Welcome back to Manaus.
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Next up, we travel to Rwanda
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where Gina Wahlen
hears a remarkable story
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from a genocide survivor.
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Today, we're on
the beautiful campus
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of the Adventist University
of Central Africa in Rwanda
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and I'm talking
with Doctor Phodidas,
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who is a professor in
the Theology Department.
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Now doctor,
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today as we look
around here on campus
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and across Rwanda, it's
beautiful, it's peaceful,
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but as we know, it is
not always been that way.
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During the
genocide you were here.
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Could you tell
us what it was like
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during that time?
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Well, it is very
difficult to actually express
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exactly what's
happened during that time.
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It was bad,
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where you see thousands
and thousands of people
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being killed in the
churches, in the stadium.
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More than million of people
were killed in only 100 days.
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One million
people in only 100 days.
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Now during that time,
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did you lose any family members?
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Yeah of course I...
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We were about eight
children in my family,
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and parents and
six of them were killed
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and all of them had
children and even grandchildren.
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I mean we had
grandchildren in my family
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and all of them were about 34,
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from my mother's
family, all of them were killed.
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All of them.
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And even you,
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I understand
faced death many times.
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And in fact in your story,
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there's point
where you are digging
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your own grave.
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Can you tell us
what that was like?
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What was happening?
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What was going
through your mind?
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Well...
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it is very hard to
express, but God is so good.
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When you know Him,
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He gives you the courage to
face even moments like that.
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So when I was..
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caught in a bush,
it was around 11 A.M
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and they asked me to
go and dig the grave,
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because they
said, you look strong,
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we don't dig the grave for you,
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you better dig,
then we kill you after.
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And so I was going to
dig, there was no other choice,
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I dug, I started digging,
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but at the same
time I was praying,
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I was saying, Lord, I
know you are able to help me.
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And I said, you know,
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I had started
preaching at the age of maybe 20
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and I was a church elder
in one of the biggest churches
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in Kigali called. Remera.
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And so, I said, Lord,
I've preached about Daniel,
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I've preached about Shadrach
and Meshach and Abednego.
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And I know, you
can do the same today,
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you can save my life.
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And so I prayed
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and the Lord answered my prayer.
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Now, well, it's a long
story but I was saying,
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Lord, you save
me, you give me wings,
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I will fly from this
place, but there were no wings.
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And I prayed for the
fire to come, or the thunder
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so that people
would just be scattered.
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But there was no thunder.
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But God has His own
ways of answering prayers
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and He answered my prayer.
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I thank the Lord for that.
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How did He answer your prayer?
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Well, one of the
killers had my Bible.
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The Bible I had, wherever I was,
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I used it as a pillow,
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I put it into a
plastic bag in the bush,
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I could read it everyday.
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And so I--
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one of the killers had it
just on the top of the grave
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and he was
reading and interestingly,
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he was only looking
at the highlighted verses
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and so as he read,
he was asking me, said,
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"Why are these places
different from others?
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Why are they
highlighted, underlined?"
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I said, "These are
my favorite passages."
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And he couldn't
understand, he kept reading,
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he read those verses,
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underlined verses
and later on he said,
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could you please
give me this Bible
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before you die.
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I said, "Go ahead and take it."
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But he said,
others couldn't allow,
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he said, "No,
that is not his Bible,
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it is our Bible.
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You will pay it if
you want to get it.
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And so he said,
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"No matter how much
money you need, I'll pay it."
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He obviously had been
attached by the word of God.
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And later on,
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it is a long story but later on,
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the very man, as
he continued reading,
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he was somehow attached
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and he said to his
colleagues, militia, he said,
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"Could you please allow me
to help him digging the grave."
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And he dug the grave for me.
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But I was, I wasn't
comfortable with that,
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because I was scared, I
said the grave is finishing
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and they're just going
to bury me, to kill me.
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And so I prayed and prayed
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and but God answered the
prayer in a different way
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and so, well,
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they used that grave
to bury somebody else.
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They said, "No,
we're not going to use it
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to bury this strange man.
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We're burying someone else
we know from this village."
