Participants:
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS001005B
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00:01 My guest is Pastor Kumar Dixit,
00:03 who is the senior pastor 00:05 of the Oakridge Seventh-day Adventist Church in Vancouver. 00:08 And he is also the Ministerial Association Director 00:10 for the Conference of Seventh-day Adventist 00:13 here in British Colombia. 00:15 Kumar, thanks for joining us. Thank you. 00:17 You also used to be my pastor. 00:18 I did. I did the best that I could. 00:19 Yeah, thank you so much. 00:21 Kumar, I want to talk to you about 00:23 one of the biggest challenges that we are facing as a church. 00:26 And actually combines into two challenges. 00:28 One is, the growing number of secular people 00:31 who live life without reference to God. 00:34 And that thing combines with the challenge of urban areas 00:37 where a lot of these people tend to live. 00:39 How would you describe the challenge that we face? 00:42 Gary, I was at the Apple store just last week 00:45 trying to get some help. 00:47 And I had two Bible apps that weren't opening up. 00:50 And I had another Bible reference library 00:52 that wasn't opening up. 00:53 And so the Apple genius was sitting next to me 00:55 and she kind of noticed that I had a lot of Bible stuff 00:58 that I needed help with. 01:00 And I kind of sheepishly looked at her and I said, 01:02 I'm a pastor. 01:03 And she said oh, she said, 01:05 she said I have never seen a Bible before. 01:07 And it was a very first time that she had seen a Bible. 01:10 Now, let me remind you, it wasn't my paper Bible, 01:12 it was the Bible on my screen. 01:14 And so I kind of just gave her very quick over review 01:16 that there's 66 books in the Bible 01:18 and this is the word of God. 01:19 And as I was talking to her, 01:20 she had no clue what I was talking about. 01:22 And so I said to her, I said Elena, 01:26 have you ever been to church before? 01:28 And she said, "No, I've never even walked into a church." 01:30 And I said, "Have you ever even wondered 01:33 if there is a God or fell like there's a void in your life?" 01:37 She said, No, I'm actually quite happy with my life." 01:40 I mean, years ago we assumed 01:41 everybody had some kind of belief in God. 01:44 And at least, 01:45 at least felt some kind of void in their life. 01:47 But this young woman really represents 01:49 what we call secular people in today's age. 01:53 They don't even know about God, 01:55 they don't even know the story of Jesus. 01:57 And so that's really, really great challenge 01:59 that we are facing as a church. 02:01 Yeah, and what you describe there, it's kind of like, 02:04 how do you sell food to somebody who is not hungry? 02:08 That's right. That's right. 02:09 And you know, just to go on with that story, I did ask her. 02:11 I said, "Would you like to come and check out 02:12 what a church is like?" 02:13 And she said, "Yeah, I think I would." 02:15 And so I invited her and she said, 02:18 "Any time you come back, you invite me 02:20 and I'll come to your church 02:21 because I'm just curious to know what it's like. 02:23 And that's what Vancouver is like. 02:24 It's one of the most secular societies in the world. 02:28 People are not just post Christians. 02:30 They don't even know what Christianity is. 02:32 In fact, the city of Vancouver says, 02:35 the latest polls say that 02:37 only three out of 10 people even believe in a deity. 02:41 And we are not talking about just Jesus, 02:42 we're talking about Buddha, we're talking about, 02:44 you know a Hinduism. 02:45 People don't even believe in a deity whatsoever 02:47 and so they're so far removed 02:49 that you cannot go after them and say, 02:52 I want to explain the Sabbath to you 02:54 because they don't even know what the Sabbath is 02:56 in relationship to who Jesus is. 02:58 Now, here's one of the challenges of course 03:00 is that much of our outreach and our evangelistic program 03:05 assume that the people believe the Bible. 03:08 And so, when I guess 03:10 when we look at the history of the Adventist church, 03:12 most of our new believers have come from 03:14 other Christian churches of anonymous. 03:16 Yes. So what do we do? 03:18 You had to start from the very beginning. 03:19 Let me give you an example. 03:21 In my church 03:23 I preach with slides every single week. 03:26 And then there's a Bibles in every one of my pews 03:29 And I use "The New Living" translation Bible 03:31 because it's the easiest version 03:33 for new people to understand. 