Participants: Gary Krause (Host)
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS000903A
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00:09 Tampa Bay is known as
00:11 the lightning capital of United States. 00:14 On any given summers day 00:15 you almost guaranteed by the end of the afternoon 00:18 to have showers, thunder and lightening. 00:22 The showers of God's love being poured all over the globe 00:26 coming up next. 00:33 Just before He went up to heaven, 00:35 Jesus gave us a command. 00:38 He gave us a mission. 00:41 Jesus said go, 00:43 "Go, go unto all the world telling them of Hislove." 00:48 This is our mission, 00:50 this is our Global Mission. 00:58 Hello, and welcome to Global Mission Snapshots 01:00 coming to you today from the Tampa Bay area 01:03 of Florida in the United States. 01:06 The word Tampa was an Native American term 01:09 for sticks of fire. 01:11 I think that's a wonderful metaphor, 01:13 a symbol of mission. 01:15 Its the sparks of fire that burst into flame 01:19 that grow and grow sharing the love of Jesus Christ. 01:23 And around the world today 01:24 we see people planting churches, 01:26 we see people coming to know Jesus Christ as their Savior 01:30 because of men and women who have given their talents 01:33 and gifts for service for Jesus Christ. 01:36 When Paul was writing to Timothy in his second letter 01:39 he said, "Fan into flame the gift of God." 01:43 For we've not been given a spirit of Timothy 01:46 but a power of love and of self-discipline. 01:50 What a tremendous challenge we have today 01:53 to fan the flames of mission around the world. 01:56 First up today we will travel to Zimbabwe 01:58 and there we will see a 13th Sabbath Offering project 02:02 that will be supported by your mission offerings. 02:14 I came to this clinic to find medical help. 02:16 I was not feeling well. 02:18 The first thing that I discovered 02:20 when I came was the faith in Christ, 02:22 and it was the first thing that benefited me. 02:25 Especially in my case, I am HIV positive. 02:29 This Seventh-day Adventist Medical Clinic 02:31 fills a big need in this region of Zimbabwe. 02:34 The patients come from a variety of 02:36 social and religious backgrounds 02:38 and with a variety of symptoms. 02:42 Many of the patients are HIV positive 02:44 and this clinic is the only place 02:46 for them to get free care. 02:49 Nomatter came here for physical healing 02:52 but quickly found that 02:53 Jesus was a major part of the process. 02:56 Daily we have devotions here in this clinic. 03:00 All people come here for medical services. 03:03 They take part in devotional services. 03:07 We have music, 03:09 we have preaching that is done on a daily basis. 03:12 Nomatter used to be a Christian 03:14 but gave up her faith a long time ago. 03:17 The devotions at the clinic touched her heart. 03:20 She decided to re-dedicate her life to Jesus. 03:24 She told many people about her experience. 03:26 The clinic has a good reputation 03:28 in the community. 03:30 And she isn't the only one 03:31 whose life was transformed here. 03:33 There are countless stories of others 03:35 who have had life changing experiences at this clinic. 03:40 When I came to this clinic, 03:41 I was touched by one of the sermons 03:44 from the morning devotions 03:46 that was being led by the members 03:48 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 03:50 and that's when I saw the power of God working within me. 03:54 And then from there, I accepted Jesus Christ 03:58 as my personal Savior, then I was baptized. 04:01 Then from there, I saw that there was a change in my life. 04:05 This clinic takes a holistic approach to healing. 04:08 The nurses treat a variety of symptoms 04:10 and conditions. 04:11 Anything from treating a common cold 04:14 to delivering a baby can be done here. 04:16 And it is all done at no charge to the patient. 04:20 They tend to the mental, physical 04:22 and spiritual aspects of life. 04:25 There is even a fulltime counselor here 04:27 to talk to people about their issues. 04:29 Because this is an Adventist clinic, 04:31 we believe in Jesus. 