Over the past 60 years,
there's been a massive decline
00:00:08.60\00:00:11.11
in foreign missions.
00:00:11.14\00:00:12.47
I'm sharing the gospel
through church planting.
00:00:15.54\00:00:19.15
In the 1930s, if
somebody gave $10 in tithe,
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it gave an additional
$6 in foreign missions.
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Today, just $0.28.
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We're doing the best
we can with what we have,
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but I'm still not satisfied.
00:00:29.89\00:00:31.59
Over 2 billion
people in the world today
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still have no
access to the gospel.
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God's crazy in love
with the Thai people,
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and I sense His Spirit
hovering over the city.
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I've come to Bangkok,
Thailand to discover the truth
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about foreign missions.
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Come with me as I follow my
good friend Pastor Doug Venn
00:00:45.64\00:00:48.21
in his every day life
as a frontline missionary.
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I prayed for
God's biggest dream,
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and He gave me
this city of 12 million.
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Welcome to my world.
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God's work is languishing,
and one example of that here
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that I live with daily is,
what is there to communicate
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the hope that we have
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as Seventh-day
Adventist Christians,
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what is there that communicates
to the people around us
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what the Bible teaches about
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what will happen
in these end days.
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And obviously, if you go
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to your local
church literature rack,
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you can find tracks on
Sabbath, and the sanctuary,
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and the state of the dead,
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and the fact that
Jesus is coming so soon.
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But here in Thailand,
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we're here actually in
the office of the Adventist,
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the Voice of Prophecy,
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but I want to just
have you take look.
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Here we have
photocopies of lessons
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that are what I've been
told, they're over 60 years old,
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and you can see here that,
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you know, the truth is there.
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But even at my second and
third grade level of Thai,
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some of these words,
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I can't even read
what letter this is,
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you know, what is that,
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what is that letter right there.
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It's a blob of ink.
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And so how can the
truth be clearly communicated
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when it's...
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we're dealing with a
copy of a copy of a copy.
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And I asked John Siphon,
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the Voice of Prophesy director,
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I said, "What will it take
to get new lessons printed?"
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And she said to me,
"You know, we need money."
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And I said, "Well, how much?"
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And she said, "Well, a
typical run of printing
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would be about $3,000 to $5,000
to get new lessons, I mean."
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And I'm like,
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to get new lessons
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so that way the precious
Thai people will have hoped,
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and they'll know what's coming."
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Here's another set
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that this is, you know,
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because here in
Thailand, we have Buddhists.
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And they have...
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the world view is
completely different.
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And so here this is a set
that looks at what is good
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in Buddhism, how has
God used the truth there
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to then make a
bridge to the Bible.
00:04:05.34\00:04:08.74
And so here,
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this is a
wonderful set of lessons.
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But you look at the picture,
and what do you see here?
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Bunch of blobs.
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It's just, it's not quite clear.
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And... Not very attractive.
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Yeah, it's needless to say.
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Then we can look here that...
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So when somebody calls
interested in Adventism,
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this is what we send them?
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When someone calls
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or actually when
they write, they come,
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you know, the letter
comes here to the mission
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or an email is
sent or, you know,
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churches ask for literature.
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And...
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this is what we have.
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Even though we don't
have the sharpest tools,
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oh, God, he's still using film.
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Look here on this picture.
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You can see that
here is actually,
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these men are in
prison, and the seeds of hope
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are still going through to them,
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and God is changing lives...
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despite our selfish greed.
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We have...
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there are some other literature.
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I asked John Siphon, and I said,
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"Where did you
get these printed?"
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We got some new ones here,
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and I'll just show
you these right here.
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We've got Steps to Christ.
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And we've got
these health lessons.
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And I said, "Hey,
John," which means leader,
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teacher, boss,
"Where did we get these?"
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And she goes, "The
laymen paid for these."
00:06:03.19\00:06:05.76
I said, "Well,
where's your budget?"
00:06:05.79\00:06:07.96
She goes, "I
don't have a budget."
00:06:08.00\00:06:09.33
And I said, "Where do
you get this stuff reprinted
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when you run out off?"
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Then she says, "We
don't, we just use what we have
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until it's all gone."
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Another example of
what's going on here,
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you can see that here are
some amazing facts lessons
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for the Chinese
because here in Bangkok,
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we have lots of languages,
and so you can see here,
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this one's pretty clear
but it's a copy of a copy.
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All right, so
okay. It's not colored.
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It's not colored, but, you know,
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what's going on in this one?
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Can you tell? No.
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I know the pictures so
I know what's happening.
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Right, but you know,
you have to look at it that,
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oh, here's someone's
foot, and here's glass.
