Mission in South
America and North America,
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a tour of a new
center of influence
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being built in Virginia,
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that and much
more 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,
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go unto all the world
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 the program.
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I'm Gary Krause.
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So glad that you can join us.
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On today's program
00:00:55.18\00:00:56.52
we will be talking
about urban mission.
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And I'm actually standing
inside a center of influence
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that is being constructed here
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in Northern Virginia
in the United States,
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just a few miles
away from Washington DC.
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Urban centers of influence
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are being started
all around the world.
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Some are new constructions
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others are just rented
facilities public holds,
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wherever we can find a place
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to put Christ method of ministry
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into practice.
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And on today's program
we'll travel to South America
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and we'll see
centers of influence
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that are touching people
from all sectors of society.
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Here in Northern Virginia
Pastor Finley has a dream
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and that is a
dream to plant a church
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to plant several churches
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using as a base
this center of influence.
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But first up let's travel
to Paraguay and see a pastor
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who is touching lives for
Jesus in the heart of the city.
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Paraguay is one
of nine countries
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in the South American Division.
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The Seventh day
Adventist Church here
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is involved in a
variety of mission work.
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From remote areas
among the Guarani tribes
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to large cities like the
capital city of Asuncion.
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In Paraguay as around the world,
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mission work
among urban dwellers
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is gaining momentum
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as people continue
to flock to the cities.
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Pastor Carlos Parra is
a missionary to Paraguay.
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He has brought a winning
approach to city work here.
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His secret weapon has
achieved unprecedented results
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and made the
impossible a reality.
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Five years ago we
arrived here in Paraguay
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for five years
of mission service.
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I had prior
experience working inside prison
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so I asked the local leadership
about this possibility.
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They told me about
a large nearby prison
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where they were working.
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So I immediately came to see it.
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I was surprised to see
the size of this prison
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with more than 4,000 inmates
when it was only designed
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for maximum
capacity of 2,500 people.
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This was one of the poorest
presence in South America.
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I was shocked to
see their situation.
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As we began to study
the Bible with some inmates
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the conditions were terrible.
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It was a tiny room
with poor ventilation
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and a bad atmosphere.
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So we began
praying on a regular basis
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for a better place to worship.
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A year went by until I met
an influential entrepreneur
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inside this prison
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who decided to finance
a church for the inmates.
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The plan was for
an Adventist building
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in sanctuary inside the prison.
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Now the prisoners worship daily
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beginning at 5:30 in the morning
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and consecrating
themselves for the day.
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The Adventist prisoners study
their Sabbath School lesson
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regularly with other inmates.
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They sing and on Sabbath
worship together with guest.
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More than 70
percent of the prisoners
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in the Adventist
building have been baptized.
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These prisoners invite
others to study the Bible
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and receive true freedom,
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the kind of reading the
goes beyond prison walls.
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This jail that was once
one of the most violent prisons
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in South America is now changed.
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There are no more daily
homicides committed here,
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but there are still great needs.
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Outside of this pavilion
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many prisoners
sleep on the floor
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and food is scarce.
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Adventist prisoners
are praying for funds
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to establish a bread bakery
so they can earn an income
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and provide food to
help less fortunate inmates.
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Pastor Carlos encourages
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Adventist members
with Bible promises.
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His secret
weapons are hard work,
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prayer, and faith.
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For if you ask you will receive.
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Early on Sunday mornings
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a group climbs to the
steepest point at the city
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and they pray
for the government,
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their city, and salvation
for the people of Asuncion.
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There are still
many challenges here,
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for one the wealthy of the city
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hardly cared to listen
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and there is no
Adventist presence
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in the most
affluent neighborhoods.
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In an effort to
speak to the wealthy class
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Pastor Carlos'
group found a building
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they wanted to buy in the
heart of one of the richest
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areas of Asuncion.
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They began working
in the community there
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and every time they
hosted an outreach event
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in this part of town
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the youth stopped in
front of the building
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they hope to buy,
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raised their hands
to heaven and prayed.
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They claimed God's promises
and asked for this house.
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Again a miracle
happened in Asuncion.
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The owner agreed to
sell very affordably
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and the Adventist
Church purchased in faith.
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Since then an active center
of influence offers classes,
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seminars, books,
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and true
friendship in this community.
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The local residents
are responding positively.
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Because of this
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the Adventist
leadership is building a church
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in the back of the property.
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They are sure
that God will continue
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to answer their prayers
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and heaven will soon be filled
with the rich and the poor,
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the prisoner and free.
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Please pray for
the Nueva Sojourner
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Center of Influence and
the Tacumbu prison work.
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There are many people
who have not yet heard
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the good news of salvation.
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One of the major
mission challenges
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facing the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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is the large and growing number
of cities around the world.
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Today more people
are living in cities
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than living in rural areas.
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And here to talk
about the challenge
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of urban ministry
is Pastor Mark Finley.
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Mark, thanks so
much for joining us.