03:36 And then, when I say turn to Joshua Chapter 9, 03:38 I don't just assume people know where Joshua is. 03:41 On my slides it says, page 752. 03:44 So people now are not embarrassed 03:46 because they're so biblically illiterate, 03:48 it helps them find where it is in scripture. 03:51 So you have to really assume 03:53 people have zero understanding of the Bible 03:56 and start from the very beginning. 03:58 But you are talking about people 04:00 who have actually taken the step to be in the pews. 04:03 But there are lot of people who never even walk 04:05 through the doors of a church because that's a barrier, 04:08 it's a cultural barrier, whatever. 04:10 How do we connect with those people? 04:12 The greatest way to connect with these people 04:14 is through friendship. 04:16 People will see Jesus in your life 04:19 and they want to know about it. 04:21 Now, I don't want to discount 04:22 flooding your neighborhood with postcards 04:25 or invitation bills or knocking on the doors. 04:27 I think those all have relevancy. 04:29 But the greatest way is to really help people 04:32 come to know Jesus is by having a relationship with people. 04:35 So we have to encourage our Adventist members 04:37 to make friends with people who don't know about Jesus. 04:40 Right. 04:41 Well, I can remember, maybe two years ago 04:43 I was with a group of pastors 04:44 and I was teaching a seminar on something. 04:46 And I asked, please get out a piece of paper 04:48 and just list down your, 04:50 your 10 top non Christian friends. 04:54 And I saw the pens come out, 04:56 paper come out and no one was writing. 04:58 And it's a challenge for me to, 05:00 it's so easy to get caught up in what we're doing. 05:02 But it's so fundamental to build 05:04 friendships with non believers. 05:05 Let me give you a great thing 05:07 that we are doing at our church. 05:08 It's called 'Wednesdays Together". 05:10 And we do it in the winter time 05:12 when the people are kind of bored. 05:13 They don't have a lot of things to do. 05:15 And we have about 12 classes 05:17 that we offer on Wednesday nights. 05:19 And we say, come to church, 05:21 we're gonna have the most amazing 05:23 vegetarian meal that you can come to. 05:25 And then, after that you break up 05:26 and take different classes. 05:28 And we offer painting class, 05:29 we offer a photography class, a film class. 05:32 We offer a prayer class, how to pray? 05:34 We offer a theological class. 05:36 So this year I did one on the Book of Revelation. 05:38 There are so many different classes 05:40 that you can take, take. 05:41 And then people invite their friends. 05:42 And rather than saying, I like you to come to my church 05:45 and hear our pastor preach. 05:46 But they says, hey, 05:47 wouldn't you love to learn to play guitar, 05:49 why don't we all join this class? 05:50 And for 10 weeks we now are in community together. 05:54 And all of a sudden now people realize 05:56 that Christians are not angry people. 05:59 They are not people who hate everybody else. 06:01 But they're actually a great group of people 06:02 who can, who you can really build community with. 06:05 Wonderful. 06:06 Kumar, thank so much for sharing with us today. 06:08 Thank you. 06:09 And please pray for those people 06:11 who do not know Jesus Christ. 06:13 And pray that we will find new and creative ways 06:16 to follow Christ method of mingling, showing sympathy, 06:19 ministering to needs, winning confidence 06:21 and bidding them to follow Jesus. 06:23 Some 85 years ago, 06:25 Leo and Jessie Halliwell were down in the Amazon River 06:28 and they saw this river snaking its way 06:31 through thousands of miles that he saw that the best way 06:34 to bring hope and healing was through a boat. 06:37 That ministry still continues today 06:39 as people have taken on the vision 06:41 for reaching the people along that wonderful river. 06:44 Let's, watch that video now. 06:54 Traveling through the Amazon River 06:56 is a unique experience. 06:57 This river stretches 4,000 miles 07:00 and ranges from six miles wide in dry times 07:03 to 30 miles in the wet season. 07:06 The people living along the banks of the Amazon 07:09 are named ribereños. 07:11 They get to experience raw nature 07:13 in a pristine environment. 07:29 Amair Jesus is a ribereños 07:31 living on the water side community of Rosa de Saron. 