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And you know, and
this is actually sand,
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but you really can't tell
that because of the quality.
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So anyway that's...
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So this is what
we have to use here.
00:07:04.92\00:07:11.39
And it just breaks my heart
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because even at my former church
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in our district,
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our local church
literature rack was bigger
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and had more stock
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than what we have
here at the mission.
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It was more well
stocked than what we had here
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at the headquarters to
serve an entire nation.
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And there, we're just trying
to serve one or two cities
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of 50,000 in seven
nation of 65 million.
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You asked also about the
opportunities to learn more
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as some of the Adventists
regarding the writings
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of Ellen White.
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I don't even
know where they are.
00:08:02.28\00:08:04.08
I've heard that you can
get some here and there,
00:08:04.11\00:08:06.72
but many of the books
aren't even translated.
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And so there's a
condition here in the church
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that for the last 100 years
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because those
tools aren't there,
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we've missed that guidance,
we've missed that guidance.
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So we've been a missile
without a guidance system,
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how's that?
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Okay.
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We've been like a scud missile.
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We're going
somewhere, but the guidance,
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that guidance from the spirit
of prophecy hasn't been there.
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This place is to
be the ascending place
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to across the
nation to be a place
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where the hope
of Christ's coming,
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the hope that Christ
makes in our families,
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the hope that He
brings to in our health,
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all this hope
that we have, it is...
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I don't know how to describe it.
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We have this work,
this deposit of hope,
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but we can't get it out
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because we don't have
the money to print it.
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We have prisoners
who don't know the hope
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because we don't
have the lessons.
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We have this entire city
here in Bangkok of 13 million
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who they have not heard it
in compelling in creative ways
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because we don't have the tools
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or the finances to publish it
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in vast amounts.
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So yeah, I live with that.
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I live with the
languishing every day.
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Gary, I've got a
challenge for you today.
00:10:06.27\00:10:08.27
Have you ever been blessed
by the book Steps to Christ
00:10:08.30\00:10:11.57
or the Desire of Ages?
00:10:11.61\00:10:12.94
I haven't read. Okay.
00:10:12.97\00:10:14.31
So your challenge today is,
00:10:14.34\00:10:16.21
we're gonna try to go
on to this campus here,
00:10:16.24\00:10:18.98
and see if you
can find that book.
00:10:19.01\00:10:21.78
Well, this is the
Adventist Book Center,
00:10:21.82\00:10:23.22
a good place to find, right?
00:10:23.25\00:10:24.59
Let's see, let's start here.
00:10:24.62\00:10:25.95
Do you have a copy of
the Desire of Ages, please?
00:10:25.99\00:10:28.79
Oh, we don't have. Sorry.
00:10:28.82\00:10:30.66
Okay, Steps to Christ?
00:10:30.69\00:10:32.69
Steps to Christ, I
think we have only one.
00:10:32.73\00:10:35.93
Okay. Oh, sorry.
00:10:35.96\00:10:38.00
Thai, is it?
00:10:38.03\00:10:40.34
Steps to Christ.
00:10:40.37\00:10:41.74
As for Desire of Ages,
00:10:41.77\00:10:43.10
we are out of stock
for a long time already.
00:10:43.14\00:10:45.54
Right. Yeah, here
is Steps to Christ.
00:10:45.57\00:10:48.24
Right, so we have it in English,
00:10:48.28\00:10:49.98
and how many copies
of this do you have?
00:10:50.01\00:10:51.75
Sorry, we are out of stock also.
00:10:51.78\00:10:53.35
We're out of stock of
English Steps to Christ.
00:10:53.38\00:10:57.55
Was this very popular
when it was published?
00:10:57.59\00:11:00.39
Yeah, before.
00:11:00.42\00:11:02.42
I'm very happy to know
that you have found peace,
00:11:02.46\00:11:06.70
joy and happiness in this book.
00:11:06.73\00:11:08.93
Yes, yes! Very, very good book!
00:11:08.96\00:11:11.50
In Thai, what is this?
00:11:11.53\00:11:13.30
Secret of Happiness.
00:11:17.14\00:11:18.87
Yes. Okay.
00:11:18.91\00:11:21.04
Can you tell me because one
day you told me that this book
00:11:21.08\00:11:25.01
is a different
book from other books
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that says also about happiness.
00:11:30.89\00:11:35.32
Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:35.36\00:11:36.69
I read two books, and I
like two books very much,
00:11:36.73\00:11:40.30
it's a best seller.
00:11:40.33\00:11:42.06
Million of books.
00:11:42.10\00:11:44.77
International best
seller. Yeah, yeah.
