. Yes. 00:35 Now when you came into that position, 00:39 that responsibility 00:41 what was the emplace beside the concept? 00:44 Well, they have voted Global Mission as a concept 00:49 at the annual council in 89 00:51 but between then and the session 00:53 really not anything have been done 00:55 and they knew what they wanted to do. 00:56 They knew that they wanted to put churches in places 01:00 where we didn't have them and they named as priorities, 01:04 they were then former Soviet Union, China, 01:07 India and then the Islamic world. 01:09 And but beyond that it was sort of a-- 01:12 they had a rough outline 01:14 but none of the mechanics of the program were in place. 01:18 There really wasn't funding set aside other than 01:22 to cover the operating 01:23 and then they called for study centers 01:27 and they called for a lot of things 01:28 but there really wasn't funding. 01:30 So it was kind of a name and so to begin with 01:33 you just, everybody was wonderful Global Mission 01:35 what is it, you know, 01:36 so it was that kind of a thing. 01:38 Right. 01:39 Now you are the time well, living in Asia 01:42 and you kind of liked this idea 01:44 and you started running with it, 01:46 tell me what you were doing. 01:47 Well, at first they started presenting it about 88 01:52 and I went to a couple meetings 01:55 and so we came back and I thought, 01:57 hey, this is great idea. 01:58 And so we quickly analyzed the territory 02:02 and divided it into little groups of a million 02:05 and we discovered that we had 27 of them 02:07 that didn't have any presence. 02:09 In which area? 02:10 Most of it was in Southeast Asia, Singapore, Thailand, 02:14 but also Indonesia had a fair number of them. 02:17 And so, you know, 02:19 at that juncture we said, well, hey, you know, 02:21 let's just go ahead and get started. 02:23 So we put everything on the computer 02:26 and back in those days the computer wasn't 02:29 what it was today and, you know, 02:31 and went about organizing, 02:33 we met with the unions, develop plans 02:35 and I can remember my office we had several shelves of plans 02:40 but time we got to the GC session in 1990 02:44 we had actually eliminated 02:46 a lot of them in a lot of places. 02:48 I mean, they aren't intruders 02:50 we planted churches and sent teams in. 02:52 So it kind of began there 02:55 and so, you know, as I looked around 02:56 what is successful 02:58 well, then you begin to develop methodology. 03:00 Right. 03:01 And so, Mike, today most Seventh-day Adventist 03:04 are familiar with church planting in new areas, 03:08 Global Mission pioneers, Global Mission centers 03:11 well, these weren't there when you started. 03:14 No, no, they weren't. 03:16 Matter of fact the Global Mission 03:19 pioneer program actually was an idea 03:21 that was born in east Indonesia. 03:23 I went out there one time to visit 03:25 and they said, oh, we are just sending 03:26 laypeople out to these areas 03:28 and we, the mother church kind of sponsors them 03:33 and they have an assignment to plant a church. 03:34 Well, I went out to visit several of them 03:36 and they were meeting in living rooms, 03:38 houses, they were meeting in apartments, 03:39 they were meet-- you know, 03:40 and I thought, you know, it's not a bad idea. 03:43 You know, the investment you have is very little. 03:46 These people all speak the language, 03:47 there is nobody who is happen to counsel them 03:49 on how fast they can get in trouble by saying this 03:52 or saying that, you know. 03:53 And so them I thought, well, you know, this is an idea 03:55 we can carry with us. 03:57 And yeah, so, you know, and to say-- you know, 04:02 I thought of it or I dreamed of it I don't believe that. 04:05 I think, I think the Lord just, you know, 04:06 let me come across things and then that, you know, 04:11 were good ideas but then you have a good team. 04:16 Just the Lord led in getting very good people together 04:20 and little by little the pieces began to grow. 04:23 What about the Global Mission centers 04:24 that used to be called study centers 04:26 that you started, 04:28 what was your vision for them? 04:30 Well, of course that the mandate 04:32 and the document that was voted in 89 04:34 at the annual counsel 04:36 was that we should have study centers to learn 04:39 methods of how we were to go 04:42 about our work in establishing churches 04:45 in these vast populations 04:47 in which we had nothing, I mean nothing. 04:50 And of course they call for one for Buddhist, 04:54 one for Hindus, one for Islam, one for Jewish, 04:56 Jewish study center and then there was a little, hint, 05:01 that, you know, you could add others 05:02 as there were needed 05:04 And so the idea was to get, to get something going 05:07 but the biggest challenges that we ran into 05:11 was that there wasn't any money. 05:12 They didn't give you any money to pay any salaries 05:14 or any budgets. 05:16 And so when they first started like, 05:18 I don't know we get divisions to pay half of it 05:20 and then we would kind of put in a little money 05:22 and little by little well, here's some travel budget 05:25 we just sort of built it in to the point now 05:28 where, you know, you know, they are on regular budgets 05:33 most of them with travel and their functioning centers 05:36 that really contributes. 05:38 And I know that you have repeated over and over again 05:40 that those centers as to come up with new models for us to 05:43 more effectively do, because before 1990, 05:46 Mike, I don't want to say 05:47 we ignored other religious groups 05:50 but there weren't central of the radar. 05:51 No. No. 05:53 And I think that we just didn't think 05:58 in terms of contextualization. 06:01 And people groups. 