Participants:
Series Code: GMS
Program Code: GMS001103B
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00:02 Welcome back.
00:03 Next up, we traveled to the country of India, 00:05 and Rick McEdward has a story there. 00:08 Thank you, Gary. 00:09 I am here in India 00:11 and we're talking with pastors 00:14 about the great mission challenge 00:16 of the big cities. 00:18 India, of course, 00:20 has some of the largest cities in the world. 00:21 And I'd like to introduce to you, Pastor Sharma, 00:25 who is in one of these large cities. 00:27 Pastor Sharma, welcome to our program today. 00:30 Thank you. 00:31 Can you tell us, sir, which city you work in? 00:32 I work in the national capital region of Delhi. 00:35 Oh, really? 00:37 Yes. 00:38 Now Delhi is the large city, 00:40 about how many people are there? 00:41 Oh, there are about 17 million peoples, 00:42 but if you compare from other cities, 00:46 it's quite big. 00:47 If you take into account the close by vicinities, 00:51 the suburbs of Delhi, actually the population 00:54 would total up to about 22 million in all. 00:57 Making it one of the largest cities in the world. 00:59 One of the largest cities in the world. 01:00 So in terms of how we work in such an environment, 01:05 I mean you are surrounded 01:06 by masses of people on a routine basis. 01:09 Oh, yes. Yes, yes. Vehicles, traffic... 01:12 I was in the Delhi market just the other day 01:14 and it was crowded, 01:15 It is. It is. 01:16 So how in that kind of environment... 01:19 how do you kind of taken the mission challenge? 01:21 What do you... 01:22 Well, how do you look at what's there? 01:24 Well, it looks quite chaotic at times, 01:28 but we are pretty focused on our mission and what we do. 01:32 We should say that, we work with people. 01:35 That's our primary objective to spread the good news, 01:41 the gospel news to people. 01:43 We tell them about good things. 01:45 We tell them about God. 01:46 We tell them about good habits. 01:49 We tell them about different things, 01:51 which help to live a better life 01:53 for each of them. 01:54 Now, some of this is obviously done 01:56 through community outreach, community events, 01:59 helping people right where they are. 02:01 What kind of things are happening in Delhi, 02:03 that would be really is illustrative 02:07 of the way God loves us? 02:08 Well, I'll tell you an illustration. 02:10 See, we have a community there, 02:12 a Nepalese community. 02:14 And we have a special focus on this Nepalese community. 02:18 We have just raised up a congregation. 02:21 And if you say by way of outreach, 02:23 community outreach, 02:24 I would say that we are focusing 02:25 on this Nepalese community. 02:28 They are people who have migrated from Nepal 02:30 and they are staying there 02:32 for livelihood purposes in Delhi. 02:34 Do you feel like 02:35 they're more like refugee or emigrant community, 02:38 they're coming for helping their income level? 02:41 Yes, yes. Okay. 02:42 They're little better than refugee. 02:43 Refugee hardly have any rights and all, 02:46 but they're pretty established people. 02:48 All right. 02:49 So we are targeting the kids there, 02:51 so we can teach the kids and educate the kids somehow. 02:54 Provide them basic primary level of education 02:57 and than they can go on to study something else. 02:59 So that's one way we are doing community outreach from Delhi. 03:02 So is this a literacy 03:04 or is this actually a school that we have in that area? 03:07 We don't have a school. 03:08 It is just a rudimentary form of education 03:10 we give, just the basics. 03:12 So there is a platform for them, 03:14 they can move on to higher education. 03:16 And that's one way we tell us... 03:18 we tell them about the word of the Lord, 03:20 about good things of gospel message. 03:23 Helping people right where they are at. 03:24 Yes, yes. 03:26 So I suppose in Delhi that the challenge is large, 03:30 so that there is a need 03:32 for many different ways of evolvement... 03:34 Yes, there is. 03:36 How you think community service etcetera... 03:37 Yes. 03:38 Can you tell us anything else 03:40 about the work that's going on in the Delhi metro area? 03:42 Well, this particular place I am talking is Baljeet Nagar, 03:46 and we have an incharge here, 03:47 who is a lady and who is of Nepalese origin. 03:51 And then we also... 03:52 So she can communicate in the language, 03:54 she understands the situation. 03:55 You wouldn't believe, we don't have 03:57 any Sabbath school supplies for us, 04:00 but we get them over from Nepal, 04:01 so that these people could be benefited 04:03 in this place. 04:04 So they can learn it in their own language. 