The apostle John
wrote in the beginning
00:00:10.31\00:00:12.64
was the logos, the word.
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And through the centuries
00:00:15.34\00:00:16.68
that word has been
communicated through person,
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through the spoken word,
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through the
written word and today,
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now through the
internet, TV, radio,
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and so many different ways.
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Communicating the
Gospel, coming up next.
00:00:27.59\00:00:30.19
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."
00:00:52.11\00:00:54.32
Hello, I'm Gary Krause
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and welcome to today's program,
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coming to you today
from the city of Mainz
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on the Rhine River in Germany.
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Mainz, of course, is very famous
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for being the home
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for the invention of
the movable type press.
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This caused a revolution.
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For the first time
ideas were able to be spread
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throughout the region
very quickly, very swiftly.
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The inventor, of
course, was Johannes Gutenberg.
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It was the early 1450s.
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And it was this
invention that helped the ideas
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of the reformation to spread
throughout Europe very quickly.
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Of course, the Gutenberg
Bible, the first full book
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that was used on
these printing presses
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is now a very rare
and very valuable book.
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On today's program
we'll be looking at publishing
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and how in the 1800s
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the Seventh-day Adventist Church
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began to share its message
through the printed word.
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Let's look at the story now.
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The Seventh-day
Adventist Church was born
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as a direct
fulfillment of prophecy.
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It did not see
itself as a denomination
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but as a
movement with a mission,
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in fact, a resisted
organizational structure
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in restraint.
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The leaders and members
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believed in the
soon return of Christ.
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They used every means
necessary to spread the news
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of the imminent return of Jesus.
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A lot of people
had gotten so excited
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that they
abandoned their businesses.
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They left fields and
crops untended and un-harvested.
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New England
winters require preparation
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and that preparations
simply haven't been done.
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People thought they were
going to heaven in October,
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instead they
wouldn't have food to eat
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or money for several months.
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Disappointment might
not be a strong enough word.
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In the words of one Millerite,
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true believers had
given up all for Christ.
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But He did not come.
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And now to turn
again to the cares,
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perplexities and dangers of life
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in full view of jeering
and reviling unbelievers
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who scoffed as never before
00:03:03.55\00:03:05.51
was a terrible trial
of faith and patience.
00:03:05.55\00:03:09.08
A Methodist paper
called for thunderbolts
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read with uncommon wrath
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upon the head of Joshua
Himes and other Millerites.
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Critics accused him of
being a liar, a fear mongerer,
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disturber of the
peace and a cheat.
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Some said Himes
fled the country,
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some said he committed suicide.
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The Boston Post
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called the advent
leaders unprincipled men,
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perfectly conscious
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of the absurdity
of their opinions
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and reckless of
the injury they caused.
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In reality, Himes Miller
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and other
leaders of the movement
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had never instructed
believers to leave their jobs,
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sell their property
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and neglect their
secular responsibilities.
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But their faith turn
them into social pariahs.
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William Miller
himself wrote, "It passed
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and then next day it
seemed as though all the demons
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from the bottomless
pit were loose upon us."
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Hiram Edson lamented,
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"Has the Bible proved a failure?
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Is there no God, no heaven,
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no golden home
city, no paradise?
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Is all this but
cunningly devised fable?
00:04:12.45\00:04:15.65
Is there no
reality to our fondest hope
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and expectation
of these things?"
00:04:17.72\00:04:20.36
Luther Butale said
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"Everyone felt lonely
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with hardly a
desire to speak to anyone.
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All were
silent, safe to enquire,
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'where are we and what's next?'
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All were housed in
searching their Bibles
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to learn what to do."
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Then, Hiram
Edson receives a vision
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while walking through a field,
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reinterpretation
offers new hope.
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Early church
founders want to share
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that hope with the
believers they had lost.
00:04:50.65\00:04:53.29
Ellen Harmon White
is shown in a vision
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that James White
should start a magazine.