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You have worked for many
years as a public evangelist,
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you worked in rural
areas but many big cities
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as well around the world
and we're in a community here
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where you are
involved in holistic ministry.
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How would you
describe holistic ministry?
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I think holistic ministry,
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Gary, is the
ministry of Jesus Christ
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in this generation.
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When I look at
the ministry of Christ
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the Bible says
in Matthew 9:35-38
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that Jesus went
through all the cities
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preaching and
teaching and healing.
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So holistic ministry
has to do with teaching,
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helping people to understand
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how to have a
better way of life.
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It has to do with healing,
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ministering to
their basic physical needs
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but it also has to
do with spirituality
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helping people to know Jesus
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who gives them
the power to change.
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You know, I love that statement
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in Ministry of Healing,
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"Christ's
method alone will bring
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true success in
reaching the people."
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Jesus mingled among people
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as well as desired they're good.
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He showed them sympathy,
ministered to their needs,
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then He begged them follow me.
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So what is holistic ministry?
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It's mingling with people,
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understanding their
heartache and their need.
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You cannot win
people that you don't know.
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To getting to know them.
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What compels them?
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What's the deep
motivation of their heart?
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What's the
purpose of their life?
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Rubbing shoulders with them.
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If you are not
part of a community
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and you just
simply try to come in.
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You remember that old movie
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"The Gospel Blimp"
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you fly over the
city and drop literature.
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That's not the
ministry of Christ.
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The ministry of Christ
is getting to know people.
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Holistic ministry is ministering
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to the total needs of people
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because you know them and
love them like Christ did.
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Right, so many people know
you from your public figure,
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you're up there
preaching the sermon
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but they don't know
a lot of the groundwork
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that surrounds all of that.
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Describe what you would do
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if you were to start
a ministry in new area.
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Well, starting a
ministry in the new area
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the first thing we do
like in this very community
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where we're standing
here the very up market area,
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an hour from Washington DC.
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We came here.
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We began to pray
for the community
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the first thing we did.
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We would walk this community
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my wife and I and we would pray.
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She would walk the trails,
get up early in the morning
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and just pray for our community.
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We didn't know what to do, Gary.
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All right.
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So we didn't come in
with some strategic plan,
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we came in with
this humble attitude.
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We don't know what to do here.
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We don't know how
to reach these people
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and we began to pray
that's the first thing.
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The second thing
is we started small
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with some programming
to test our community.
00:09:02.77\00:09:05.84
And so we pray, we
begin trying things
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and if something doesn't
work we try something else.
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There is
something worse than failure
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and that's doing nothing.
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I'd rather try to
do something and fail
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than try to do
nothing and succeed.
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Yes.
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And so we tried little things
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and God gives us a
little success here
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and a little success there.
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Then we say what else is
going on in the community?
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What kind of health programs?
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What are the
churches are in the community?
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What are they doing?
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At the same time we
are studying scripture,
00:09:35.24\00:09:37.71
we're studying the
writings of Ellen White,
00:09:37.74\00:09:39.17
we're saying
00:09:39.21\00:09:40.54
if Jesus were
here what would He do?
00:09:40.58\00:09:42.58
And then we begin to say,
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what do we already have
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and my wife and
I asked ourselves
00:09:46.55\00:09:47.88
what we have here?
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A small church in Warrenton
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about 25 minutes away.
00:09:51.35\00:09:53.36
So that's what we
had a very small church,
00:09:53.39\00:09:56.09
35 most 40 people coming
00:09:56.12\00:09:58.83
but that church had something.
00:09:58.86\00:10:01.10
Every year they set aside
$15,000 or so for evangelism.
00:10:01.13\00:10:04.93
We knew they had
evangelistic heart.
00:10:04.97\00:10:06.57
They had people that
wanted to see the church grow.
00:10:06.60\00:10:08.90
They had people
that were praying.
00:10:08.94\00:10:10.67
We said we would rather start
00:10:10.71\00:10:12.84
like Jesus did with
the loaves and the fishes
00:10:12.87\00:10:14.94
and something small and
let Christ multiply them.
00:10:14.98\00:10:17.51
So how do you start?
You start with prayer,
00:10:17.55\00:10:19.71
you start
assessing the community,
00:10:19.75\00:10:21.98
what are its needs,
00:10:22.02\00:10:23.35
what kind of people live
there and then you start small
00:10:23.39\00:10:26.96
to do something is
better than to do nothing.
00:10:26.99\00:10:29.39
And you let God grow that
seed to what He wants it to be.
00:10:29.42\00:10:32.86
Wonderful, now
later in the program
00:10:32.89\00:10:34.66
we will see the
center of influence
00:10:34.70\00:10:36.26
that you're starting here.
00:10:36.30\00:10:37.67
Why are centers of influence
00:10:37.70\00:10:39.37
such an important
method in urban areas?
00:10:39.40\00:10:42.87
Centers of influence
give us stability in an area.