00:11:44.80\00:11:47.74
But when I found this
book, it's very, very old look,
00:11:47.77\00:11:53.48
not attractive
but when I read, I...
00:11:53.51\00:11:59.91
exciting!
00:11:59.95\00:12:01.28
It's a deep spirit of happiness.
00:12:01.32\00:12:06.79
I read and read and read...
00:12:06.82\00:12:08.99
very, very
happy, it's a deep truth
00:12:09.02\00:12:13.66
for people to
become happiness life.
00:12:13.70\00:12:17.80
I think we should
give to Thai people.
00:12:17.83\00:12:22.34
This one? Yeah.
00:12:22.37\00:12:25.41
When will we get
some new copies in?
00:12:25.44\00:12:27.74
This one is from Mr. Odum.
00:12:27.78\00:12:30.95
Okay, so one of our
laymen in here in Bangkok,
00:12:30.98\00:12:34.38
he's the one who published this,
00:12:34.42\00:12:35.75
not the Thailand mission?
00:12:35.78\00:12:37.12
Not the Thailand mission.
Okay, can you tell me why?
00:12:37.15\00:12:42.52
Maybe of some...
00:12:42.56\00:12:44.43
sometimes because
we ordered before,
00:12:44.46\00:12:50.40
before we had here a
press, and now we don't have.
00:12:50.43\00:12:55.50
Is that an accident
that it's upside-down?
00:12:55.54\00:12:59.51
Probably that's why, Gary,
00:12:59.54\00:13:00.88
that's the last
copy is because...
00:13:00.91\00:13:02.41
It's a misprint.
00:13:02.44\00:13:03.78
It's a misprint. Yeah.
00:13:03.81\00:13:05.15
Which Ellen
White's books do we have
00:13:05.18\00:13:06.68
in the Thai language?
00:13:06.72\00:13:08.05
Do we have like,
Patriarchs and Prophets?
00:13:08.08\00:13:10.85
Yeah, we have
Patriarchs and Prophets.
00:13:10.89\00:13:12.22
She has some of them.
00:13:12.25\00:13:13.59
What about Acts of the Apostles?
00:13:13.62\00:13:15.02
We don't have. No.
00:13:15.06\00:13:16.39
Great Controversy?
00:13:16.42\00:13:17.76
Great
Controversy, we have just...
00:13:17.79\00:13:19.49
Do you have a copy? Used up.
00:13:19.53\00:13:21.90
I'm wondering, you
know, the people, like,
00:13:21.93\00:13:24.70
people here in Bangkok
which are the sort of books
00:13:24.73\00:13:28.34
that speak to
them the best like,
00:13:28.37\00:13:29.77
is it the story of Jesus,
00:13:29.80\00:13:31.14
is it something like
the Patriarchs and Prophets?
00:13:31.17\00:13:35.68
I mean, if you had your choice,
if you could have only one book
00:13:35.71\00:13:38.71
that you could print,
which one would it be?
00:13:38.75\00:13:40.42
Right.
00:13:40.45\00:13:41.78
Well, I know
that one of my friends
00:13:41.82\00:13:46.15
who Pastor Sirachet Insom,
00:13:46.19\00:13:47.89
he's the director of
the Spirit of Prophecy.
00:13:47.92\00:13:50.03
And so, I think
the next challenge
00:13:50.06\00:13:51.49
is let's go and try to find him
00:13:51.53\00:13:53.06
to try to get to
some of these answers.
00:13:53.09\00:13:57.27
Do you know where he is?
00:13:57.30\00:13:59.30
Okay, all right.
00:13:59.33\00:14:00.84
Well, she's saying
that he's in his office.
00:14:00.87\00:14:02.87
So let's go and check that out.
00:14:02.90\00:14:06.01
He's there. They
have the Adventist Book.
00:14:06.04\00:14:10.68
In Thai?
00:14:10.71\00:14:12.05
In English, mission matters.
00:14:12.08\00:14:15.58
There's an Adventist Church,
Christian Church in general,
00:14:15.62\00:14:18.55
we have tended
to put our resources
00:14:18.59\00:14:20.96
where the church is strongest.
00:14:20.99\00:14:23.32
And I think we need to
confess that we've done that.
00:14:23.36\00:14:25.89
We have put money,
time, personnel into places
00:14:25.93\00:14:31.73
where they've
already had an opportunity
00:14:31.77\00:14:33.10
to hear about Jesus.
00:14:33.13\00:14:34.80
I'm not saying
that they don't need
00:14:34.84\00:14:36.17
more opportunity,
00:14:36.20\00:14:37.54
but we've tended
to put our resources
00:14:37.57\00:14:39.61
where the light
is the strongest.