06:02 Yeah, we had kind of one model 06:04 and we took our model around the world 06:07 but then we and after 15 or 20 years somebody said, 06:09 you know, this model is not working real great 06:11 because we still have all these vast territories 06:13 with no churches in them. 06:15 And, you know, 06:16 you can go to certain places in the world 06:19 where maybe 60, 70 percent of the world lives 06:22 and publicevangelism 06:24 simply is not going to be accepted 06:26 because you either end up in prison 06:28 or they will kill you or, you know, 06:29 and you just can't use that you have to choose 06:32 something else and besides that you need to choose 06:35 something that identifies with the needs of the people 06:40 that they can appreciate. 06:41 And of course it didn't take rocket science 06:45 if you just pause and read 06:48 that really all people will identity with Christ method. 06:53 And if you just practice that you don't have to worry 06:55 about creating a lot of things. 06:56 So I think this is how it's kind of progressed. 06:58 Wonderful. 07:00 Mike, thanks so much for sharing with us. 07:02 And since 1990 when Global Mission 07:04 began the Seventh-day Adventist church has grown 07:06 from six million members to more than 18 million, 07:10 thousands of new congregations have been planted 07:12 among new people groups. 07:14 And so thank you for your continuing prayers, 07:16 your support, you financial support 07:18 and your involvement in mission that helps make this possible. 07:22 Next up we travel to Zimbabwe. 07:30 In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe a small orphanage is making 07:34 a huge difference in children's lives. 07:37 Around the world Seventh-day Adventist are aiming to give 07:41 children the best opportunity to succeed in life. 07:44 Schools, churches and summer camps 07:47 are just some examples of how church members 07:49 are implementing programs for children's growth. 07:52 These programs focus holistically on physical, 07:55 mental, and spiritual growth to equip children for life 07:59 and guide them toward a relationship with Jesus. 08:03 In Southern Africa you can find many examples 08:05 of children focused initiatives. 08:08 Education is highly valued in this part of the world. 08:11 Sometimes children are not given 08:13 the same level of opportunity. 08:15 In the country of Zimbabwe the Queen Elizabeth 08:18 Adventist Children's Home 08:20 or QEACH is the only orphanage officially operated 08:23 by the Seventh-day Adventist church. 08:26 Adventist began managing and operating 08:28 this orphanage in the 1980s. 08:30 These children have been orphaned, 08:32 dumped on the doorstep and sometimes abused 08:35 and sent here for a safe living environment. 08:38 Many of the children come because of HIV, 08:41 this is a big problem in this region of the world 08:43 and one that the staff does their best to deal with. 08:49 Samuel! Samuel, look there. 08:53 For children like Samuel 08:54 this was his only chance of survival. 08:57 Samuel was a fragile two days old 08:59 when he was brought to the orphanage. 09:01 At such a young age 09:02 without parents to take care of them 09:04 life was uncertain. 09:06 The staff at QEACH lovingly took him in 09:08 and nurtured him to the best of their abilities. 09:11 Now Samuel is growing strong 09:14 and bonding with the other children who live here. 09:16 Although he may not understand everything that has happened 09:19 God has certainly been watching over him. 09:25 The challenges in this part of the world are very real. 09:28 Other children have a similar story to Samuel. 09:32 They are left here as young as one day old. 09:36 The staff works tirelessly 09:37 to nurture these precious lives. 09:39 Up to 32 children are able to live here at one time. 09:43 When they are old enough they study, they pray, 09:46 they sing and they love. 09:49 The staff want to children to grow up loving the Lord 09:51 and developing a relationship with Him. 09:54 From a young age they are taught 09:56 how to talk to Jesus and listen for His voice. 10:00 With this great responsibility there are great needs. 10:03 Regulations are changing 10:05 and the orphanage needs to be updated. 10:08 For many reasons this is a huge challenge. 10:11 One of the necessary renovations are the bathrooms. 10:14 The children need new toilets 10:16 and showers to keep clean and prevent diseases. 10:19 Some of the toilets don't even flush anymore. 10:22 You can imagine this is a sanitary problem. 10:25 Children all across Southern Africa 10:27 could use your prayerful support. 10:29 There are great needs throughout this territory. 10:33 Please pray for this orphanage as they continue to care 10:36 for the children in Zimbabwe. 10:38 Pray that they grow up to love Jesus and serve Him. 10:42 Thank you for supporting mission. 10:48 Well, that's about it for Global Mission Snapshots today. 10:51 I hope that you've been challenged and inspired 10:53 by what you've seen and heard. 10:55 From many countries on the African continent 10:58 to cities such as San Antonio here in the United States 11:02 Seventh-day Adventist 11:03 are sharing the light of God's love 11:06 and I'm gonna thank you for your continuing support 11:08 for mission around the world through your finances, 11:11 through your prayers 11:12 and through your personal involvement. 11:14 Before we go I would like to send you a small free gift, 11:18 just a little thank you for your support of mission. 11:20 It's the Mission 360 magazine 11:23 that General Conference Session special edition. 11:26 I know that you will enjoy this magazine 11:28 that is full of stories and pictures 11:30 of mission around the world. 11:32 Well, for Adventist mission I'm Gary Krause 11:35 and I hope that you can join me next time 11:37 right here on Global Mission snapshots. |
Revised 2015-11-09