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Because I was of
a different village
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and they said a prayer,
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which actually I
wasn't comfortable with.
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Because they were saying Mary,
mother of Jesus, we save him
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and it was
ironically, so I felt,
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I have to say something
as an Adventist and I said,
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these people have
never been instructed,
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they have never known God.
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I must tell them who God is
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and what is the
truth about the dead.
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So that they themselves
don't expect to be prayed
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for once they're dead.
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And so I said, Lord,
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please don't
allow me to fly away,
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don't work out any
miracle before I say it
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something to this people.
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I preached to
them by God's grace,
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and they repented,
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and they were even
hiding me for about two days,
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they gave me
their food and so on.
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It's a beautiful
testimony you have doctor.
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Just in closing,
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what would you say to a person,
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who may be
watching this right now,
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who has experienced trauma,
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or something very
difficult in their lives
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and they're having a hard time
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forgiving those
who have hurt them.
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What would you
say to that person?
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It is beautiful to know
Jesus and it is really good,
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"cause when you know Jesus,
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you won't just get traumatized.
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I know what I'm saying.
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There are people
who may not understand
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exactly what I'm saying,
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but when you've had
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a personal
experience with Jesus,
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He makes you busy with Him,
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even when you have
gone through all that,
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because having lost
every one at a very young age
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and not knowing,
because I was thinking,
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if I go to school,
what is it going to be for.
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If I get a better life,
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who is going to see that.
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All these questions
were coming to mind,
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but again I was busy.
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As I said, I was
church elder at the age of 24,
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and I was preaching everywhere,
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conducting evangelistic
campaign and I felt,
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I found myself
taking care of others
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and caring for
others, praying for them
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and I felt, there
was no room for me
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to feel like I was desperate.
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God is so good.
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Actually, in fact,
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I felt, I had to respond
to other people's problems
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and needs and up to
now, the Lord has blessed it.
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Thank you so much
for sharing your story
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with us today, pastor.
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Thank you so much. Thank you.
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Very inspiring.
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Next up, we continue our journey
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back through the time
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as we look at
the mission history
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of the
Seventh-day Adventist church.
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The first thing you
think of when I say NASA
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is probably the moon landing.
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It was truly incredible.
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Only 12 people in the
history have ever bounced
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across the lunar surface.
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But as impressive as that is,
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NASA has a sight set
on loftier goals, Mars.
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And if putting a
human on the moon was hard,
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putting one on Mars is crazy.
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The history of
reaching the red planet
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read something like this.
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Spacecraft did
not reach earth orbit.
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Spacecraft's radio failed.
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Spacecraft at
the top of the rocket
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failed to jettison.
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Orbiter failed during launch.
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Orbiter flew past the planet.
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Lander failed
due to fast impact.
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Flyby Module and Lander arrived,
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but Lander missed the planet.
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Is this picture clear?
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Just getting to
Mars is problematic.
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Earth and Mars orbit
the sun at different speeds.
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That means the two planets
are constantly drifting apart
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or getting closer together.
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If they launch
when Mars is closed,
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the trip could take
as little as six months.
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If they launch when
Mars is furthest away,
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add a year to the travel time.
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And if they miss,
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it's not like they
can set up another rocket
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to try again right away.
00:09:08.28\00:09:10.31
The cycle between
launch opportunities
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is close to year and half.
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The journey itself is arduous.
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The living space is crammed.
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Bathing with
water is impossible.
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Showers happen
with moist towelettes.
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All food must be
canned or freeze dried.
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Microgravity
deteriorates muscle and bone.
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And if a solar storm hits,
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astronauts must retreat
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to even tinnier
protected areas of the craft.
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Assuming launch, flight
and landing are successful.
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All Mars astronauts
will also become farmers
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on a freezing
oxygen less planet.
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They will plant,
cultivate, harvest, cook
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and compost indoors
to have food rashes.
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They must continue a
self-sustaining existence
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for somewhere in the
ballpark of two and half years.
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That's the
minimum amount of time
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they'll spend all alone,
00:10:01.30\00:10:02.96
removed from
their friends and family
00:10:03.00\00:10:05.03
before they can come back.
