Showing God's love
and compassion in Italy,
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the United States and
Indonesia coming up next.
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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, 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 today's program.
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Coming to you from
Downtown, San Antonio,
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Texas in the United States.
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San Antonio is full of
iconic tourist destination
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such as the
Alamo, the River Walk,
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and this tower that reaches up
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750 feet into the air.
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On today's program,
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we'll be looking at
mission around the world.
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We'll be talking
to a missionary pilot
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who works in
remote areas in Indonesia.
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We'll also travel to
the Waldensian Valleys.
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But first up,
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let's go to Florida
here in the United States,
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where we see a Church Plant,
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showing the love
and compassion of Jesus
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in a practical way.
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Discipleship for me, I
think of it a very simply
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as bringing all of
Jesus into all of life,
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so all of Jesus,
His character, His ways,
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His power, into all of life,
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the different
spheres that we live,
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our work, our
family, our neighborhood,
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connecting with people
either through geography
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or through affinity,
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with common hobbies
and common interests.
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So it's about all of
Jesus into all of life.
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In Port Charlotte,
Florida, Pastor Anthony,
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Donna and Clarence
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worked together to Church Plant,
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starting a new
congregation of believers.
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Since Church Planting
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is one of the
most effective ways
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to make disciples,
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this group begins here
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using Christ's
method as a compass.
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Christ mingled with
people from all walks of life,
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and sought to do them good.
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Because of Jesus' as example,
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this community has found
great relief and assistance
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through the selfless
ministry of the people
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following Jesus' way.
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Yes, that's the recipe
for making disciples is just
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to write on them because,
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Jesus will write the
rules on their heart,
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when the time is right.
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But they have to
experience God's love first
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before they are
willing to trust Him enough
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to do the rules
because they can't do them.
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Through a work of
love and compassion,
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God has brought
many gifts to the lives
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of those who engage
in compass communities.
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The good things that
He has brought to my heart
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is to serve other people,
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but the biggest
thing is to make sure
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that I have time
to spend with Him,
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because if I don't
have time to spend with Him,
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then I'm not filled
with His Holy Sprit.
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Then I'm doing it in my
own strength instead of His.
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Because of a
connection with heaven,
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and an appreciation
of what Jesus has done,
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Donna and Clarence
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continue making disciples
at compass communities.
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One is Sonia and,
spiritually an elder
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and our other candidate is...
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Friday evenings, they serve
the best free meal of the week
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as a reminder to people of
God's special love for them.
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On Saturday
mornings members and guests
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from all walks of
life come to this center
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for spiritual nourishment.
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We minister to a
group of people the...
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that's totally
different from other people,
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we minister to the mentally ill,
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the mentally challenged.
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The people have vices or the...
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they have a drug
addiction, alcohol, porn,
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all kinds of different things.
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And we've, autistic
kids, a lot of autistic kinds.
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We actually
import most of them in,
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we go pick them up.
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One of the things we emphasize
was having a multi ethnic
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and a multi economic church.
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So a church has both diverse
ethnicity and income levels.
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And if you go there today,
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you'll see
people drive up in cars,
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have real world jobs,
you'll also see people about
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literally slept in
the woods the night before
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and either walk or
ride their bicycles there.
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So to see people
break those chains
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and get back to the way
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Christ would have
them live is really neat.
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And isn't this
what Christ came to do?
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He came to show what God is like
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in practical and tangible ways.
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In a manner that matters.
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So we believe that the world
doesn't need to see a church
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that's an affinity group,
where everyone's the same,
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looks the same,
same income level,
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same background.
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The world needs to see a
church that's truly diverse
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and in that the community
says, what's going on here?
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They see something different,
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not just because
of your theology,
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but because of the diversity.
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And the only thing
that's drawing those people
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together is Jesus Christ.
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Compass Communities now
has more than 50 members
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who attend on a weekly
basis, and are happy to be
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a part of Christ's
mission of disciplining.