00:14:39.64\00:14:41.34
And so we need to confess that,
00:14:41.38\00:14:43.11
and we need to start
do something about it.
00:14:43.14\00:14:44.95
I think we have started
to, I think that for example,
00:14:44.98\00:14:47.62
the 10/40 Window.
00:14:47.65\00:14:48.98
The focus is much stronger now.
00:14:49.02\00:14:50.92
It's now become
part of the vocabulary
00:14:50.95\00:14:53.52
of Seventh-day Adventist.
00:14:53.56\00:14:54.99
I think when we're
looking at the cities,
00:14:55.02\00:14:56.93
more people who
live in the cities now
00:14:56.96\00:14:58.73
than ever before,
00:14:58.76\00:15:00.20
and yet the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:15:00.23\00:15:02.56
is strongest in
rural areas and on Islands.
00:15:02.60\00:15:05.67
So again, we've focused
where the people aren't.
00:15:05.70\00:15:10.94
There are more
people on planet Earth today
00:15:10.97\00:15:12.91
that are unreached
by the Adventist Church
00:15:12.94\00:15:14.71
than there was when
global mission began.
00:15:14.74\00:15:16.68
When I was a kid, growing up,
00:15:16.71\00:15:18.11
at the end of
the week of prayer,
00:15:18.15\00:15:20.02
we had the annual
sacrifice offering.
00:15:20.05\00:15:22.08
There was an annual sacrifice.
00:15:22.12\00:15:24.12
My parents would
give a week's wages.
00:15:24.15\00:15:26.92
You don't hear that
sort of talk too much today.
00:15:26.96\00:15:30.16
Giving to mission
offering is decreased,
00:15:30.19\00:15:32.59
and giving to the
local churches increased.
00:15:32.63\00:15:34.83
Now I understand that to
run a successful church ministry
00:15:34.86\00:15:39.13
in the United States or
in something like Australia,
00:15:39.17\00:15:42.90
it's expensive.
00:15:42.94\00:15:44.27
You know, it's an
expensive operation,
00:15:44.31\00:15:45.77
and there's no doubt
that there are huge challenges
00:15:45.81\00:15:48.44
in places such as
North America and Australia.
00:15:48.48\00:15:51.61
I do get a little bit,
00:15:51.65\00:15:54.02
I don't want to
use the word upset,
00:15:54.05\00:15:55.38
but I do get a little annoyed
when I hear some people saying
00:15:55.42\00:16:00.09
that the biggest challenge
is at home in North America
00:16:00.12\00:16:04.33
or at home in Australia.
00:16:04.36\00:16:08.06
True, it's a huge
challenge, but we're not talking
00:16:08.10\00:16:11.03
the numbers that
we're talking about
00:16:11.07\00:16:12.57
when we come to
somewhere like Asia.
00:16:12.60\00:16:15.80
We're talking when we
come to areas like Asia,
00:16:15.84\00:16:18.34
we're talking
about the vast majority
00:16:18.37\00:16:21.11
of the population
who have never even heard
00:16:21.14\00:16:23.18
the name of Jesus Christ.
00:16:23.21\00:16:24.81
The amount of
challenge that we have
00:16:24.85\00:16:26.48
in the 10/40
Window makes the challenge
00:16:26.51\00:16:29.78
in North America,
I don't want to say
00:16:29.82\00:16:32.35
pale and insignificance,
00:16:32.39\00:16:33.72
but it does put us in
a sense of proportion,
00:16:33.76\00:16:35.62
and plus, let's get
it into perspective,
00:16:35.66\00:16:37.63
we're putting more
money into North America
00:16:37.66\00:16:39.29
than we are into these areas.
00:16:39.33\00:16:41.40
Let's go and see if he's here.
00:16:41.43\00:16:46.30
Come in. What a coincidence.
00:16:46.33\00:16:48.30
He's here.
00:16:48.34\00:16:51.17
This is Dr. Sirachet Insom.
00:16:51.21\00:16:52.77
He's the director for
the Spirit of Prophecy.
00:16:52.81\00:16:56.88
And Gary Krause is
on the challenge today.
00:16:56.91\00:16:58.88
I've given him an assignment
00:16:58.91\00:17:00.65
to try to find
Steps to Christ in Thai.
00:17:00.68\00:17:03.72
And he was able
to find the last copy
00:17:03.75\00:17:06.25
of Steps to Christ.
00:17:06.29\00:17:07.62
But you can see that
it's, they printed it,
00:17:07.66\00:17:10.13
it's upside down, and
it's not quite perfect.
00:17:10.16\00:17:13.50
But at least he found one.