00:10:05.07\00:10:07.00
And why?
00:10:07.04\00:10:08.37
Because they
believe it's important.
00:10:08.40\00:10:11.17
Important enough
to take the risk,
00:10:11.21\00:10:13.54
to make the sacrifice.
00:10:13.58\00:10:15.44
When I say steamship,
00:10:18.68\00:10:20.02
you probably think of a Titanic.
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And you're either thinking
of very terrible tragedy
00:10:22.32\00:10:25.05
or a very long movie.
00:10:25.09\00:10:27.32
Either way, passengers tell
us that the only thing worse
00:10:27.36\00:10:30.29
than swimming for your
life from a sinking steam ship
00:10:30.33\00:10:32.89
is having to live on board one.
00:10:32.93\00:10:35.96
On Christmas Eve,
1901 Jacob Nelson Anderson
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led the first three commission
Adventist missionaries
00:10:39.77\00:10:42.37
to China.
00:10:42.40\00:10:44.87
With their four
year son Stanley,
00:10:44.91\00:10:46.98
he left their home in Wisconsin
00:10:47.01\00:10:48.41
and traveled by
train to San Francisco.
00:10:48.44\00:10:51.48
From there they
boarded a steamship
00:10:51.51\00:10:53.28
bound for Hong Kong.
00:10:53.31\00:10:55.18
This was 10 years
before anyone would dare
00:10:55.22\00:10:57.39
to claim a
steamship could be unsinkable.
00:10:57.42\00:11:00.19
At the time everyone carried
00:11:00.22\00:11:02.09
living memory of
tragedies like the Independence
00:11:02.12\00:11:04.56
which crashed into a reef of
the Northern California coast,
00:11:04.59\00:11:08.33
losing 150 passengers and crew.
00:11:08.36\00:11:12.53
If our missionaries
traveled in the steerage deck,
00:11:12.57\00:11:15.10
then they were packed in
like cattle with the cargo.
00:11:15.14\00:11:18.21
When the miserable food
00:11:18.24\00:11:19.57
was dealt out of huge
kettles into dinner plates,
00:11:19.61\00:11:22.08
the strong would shove and bony.
00:11:22.11\00:11:24.81
Two to four hundred might
sleep in the same room on bunks.
00:11:24.85\00:11:28.52
Privacy was impossible.
00:11:28.55\00:11:30.59
Available restrooms
often equated to pots and pans.
00:11:30.62\00:11:34.12
Unsanitary conditions
frequently lead to death.
00:11:34.16\00:11:37.56
Did you catch that?
00:11:37.59\00:11:39.19
Just being on a
steam should kill you.
00:11:39.23\00:11:42.03
No icebergs necessary.
00:11:42.06\00:11:44.63
And the trip takes a
minimum of three weeks.
00:11:44.67\00:11:48.17
Upon arrival J.N
Anderson's escort
00:11:48.20\00:11:50.84
fail to meet
the missionary team.
00:11:50.87\00:11:53.01
Stranded and exhausted,
00:11:53.04\00:11:54.74
they immediately realized
they had another challenge,
00:11:54.78\00:11:57.55
communication.
00:11:57.58\00:11:59.28
Mandarin doesn't use
the western alphabet,
00:11:59.31\00:12:01.55
but unique
characters for every word.
00:12:01.58\00:12:04.22
Its grammar doesn't
come from verb tenses
00:12:04.25\00:12:06.55
but from tonal inflection.
00:12:06.59\00:12:09.19
Standing there
with bags in hand,
00:12:09.22\00:12:11.46
our missionaries probably
felt a lot like astronauts
00:12:11.49\00:12:13.96
setting foot on Mars.
00:12:14.00\00:12:16.46
But they believe that
work was important enough
00:12:16.50\00:12:18.63
to take the risk,
to make the sacrifice.
00:12:18.67\00:12:23.17
J. N Anderson's
diary records him as a man
00:12:23.20\00:12:25.71
with a rich heart for
the land and its people.
00:12:25.74\00:12:29.18
He and the
others were committed.
00:12:29.21\00:12:31.71
The first task was
to learn the language.
00:12:31.75\00:12:34.05
It took two years.
