Participants: Pr. Doug Venn
Series Code: IWTC
Program Code: IWTC000001A
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00:08 Over the past sixty years there's been a massive decline
00:11 in foreign missions. 00:15 I'm sharing the gospel through church planting. 00:19 In the 1930's if somebody gave ten dollars in tithe, 00:21 they'd give an additional six dollars in foreign missions; 00:24 today just twenty-eight cents. 00:27 We're doing the best we can with what we have, 00:29 but I'm still not satisfied. 00:35 God's crazy in love with the Thai people, and I sense His 00:39 Spirit hovering over the city. 00:40 I've come to Bangkok, Thailand to discover the truth 00:43 about foreign missions. 00:45 Come with me as I follow my good friend, Pastor Doug Venn 00:48 in his everyday life as a front line missionary. 00:50 I prayed for God's biggest dream, and He gave me this 00:53 city of twelve million. 00:57 Welcome to my world. 01:12 Bangkok is one massive city. 01:14 And out here in the urban sprawl is where we'll find Pastor Doug. 01:19 There are many forms of transportation here in the city, 01:22 and one of my favorite is this little pickup with 01:24 the two cycle engine. 01:25 It picks up and drops off people all day long, 01:28 and for just twenty cents we can take a ride. 01:31 I also get to rub shoulders, or rather knees, with some people 01:35 from the local community. 01:39 Doug's office is tucked in behind the headquarters of the 01:42 Thailand Adventist Mission, which is charged with serving 01:44 the gospel to the entire kingdom of Thailand. 01:48 I'm not agreeing with the idea that if your wife is doing the 01:51 running Mandarin translation... 02:23 So what was that all about? 02:24 We... I just got off the phone with Pastor Terry Shu from 02:28 Hong Kong and then one of our laymen, who's working with 02:32 our planning team here in, Dr. Superchai, 02:37 here with the Chinese church. 02:40 And so I just was praising the Lord that, you know, 02:43 we're a month away from these reaping evangelistic meetings. 02:46 And I just had to echo the comments from our Thai that, 02:54 you know, we had enough English evangelism here: 02:56 English/Thai evangelism. 02:58 And it just... Anyway, I just have to laugh because we're in 03:05 Thailand, and so how much English 03:07 evangelism should there be? 03:09 So it's going to be in Thai? 03:10 Well, right now yes. 03:12 Obviously it's going to be in Thai, but then Dr. Superchai was 03:16 encouraging our speaker to speak into Mandarin. 03:20 So that way we can hit the Thai/Chinese community. 03:25 This is a major evangelism thrust. 03:27 Yeah, this is a citywide. 03:28 It's been thirty years since we've conducted 03:31 a citywide campaign. 03:32 At least what my Thai counterparts here at the 03:36 Thai Adventist Mission, what they're telling me. 03:38 And so because of the logistics, and all of this other stuff, 03:42 it's taken us four years even to get to this point right now. 03:45 I thought it was going to be in a big center plaza. 03:48 We were going to have it at Limpeeney Park, 03:51 which is one of the largest, kind of a central park there, 03:55 but what happened was due to budget cuts we had to move 03:59 the meeting to a church. 04:04 Would you do a public baptism? 04:06 Yeah, we would do the public. 04:08 I mean if we had access to the park, we could do a public 04:11 baptism, and be a great witness, yeah. 04:13 Wow! How much would the Limpeeny have cost? 04:16 Maybe two to three thousand dollars a day. 04:19 And so for, you know, a nine day reaping meeting... 04:21 $18,000 for a venue isn't that much, I mean, 04:25 for an evangelistic series. 04:26 Well, $18,000 US dollars may not sound a lot to you, 04:30 but here in Thailand that's half of our next year's budget 04:33 for the entire kingdom, for every department, 04:36 and in the mission, education, Pathfinders, 04:41 the Community Service, every department, VOP. 04:45 So it's like trying to spend half of what we have in one 04:51 event, in one reaping event, and for the whole year. 04:56 And so it's not; they're not going to do it. 05:01 Or, yeah, they haven't done it. 05:04 What do you mean, they're not going to do it? 05:06 They haven't done it. 05:08 And that's why it's been thirty years since they've done this 05:10 kind of reaping meeting. 05:11 So that's the latest scoop from this conversation. Okay. 05:18 Everyone wants to talk budget. 05:22 I don't want to just complain and say, Well, you know, 05:25 we can't do anything because we don't have a budget. 