00:17:13.53\00:17:15.26
But the other
part of his challenge
00:17:15.30\00:17:17.47
was to find Desire of Ages.
00:17:17.50\00:17:20.64
So can you guide
and help Gary, you know,
00:17:20.67\00:17:25.34
find out why the
Adventist Book Center downstairs
00:17:25.37\00:17:28.68
does not have Desire of Ages?
00:17:28.71\00:17:30.85
As far as I know right now
00:17:30.88\00:17:33.31
that there is no
Ellen G. White books
00:17:33.35\00:17:36.55
available in our ABC.
00:17:36.58\00:17:38.75
I understand, and
I can accept that,
00:17:38.79\00:17:42.59
you know, our people in the West
00:17:42.62\00:17:44.66
or in the Christian country,
00:17:44.69\00:17:46.46
when you give
away Steps to Christ,
00:17:46.49\00:17:48.20
it is so easy for people to read
00:17:48.23\00:17:51.03
because they are Christians.
00:17:51.07\00:17:52.73
But when we talk
about the Buddhist,
00:17:52.77\00:17:55.10
they don't know
anything about...
00:17:55.14\00:17:57.81
It is so easy
for us to understand,
00:17:57.84\00:18:00.41
it's a wonderful book.
00:18:00.44\00:18:02.41
But if we want to
print it, next time, I think,
00:18:02.44\00:18:05.41
we need to simplify it.
00:18:05.45\00:18:06.82
Right.
00:18:06.85\00:18:08.18
Simplify it, and then
give the background of it.
00:18:08.22\00:18:12.35
This is the book
that I was the editor.
00:18:12.39\00:18:16.22
This is the Thai
Great Controversy.
00:18:16.26\00:18:19.16
You don't have that at ABC.
00:18:19.19\00:18:20.80
No. No. We could not by one.
00:18:20.83\00:18:22.93
They're all finished up.
00:18:22.96\00:18:24.83
Every chapter of
the Great Controversy,
00:18:24.87\00:18:27.77
the condensed edition, I give,
00:18:27.80\00:18:33.01
I put the
history of Thailand here,
00:18:33.04\00:18:36.58
every chapter.
00:18:36.61\00:18:37.95
So you would link in...
00:18:37.98\00:18:39.31
Yeah, To the Thai people.
00:18:39.35\00:18:40.68
I link it to the
history in the Bible,
00:18:40.72\00:18:43.75
and the history of
the West because the Thai
00:18:43.79\00:18:47.19
will not know
anything about Jerusalem.
00:18:47.22\00:18:51.46
Yeah, they learn about
Jerusalem of the present day,
00:18:51.49\00:18:55.03
but not of
Jerusalem of 2,000 years ago.
00:18:55.06\00:18:57.67
Is it true that not
everyone can understand
00:18:57.70\00:18:59.83
the Great Controversy?
00:18:59.87\00:19:01.64
When it comes to history,
I mean, whatever history is,
00:19:01.67\00:19:07.74
like country, or
everything that there is
00:19:07.78\00:19:11.48
to learn about history,
00:19:11.51\00:19:13.11
I have a very
short memory to remember,
00:19:13.15\00:19:17.29
especially Thai,
but I was surprised
00:19:17.32\00:19:21.79
when I read the Bible,
00:19:21.82\00:19:28.10
and once when I get,
00:19:28.13\00:19:32.00
understand the
meaning, it's all stuck in here.
00:19:32.03\00:19:35.27
Really? Yeah.
00:19:35.30\00:19:36.81
And when someone
asks I just like,
00:19:36.84\00:19:38.84
ah, because of
this, because of that,
00:19:38.87\00:19:40.41
because of that, you know.
00:19:40.44\00:19:42.74
So you've got the interest there
00:19:42.78\00:19:45.41
and the Holy Spirit helps.
00:19:45.45\00:19:47.62
Yeah, I think because I
open my heart so that things,
00:19:47.65\00:19:52.79
like, just automatically
come and lives in me.
00:19:52.82\00:19:57.63
I can feel it.
00:19:57.66\00:20:00.23
He lives in me!
00:20:00.26\00:20:03.50
Goosebumps now...
00:20:03.53\00:20:06.50
That's awesome.
00:20:06.53\00:20:07.87
How long have
you been a Christian?
00:20:07.90\00:20:09.44
It's about four months in total.
00:20:09.47\00:20:14.21
I asked her to
listen to the audio version
00:20:14.24\00:20:16.18
of the Thai Great Controversy
00:20:16.21\00:20:17.81
to see if she
could understand it.
00:20:17.85\00:20:20.05
Are you understanding that?
00:20:20.08\00:20:21.88
Yes. Really?