00:12:34.08\00:12:36.38
The next task was
getting from Hong Kong
00:12:36.42\00:12:38.42
to mainland China.
00:12:38.45\00:12:40.02
This only proved possible
00:12:40.06\00:12:41.39
because of the
efforts of other missionaries,
00:12:41.42\00:12:43.32
both official and unofficial.
00:12:43.36\00:12:45.86
J.N Anderson met his neighbors,
shopped at local markets
00:12:45.89\00:12:49.26
and shared his faith
On Valentine's Day, 1903
00:12:49.30\00:12:53.20
Anderson baptized
six Chinese converts
00:12:53.23\00:12:55.94
to Adventism,
00:12:55.97\00:12:57.57
that's how the church
started in China, six people.
00:12:57.61\00:13:02.48
Anderson's appeals to
the General Conference
00:13:02.51\00:13:04.51
scored four
doctors and two nurses,
00:13:04.55\00:13:07.05
the beginning of
Adventist medical missionary
00:13:07.08\00:13:09.02
work in China.
00:13:09.05\00:13:10.62
A Chinese church
headquarters were established.
00:13:10.65\00:13:13.79
Anderson sister-in-law formed
the first Adventist school.
00:13:13.82\00:13:17.89
Anderson's younger
brother was so inspired
00:13:17.93\00:13:19.79
that he made the
steamship journey out
00:13:19.83\00:13:21.90
and joined the efforts,
00:13:21.93\00:13:23.97
In the spring of 1906
00:13:24.00\00:13:25.63
J.N Anderson passed
the torch to Nga Pit Keh,
00:13:25.67\00:13:29.10
ordaining him as the
first Chinese minister
00:13:29.14\00:13:31.54
in the SDA Church.
00:13:31.57\00:13:33.61
This one action opened the door
00:13:33.64\00:13:35.38
for dozens of others
Chinese church members
00:13:35.41\00:13:37.58
to join in
spreading the good news.
00:13:37.61\00:13:40.38
Today in China there are
over 400,000 Adventist believers
00:13:40.42\00:13:45.25
and 4571 congregations.
00:13:45.29\00:13:49.86
Well, thanks for
joining us on today's program.
00:13:49.89\00:13:52.33
I hope that you have
been inspired and challenged
00:13:52.36\00:13:54.73
by what you've seen and heard
about mission around the world.
00:13:54.76\00:13:59.50
You know, in Europe, in Africa,
00:13:59.53\00:14:01.94
right here in Brazil,
00:14:01.97\00:14:03.57
there're still
many mission challenges.
00:14:03.61\00:14:05.87
They seemed to
be many obstacles,
00:14:05.91\00:14:07.81
but there're still
many opportunities.
00:14:07.84\00:14:09.34
And I want to thank you
for your continuing prayerful
00:14:09.38\00:14:12.38
and financial
support for mission.
00:14:12.41\00:14:14.88
It does make a difference.
00:14:14.92\00:14:17.12
And around the world,
00:14:17.15\00:14:18.49
global mission
pioneers are planting churches,
00:14:18.52\00:14:20.36
and it's so
encouraging for them to know
00:14:20.39\00:14:22.76
that there is a world
church praying for them.
00:14:22.79\00:14:25.63
Before we go, I'd like
to give you a special offer.
00:14:25.66\00:14:28.86
It's actually a book
that I wrote some years ago
00:14:28.90\00:14:30.97
called God's Great Missionaries.
00:14:31.00\00:14:33.74
And it's full of stories,
00:14:33.77\00:14:35.10
not only of Bible missionaries
00:14:35.14\00:14:36.94
but also people today
00:14:36.97\00:14:38.67
who're putting
Christ's love into action
00:14:38.71\00:14:41.81
around the world.
00:14:41.84\00:14:43.18
Well, that's it
for today's program.
00:14:43.21\00:14:44.65
For Adventist
Mission, I'm Gary Krause.
00:14:44.68\00:14:47.08
And I hope you
can join me next time
00:14:47.12\00:14:48.88
right here on
Global Mission Snapshots.
00:14:48.92\00:14:51.35