Participants:
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS001006A
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00:09 Frankfurt, Germany
00:11 is full of beautiful parks and busy streets. 00:14 Lots of people, ancient buildings 00:16 and post-mortem skyscrapers. 00:18 It's home to the world's largest book fair 00:21 and the world's largest auto show. 00:23 The sites and sounds of Frankfurt 00:25 and mission around the world coming up next. 00:32 Just before He went up to heaven, 00:34 Jesus gave us a command. 00:37 He gave us a mission. 00:40 Jesus said "Go, go unto all the world 00:45 telling them of His love." 00:47 This is our mission. This is our Global Mission. 00:57 Hello, and welcome to today's program, 01:00 coming to you from the city of Frankfurt 01:02 in Germany. 01:04 Frankfurt is one of Europe's financial centers. 01:07 It's a wealthy city. 01:09 But apparently, things weren't always that, why? 01:12 Because back in 1868, 01:15 the citizens wanted to have a bridge 01:17 that would connect the city centre 01:19 to the southern districts. 01:21 But the government said, 01:23 as so many governments have said since, 01:26 "Sorry, we don't have the money." 01:28 So, the good citizens took the matter 01:30 into their own hands. 01:32 They raised their own funds, and they built this bridge. 01:36 And today, it is still used, linking across the river. 01:41 It's a reminder to us of the power of the people. 01:45 When people don't let decisions made at a distance 01:49 govern their lives, 01:51 but they take things into their own hands, 01:53 with their own initiative 01:54 and take their own responsibility. 01:56 And we see this happened in the history 01:58 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 02:00 when lay people have taken their own initiative 02:03 under the guidance of God 02:04 to take mission into their own hands. 02:07 To take those steps of faith that have made a difference 02:10 to start new congregations in new areas, 02:13 to take the gospel message 02:14 to different places around the world. 02:17 First upon today's program, 02:18 we're gonna travel to the Amazon region of Brazil. 02:21 We will see highly trained people 02:23 built bridges to the people of that area. 02:41 Leo and Jessie Hallowell renounced family, friends, 02:45 and the comforts of home. 02:47 They traveled to a distant land 02:49 to serve the people along the Amazon River. 02:52 Throughout their 30 years of work, 02:54 it's estimated that 250,000 people were served. 02:59 And their legacy lives on. 03:07 For 85 years, the Seventh-day Adventist Church 03:10 has sponsored workers to operate Luzeiro boats 03:13 in the Amazon River 03:15 to bring hope, health, and healing to the people. 03:26 The Amazon River system includes 03:27 an estimated 38,000 miles of waterways and passages. 03:32 When Leo and Jessie first arrived here, 03:34 they found poverty, superstition, 03:37 and sickness along the banks. 03:39 So in 1931, Leo designed and built a boat 03:43 that he named Luzeiro, or the Light Bear. 03:47 This was an efficient way for them 03:48 to begin a medical missionary program in the Amazon region. 03:52 The Luzeiro boat today is still the most efficient way 03:55 for serving the people. 03:57 Through the years, 03:58 many Luzeiro boats have come and gone, 04:00 transporting medical missionaries and supplies. 04:03 The fleet has now expanded to Luzeiro's XXVI and XXVII. 04:08 Two launches in the original size 04:10 with sleeping rooms for doctors to stay overnight. 04:13 There are also two smaller and faster boats 04:16 used during emergency situations. 04:18 They are called Jessie and Luzeiro Express. 04:22 Currently, Adventist Development and Relief Agency 04:24 or ADRA oversees the boats and teams of volunteers 04:28 who come to offer free health treatments, 04:30 dentistry, and education. 04:35 The project continues, 04:37 still today there are needs here. 04:39 You'll find a lot of needy people 04:41 and a lot of volunteers who come away from the city 04:44 to find happiness and joy 04:45 in serving these remote communities. 04:48 They do their best. 04:50 They want to make a difference and change the lives of people. 04:56 So, through this project, through the Luzeiro boats, 04:59 health comes to the community. 05:01 It comes to their front door. 05:03 We come with qualified doctors and nurses. 05:05 And after a visit, we can see the progress, 05:08 the development, the satisfaction 05:10 where this assistance is most needed. 05:13 So, it's a joy for me to see a project 05:15 that is 85 years old continuing on. 05:19 It's our desire to see more boats, 05:21 reaching more communities, 05:22 so this project can transform and assist even more people. 05:32 The goodwill of the people involved is remarkable. 05:36 Highly trained health professionals 05:38 come on a regular basis, 05:40 offering their time, expertise, and love. 05:43 They also bring tools, medicine, 05:45 and a Christ like attitude 05:47 that is remembered well after they leave. 05:50 Leo and Jessie Hallowell made quite an impact 05:53 in the Amazon jungle. 05:55 A small medical clinic they established 05:57 is today's largest Seventh-day Adventist hospital 06:00 in the country of Brazil. 06:02 There are other Adventist owned 06:04 and operated hospitals in the region, 06:06 schools and universities. 06:09 Their dedicated works stretched from Manaus to Belem, 06:12 approximately 2,000 miles away. 06:15 But it's only in heaven that we'll know 06:17 the true extents of their boat ministry. 06:19 Thank you for your prayerful support of mission. 06:27 My guest is Pastor Simret Mahary, 06:30 who is a pastor here in Frankfurt. 06:33 And I met Simret 06:35 perhaps two or three years ago, I think. 06:37 And at that time, you shared with me a dream, 06:41 a vision for starting a center here in Frankfurt 06:44 that would connect with the community. 06:46 And I'm sitting even now. 06:48 Describe what this center is please? 06:52 Basically, this center is there for people 06:56 from Frankfurt to come here and participate 07:00 or initiate different cultural activities 07:04 like cooking and eating together, 07:06 art exhibition, looking at good film 07:10 and discussing about it or having literature nights. 