I am delighted
to have as our guest
00:00:16.81\00:00:18.45
Pastor Randy Elliot,
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who is the only native
Seventh-day Adventist pastor
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ministering to a
native community currently,
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here in Canada.
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Thanks for joining us. Yes.
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Randy, tell me, please
describe the native community
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where you are ministering.
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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw
is two communities
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that we put together,
two peoples put together.
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And there's been a lot
of challenges with that,
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and it is been deemed
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the most harmed
community in Canada.
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And so, some of the
challenges are pretty unique.
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The most harmed community,
disclosed what that mean?
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Well, when they
put people together
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they put them on
another peoples land,
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and then the people,
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that when they put them together
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they didn't get along to well
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and then they have
both two other communities
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that weren't
too happy with that.
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So it was not very nice
for that people, to be there.
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Now what about
your church community,
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describe that.
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My church family? Yeah.
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Well, our church is right
on the edge of the reserve,
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just before it
crosses over the bridge.
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And so it's a,
it's a good place,
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people just drop in on Sabbath
and especially on potlucks.
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They drop in there and,
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you know, we
have people come in,
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some of them
kind of off the street
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and they just come in
and fall asleep in there.
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And we find out later
that they feel safe in there.
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Oh, that's beautiful.
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So Randy, can
you describe someone
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who's life has been
touched through Jesus.
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Well, one man
that I worked with him,
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I was helping build a drum log
for group called Sacred Wolf,
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and the man came
over and he described
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that he was
hereditary chief as well.
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And so and a carver.
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And so that was my
introduction to him.
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And he was, I understood later
following native spiritualism,
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not Christianity,
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he wasn't
interested in Christianity.
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To make it short, he got cancer
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and round up a
Victoria and then came back,
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and they brought him
back to pass, to die.
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And so I was
asked up to see him,
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and I went up to see him,
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and him and his wife
were there, and he said,
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Randy, can you tell me
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what the bible says about death?
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And I had prayer about whether
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I should bring my bible
in and then I felt that no,
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I'll leave my
bible in the truck.
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So I went in and talk to
him and I was like, oh, no!
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Oh, Lord help me.
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So anyway, what
came to my mind was,
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in alcoholics anonymous
they have some descriptions
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on two different roads,
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the red road and the black road.
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And I said this
is the way it is,
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I said death from the
bible is like a black road.
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If he don't make a
decision for the creator God,
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you'll be
automatically on the black road.
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But if you,
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make that
decision, you're still on it.
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But if you make a
decision for the red road,
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I said the creator
offers us eternal life
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and we'll have perfect bodies.
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So I said, the
choice is simple, that's it.
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I said I am not
forcing you, but I said,
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there is the choices
right there, simplely.
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And he goes, I
want eternal life.
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So we had the
sinner's prayer right there,
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and then I went
away and came back
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couple days later,
he was still alive.
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He said, Randy,
there's one more thing
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that's been on my heart.
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And I said, sorry,
you don't have to tell me.
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I said that's the
spirit that's letting you know.
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But I said, we'll have prayer.
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So we prayed and then we left.
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And then the next
day he passed away.
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And so, he is
buried traditional way,
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and they put them in
a sealed box in a tree,
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up in Nakwaxda'xw Nations.
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Wow. So, yeah.
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Wonderful.
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So, Randy, what are
the unique challenges
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that you face ministering
in a native community?
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Helping the people
understand that God loves them.
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Right. Yeah.
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And there was a
discovery you, yourself made
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just a few years ago, right?
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Yes.
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Because I was raised in
Seventh-day Adventist church,
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my mother was
Seventh-day Adventist,
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my father was not.
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And he was an alcoholic.
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And so I've seen two sides.
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And so that was my
struggle and it wasn't until
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I was probably I guess recently,
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because I continue to
look, I was searching,
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what was
important to me was truth.
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And that just
kept, and I believed that
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when I look back, the
spirit was still calling me
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to take a look, you know.
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And I had given up at one point
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and then the
spirit called me back
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and in a lodge one day
and told the medicine man,
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and the medicine man
said I have a message
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for the next person
which was me, and he said,
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you must return
your spirituality.
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So I came back,
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make assure that
there's lots to do it
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but I came back,
and it was not easy,
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but God showed me.
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I asked Him to
show me how to love Him,
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and he did.
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And how did that
changed your life?
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That change, I
understood born again.