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They are asking for your
prayers for their ministry
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and for a new building to serve
the people of Port Charlotte
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in even more ways.
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I'm delighted to introduce
my friend Gary Roberts,
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who is a pilot working in a...
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an area of the world
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that probably most
viewers have never been to,
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I have never been
to this specific area.
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It is West Papua, Indonesia.
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Where exactly is that, Gary?
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That's on the
island of New Guinea,
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which is just above Australia.
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And the island is
politically divided
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so half is Papua New Guinea
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and half is
West Papua Indonesia.
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All right, now you are a pilot
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and aviation is
your, in your blood,
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where did your love
of flying come from?
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Well, I guess, I
was born with it,
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because my father was a pilot.
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My mother was a nurse.
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So I say that I'm
a nurse by training,
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because that's what
I did in university,
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a pilot by choice and
a mechanic by default.
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Like that.
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And then you combine it all
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into being a missionary as well.
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Yes.
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Yeah, now, Gary, where
did you first start working?
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I started
working in South America,
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in the country of Guyana.
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Yes.
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I was there right after college
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and spent almost
seven years there
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doing medical
aviation, nursing, flying,
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mechanicing, spreading
gospel into remote areas.
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Then we moved to
the country of Chad,
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in Central Africa
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and spent almost
seven years there
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before moving to
Indonesia recently.
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Wonderful.
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Now I grew up
fascinated in Australia
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listening to stories of
missionaries from the islands
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talking about flying
into dangerous areas,
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and Pastor Led
Bernard was a nurse
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and a pilot just like you.
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What a wonderful combination.
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Absolutely,
it's a phenomenal mix
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and I had the opportunity
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of meeting Pastor Led Bernard
when I was there in Australia.
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And my dad actually convinced me
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to do something besides flying.
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Because he said, if
you're gonna be in the field,
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you need to do
something else as well.
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And so that's where
I got the idea of...
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I loved helping people
and so doing the medical
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with the
aviation is a perfect mix
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because you can
help them physically
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and help them with
the transportation needs,
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and help them
spiritually as well.
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That's what I
really enjoy. Fantastic.
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So you've served in
South America, Africa, Asia.
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Where were you born?
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I was actually born
in Kenya, East Africa.
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Okay.
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Because my
parents were missionaries
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in that part of
the world at that time.
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I grew up in the Congo or
Zaire as it known at that time.
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And I spent the first...
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almost first 15 part
years of my life there.
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When you look back at
the old years of service,
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tell me, what is been
the most rewarding aspect
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of what you've done?
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I'd say, you know,
telling people about God.
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When you reach an
area where you can see
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that people have been living
without the knowledge of God,
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or in very
difficult circumstances,
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to see that God has used
me to help reach those people.
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You know, my dad
was a missionary pilot
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for almost 40 years.
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And he always thought
it would be cool to have
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a baby born in his airplane.
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Well, six moths after
I went to South America,
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I had a baby born in my airplane
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while I was flying.
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And, you know,
God really gives us
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the desires of our hearts.
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He lets us do what we really
want to do if we serve Him.
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When I was a young boy,
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I really wanted to
be a missionary pilot
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and help people
and I choose to do that
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and God has really blessed.
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It's been an
exciting experience.
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But, Gary, you faced
tragedy too, as it...
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when you were in Chad.
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How did you deal with
the loss of your child?
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It's always difficult when
you lose your four year old son.
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But, you know, God has...
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God has called us to go.
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He never calls us to come back.
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And so it's...
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it is a challenge but we have
the hope of seeing him again,
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and that keeps us going.
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We returned to Chad
after that and kept on working.
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And it's amazing the
advantage that it gave us,
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because my wife was working
with mothers and their babies
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and almost every
mother in Chad has lost
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one, two, three
or four children.