05:28 Because otherwise we'd go home. 05:49 So what are you going to do? 05:53 Ah, we go and talk with our laymen, and we pray. 05:58 And then we make the need known, and say to our leaders, 06:05 Well, can you give more? 06:06 We say to our laymen, Can you give more? 06:09 We try to, you know, recycle things and get stuff for free 06:15 where we can, ask for discounts. 06:18 We do everything we can to be the best stewards of the money, 06:22 but then what can you do? 06:31 You do the best with what you have. 06:36 We do the best with what we have. 06:40 Do you think you could move a lot faster 06:41 if you had the resources? 06:43 Um, it's an interesting thought experiment. 06:46 That's all I'll say. 06:49 Interesting thought experiment; if we had money 07:00 it would be interesting. 07:04 So where are you going now? 07:06 Ah, I need to head out to the field. 07:09 So, are you going to come with me or what? 07:11 Ah, if you don't mind. 07:50 Riding a motorbike taxi is the fastest way to get through 07:53 traffic, but not necessarily the safest. 07:57 They say eight people a day die on motorbikes in Bangkok. 08:01 But in a city of twelve million that's not that many. 08:11 A lot of people that I know hesitate to travel overseas 08:14 for fear of the danger. 08:15 They hear about unrest and upheaval, 08:18 and decide to stay home. 08:19 But Jesus took a risk to save us. 08:22 And if we look at the promises of God, and the experience of 08:25 those who have gone before us, we can be sure that God is 08:29 more than able to take care of us. 08:32 The real issue is am I doing God's will or my own? 08:39 We're on our way to the Chinese church, but first we'll stop 08:42 at the NBK Center in preparation for the upcoming health expo. 08:48 From here we'll take the sky train, which whisks us above 08:52 the traffic to downtown Bangkok in just minutes. 08:56 Andrew is a student missionary filmmaker, 08:59 an unusual combination. 09:01 But there's great need for people with his skills 09:03 in the mission field. 09:30 Nicole, this is the place where we're going to have our 09:33 upcoming health expo. 09:35 And so all the design elements, whether it's the website that 09:40 you're doing, or the other banners and things like that. 09:43 So this is the space. 09:45 It's going to be outdoors, and it's going to be in this market 09:48 kind of environment, and you can see kind of the flow of traffic. 09:52 You know there's hundreds of people up here, 09:54 and so we've got to also have kind of, you know, 09:58 kind of advertising that invites the people here to come down 10:03 and check things out. 10:04 We couldn't have picked a better place. 10:06 Actually God picked this place for us. 10:10 And we praise God that in two months from now the team will 10:15 be in front of this restaurant here in this exhibit, 10:21 or in this outdoor area. 10:24 What would you do with this space here? 10:27 What would I do personally? Yeah. 10:29 Well, we're doing some sort of booths, right? Yeah. 10:34 And you need... Are they going to have roofs or no? 10:37 Well, obviously, since we're outside it's kind of going to be 10:40 important that we have... 10:42 We really need... If you can do some sort of design of all the 10:44 roofs so that it advertises. 10:46 I mean because people looking down would know 10:48 what they're looking at. 10:49 Because otherwise people from up high won't 10:51 know what the event is. 10:52 No, that's a good suggestion; good suggestion. 10:54 So it looks like there's a lot more teenagers than you get 10:56 families right now. 10:57 Yeah, and so that's the other reason why we have to aim 11:01 this for people like you. 11:04 So are you considering changing some of... or the design isn't 11:08 going to appeal to those people, or do you know? 11:10 That's why you're needed; to give some input. Okay. 11:16 Well, why don't we pray and ask God to bless the planning 11:19 team, and us as we kind of look at... 11:25 Lord God, thanks for this time and thank You for this team. 11:28 And we just want to rededicate this place; even in front of 11:32 this Spirit train Lord. 11:34 We just ask that you will break through the darkness that the 11:38 evil one has upon Your people, so that way when in a couple of 11:43 months that when Your people are here, across the city, 11:47 whether it's through music, or whether it's through the booth, 11:52 that many of Your precious Thai people will be able to come 11:56 to know You as Lord and Savior, and experience Your 11:59 grace and love through the health message. 12:02 So we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. 