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I didn't
understand that it is so real.
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You can't tell
anybody else about born again
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unless they
experience it for themselves.
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Everything changes.
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So how do you pass on that,
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that sense of
God loves them too,
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to your community?
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In my community,
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although our
people have been judged
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over a lot of
things over the past.
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So to just accept
them the way they are,
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love them, hug them,
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it's a drunker or whatever it is
00:06:09.26\00:06:11.70
and invite them in,
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pray for them and
they love to have prayers.
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And this kinds of
show them the love of God,
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they way it was
kind of given to me
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and let them know
that God loves them.
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I keep telling them
that God loves them.
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Yeah. Without strings attached.
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That's right, no
strings attached.
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Yeah.
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Randy, thanks so
much for sharing with us
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and may God continue
to bless your ministry
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among your people.
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Yes.
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And viewers at home,
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please pray for
the native peoples
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Pray for randy
and what he's doing,
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that God will open
up new opportunities
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that they will find,
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that there is a
God who loves them,
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no strings attached,
and came to this earth
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and showed that love,
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then went all the way to cross.
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Next up, we're going to travel
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very different
part of the world,
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down to the
Amazon, to see a nurse
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who is showing God's
love in very practical ways
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to the people along the river.
00:07:03.62\00:07:05.19
I am a volunteer
nurse, working with ADRA.
00:07:15.43\00:07:18.23
I serve in a remote
clinic in the Amazon region,
00:07:18.27\00:07:21.20
where I see
emergency and clinical cases.
00:07:21.24\00:07:23.71
Well, I am from traditional
Seventh-day Adventist family,
00:07:25.91\00:07:29.24
I am a fifth
generation Adventist.
00:07:29.28\00:07:31.31
I had the privilege to study
at a top university in Brazil.
00:07:32.51\00:07:35.85
At the age of 22, as
I was about to graduate
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I knew that I wanted to
get into a good residency
00:07:39.22\00:07:41.89
and build a strong
career in the nursing field.
00:07:41.92\00:07:45.73
But I also think that
at some point in my life,
00:07:45.76\00:07:48.06
I would like to
work with the lunches
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serving the needy
people along the Amazon River,
00:07:50.60\00:07:53.30
or perhaps some where in Africa.
00:07:53.34\00:07:55.27
I always thought
that a missionary life
00:07:55.30\00:07:57.14
is very exciting.
00:07:57.17\00:07:58.57
But I would
serve as a missionary
00:07:58.61\00:08:00.14
only when I already had a
job and was financially secure.
00:08:00.18\00:08:03.61
I do mission
during my vacation breaks.
00:08:03.65\00:08:06.92
But God had a
different plan for Samantha.
00:08:06.95\00:08:10.05
Although a student,
fresh out of college
00:08:10.09\00:08:12.25
without money
or clear direction,
00:08:12.29\00:08:14.69
Samantha prayer for
God to guide her future.
00:08:14.72\00:08:17.96
The doors began to
fly open, I had no money
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and people started coming to me.
00:08:20.83\00:08:22.46
One person paid for my airfare,
another bought my travel bags.
00:08:22.50\00:08:26.13
I had no money for
purchasing luggage,
00:08:26.17\00:08:28.34
there was a stranger
who simply walked up to me
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and gave me $300.
00:08:30.87\00:08:32.81
So things started
happening in a way
00:08:32.84\00:08:34.74
that I could not deny.
00:08:34.78\00:08:36.24
This was God's will for me.
00:08:36.28\00:08:39.95
On the daily basis,
00:08:39.98\00:08:41.32
Samantha cares for the
people along the Amazon River,
00:08:41.35\00:08:44.32
in this remote region
00:08:44.35\00:08:46.05
there is little
access to health care.
00:08:46.09\00:08:48.72
If the ADRA clinic wasn't here,
00:08:48.76\00:08:50.73
the people would need
to travel up to eight hours
00:08:50.76\00:08:52.89
for access to medicine
and health professional.
00:08:52.93\00:08:55.70
Samantha fills
an important role,
00:08:55.73\00:08:58.07
and through her
friendly attitude
00:08:58.10\00:09:00.04
she's awarded
gratitude and appreciation.
00:09:00.07\00:09:02.57
They feel very thankful
00:09:07.04\00:09:08.38
because we are in a place
of hard access to health cares.