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Penniless but inspired,
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James convinces a
publisher to print
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1,000 copies of
The Present Truth.
00:05:02.40\00:05:05.73
The magazine helps to
clarify what happened in 1844
00:05:05.77\00:05:09.20
and the full cost is
repaid by generous readers.
00:05:09.24\00:05:13.11
Publishing ministry
quickly becomes central
00:05:13.14\00:05:15.08
to spreading
emerging Adventist doctrines
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like the three angels'
message and Sabbath truth.
00:05:17.41\00:05:20.78
To keep printers from
running on the Sabbath,
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the church starts
its own publishing house
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which was literally a house
that early church members lived
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and worked in together.
00:05:27.92\00:05:29.72
Hiram Edson sold his farm
00:05:29.76\00:05:31.33
and donated the
money to buy a hand press.
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Soon the church
began distributing
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the Second Advent
Review and Sabbath Herald.
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Since there was no paper cutter,
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Uriah Smith trimmed all
the edges of the magazines
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with his pen knife.
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In his own words,
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"We blistered our
hands in the operation
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and often the tracks in form
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were not half so true and square
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as the doctrines they taught."
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At age 23, Smith would
go on to serve as an editor
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and would hold the position
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in some capacity
for his entire life.
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As the
publishing ministry grows,
00:06:02.22\00:06:03.73
young Canadian
immigrant George King
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comes up the idea
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to sell subscriptions
of Adventist publications.
00:06:07.40\00:06:10.03
"The Signs of
the Times" has born.
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The gospel message
spills out of the church
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and meets people
right at their front door.
00:06:14.64\00:06:17.57
The beginning of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:06:17.61\00:06:19.34
was exciting.
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Was it something the
pioneers could keep secret?
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Not a chance.
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Church pioneers assume
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that those who
renewed their belief
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would share with
their brothers and sisters.
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The brothers and sisters
will share with their cousins
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and the cousins would share
with their brothers and sisters
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and the whole great
commission would fulfill itself.
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But it didn't work out that way.
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My guest is Pastor Klaus Popa
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who is the general
manager for Stimme der Hoffnung,
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the Adventist media
center here in Germany.
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Thanks for
joining us. Thank you.
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And we're actually kind
of on the roof of Stimme
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and it's a big building here
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containing many
types of ministries.
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Can you explain some of the,
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the ministries
you're involved in?
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You know, we're
doing television,
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Hope Channel Deutsch.
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We are involved
in the radio ministry
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that actually started in 1948,
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so it's right
after the World War II.
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Yes.
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Few years later we
began with radio ministry,
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then the Bible correspondent
school was initiated,
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which up to today is working
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and mainly serving the
German speaking countries.
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And then a few years later,
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it's actually about 51 years old
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now this ministry, is
the sight impaired ministry,
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that's also wide range of people
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that we serve
with audio literature,
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audio books, audio magazines.
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Wonderful.
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Now when you look at
the various ministries
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you're involved in,
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how would you
describe your audience?
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You know, the audience
is actually pretty mixed,
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pretty mixed and it's growing,
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especially due
to the Hope Channel.
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We started the
production, our audio,
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video production back in the 90s
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during the
satellite evangelism period.
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But 24/7 we
began seven years ago.
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So I sometimes say,
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when I will
finish with pre-schooling
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and starting really,
going to school first grade
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after seven years of experience
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So we build a wide,
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wide audience of
many, many people.
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But we can say that
those that listen and watch us
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and participate in the
Bible correspondence schools
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are mostly non-Adventist,
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many of them
non-Christian background.
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So how does that
affect the type of programming
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that you produce?
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We very
intentionally try to reach
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a non-Christians audience,
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which sometimes makes it
difficult to translate faith,
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because faith is
something that is you know,
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very, very old,
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that has come to us
from our forefathers,
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not only our
Adventist forefathers,
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but you know, back,
back, back way in the days.