07:35 He is an active church member 07:37 who strongly believes he has a part to play 07:39 in fulfilling the gospel commission of Jesus. 07:43 Amair has accepted the task 07:45 to carry hope along the mighty Amazon. 07:49 As Amair prepares to visit a village, 07:52 he first empties the water from his canoe. 07:54 Then he paddles to his destination, 07:57 navigating a dangerous river, full of crocodiles, 08:00 snakes and fish larger than a human being. 08:06 Amair doesn't want to waste any time. 08:09 Unless he takes an active part in mission work, 08:11 how will the love of Jesus reach the entire world. 08:15 Amair pauses to ask God 08:17 for an abundant blessing on his efforts. 08:19 He can deliver words of truth 08:22 but only the Holy Spirit can open the heart to God. 08:32 Today, 08:33 Delarde is going through a difficult time in her life. 08:36 But the message she hears ring sweet in her ears. 08:40 Amair shares about a new home 08:42 and a new world where things are made perfect. 08:45 A place where there is no pain, 08:47 suffering or tears. 08:50 At the end, they pray together asking God for peace 08:54 and a blessing upon this household. 08:56 Outside there's a group of children playing, 08:59 so Amair stops to talk with them 09:01 about God's exciting plan for each of their lives. 09:04 The ribereños appreciate the spiritual nourishment 09:08 and attention they receive. 09:09 This simple visit speaks to them of a caring Savior. 09:17 First, as we go out to visit the people in the villages 09:20 we know, we try to identify needs they have. 09:24 We try to help them a little as we are able. 09:28 In this way we get closer to them to make friends. 09:32 Afterwards we present the word of God to them. 09:35 We know that it's through the novelette deeds 09:37 that we can break down barriers. 09:39 So we can bring them the gospel. 09:44 The vast length and the wide region of the Amazon system, 09:48 makes this a challenging mission field for Amair 09:50 and the pastors working along the river. 09:53 But unless they nurture people regularly 09:55 and disciple them to bring others to Christ, 09:58 the mission will not move forward. 10:01 So the local Seventh-day Adventist leaders 10:03 made plans to build a floating church 10:05 that can navigate to the many villages 10:07 along the Amazon River. 10:09 This was inspired by the mobility 10:11 of Lucero missionary boats. 10:14 Now, a one of a kind church will float 10:17 to connect ribereños to an Adventist pastor 10:20 and active member like Amair. 10:22 Can you imagine a Seventh-day Adventist congregation 10:25 floating past villages every Sabbath. 10:28 This may be one of the world's first floating churches 10:31 navigating the dark waters of the Amazon River 10:34 with the bright hope Jesus brings. 10:38 Please pray for the floating church 10:40 in the Amazon River. 10:41 And remember to support 10:42 the 13th Sabbath Offering this quarter. 10:44 A portion of the funds will sponsor construction 10:47 of a floating church as well as the chapel 10:49 at the Adventist college in Manaus, 10:51 centers of influence in Asuncion and Montevideo 10:55 and new church plans in east countries. 10:58 Thank you for your prayerful support of Adventist mission. 11:06 Well, that's about it for today's program 11:08 and I hope that you've been challenged 11:10 and inspired by what you've seen and heard. 11:13 From the cities of the world such as Vancouver 11:16 to the Amazon to China, all around the world, 11:19 in rural areas and urban areas, 11:21 men and women are sharing the light of God's love. 11:24 And thank you so much 11:25 for your continuing support of mission around the world, 11:29 through your prayers, through your finances 11:31 and through your personal involvement. 11:33 And if you live in North America, 11:35 I'd like to send you a small free gift. 11:37 It's just a token, a small thank you 11:39 for your continuing support for mission. 11:41 While stocks last, we'd like to send you 11:43 an Adventist mission pen, 11:46 complete with the Adventist mission logo, 11:47 reminder of the importance of the mission. 11:50 You can use this pen to write an inspirational book, 11:53 maybe a letter of encouragement to somebody, 11:56 even a check to Global Mission. 11:58 Just ask for the Adventist Mission pen. 12:02 For Adventist Mission, I'm Gary Krause. 12:03 And I hope that you can join me next time right here 12:06 on Global Mission Snapshots. |
Revised 2016-02-18