Participants:
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS001004B
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00:11 Welcome back to the beautiful city
00:13 of Heidelberg. 00:14 Our next story is of a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, 00:18 who is also a refugee. 00:20 Forced from his home, 00:21 he started helping people along the way. 00:24 He still lives in a refugee camp. 00:27 And, he has led 300 people to baptism. 00:31 Gina tells his story. 00:32 Hi Gary, I'm really excited about this interview, 00:36 because it is the first time 00:38 I've been able to interview someone 00:40 who has had to flee their home 00:42 and become a refugee. 00:43 And this person 00:45 is a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, 00:47 and this is Pastor Joseph Dut. 00:51 And I am so happy that we can be together 00:54 and you can share your story. 00:56 It is an amazing story. 00:58 Thank you. 00:59 Yes. 01:01 When I met you 01:02 and I heard that your story of how you had to flee. 01:06 All these questions came to mind. 01:08 And one of the first was, I was wondering, 01:12 how do you decide when you are in a war zone? 01:14 How do you decide when it's time 01:17 to run away from your home? 01:20 Thank you very much, sister. 01:23 The question is really very good 01:25 and I am happy that you come and visit us. 01:28 And thank you God for bringing you safe. 01:32 Actually, when we found our self in the war zone, 01:39 we just run, because the incident, 01:44 the fighting happened, 01:46 and then we run away from home. 01:49 So, many of us run away, 01:53 and even if they met after three days with children, 01:58 wives, and the husbands. 02:02 Some of them went and met in the refugee camp 02:06 because there was no option for us to decide when to run. 02:12 So it was a coin of crossing fire. 02:16 And many of us run from home. 02:21 Now, when you were running, just before you left, 02:24 were you able to grab anything from your house 02:27 or did you just run with nothing? 02:31 It was very difficult. 02:33 Many of us who were found at home, 02:38 they managed to save their life. 02:42 Because if you run a home, 02:43 if you run inside 02:45 to grab anything, it is difficult. 02:48 And good thing I can testify now 02:51 was that many members 02:54 from our Seventh-day Adventist Church, 02:58 they run, 03:00 some of them run with their Bibles. 03:01 And many of them who saw fighting at work 03:05 while they were not at home run without the Bible. 03:08 And people run with only the clothes you wear. 03:12 And that's it? Yeah. 03:13 And they run to refugee camps? Exactly. 03:17 And I understand that you and your family ended up 03:20 in a refugee camp 03:22 in the northern part of Uganda? 03:24 Sure. 03:25 And when you arrived there, 03:27 your son asked you an interesting question. 03:30 What did your son ask you? 03:33 When we arrived there, it was late in the evening. 03:38 And UNHCR plus UN agencies, World Food Program, 03:45 they received us. 03:47 And in fact, the place was a bush 03:52 which given by the Uganda government 03:56 to settle the refugees. 03:59 That evening my son asked me, "Hey, Daddy, it is now day, 04:06 it is a time now to go and sleep. 04:09 Where can I go and sleep?" 04:11 Then I say, "We are going to sleep under that tree." 04:15 And he said, "Eh! 04:17 That tree is not for us to sleep, 04:20 it's that is for dog." 04:23 And I say, "Son, let's hope that God 04:29 will provide a shelter for us." 04:32 And, he went together with me 04:36 and we spent a night under that tree. 04:40 And since that time, 04:41 has God provided a shelter for you and your family? 04:45 Sure. 04:46 After three weeks, 04:52 the South Sudan Field 04:54 which was Greater Equatoria by that time, 04:57 led by Pastor Clement. 04:59 They managed to send us some money, 05:07 the crisis kind of money to help us settle. 05:11 And when we received that money, 05:15 we made a small house for us to live with the children. 05:22 And I hope God answered that question which my son asked. 05:27 So after three weeks, God provided a shelter for us. 05:31 So, are you still living in a shelter 05:34 in the refugee camp? 05:35 Sure. 05:37 You are still there? Sure, I am still there. 05:39 And what about the other people there? 05:41 Have you found other Seventh-day Adventists 05:43 living in a refugee camp? 05:47 The amazing things happened. 05:51 We went there and there was no church, 05:58 which was existing. 06:00 Only few members, they were existing there. 06:02 So, when we arrived, we started mobilizing our self. 06:09 We said, as Jesus said to us that you will hear wars 06:15 and the rumors of the wars, 06:17 and you do not need to get confused. 06:20 So, therefore we mobilized ourselves 06:24 and then we start working, we start preaching, 06:28 we start advising and help others 06:37 to come to Christ because this is last days, 06:40 and the war is happening. 06:42 These are happening because God Himself 06:47 wanted His people to find rest, to find refuge in Him. 06:54 So, on that very day, so we managed 06:59 to mobilize our self and the youth came up 07:03 with a slogan, say, "Come, we meet Jesus! 07:07 Come, we hide in Jesus!" 07:10 And that program of the youth, it really does a lot. 07:16 So, membership, when we reached there, 07:19 we were not many. 07:21 We were few, but now, we managed to baptize 310. 07:29 310 baptisms in the refugee camp? 07:32 In the refugees camp, yes. 07:33 That's wonderful. Thank you. 07:35 I want to come back 07:37 just briefly about the youth group. 07:38 Okay. 07:40 Now, I understand that this youth group 07:41 is made up of young people from varying tribes. 07:44 Exactly. 07:45 How did that work? 07:47 Aren't these young people usually fighting 07:49 against each other? 