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So to translate this
faith to modern audience,
00:08:57.67\00:09:02.24
to a postmodern audience,
00:09:02.27\00:09:03.64
to a secular
audience is at times not easy
00:09:03.67\00:09:07.24
but this is our
intention to speak in a way
00:09:07.28\00:09:10.78
to speak about
faith and life in a way
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that people can really adopt it
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and make it
practical in their lives.
00:09:15.85\00:09:18.32
Now you've
engaged in various types
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of experiments
of different things.
00:09:20.36\00:09:22.92
Not so long ago you
had a combination of
00:09:22.96\00:09:25.49
some outreach
meetings and a feature film.
00:09:25.53\00:09:28.53
Describe that project.
00:09:28.56\00:09:30.17
Yeah, this was, you know,
00:09:30.20\00:09:31.53
the so called
"Faith Simple Series"
00:09:31.57\00:09:34.30
and I think the
name really says it.
00:09:34.34\00:09:36.71
We tried to make
faith very simple,
00:09:36.74\00:09:39.77
very practical to
really come from a, from a,
00:09:39.81\00:09:44.81
actually from the streets.
00:09:44.85\00:09:46.45
We were not in a studio setting
00:09:46.48\00:09:49.55
for delivering the content,
00:09:49.58\00:09:51.72
but on the streets
in New York, that's,
00:09:51.75\00:09:54.29
that was the iconic place for,
actually for the whole world,
00:09:54.32\00:09:57.56
but especially
for postmodern people.
00:09:57.59\00:09:59.83
So that's why
we were on location
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delivering the different topics,
00:10:02.06\00:10:03.40
we included a feature film
00:10:03.43\00:10:05.43
that we produced as
part of that series and,
00:10:05.47\00:10:08.00
you know, little bits
of that film of this story
00:10:08.04\00:10:11.97
that we told there.
00:10:12.01\00:10:13.98
We're part of
every evening program
00:10:14.01\00:10:16.21
that we had at the beginning.
00:10:16.24\00:10:17.58
So we started with
this consecutive story,
00:10:17.61\00:10:20.78
where the story then
happened again in New York.
00:10:20.82\00:10:22.95
We were on location delivering
short messages of about,
00:10:22.98\00:10:27.32
you know, 12 to 17 minutes
00:10:27.36\00:10:29.49
and then had
guests in studio then,
00:10:29.52\00:10:33.03
live production
with two, three guests
00:10:33.06\00:10:35.60
that we then
discussed the topic of that day
00:10:35.63\00:10:38.23
heavily involving social
media, you know, counseling
00:10:38.27\00:10:41.24
and you know, it
was a very integrative
00:10:41.27\00:10:43.51
and comprehensive
approach to media,
00:10:43.54\00:10:45.37
to evangelism
actually, through media.
00:10:45.41\00:10:47.48
So why don't you just
stand in front of the camera
00:10:47.51\00:10:50.25
and preach Adventist sermons?
00:10:50.28\00:10:53.15
You know, that's, of course,
00:10:53.18\00:10:54.88
this is a way
to speak to people.
00:10:54.92\00:10:58.15
And if it's a good sermon,
nothing against a good sermon,
00:10:58.19\00:11:01.16
but, yeah, of course,
00:11:01.19\00:11:02.66
but we felt that
being on the streets,
00:11:02.69\00:11:05.79
being where the people are.
00:11:05.83\00:11:07.70
One of the topics,
00:11:07.73\00:11:09.90
I was in a New York taxi
and just driving this taxi,
00:11:09.93\00:11:12.40
getting into the
taxi speaking like
00:11:12.43\00:11:14.40
I would speak with you
here and then, you know,
00:11:14.44\00:11:16.81
getting out after 12
minutes and going my way.
00:11:16.84\00:11:19.37
So it's just, you know,
00:11:19.41\00:11:21.21
people live
their life in cities,
00:11:21.24\00:11:24.51
in villages, at work
and different settings
00:11:24.55\00:11:28.95
and to be in
their settings is like
00:11:28.98\00:11:30.72
just connecting with
them much easier than,
00:11:30.75\00:11:33.05
than being in an isolated place
00:11:33.09\00:11:34.99
or in a place
that people don't know.