00:20:21.92\00:20:23.35
Yeah, actually.
00:20:23.39\00:20:25.75
I understand because I
have a Bible study with you!
00:20:25.79\00:20:30.53
That's why.
00:20:30.56\00:20:32.43
I used to not understand before
00:20:32.46\00:20:34.73
when I haven't
had any Bible study.
00:20:34.76\00:20:38.03
Where were you the
first time you heard it?
00:20:38.07\00:20:40.27
In my house, so that
like my Mom and whole family
00:20:40.30\00:20:44.04
will listen to this
because my Mom always
00:20:44.07\00:20:47.84
turn on the Buddhist song.
00:20:47.88\00:20:49.91
So it's my turn,
something like that.
00:20:49.94\00:20:53.01
So I turned it on,
and this lady just talking
00:20:53.05\00:20:57.25
about in the
Bible and everything,
00:20:57.29\00:21:00.06
and I found out that
00:21:00.09\00:21:02.06
"Oh! I don't understand
about what they say at all."
00:21:02.09\00:21:06.59
Wow!
00:21:06.63\00:21:07.96
I'd thought that I
can understand, like,
00:21:08.00\00:21:10.53
at least I understand
some because you know, being...
00:21:10.57\00:21:17.27
You're a Christian. Yeah, yeah.
00:21:17.31\00:21:19.54
So I mean, maybe
it's not like pastor,
00:21:19.57\00:21:23.81
but I think that
once when I listen,
00:21:23.85\00:21:27.42
it will be more
understandable than read.
00:21:27.45\00:21:31.29
So we started
listening for 10 minutes.
00:21:31.32\00:21:35.22
And my Mom said,
"Bo, please stop it.
00:21:35.26\00:21:38.63
We don't understand it."
00:21:38.66\00:21:40.10
And I'm surprised.
00:21:40.13\00:21:41.66
I was surprised that so
do I, I don't understand!
00:21:41.70\00:21:45.23
Whatever they say
in the CD and this one,
00:21:45.27\00:21:51.27
that surprised me because
I expected to understand it.
00:21:51.31\00:21:57.18
I was looking forward
to listen to all of them.
00:21:57.21\00:22:03.28
But once when I start
listening, I was like,
00:22:03.32\00:22:05.22
"Ah, I can't,"
because I don't understand.
00:22:05.25\00:22:08.96
And I don't know like
how can I understand that?
00:22:08.99\00:22:11.99
What did you
study in the Bible study
00:22:12.03\00:22:13.50
that helped you understand?
00:22:13.53\00:22:16.33
Because when we
have a Bible study,
00:22:16.36\00:22:20.37
you always teach the whole...
00:22:20.40\00:22:24.27
like make us understand
the whole story like overall.
00:22:24.31\00:22:30.28
Like the big pictures?
00:22:30.31\00:22:31.65
Yeah, big picture, and
then explain what's happening
00:22:31.68\00:22:34.88
at the beginning to the
end, and what does that mean,
00:22:34.92\00:22:39.65
each one of them.
00:22:39.69\00:22:41.82
'Cause we don't
have any books that clear
00:22:41.86\00:22:47.70
and give us the
details of our own belief.
00:22:47.73\00:22:51.60
I wish we had the whole book,
the whole set of this series.
00:22:51.63\00:22:56.50
In Thai? In Thai.
00:22:56.54\00:22:58.31
Simply because it is
like a commentary for anyone
00:22:58.34\00:23:03.51
who wants to know about
the Bible in our church,
00:23:03.55\00:23:06.61
among our church people.
00:23:06.65\00:23:09.15
It is the most effective
and easiest way to understand
00:23:09.18\00:23:14.99
the Bible truth.
00:23:15.02\00:23:16.39
So here's my question, okay?
00:23:16.42\00:23:17.76
You know, you're not the
editor in terms of priorities,
00:23:17.79\00:23:21.36
if you had an unlimited budget,
00:23:21.40\00:23:22.96
what would you be
your first priority
00:23:23.00\00:23:24.50
in publishing?
00:23:24.53\00:23:26.43
The first book that I'd like
to see is the Desire of Ages.
00:23:26.47\00:23:32.47
And why?
00:23:32.51\00:23:34.31
The reason is we want
to let the people know more
00:23:34.34\00:23:38.78
about Jesus.
00:23:38.81\00:23:40.28
My first book in
my Christian life
00:23:40.32\00:23:42.45
is Desire of Ages.
00:23:42.48\00:23:44.22
Because previously
you were a Buddhist.
00:23:44.25\00:23:45.72
Yeah.
00:23:45.75\00:23:47.09
You came from a Buddhist, now...