04:06 Yes, in their own language. 04:07 So we are specific, we are people specific, 04:08 we are situation specific. 04:10 Let me tell you one more example. 04:12 There is a place called Aaya Nagar, 04:15 and we have a sewing center running there 04:17 to help the ladies, the poor ladies. 04:20 We also have a sanitation class 04:21 running in that area. 04:23 So the sewing center is teaching ladies to sew? 04:25 Yes. 04:26 And then they can stitch things, 04:28 and make a little income from sewing. 04:30 Yes. Very good. 04:32 That's in consonance 04:33 and in partnership with the ADRA, 04:35 where we have provided the place 04:38 and they have provided us the resources. 04:40 And tell me little bit more about the sanitation program 04:43 that you are mentioning? 04:44 Well, actually the sanitation is pretty bad in Delhi. 04:47 Some of the problems we face in Delhi is 04:49 of sanitation, of sewerage 04:52 and one is of the income of our workers is pretty low. 04:58 So because of that, 04:59 the health aspect is little bad 05:01 and we need to work on that with our people. 05:04 So we have volunteers, who we give training, 05:08 we impart training to them on basic health courses, 05:12 and then they teach of the field 05:14 in the community at large. 05:16 Wonderful, so you would have 05:18 a wide variety of community projects going on? 05:21 Yes, we have. 05:22 As a way of sharing God's love with the community. 05:24 Yes, we have. Yes, yes. 05:26 You know, just the other day 05:28 I was in the market in Delhi... 05:31 Yes, sir. 05:32 Probably hundreds of thousands of people around me 05:35 at any given moment, 05:37 and the wide variety of colors and products and the dry goods 05:41 and the mechanical parts, etcetera. 05:44 Some may look at it as 05:45 maybe like you said you reference chaotic... 05:47 Yes. 05:49 But in actual, 05:50 I would see there is an organization to the cities, 05:52 that actually helps in some ways, 05:55 'cause there's natural networks. 05:59 What's our church membership in the metro area of Delhi? 06:03 Our church membership in metro area 06:05 is about 3,500 people, that's the membership we have. 06:10 So there we have 22 million people 06:14 and only about 3,500 members? 06:16 Yes, so the challenge is large. 06:18 So sharing person by person... 06:20 Yes, sharing person by person. 06:21 Is the way to go. 06:22 We go on small group dynamics 06:24 and that's the method we follow. 06:26 And I think that suits us in Delhi. 06:28 Sure, thank you so much for being with us today, 06:30 Pastor Sharma. 06:32 I want to encourage all of you to pray for our big cities. 06:36 The challenge is there. 06:38 There're many people 06:40 in whether it's the wealthy areas 06:42 or the slums, 06:43 they need to know in practical ways 06:46 the love of God. 06:47 Next up, we travel to the South Pacific 06:49 into Suva, Fiji. 06:52 A place that's kind of special to me, 06:53 because that's where I was born a few years ago. 06:55 And we're gonna visit 06:57 a 13th Sabbath offering project, 06:59 that your offerings 07:00 will help support this quarter. 07:08 Meet Nemaia, 07:10 he is a Seventh-day Adventist church member, 07:12 who lives and works in Suva, Fiji. 07:15 Nemaia has a passion for health 07:17 and wants to share health tips with everyone he meets. 07:20 Today, he is visiting a local school to educate 07:23 the community about nutrition and dental health. 07:26 So I am here this afternoon with a dietician 07:30 to deliver to them some health information. 07:34 Members of the local community were invited 07:36 to this free meeting to learn basic principles 07:39 that will improve their lives. 07:40 His dental instructions are helpful 07:42 for the young and older like. 07:44 And Nemaia has fun doing it. 07:47 I enjoy doing this, 07:49 because we promote to people how to live daily, 07:54 from all age groups. 07:56 We're starting from the womb, 07:57 right up to the senior citizens, 07:59 everybody is special. 08:00 And everybody need to know 08:03 how to live a healthy lifestyle, 08:05 and have hope in their life everyday. 08:10 It's important for Nemaia to share a message of hope 08:13 to the people he educates. 08:14 He promotes a holistic method of living, 08:17 so that the people can live a healthy balanced life. 08:21 A health is our-- 08:22 It's everything... 08:23 since it deals with the physical, 08:25 mental, social and spiritual. 08:27 And we just can't sort of divide 08:30 or make it compartmentalize everything 08:32 because it has to be in holiness 08:34 and wellness is holiness. 08:36 And when we promote health, we're promoting, 08:39 trying to touch the people's thinking or lifestyle. 