00:11:35.02\00:11:37.43
Because if they don't
have a church background,
00:11:37.46\00:11:40.56
they might have
never been in a church.
00:11:40.60\00:11:42.50
And for them
mentally to make that step,
00:11:42.53\00:11:44.43
it's a huge step for them.
00:11:44.47\00:11:46.23
But on the street
or in a taxi or that,
00:11:46.27\00:11:48.40
that's something that they know.
00:11:48.44\00:11:49.84
And I think, maybe
the short answer also is,
00:11:49.87\00:11:53.38
many people just wouldn't listen
00:11:53.41\00:11:54.74
if you just preach, right?
00:11:54.78\00:11:56.11
Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:56.14\00:11:57.48
Okay, yeah, yeah,
00:11:57.51\00:11:58.85
that's very short way to put it.
00:11:58.88\00:12:00.22
Yeah, many would
say "What is this?"
00:12:00.25\00:12:01.58
They would not
be able to connect.
00:12:01.62\00:12:02.95
So you're in the
business of translating
00:12:02.98\00:12:05.15
the good news into terms
that people will understand.
00:12:05.19\00:12:06.72
Exactly. That's it.
00:12:06.76\00:12:08.09
It's a
translation process now. Yeah.
00:12:08.12\00:12:09.66
What's your
greatest hope for Stimme
00:12:09.69\00:12:11.73
and the ministry
that you're doing?
00:12:11.76\00:12:13.56
You know, my greatest hope
and it's actually not only hope
00:12:13.60\00:12:16.80
but we see that in
the lots of responses
00:12:16.83\00:12:19.17
that we receive
from people daily
00:12:19.20\00:12:21.30
through the phone, email,
that we touched their lives,
00:12:21.34\00:12:24.44
but the most
important thing really is that
00:12:24.47\00:12:27.11
they get in touch
with God, with Jesus
00:12:27.14\00:12:29.54
and that they
decide for Jesus Christ,
00:12:29.58\00:12:32.91
for God and therefore,
00:12:32.95\00:12:34.55
live a more meaningful
and more fulfilled life.
00:12:34.58\00:12:37.15
And that's what drives
us, that's what is really,
00:12:37.19\00:12:40.96
what we're passionate about.
00:12:40.99\00:12:42.32
Yeah. Now you are
passionate about it.
00:12:42.36\00:12:45.06
You've been
involved in media ministry
00:12:45.09\00:12:47.60
for how long personally?
00:12:47.63\00:12:48.96
Personally, now
for at least ten years.
00:12:49.00\00:12:50.60
Yeah. I have a media background.
00:12:50.63\00:12:52.23
I studied graphics
designs and communication,
00:12:52.27\00:12:54.90
but the work in a
commercial agency,
00:12:54.94\00:12:56.54
that was media,
00:12:56.57\00:12:57.91
but now with the
church for ten years, yes.
00:12:57.94\00:12:59.27
Wonderful.
00:12:59.31\00:13:00.64
Well, thanks so much
for sharing with us today.
00:13:00.68\00:13:02.54
Pleasure.
00:13:02.58\00:13:03.91
And please
remember media ministries
00:13:03.95\00:13:05.45
around the world
00:13:05.48\00:13:06.82
and particularly in
places such as Germany
00:13:06.85\00:13:09.42
where so many people are
rich and increased with goods
00:13:09.45\00:13:12.52
and they feel as if
they have need of nothing.
00:13:12.55\00:13:15.09
And we need the Holy Spirit,
we need the power of the media,
00:13:15.12\00:13:17.86
we need human beings
who are following Jesus
00:13:17.89\00:13:21.86
to share the love of
Jesus in very practical ways.
00:13:21.90\00:13:25.07
We'll be right back
straight after this message.
00:13:25.10\00:13:27.57