12:05 Alright, we've got to fly to the Chinese church now. 13:13 Do you have any idea what they're talking about? 13:16 I have no idea. 13:24 Yeah, that's correct; mi chi. No way! 13:27 Okay, Ti mi. Ti mi, ti mi, ti mi. 13:31 Hi ti! You're saying way and he says no way! 13:42 We're just going to head down the block here. 13:58 We've arrived at the Bangkok Chinese SDA Church, 14:00 and I think I'll look around the neighborhood a little 14:02 bit before we go in. 14:06 God loves the Tai's. 14:08 They're a fun loving, sociable, and friendly group of people 14:11 who love nothing more but to hang out with their friends 14:14 over a good meal prepared right there on the street. 14:21 The produce is shipped in from the country every day 14:23 and served up fresh. 14:27 They use anything from roots to flowers, 14:30 and lots of green in between. 14:32 This is a typical neighborhood on a typical 14:35 afternoon in Bangkok. 14:36 This is not a typical produce cart. 14:39 Look at all this stuff! 14:40 How are you guys? Hello. 14:44 Yeah, beautiful! We've got some cabbage, and green thing, 14:49 and a cow's tongue. Ew! 15:01 Okay, let's on in. This is Dr. Superchi who we heard on the 15:08 phone in Pastor Doug's office. 15:10 He's an eye surgeon who once even operated on the king. 15:14 He took time off his busy schedule to come for a planning 15:17 session with Pastor Doug. 15:19 Downstairs is the fellowship hall and youth auditorium. 15:23 Upstairs is the sanctuary where the main meetings will be held. 15:32 Thank You, Lord. In Christ's name, Amen. 15:41 The scheduled evangelist from Hong Kong, who we also heard 15:44 on the phone earlier, is asking for three large screens to 15:48 accommodate his high powered computer graphic driven 15:50 evangelistic series, and they're trying to figure out how 15:53 to accommodate him. 15:55 And now we... the ideas... 16:02 I'm always amazed at the amount of effort, finances, 16:05 and cooperation it takes to make a series like this happen. 16:10 The pastor and members of this church have a heart to share 16:13 with their Tai neighbors, as well as those of 16:15 their own community. 16:18 Ethnic Chinese have been immigrating to Thailand for 16:21 several centuries, and today about 14% of the population 16:25 in Thailand trace their roots to China, and though well 16:28 integrated into Thai society, they maintain much of their 16:32 original culture and language. 16:34 Where the screen will be; that side... right below... 16:41 While we were inside it started raining, as it often does 16:44 in the monsoon season. 16:46 But that's no big deal for those that live here. 16:50 The really big deal is the fact that in this city of 12 million 16:55 there are only about 1200 SDA's, which means that for every 16:59 believer there's about 10,000 non-believers. 17:02 But most of these believers are foreigners, while only about 17:05 300 are actually Thai. 17:07 300 for a city of 12 million! 17:10 And there's less than 10 pastors, 17:12 and only a handful of Bible workers. 17:15 After being here for over a hundred years, 17:17 that is not a good showing. 17:19 But that's not their fault, we have not committed the 17:22 resources to getting the job done. 17:24 So I'm currently the Director of Adventist Missions for the 17:28 Southern Asia Pacific Division. 17:29 Okay, and that includes the Thailand Adventist Mission? 17:32 Yes, it does. Yes. 17:33 And what is the scope and task of the 17:36 Thailand Adventist Mission? 17:37 The scope and task of the Mission? 17:40 Well, ah, it could be to evangelize everybody in 17:42 Thailand, ah, which is huge. 17:46 Ah, since, ah, traditionally the church, 17:49 the Adventist church, in fact most evangelical churches do 17:52 well among the hill tribes, the animist people, 17:55 and very poorly among the main majority population, 17:58 so we have lots of Korean, and lots of other hill tribes, 18:02 and very few Thai. Okay. 18:11 Adequately funded? The answer to that would be absolutely no. 18:15 Uh, I'm guessing that the percentage of population that 18:20 know we even exist has got to be somewhere around maybe 18:24 two or three percent of the population. 18:26 That's just knowing that we exist, let alone knowing 18:30 anything about what we believe, or a picture of God, 18:32 or anything about us. 18:34 So it would take huge amounts of money to make an impact here, 18:40 which is necessary, I think, before Jesus can come, 18:43 so I jokingly say, Jesus can't come tonight. 19:04 We're back at the MBK Plaza, but this time for shopping. 19:12 No, not clothes, camera gear. 19:19 They found bombs at 7-Eleven. 