08:43 And what they think about, how they perceive this, 08:45 sort of directly or indirectly, 08:47 they're touching whole aspect of a person. 08:53 In Fiji, the rate of non-communicable diseases 08:56 is quickly increasing. 08:58 Fiji's ministry of health 08:59 is working hard to educate the nation 09:01 on how to live a healthier lifestyle. 09:04 They work closely 09:05 with the Seventh-day Adventist church, 09:06 to teach quickly and effectively. 09:10 Nemaia now works directly for the ministry of health, 09:13 to present how to make lifestyle changes 09:15 and prevent disease. 09:17 So if the disease is caused by lifestyle, 09:20 then the solution must be oriented 09:22 towards lifestyle at least, 09:24 we know that 80 percent of the solution 09:27 to any non-communicable disease is lifestyle 09:30 and 20 percent medicine. 09:32 So that's where we're currently working. 09:35 As the Adventist church 09:36 and Fiji's ministry of health continue to work together, 09:39 they have hope for a bright future. 09:42 They're putting a major emphasis 09:43 on nutrition and healthy eating, 09:45 because this will make a huge difference 09:47 on the population's health. 09:49 Isimeli is the national advisor 09:51 for non-communicable diseases and awareness, 09:54 although he is not an Adventist, 09:55 he is enthusiastic 09:57 about collaborating with the Adventist church. 09:59 Not all Fijians smoke, it's one, 10:03 only 17 percent of Fijians smoke, 10:05 so that's not much of a issue to be. 10:09 Not all Fijians drink alcohol, 10:11 it's just about 30 percent, so 70 percent don't. 10:15 Not all Fijians are physically active, 10:18 but all Fijians eat 10:20 and I think nutrition is the power house 10:22 of the Seventh-day Adventist church. 10:24 And I feel because 10:25 is that common denominator that I am 10:28 rather than reinventing the wheel. 10:31 I believe if the Seventh-day Adventist church 10:33 comes in with the message 10:35 that is health message that's strong in nutrition, 10:38 it should really help in that. 10:39 For me NCD in Fiji which is a crises, 10:43 it's a nutritional issue. 10:45 As you can see, 10:46 the well being of the Fijian people 10:48 is becoming a major emphasis throughout the country. 10:50 In Fiji's capital Suva, 10:53 the Seventh-day Adventist church 10:54 is already conducting health seminars 10:56 through church members like Nemaia. 10:59 As we continue to promote health, 11:01 people notice the church's principles and values. 11:04 It's a platform 11:05 for the Seventh-day Adventist church 11:07 to improve the quality of life in Fiji. 11:09 This quarter, a portion of your 13th Sabbath offerings 11:12 will go towards building a center of influence 11:15 focused on health and wellness, 11:17 where the community can come to learn and be treated. 11:20 They already have the site picked out 11:22 and they're eager to expand their health ministry. 11:25 And here is the proposed or the possible site 11:29 for our wellness center 11:30 that the Fiji mission wants to have the wellness center 11:34 based in Suva, 11:35 so you can see the site behind me. 11:38 Please pray for the church in Fiji. 11:40 Pray that it will continue to reach its community 11:42 through health and wellness. 11:44 I just want to thank all the churches 11:46 throughout the world for their contribution 11:49 that they're going to give in order for the city of Suva, 11:53 and especially Fiji mission to have a site 11:56 or to have a building for the wellness center. 12:17 Oh, thanks so much for joining us on today's program. 12:20 And I hope that you've been inspired and challenged 12:23 by what you've seen and heard, 12:24 from the South Pacific, to India, to here in Manaus. 12:29 Many men and women, boys and girls 12:31 are sharing the light of God's love 12:33 and touching the lives of many, many people. 12:36 And I want to thank you 12:37 for your continuing support of mission, 12:40 your prayers, your finances, and your personal involvement. 12:44 Before we go, 12:45 I'd like to offer you a small money bank. 12:48 This is just a free gift, 12:49 it's a little reminder that you can put in your home, 12:52 teach your children, 12:53 you can use it in Sabbath schools. 12:55 But basically, it's the old fashioned, 12:57 putting some change, 12:58 putting some money for mission. 13:00 Collect it together, bring it to the Sabbath school 13:02 or wherever for the mission offerings. 13:03 And it's just a weekly reminder 13:06 of the importance of giving 13:08 from what's God has given us to help others. 13:12 Well for Adventist Mission, I'm Gary Krause, 13:14 and I hope that you can join me next time 13:16 right here on Global Mission Snapshots. |
Revised 2016-05-12