00:10:42.90\00:10:46.47
If I go into an area for example
00:10:46.51\00:10:48.38
and running evangelistic
meeting for five or six weeks,
00:10:48.41\00:10:51.85
I'm in and out that's gone.
00:10:51.88\00:10:53.72
Certainly we
baptize some people,
00:10:53.75\00:10:55.92
certainly we train some people.
00:10:55.95\00:10:57.29
But I would say at least
three major important reasons
00:10:57.32\00:10:59.79
for centers of influence.
00:10:59.82\00:11:01.16
Number one, they are--
00:11:01.19\00:11:02.52
they give stability to
God's work in the area.
00:11:02.56\00:11:05.66
They are here today,
tomorrow, and the next day.
00:11:05.69\00:11:09.03
They are a daily
witness for Christ.
00:11:09.06\00:11:11.83
Second thing about
centers of influence
00:11:11.87\00:11:13.57
at least for me is significant
is the center of influence
00:11:13.60\00:11:17.01
can be placed in a community
00:11:17.04\00:11:20.08
where you could not
do public evangelism.
00:11:20.11\00:11:22.21
There areas the
10/40 Window for example.
00:11:22.24\00:11:24.68
And so you can have
a center of influence
00:11:24.71\00:11:28.38
that meets the needs
of people in a community.
00:11:28.42\00:11:30.92
That they're gonna walk into
00:11:30.95\00:11:32.29
that would never
ever walk into a church.
00:11:32.32\00:11:35.22
So they meet the needs.
00:11:35.26\00:11:36.69
And thirdly a
center of influence
00:11:36.73\00:11:39.33
gives people an opportunity
gradually to understand
00:11:39.36\00:11:42.93
spiritual truths
and have it unfolded.
00:11:42.96\00:11:44.77
So it's a
permanent stable facility
00:11:44.80\00:11:48.74
that breaks down prejudice,
00:11:48.77\00:11:51.41
that shares truth gradually,
00:11:51.44\00:11:53.51
and for me in a
secular urban environment
00:11:53.54\00:11:57.55
it is one of the best
things that church can do
00:11:57.58\00:11:59.38
to grow the kingdom of God.
00:11:59.41\00:12:00.75
Wonderful,
because it's a springboard
00:12:00.78\00:12:02.12
for putting the
Christ method into practice
00:12:02.15\00:12:03.59
that you are telling about.
00:12:03.62\00:12:04.95
It is. It really is.
00:12:04.99\00:12:06.32
As I said we're gonna
look at the center later
00:12:06.35\00:12:08.29
but what is your--
00:12:08.32\00:12:09.66
in a summary what is your hope
for this center of influence?
00:12:09.69\00:12:12.66
My hope for this
center of influence
00:12:12.69\00:12:15.60
is that it makes a
dramatic powerful difference
00:12:15.63\00:12:19.13
in this community
and it becomes a model
00:12:19.17\00:12:22.64
for what it can be
done around the world.
00:12:22.67\00:12:25.07
A model that
would-- you have a vision.
00:12:25.11\00:12:27.34
I think of the story of Jesus.
00:12:27.38\00:12:29.34
Jesus never asked
what don't you have?
00:12:29.38\00:12:32.41
He said, what do we have?
00:12:32.45\00:12:33.78
We only have five
loaves and two fishes
00:12:33.82\00:12:35.72
but little in the
hands of Jesus is much.
00:12:35.75\00:12:37.89
I would encourage people.
00:12:37.92\00:12:39.25
You know, Gary, when we started
00:12:39.29\00:12:40.92
we had no
property, we had no funding,
00:12:40.96\00:12:43.86
we had just a
vision in our heart.
00:12:43.89\00:12:45.89
There maybe
somebody in a major city
00:12:45.93\00:12:48.66
in the Middle East
or somebody in Africa
00:12:48.70\00:12:51.03
and you say, "Sure
that's okay for Mark Finley
00:12:51.07\00:12:53.30
because but we
don't have anything here.
00:12:53.34\00:12:55.87
We just have this.
Start with what you have.
00:12:55.90\00:12:58.24
Give what you have to Jesus.
00:12:58.27\00:12:59.61
They don't have very much,
00:12:59.64\00:13:00.98
they had five
loaves and two fishes
00:13:01.01\00:13:02.34
they couldn't feed 5,000 people
00:13:02.38\00:13:03.78
but Jesus multiplied them.
00:13:03.81\00:13:05.91
When we have a
vision and a dream
00:13:05.95\00:13:08.38
and we start with what small
00:13:08.42\00:13:10.39
God's gonna multiply it.
00:13:10.42\00:13:11.75
Fantastic. Thanks.
00:13:11.79\00:13:13.12
Thanks so much
for joining us, Mark.
00:13:13.15\00:13:14.49
Thanks, Gary.
00:13:14.52\00:13:15.86
And we'll be right back
straight after this break.
00:13:15.89\00:13:18.16