19:21 Which one? Our 7-Eleven? 19:24 Which 7-Eleven it's on? 19:26 I just received a phone call from Pastor Chin Shire, 19:29 Mission President, and he was just telling us that we've got 19:33 some dangerous news, as he described it. 19:35 The police have found some bombs at 7-Eleven, so we'll have to... 19:40 Yeah, I'm not quite sure. 19:42 I couldn't hear which 7-Eleven, so it might be the 7-Eleven 19:46 right across from your street. 19:48 That is... 19:49 So I'm not quite sure which 7- Eleven. 19:51 If it's our 7-Eleven, I don't know if I want to 19:54 sleep there tonight. 19:55 Yeah, so hang in there and we'll find out. 19:57 Does Goi know? 19:59 I don't know what... 20:00 She's there right now. 20:02 Cause she should probably leave, right? 20:03 I'm not quite sure which 7- Eleven. 20:06 If it's her, and she's upstairs,... 20:08 ...she's out, so let's... 20:11 Yeah. I'm glad they found her but I want her out; like away. 20:15 Okay, very good. Thank you. Pastor. 20:19 The bomb crew is now getting their bomb out 20:21 of Nicole's apartment. 20:23 Apartment? Out of her neighbors. 20:28 Out of all the 7-Eleven's in Thailand it's that one. 20:31 We should get over there and try an... 20:33 Yeah, let's call Goi. 20:34 I'm try to what? Shoot it. 20:36 Let's film it. Let's film it. 20:38 Catch it on video? Do you just want to die? 20:41 No, we just want to get... It's a good video. 20:52 I was just asking. So she'd heard about the bomb there, 20:57 and the other ladies hadn't heard yet. 21:00 And so that's where we're just finding out that she heard the 21:04 news and there's a bomb in that intersection, and that they're 21:09 trying to get it out. 21:11 It hasn't exploded yet. 21:12 So let's go check it out. 21:20 So what kind of bomb? 21:33 The light, oh! So that's where it is. 21:37 It's not in 7-Eleven. 21:52 Here we are at the so-called place where the bomb 21:57 is, and the police are, but we don't see... 22:07 I don't see anything. 22:08 Look around; I don't see anything. 22:11 So you can see here in the city... 22:14 Ah, I just talked to a guy, and he said, There's no bomb here. 22:18 It's at a different street. 22:19 So it sounds like this street, but it's a different street. 22:44 Yeah, and somewhere there is a God, and He is kind of looking 22:49 out for us, even though we are being very stupid, or foolish. 22:53 So we're going bomb hunting, bomb chasing. 23:00 Okay, well, I've had a long day so goodnight. 23:36 The news of the bomb being near is that no one's come 23:41 to buy her meatballs. 23:44 Yeah, because they... 23:46 So basically all these people came by here... 23:51 Yeah, and they filmed the TV. 23:56 Really? Came by... 24:00 Okay, so she said that the bomb, they found it, 24:04 but it didn't explode. 24:15 Oh, it was kind of a gasoline bomb, is what she was saying. 24:25 So the bomb was not actually here. 24:27 It was just down the street here. 24:35 So that way. She says that the police were all around here. 24:40 So there you go, Nicole, you were right. 24:44 It was here at yours. 24:50 So it looks like God's looking out for you, 24:52 and He called you here for a purpose, and your time's not up. 25:10 So the report is it was like an oil bottle from a car that 25:18 didn't have anything in it. What? 25:20 And so the bomb squad came and they looked and they found 25:25 a plastic bag with this, so called, bomb in it, 25:29 but it was just an empty oil quart of engine oil. 25:35 So, and she wasn't able to sell anything today. 25:40 Is she usually able to sell all of these things? 25:57 So, yeah, you're correct that on a normal day she would have 25:59 had almost all of this stuff sold. 26:01 And as you can tell, she still hasn't sold her fish balls, 26:06 her meatballs, her hotdogs, and stuff, so... 26:14 Oh! So the police came here. 26:18 It was completely full of police. 26:20 But the police didn't buy any of the meatballs or hotdogs. 26:24 So they said it was very scary, so she had to go and leave. 26:36 I'm trying to explain to her that God is the One who is 26:38 caring for us and looking out for us. 26:44 Okay, I mean it. Bye bye. 26:55 She says I'm a cutie. Ew, I think so! 27:11 She wanted to take my hand. 27:24 You know, this experience got me to thinking. 27:29 Often there are dangers in serving Christ. 27:32 Some are real, many of them are only imagined. 27:35 I just wish that there were thousands more like Pastor Doug, 27:38 who were willing to face those dangers for the sake of the 27:42 billions of people alive today that still have no access to the 27:46 gospel of Jesus Christ. Okay, let's go. |
Revised 2018-01-09