04:33 We don't believe in our own intelligence. 04:38 Every morning before we start working, 04:40 we start by praying, 04:43 maybe just inviting the Lord in our work. 04:46 That's why some workers here are 04:48 so welcoming, so knowledgeable, 04:51 it's because there's Jesus in this clinic. 04:56 I am encouraged and taught how to live with HIV 04:59 and also to work with my hands. 05:01 That helps me to live a positive life. 05:05 The need for medical clinics in Southern Africa 05:08 is growing every day. 05:10 This quarter, a portion of your 13th Sabbath 05:12 Offerings will help build a medical clinic in Zimbabwe. 05:16 This clinic will be used as a holistic medical center 05:19 for people to be healed, not only physically, 05:22 but also mentally and spiritually. 05:25 Please pray for people like Nomatter 05:27 who need the support of these medical clinics. 05:30 Pray that God can touch the lives 05:32 of the people in this community. 05:34 Thank you for supporting Mission. 05:40 My guests are Clarence and Donna 05:42 who are actively involved 05:44 in ministry to the community here in Florida. 05:46 Thanks so much for joining us. 05:48 I'm interested very much in the name Compass Communities 05:52 is the name that you give for your initiative. 05:54 Where did that name come from? 05:56 Well, when we first got together as a group 05:59 we kind of just did some real research 06:03 and came up with different names 06:04 and for some reason 06:06 Compass was the one that was voted on 06:08 so we went for it. 06:09 Well, I kind of like it but does it implies 06:11 that you have some direction. 06:12 That does help, yes, yes. 06:14 So what is the imitative? 06:16 How would you describe it, Donna? 06:18 Well, we decided to call it Compass Communities 06:20 because it had four points on the compass 06:23 and to north is Jesus Christ 06:26 and then we decided that we are gonna focus 06:28 on four different areas which is to worship, 06:32 to nurture, to equip and one more... 06:36 One more good thing. 06:38 Yes. Okay. 06:39 And that's why we decided to work on those four areas. 06:43 Yeah, wonderful. 06:45 Now it's basically a church planting initiative? 06:47 Yes, it is. 06:48 What led you to become involved in this? 06:52 We have always wanted to be church planters 06:54 ever since I was filled with God's Holy Spirit 06:57 I just wanted to plant a church 06:59 and find a different way of doing church 07:01 so that it will be a church that's filled with love 07:03 and not concentrate on the walls 07:05 but to concentrate on loving people 07:07 and seeing what the God, the Holy Spirit 07:08 will do through that. 07:10 Right. 07:11 So you are very much oriented toward the community? 07:13 Yes. Right. 07:15 Well, we in the-- 07:16 I'm gonna call it the mother church, 07:17 okay, in our Sabbath school room. 07:20 It's really strange how we always got 07:22 kind of strange people, 07:24 were always directed to that room 07:27 and if they didn't blend in 07:29 to the rest of any class room or church 07:33 as far as the main sanctuary is concerned 07:36 they were sent to our class room. 07:38 And that kind of was the spark initially. 07:42 You know, things can be done differently 07:45 and we can help these people that 07:48 maybe nobody else wants to be concerned about that much 07:52 and it took off from there. 07:54 Okay, so you are in Port Charlotte 07:56 which is just south of here in Tampa, Florida, 08:00 how would you describe the community 08:01 that you are ministering to, Donna? 08:03 We minister to the mentally ill, 08:05 to the mentally challenged. 08:07 We minister to the alcoholics, drug addicts, 08:10 the autistic kids, the broken people. 08:13 Okay. 08:15 So it's an area that is economically impoverished, 08:19 would you describe it that way? 08:20 Part of it is, yes. Yeah. 08:22 It's the part that most people 08:23 don't want to think that exist there but it does 08:25 and so we minister to those kind of people 08:28 and we just love on them. 08:29 Wonderful. 08:31 So what's sort of community activities 08:33 are you involved in, Clarence? 