Welcome back to Philadelphia,
the city of brotherly love.
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Next stop we travel to Manaus
in Brazil where Nancy Kyte is
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talking with Dr. Richard Elofer.
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I'm Nancy Kyte from Adventist
Mission, and I'm here in Manaus,
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Brazil, and I
wanted to introduce you to
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Dr. Richard Elofer,
who is here from the
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World Adventist
Friendship Center.
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Richard, my friend, Dr.
Elofer, could you please explain
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the work that you do?
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Yes, the name of our
center is World Jewish Adventist
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Friendship Center. Yes.
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That means we want to
build good relationships,
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and also friendship
between the Jews and Adventists
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in order to make reconciliation
between, I would say,
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the Jewish people and the
Seventh-day Adventist people,
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and also between
the Jews and Jesus.
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Now is this a new thought, or
is this something that has been
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going on for awhile?
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Oh, it has been going on for
awhile, because, in fact, from
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the time of Ellen White, this
ministry was already running.
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And everyone remembers
the name of Elder Gilbert,
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who was one of the
pioneers in our work for
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the Jewish people.
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And everyone remembers
how Ellen White has supported
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this work and this man.
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Yes, I remember
hearing about that. Yeah.
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Now I know that
there is something very
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interesting about you.
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You've had a unique life.
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You are a Seventh-day Adventist
now, but you are also a Jew.
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Yes. Can you
please explain that?
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Yes, because I was
born in a Jewish family.
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My father, my mother, and
my young sisters are Jews.
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And I was raised in an
orthodox Jewish family.
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And when I was
young I discovered that
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Jesus was the Messiah.
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And when I make some search
about Christian congregation who
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can wake up me, I found
the Seventh-day Adventists,
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because they are
very close to the Bible,
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and they follow,
really, the Bible.
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And that was what
I was looking for.
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And then I joined myself to the
Seventh-day Adventist Church,
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and I am happy now.
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I have been pastor for this
congregation, for this church,
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for about forty years now.
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Wow, congratulations!
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Yeah, thank you
very much. Thank you.
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And then I am happy to
work with, in this church for,
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especially for this
ministry to reach the Jews
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all over the world.
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Well, that's very exciting.
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I think a lot of people maybe
have not heard about your work.
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I'm wondering now, since
you have both an Adventist,
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and a Jewish experience, can
you share, perhaps, what brings
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you the greatest happiness, or
the deepest meaning on Sabbath?
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You know, when I was a
Jew going to the Synagogue,
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one thing I didn't like
very much, it was repetition.
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They repeat every Sabbath the
same prayers, the same things,
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etc., and that was really,
troubled me, I would say.
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And now I am enjoying to join
my Seventh-day Adventist friends
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on Sabbath morning, and
to share the Word of God.
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The Sabbath School is very
enriching for me, because we can
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share about the Word of God.
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And, of course, the worship
time is a very special time when
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we can worship God.
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And, of course, because of my
Jewish heritage, Friday evening
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is a very special
moment in my family,
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and for the
Jewish Adventist I am.
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And that would be
starting at sunset, correct?
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Yeah, of course sunset,
and that is a special moment.
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Yes, it is true. Well, I
think that that's a very unique,
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and very beautiful
background that you have.
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And I'm wondering if you
have something special to say
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to people who are interested
in becoming friends with Jews.
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Maybe they don't know any.
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Would you have any advise
of how to be friends with them?
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Yes, you know we have accused
the Jews for 2,000 years that
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they have killed Jesus.
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And it is not any
time to do that right now.
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Ellen White said in the
book, Acts Of The Apostles,
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that we have to bring to them
a message of mercy and hope.
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Then if we want to be friends
with Jews, and to bring them
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to Jesus, stop
accusing them of anything.
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But just bring to them a
message of mercy and hope,
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and then we will see Jews coming
to Jesus because they need
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this message of mercy and hope.
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And then when we
are friends with them,
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don't hurry to present Jesus.
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You know Ellen White also said
that when Paul was presenting
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Jesus to the Jews, he didn't
say at the first time they have
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to believe in Jesus of Nazareth,
but he pointed their eyes
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to the law of God,
to the Old Testament,
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to the promise of
God, to the Sanctuary,
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and then after that he
can bring to them Jesus,
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because Jesus is a
fulfillment of everything
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in the Old Testament.
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Yeah, well, those are beautiful
thoughts, and I think we should
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all be brave, or
maybe brave is not the word,
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but I think we should all expand
our horizons and become friends
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with people in other world
religions, and other cultures,
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because we'll all
be enriched, and we can
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learn from each other.
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Yes, that is very true.
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If anybody in our
audience has any questions,
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can they contact
you at a website?
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Yes, we have a website which
is wajfc.adventistmission.org.
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And then they
can reach us there.
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We have a very good website.
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If you don't remember
everything, just look for
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the website of Adventist Mission
and you will see our website
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with the Global Mission Centers.
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Well thank you very
much, Pastor Elofer.
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And we thank our
audience for being with us.
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We hope you'll visit the
website, and you can see the web
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address on the screen.
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So we hope that
you have a great day,
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and greetings from Dr.
Elofer and Adventist Mission.
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Next up: a music video,
and the song is, Everlasting.
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And while this music
video plays, why not take
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the opportunity to think about,
and pray about everlasting life,
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about everlasting love, and
about the need to share that
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with other people.
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God, maker of heaven and
earth, maker of the universe.
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You are everlasting.
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God, keeper of
time and of spheres,
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keeper of the human
race, You are everlasting.
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You took upon yourself
to die for what You made.
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Wonderful Savior, almighty
Creator, merciful healer.
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You are everlasting,
perfect in splendor,
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yet humble in
nature, Your kingdom forever,
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You are everlasting.
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God, healer of all human hurts,
healer I'm telling you earth.
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You are everlasting.
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You took upon Yourself
to die for what You've made.
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Wonderful Savior, almighty
Creator, merciful healer.
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You are everlasting,
perfect in splendor,
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yet humble in nature.
00:11:03.99\00:11:08.00
Your kingdom
forever, You are everlasting.
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Well, I hope that you
have enjoyed today's 360 degree
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view of Mission
around the world.
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But more than just enjoying
the stories, I hope that you've
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been inspired, and you've been
challenged by what is happening
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around the world
today from remote areas,
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such as islands in the Pacific,
through the densely populated
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urban areas, such as here
in Philadelphia, men and women,
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boys and girls, are
sharing the light of God's love.
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And I want to thank you for
the part that you're playing
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through your prayerful support
of mission, for your personal
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involvement, and for
your financial support.
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And I want to assure you
that it does make a difference.
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Before I go, I'd like
to offer you this magazine.
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It's called Mission 360,
and it's full of inspiring,
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challenging stories like you
see right here on this program.
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You'll see the information
on your screen, and we'd like to
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send this to you to keep
you in touch with mission.
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Well, for Adventist Mission,
I'm Gary Krause, and I hope you
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can join me next
time, right here on
00:12:34.98\00:12:37.62
Global Mission Snapshots.
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