00:23:47.12\00:23:48.46
I came from Buddhist family.
00:23:48.49\00:23:49.82
And when I come to join
00:23:49.86\00:23:51.46
the Seventh-day
Adventist Church,
00:23:51.49\00:23:53.83
the church pastor
conducted, what we have,
00:23:53.86\00:23:58.20
midweek prayer
every Wednesday night.
00:23:58.23\00:24:01.17
And he used that
book, Desire of Ages.
00:24:01.20\00:24:04.21
What we need today is...
00:24:04.24\00:24:05.57
we don't have that book.
00:24:05.61\00:24:07.41
I have one copy at home,
00:24:07.44\00:24:09.14
and I keep that
for more than 20 years.
00:24:09.18\00:24:11.61
I never give it to anyone.
00:24:11.65\00:24:14.05
I never bring it
to my office even.
00:24:14.08\00:24:16.05
I keep it at home
'cause I don't want to lose it.
00:24:16.08\00:24:21.42
That's the only
copy that I have.
00:24:21.46\00:24:26.93
And many others
Ellen G. White books
00:24:26.96\00:24:28.76
that we have like,
Testimonies for the Church,
00:24:28.80\00:24:33.74
a condensed edition
in Thai, we have it.
00:24:33.77\00:24:39.81
That book was
printed, I think, 60 years ago.
00:24:39.84\00:24:43.75
Can we buy it downstairs? No.
00:24:43.78\00:24:46.08
Why not? No, no.
00:24:46.11\00:24:47.45
No, there is no, no,
00:24:47.48\00:24:49.28
it's out of print
more than 30 years ago...
00:24:49.32\00:24:53.96
that book.
00:24:53.99\00:24:55.32
I'm now translating,
still struggling with my time,
00:24:55.36\00:25:01.40
The Acts of the Apostles.
00:25:01.43\00:25:03.03
No, that... I
finished about half way.
00:25:03.06\00:25:04.83
You're basically doing that
00:25:04.87\00:25:06.20
in your own
time at night, right?
00:25:06.23\00:25:08.07
Oh, yes.
00:25:08.10\00:25:09.74
I volunteered to do it
by myself, my personal time.
00:25:09.77\00:25:14.38
But Dr. Sirachet, I
know that you have this title
00:25:14.41\00:25:18.08
and if I actually
pull these things here
00:25:18.11\00:25:19.88
from your door here.
00:25:19.91\00:25:21.35
Yeah.
00:25:21.38\00:25:22.72
You have actually
these other titles and job.
00:25:22.75\00:25:24.75
You are the director
for Adventist World Radio.
00:25:24.79\00:25:27.52
That means you're,
you know, writing scripts,
00:25:27.56\00:25:30.13
and you're doing
this Spirit of Prophecy,
00:25:30.16\00:25:31.96
and we heard about that.
00:25:31.99\00:25:33.33
And you're also a
Health Ministry director,
00:25:33.36\00:25:35.20
and then also you're
wanting to do 10 other things.
00:25:35.23\00:25:38.10
What I've seen is that
you're working yourself
00:25:38.13\00:25:40.34
into the ground,
and like you and I are,
00:25:40.37\00:25:43.14
and we don't
have enough workers.
00:25:43.17\00:25:45.27
Yeah, we need to
train our own people.
00:25:45.31\00:25:50.38
Maybe we need to send
some of our young people
00:25:50.41\00:25:53.58
to study in a university.
00:25:53.62\00:25:58.25
Previously, you
shared that you taught
00:25:58.29\00:26:00.56
in Thai language
a better college,
00:26:00.59\00:26:02.92
so what happened
to the Thai program?
00:26:02.96\00:26:04.59
Oh, you mean
the Theology? Right.
00:26:04.63\00:26:06.66
Our university, we don't have...
00:26:06.70\00:26:10.37
right now, we
have English medium.
00:26:10.40\00:26:13.34
We don't, we have a
Thai. No, we don't have Thai.
00:26:13.37\00:26:15.94
Theology program? No.
00:26:15.97\00:26:17.57
We don't have
Thai Theology program
00:26:17.61\00:26:20.84
in our Mission College.
00:26:20.88\00:26:22.64
We really need a Bible College
00:26:22.68\00:26:27.62
or a Bible School
for the teaching in Thai.
00:26:27.65\00:26:33.19
Because right now in that,
in our church planting setting,
00:26:33.22\00:26:36.29
I have a vacancy of
four Thai Church Planters,
00:26:36.32\00:26:40.40
out of the nine church plants
that are Hope for Bangkok,
00:26:40.43\00:26:42.53
and then we have another
00:26:42.56\00:26:43.90
13 church
plants across the city.