07:51 When the community saw 07:53 the youth from Seventh-day Adventist, 07:56 they are together, 07:58 especially from this warring ethnic groups, 08:02 Dinka and Nuer, they became happy. 08:07 And they consider saying that, 08:09 "This is really a church which can bring the good news to us." 08:14 So many young people joined us. 08:18 And then we kept on moving, sharing the love of God, 08:24 and then, we forget this tribal conflict, 08:30 tribal differences in the camp. 08:32 And that is why our membership went to that extent. 08:36 Thank you. 08:38 Pastor Joseph, thank you. 08:39 You are a true peacemaker. Thank you. 08:42 And we just praise the Lord for your work 08:44 there in the refugee camp. 08:46 God bless you. 08:47 And we'll send it back to you now, Gary. 08:51 In Acts of the Apostles, Ellen White wrote, 08:53 "From the blood of the martyrs has sprung 08:55 an abundant harvest for God." 08:58 In our next video, we pay tribute to those missionaries, 09:02 who have sacrificed their lives for Jesus. 09:10 I realized words like "Rogue" and "Missionary" 09:13 don't seem like they should go together. 09:15 But Michael Czechowski was like Indiana Jones or Han Solo. 09:19 He was and I quote, 09:21 "A stubborn, impetuous man 09:22 who refused to take advice from Ellen White. 09:26 History gives us a sense that he was a charismatic swindler. 09:29 Yet without him, many Adventists 09:31 would've gone on believing 09:33 what the Review and Herald printed in 1869. 09:36 Quote, "It may not be necessary to preach the gospel 09:39 in any country besides our own," 09:41 since our land is composed of people 09:42 from almost every nation." 09:46 "If we reach the immigrants within the US, 09:48 they'll witness to their friends 09:49 and families overseas, 09:50 a great commission will fulfill itself." 09:54 The churches first big push 09:56 for foreign missions came in 1871, 09:58 when GC delegates voted to send J.G. Matteson 10:01 to witness to the Scandinavians and Danes of Wisconsin. 10:07 Czechowski however was no Millerite. 10:09 He was an ex-Catholic Polish priest 10:11 turned obsessive sabbatarian. 10:14 He was young, idealistic, 10:16 fluent in seven or eight languages, 10:17 and terrible with money. 10:20 James and Ellen White 10:21 were so besotted by his personality, 10:23 that they helped him pay all his debts 10:25 and funded his travel from Battle Creek 10:27 back to New York. 10:28 Later, Ellen would receive a vision telling her 10:30 to stop supporting him. 10:33 Czechowski left awake of burnt bridges 10:35 and bad business deals behind him. 10:37 Though he hated taking advice, he didn't mind taking money. 10:40 So, when the SDA Church wouldn't support him 10:42 as a missionary to Europe, 10:44 he found another denomination that would. 10:46 Czechowski used their money 10:47 to share Adventist's beliefs in Switzerland. 10:50 However, he failed to inform the Swiss congregation 10:53 of the Home church America. 10:55 It wasn't until a church elder found a copy of the Review 10:58 and Herald that Czechowski secret came out. 11:01 The congregation was shocked. 11:03 Naturally, their trust was bruised. 11:05 The Swiss leaders wrote to the GC 11:07 asking for a replacement missionary. 11:10 Adventist historian David Trim writes. 11:13 Adventists in America were actually 11:15 sort of embarrassed to learn 11:16 that there were already Adventist believers in Europe. 11:20 The Americans invited the Swiss Adventists 11:22 to send a delegate to the 1869 GC session. 11:26 Though he arrived too late for the session, 11:28 he stayed long enough to return as an ordained minister. 11:31 Elsewhere, Czechowski's tactics finally caught up to him. 11:34 His bankroll was revoked. 11:36 Disgraced, he left his family and moved to Hungary 11:40 where he would later die at 57, reportedly from exhaustion. 11:44 But the Swiss church still sought a missionary. 11:47 And that is how John Nevins Andrews 11:49 became the first official Seventh-day Adventist 11:51 missionary to Europe as a replacement 11:53 for the rogue missionary. 11:56 The spirit of spreading the Three Angels' Message 11:58 began to intensify within 11:59 the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 12:01 Even J. G. Matteson got to move on 12:03 from the wilds of Wisconsin to his home country at Denmark. 12:07 His work would lead 12:08 to the first international Adventist conference, 12:10 the Scandinavian Publishing House 12:13 and Matteson institute in Mysen, Norway. 12:16 The American Adventist Church 12:18 was beginning to catch a glimpse of the possibilities. 12:20 The gospel preached to every nation, 12:22 kindred, tongue, and people. 12:25 A world church, but we still lack the key component. 12:40 Well, thank so much for joining us 12:42 on today's program 12:43 and I hope that you've been challenged 12:45 and inspired by what you've seen and heard. 12:49 As we traced back to throughout history, 12:51 we see people such as Martin Luther 12:54 who have stood faithful, 12:55 and have risked their lives for the cause of the gospel. 12:59 And today, we have seen 13:00 that so many people around the world today 13:02 are on the frontlines of mission. 13:04 And thank you for your continuing prayerful 13:06 support for these people. 13:08 And thank you for your financial support 13:10 and your personal involvement. 13:13 Today, I would like to give you a special free offer, 13:16 it's the faces of mission calendar 13:18 from Global mission. 13:19 And in this calendar, 13:21 you'll find daily reminders of mission around the world, 13:24 give you something to pray for 13:25 as you remember frontline mission workers. 13:28 Well, that's about it for today's program, 13:30 and I hope that you can join me next time right here 13:33 on Global Mission Snapshots. |
Revised 2016-03-28