08:36 Well, I actually the feeding program 08:39 what we combined years ago 08:41 with the Charlotte County Homeless Coalition 08:43 and decided to do the meals program, 08:46 the start on and it evolved and 15 years later 08:50 now it's tremendous. 08:53 I mean, there are thousands of meals every month 08:56 that are served there 08:57 and now its evolved where we use the location there now 09:01 for the actual church for on Saturday 09:04 to get the people to come in and minister to them, 09:07 to help them and it's just fantastic 09:10 because the people are there and they are in need. 09:13 So we are fulfilling that need for the community. 09:17 So on Sabbath morning you have a variety of people 09:20 coming into to worship together? 09:22 Yes, we do. Describe the congregation. 09:25 Well, there is like people there is like people 09:27 that is mentally ill, there is autistic kids, 09:29 that we actually import our kids, 09:31 a lot of our kids are from impoverish neighborhoods 09:34 and we actually go out and pick them up. 09:37 We pick a lot of members that don't have transportation 09:41 with our own individual cars and we just love on them. 09:44 Yeah. 09:45 What has been the reaction of the community 09:47 to what you are doing? 09:49 I'd say it's been pretty positive. 09:52 Really, we really have got no negative feedback 09:54 of any sorts that I can think of. 09:59 Now you are not trained as pastors 10:03 but you are basically leading this church, correct. 10:06 That's correct. 10:07 You know, we are just lay pastors. 10:08 So you are lay pastors? 10:10 Right. 10:11 How do you survive financially? 10:13 I mean, how do you, how do you 10:15 put bread on the table? 10:17 Well, I still own and run my business, 10:20 my wife is actually retired. 10:22 I'm thinking about retirement this year 10:25 so that's, you know, I'm coming and chopping in that bit 10:28 so this will be very interesting. 10:30 So you are self-employed 10:32 but you have a passion for ministry? 10:34 I do. 10:35 That's wonderful. 10:36 Now can you briefly tell me a story 10:38 of someone whose life has been touched 10:41 through the ministry of Compass Communities? 10:43 That would be Olivia. 10:45 Olivia was, now she was filled with evil spirits I knew them, 10:49 I saw them. 10:51 She was one of my wildlife kids, 10:52 I decided to get involved with wildlife 10:54 to go into public schools and to just meet kids 10:57 and invite them to wildlife 10:58 and play these crazy games with them and then-- 11:00 Excuse me, what's wildlife? 11:01 Wildlife is part of the young life 11:03 and young life is the mother program 11:05 and wildlife is younger kids and so I just went after Olivia 11:09 and she was one that 11:11 I targeted to help send her camp, 11:13 I helped raise money for her and got to take her to camp 11:16 and I'll tell you she accepted Jesus as her personal Savior. 11:20 And the change in her from night to day 11:22 she is my little sunshine now but there is-- 11:24 when she first got 11:26 there at the first night at camp 11:27 she was knifing her pillow 11:28 and she went to knife the people around her 11:30 and she was just-- 11:31 she had a lot of evil spirits in her 11:32 and now I see her as my little sunshine. 11:34 She is totally different. 11:35 Fantastic. 11:37 What are you hopes for Compass Communities? 11:40 Well, actually our numbers have really been on the increase 11:44 and we're actually, 11:45 we would like to get a building, 11:47 an actual building that we could expand 11:49 and we could have some class rooms 11:52 and do things. 11:53 A little more kind of like a church 11:55 but at the same time 11:57 making an outreach situation to help people. 12:00 A center of influence. 12:01 Of course, it is center of influence. 12:02 Absolutely. Yeah, that will be great. 12:04 Fantastic. 12:05 Donna and Clarence, thank you so much 12:07 for sharing with us today. 12:09 And viewers at home, please remember to pray 12:11 for people involved in frontline mission 12:14 such as Compass Communities 12:17 and don't go away 12:18 we will be right back straight after this break. |
Revised 2015-11-09