00:26:43.93\00:26:45.77
And they also need Thai workers.
00:26:45.80\00:26:47.34
Yes. So right now...
00:26:47.37\00:26:48.70
We don't have
enough, right? Correct.
00:26:48.74\00:26:50.44
Because we close this
program seven years ago,
00:26:50.47\00:26:54.64
no, eight years ago maybe.
00:26:54.68\00:26:56.91
They said they want
to have only one program
00:26:56.95\00:26:58.65
so they closed it down.
00:26:58.68\00:27:00.25
I said, okay.
00:27:00.28\00:27:01.78
I told them at
that time, I said,
00:27:01.82\00:27:03.72
you have to wait and
see in another 10 years,
00:27:03.75\00:27:07.16
you will have a lack of workers.
00:27:07.19\00:27:08.52
Why?
00:27:08.56\00:27:09.89
Because many of our
workers are retiring every year,
00:27:09.92\00:27:12.66
and there's no replacement.
00:27:12.69\00:27:14.03
Yeah.
00:27:14.06\00:27:15.40
It's not okay because right now,
00:27:15.43\00:27:16.87
we're facing this
shortage in the city.
00:27:16.90\00:27:18.77
Yeah. Not even
10 years now. Right.
00:27:18.80\00:27:20.34
You thought you're
only on this challenge,
00:27:20.37\00:27:22.14
you're looking
for a couple of books
00:27:22.17\00:27:23.51
about Jesus,
00:27:23.54\00:27:24.87
but you're actually
finding this unveiling story
00:27:24.91\00:27:27.71
that because of lack of workers,
00:27:27.74\00:27:29.88
a lack of
funding, and resources,
00:27:29.91\00:27:31.95
as well as our
the press closing,
00:27:31.98\00:27:33.98
why we see the picture
the way it is here in Bangkok
00:27:34.02\00:27:37.42
in the city as well
as in across the country.
00:27:37.45\00:27:40.76
In 1980,
Adventist and North America
00:27:40.79\00:27:43.19
gave just over $23
million to Foreign Missions.
00:27:43.22\00:27:46.53
Thirty years later,
00:27:46.56\00:27:47.90
we gave almost
exactly the same amount.
00:27:47.93\00:27:50.17
It looks like
giving is holding steady.
00:27:50.20\00:27:52.13
But look what happens
when you factor in inflation.
00:27:52.17\00:27:56.04
And that's what
they're left with.
00:27:56.07\00:27:57.71
Now compare that
with the $500 million
00:27:57.74\00:28:00.31
we spend back home
00:28:00.34\00:28:01.68
on our local
church budget every year.
00:28:01.71\00:28:03.81
This problem will be increased,
00:28:03.85\00:28:06.28
not decrease in the
future more and more.
00:28:06.31\00:28:11.39
It's such a tragedy
to see presses closing,
00:28:11.42\00:28:14.62
to see a lack of literature,
00:28:14.66\00:28:16.49
to see basic mission functioning
00:28:16.52\00:28:19.53
just stopping
because of lack of funds.
00:28:19.56\00:28:22.16
And in the West, we take
so many things for granted.
00:28:22.20\00:28:24.70
We expect that we'll
have Bibles in the house.
00:28:24.73\00:28:27.14
And we'll have
literature to read.
00:28:27.17\00:28:29.00
And we forget that many people
around the world are living
00:28:29.04\00:28:31.61
on less than a dollar a day.
00:28:31.64\00:28:33.51
So I want to thank
you for your prayers
00:28:33.54\00:28:35.71
and for your
financial support for mission
00:28:35.74\00:28:38.45
because a little
bit goes a long way
00:28:38.48\00:28:41.02
to make a difference.
00:28:41.05\00:28:42.38
Our work in
Bangkok is still small
00:28:42.42\00:28:44.92
but it is reaching hearts,
and it exists because you gave.
00:28:44.95\00:28:49.16
Thank you so much,
00:28:49.19\00:28:50.53
especially
those in North America
00:28:50.56\00:28:51.96
whose sacrifice for mission.
00:28:51.99\00:28:54.63
Let's pray together
that many will see and fear,
00:28:54.66\00:28:58.00
and put their
trust in the Lord God.
00:28:58.03\00:29:00.20
Next week, the
challenge of reaching Thailand,
00:29:20.86\00:29:23.53
we ask a Buddhist to
read from the Gospel of Luke.
00:29:23.56\00:29:26.43
Do you understand
what you're reading?
00:29:26.46\00:29:28.16
No. Watch Wednesday.
00:29:28.20\00:29:30.67