07:15 And we use these different cultural activities 07:18 to get people together and engage in conversation 07:22 and in good community. 07:24 It's a wonderful idea. 07:26 And, so you're, 07:28 to set the contexture on a busy road here, 07:32 there is a pedestrian crossing right here. 07:34 And so, this is a fairly 07:36 densely populated neighborhood around here. 07:38 It is, it is definitely. 07:40 It is a very diverse community here in Frankfurt, 07:43 and especially in the section where we are as well, 07:46 with people coming from over 100 nations. 07:50 So, what we try to do is reach out to people 07:54 coming from different cultural and religious backgrounds 07:58 by making it possible for them to get together here 08:02 and share what they have. 08:05 So, one of the things which we do is, for example, 08:09 in this cooking and eating experiences, 08:12 we go to different countries. 08:14 Now, we've been to Ethiopia, we went to Peru, 08:17 and soon we are going to Mexico. 08:19 So, we did actually invite people 08:21 from those countries 08:22 and have them cook with us 08:25 and invite the neighborhood for that, 08:26 and then we cook and we eat. 08:28 And that way, we engage a good conversations, 08:31 but we also get to know people 08:33 coming from different backgrounds. 08:35 And also have a chance, 08:37 in the course of our encounters 08:40 to speak about the things that matter to us in life. 08:43 What a wonderful thing, 08:44 so, to me, what you are doing here is 08:46 you are mingling with people, you are building friendships 08:51 with people who you may never ever have an opportunity 08:54 to do that with otherwise. 08:55 Absolutely, absolutely. 08:57 And we are, you know, 08:58 living in a very secular society here. 09:01 And as people come here, and especially get the chance 09:07 to participate and express themselves, 09:10 they do connect. 09:11 And notice, this is a place where we can belong, 09:14 where what we have to share is respected and cherished. 09:18 And that makes it possible for us to meet 09:21 actually, different kinds of people 09:23 who come here to the Presence KulturLounge. 09:27 Because if you put a sign up here, 09:29 instead, "We are going to have Bible meetings, 09:32 please come," 09:33 the people who have been coming 09:35 would never come to those meetings, 09:36 because of their background 09:38 and what they think of Christianity. 09:40 I would suppose, of course, for many. 09:42 Yeah. 09:44 And what we are noticing here is that many people 09:48 are very skeptical towards organized religions, 09:51 and they are skeptical towards institutions. 09:54 But at the same time, they hunger for more, 09:58 or they want to have good encounters. 09:59 They seek answers for the questions 10:03 that they may have, 10:05 or they want other people with whom they can discuss 10:08 about the things that matter to them. 10:10 And, what in fact, culture does in many ways 10:15 is to make that possible. 10:17 And culture, by saying culture, I mean, in a very basic way 10:21 like cooking and eating, you know, arts, music, 10:25 and good films as well. 10:28 They thematize different things that matter to us, 10:31 or make set up a context for people 10:36 to engage and counter each other 10:38 and that is actually very well received. 10:41 Fantastic. 10:43 Now, you got some terrific photos on the wall. 10:45 What's the story with these? 10:47 What are the plans with these pictures? 10:49 Yeah, that's quite a story for itself. 10:53 You know, when we were setting up 10:55 Presence Kulturlounge preparing to open up, 10:58 a person from the neighborhood living right across the street 11:03 saw that we are starting something here. 11:06 That person, her name is Marina and she is a art curator, 11:10 that means she works with artists 11:12 to do exhibitions. 11:14 So when she saw that we are opening up a kulturlounge, 11:17 she wrote us an email and asks whether we can work together, 11:21 and whether she can do an art exhibition here. 11:24 And I said "Okay, let's talk about that." 11:27 And I offered her to do an art exhibition, 11:32 which we just don't do classically, 11:34 so that people can look at the pictures. 11:37 But we said, "Let's take those pictures 11:39 to speak about life and engage in discussions." 11:42 So, she said, "Yes." 11:43 And that's how the art exhibition story started here, 11:47 and this is the second round of exhibition 11:50 that's we are having right now. 11:51 And at the end of the exhibition, 11:53 we take free pictures, 11:55 and engage about the things that happened in the pictures 11:58 and the life topics that come up there, 12:01 and we would engage in discussion. 12:03 And the nice part of the story is that 12:05 Marina did not just organize 12:08 or does not just organize art exhibitions, 12:11 she is actually part 12:13 of the Presence Kulturlounge team. 12:15 And we plan the different activities 12:17 that we do here together. 12:19 Fantastic. 12:20 So, you are not doing something just for the community, 12:22 you're doing it with the community, 12:24 which is an important distinction. 12:25 Exactly. 12:27 And that's perhaps one of the most important things 12:30 about it all that we just not offer things, 12:33 we engage people so that this place can be a place 12:37 where they can share what they have. 12:39 And as they do, they gain trust and friendship takes place. 12:44 And it becomes a channel to give and take, 12:47 and to speak about things that matter in life. 12:51 So participation is the core of what we do here. 12:54 That's fantastic. 12:55 Well, thank you so much for sharing with us. 12:58 And it's a pleasure to see this coming into fruition. 13:01 You're welcome. 13:02 It's very good to have you here. 13:03 Thank you. 13:05 More than a hundred years ago, Ellen White talked about 13:08 a concept called centers of influence. 13:11 And I think what we see here is a 21st century version 13:16 that is adapted to the needs 13:17 and interests of this particular community. 13:20 And of course, we see 13:21 hundreds of different centers of influence 13:23 around the world 13:24 meeting different needs in different ways. 13:26 Don't go away, 13:28 we will be right back after this break. |
Revised 2016-03-28