00:09:08.41\00:09:11.48
When I give the people
something as simple as pill
00:09:14.32\00:09:16.55
for pain relief
or to cure the fever,
00:09:16.58\00:09:19.59
I notice great openness
00:09:19.62\00:09:21.36
and sincere gratitude from them.
00:09:21.39\00:09:23.29
I could not have imagine
00:09:27.03\00:09:28.36
that I would be a missionary
volunteer in this way.
00:09:28.40\00:09:31.83
But I see that
the things I know,
00:09:31.87\00:09:33.87
and that God
gave me the privilege
00:09:33.90\00:09:35.60
to learn throughout my
life are useful for them.
00:09:35.64\00:09:39.61
Although, I can only show
and teach them basic things,
00:09:39.64\00:09:43.35
they receive it with
eagerness and excitement
00:09:43.38\00:09:45.78
and I feel very well to see
that I can share this knowledge
00:09:45.81\00:09:49.12
for better life and hope.
00:09:49.15\00:09:50.99
I feel that God
didn't bring me here
00:09:56.89\00:09:58.46
to save people,
00:09:58.49\00:10:00.03
but rather for my own salvation
00:10:00.06\00:10:03.33
so that my life
could be changed.
00:10:03.37\00:10:05.87
Especially for
me and my character
00:10:05.90\00:10:08.04
did He transformed
through the lives of the people
00:10:08.07\00:10:11.17
I worked with here.
00:10:11.21\00:10:14.18
And that I was not
loosing a year of my life,
00:10:14.21\00:10:16.21
but gain experience
and closeness to God,
00:10:16.24\00:10:19.25
getting to know
Jesus more intimately
00:10:19.28\00:10:21.32
while I am serving
the children, the people.
00:10:21.35\00:10:25.52
And as I realize that
God gave me this profession
00:10:25.55\00:10:28.26
and choose me particularly
to do his work of service.
00:10:28.29\00:10:32.16
Many Seventh-day
Adventists around the world
00:10:39.13\00:10:41.90
choose to live out Jesus'
teaching in practical ways,
00:10:41.94\00:10:45.81
by serving, healing
and caring for humanity.
00:10:45.84\00:10:49.64
Please pray for the
many Adventists volunteers
00:10:49.68\00:10:51.95
working around the world,
00:10:51.98\00:10:53.62
and thanks for
helping touch lives.
00:10:53.65\00:10:56.12
Well, that's about
it today's program,
00:11:14.70\00:11:16.50
and I hope that you
have been challenged
00:11:16.54\00:11:18.27
and inspired by what
you have been seen and heard
00:11:18.31\00:11:21.24
from cities such as Vancouver
to countries such as Brazil.
00:11:21.28\00:11:25.51
People young and old
00:11:25.55\00:11:26.88
are sharing the
light of God's love
00:11:26.92\00:11:28.55
in many, many big practical way.
00:11:28.58\00:11:30.19
And I am gonna thank you
00:11:30.22\00:11:31.55
so much for your
continuing support
00:11:31.59\00:11:33.46
of mission around the world
00:11:33.49\00:11:35.19
through your prays,
00:11:35.22\00:11:36.59
through your
personal involvement,
00:11:36.62\00:11:38.43
and through your
financial support.
00:11:38.46\00:11:40.66
And before we go, I would
like to you send a free book.
00:11:40.70\00:11:43.30
If you live in North America,
00:11:43.33\00:11:45.23
please make sure to
ask for the IT'S TIME book,
00:11:45.27\00:11:48.27
it's part of the presses,
00:11:48.30\00:11:49.80
voices from the front
lines of urban mission.
00:11:49.84\00:11:53.24
This is the new mission for you,
00:11:53.27\00:11:54.74
the huge cities of the world.
00:11:54.78\00:11:56.14
And this book is full
of practical examples,
00:11:56.18\00:11:59.75
wonderful stories
00:11:59.78\00:12:01.18
of holistic
missions in the cities.
00:12:01.22\00:12:03.02
So please make sure to ask
00:12:03.05\00:12:04.89
for the IT'S TIME
urban mission book.
00:12:04.92\00:12:07.82
Well, thanks so much
for joining us today.
00:12:07.86\00:12:09.56
For Adventists
Mission, I am Gary Krause,
00:12:09.59\00:12:11.63
and I hope you can join me
00:12:11.66\00:12:12.99
next time right here on
Global Mission Snapshots.
00:12:13.03\00:12:16.13