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And so for them to
realize that these things happen
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to the foreigners as well,
00:10:01.93\00:10:03.87
it automatically
gave a deeper connection
00:10:03.90\00:10:06.43
with the local people.
00:10:06.47\00:10:07.80
And helped the ministry.
00:10:07.84\00:10:10.74
And then if that weren't enough,
00:10:10.77\00:10:13.88
you recently lost your father.
00:10:13.91\00:10:15.98
What happened there, Gary?
00:10:16.01\00:10:19.21
He was killed
in a plane accident
00:10:19.25\00:10:20.78
there in West Papua.
00:10:20.82\00:10:23.08
We still don't
have a conclusive idea
00:10:23.12\00:10:25.95
why that happened.
00:10:25.99\00:10:27.36
But he was killed
suddenly in a plane crash.
00:10:27.39\00:10:32.59
And again, to me it's a sign...
00:10:32.63\00:10:36.16
signs of the times,
00:10:36.20\00:10:37.83
'cause we told
that at the end of time
00:10:37.87\00:10:39.80
some people will be called
to rest before Jesus comes.
00:10:39.83\00:10:43.41
And he's been called to
rest, his job is finished.
00:10:43.44\00:10:47.38
Now he is waiting
for the resurrection.
00:10:47.41\00:10:49.28
And you have moved to West Papua
00:10:49.31\00:10:53.31
to take over from your
father's footsteps, right?
00:10:53.35\00:10:56.58
Yes, we just moved
in November of last year
00:10:56.62\00:10:59.12
and so we have the program
up and operational weekend.
00:10:59.15\00:11:02.32
And we've been quite
busy with many mission flights
00:11:02.36\00:11:05.06
because there was not a
pilot there for a while,
00:11:05.09\00:11:07.43
but that's going well
and we're already starting
00:11:07.46\00:11:09.63
to expand into
some new areas also.
00:11:09.66\00:11:11.67
Fantastic.
00:11:11.70\00:11:13.34
Gary, thank you so
much for the service
00:11:13.37\00:11:15.57
that you've given over the years
00:11:15.60\00:11:16.94
and the service that
you're continuing to give.
00:11:16.97\00:11:18.91
I know you've been
through the valleys, but I know,
00:11:18.94\00:11:22.04
God's also lifted
you up to the heights.
00:11:22.08\00:11:24.01
That's right. And
really it's a privilege.
00:11:24.05\00:11:26.85
It's a privilege to serve God.
00:11:26.88\00:11:28.28
Thank you so much.
00:11:28.32\00:11:29.68
And viewers, mission
experiences sometimes
00:11:29.72\00:11:33.56
full of great excitement
00:11:33.59\00:11:34.92
but with
wonderful things happening,
00:11:34.96\00:11:36.29
but tragedies do happen as well.
00:11:36.32\00:11:38.33
And it's so
encouraging for missionaries
00:11:38.36\00:11:40.46
on the front line
00:11:40.50\00:11:42.06
to know that there is a
World Church praying for them.
00:11:42.10\00:11:45.90
And this is a
habit that many of us had
00:11:45.93\00:11:48.10
when we were younger to pray
everyday for the missionaries
00:11:48.14\00:11:50.44
but I think
sometimes that gets forgotten.
00:11:50.47\00:11:53.21
So if you would like to
find out more about mission,
00:11:53.24\00:11:56.01
please go to
AdventistMission.org.
00:11:56.04\00:11:58.21
There you can find stories
00:11:58.25\00:11:59.85
such as the story
of Gary and his family,
00:11:59.88\00:12:03.08
and the commitment that
they have for mission service.
00:12:03.12\00:12:07.46
Please remember
also to support Mission
00:12:07.49\00:12:09.86
not only through
your tithes and offering,
00:12:09.89\00:12:11.99
but also through
your personal involvement.
00:12:12.03\00:12:14.56
We'll be right back
straight after this break.
00:12:14.60\00:12:16.67