Participants:
Series Code: IWTC
Program Code: IWTC000007A
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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 $10.00 in tithe, they'd give an 00:22 additional $6.00 in foreign missions. 00:24 Today just 28 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, 00:38 and I sense His Spirit hovering over the city. 00:41 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 frontline missionary. 00:50 I prayed for God's biggest dream and He gave me 00:53 this city of 12 million. 00:56 Welcome to my world. 01:13 Let's go and talk with Jun Taotao. 01:16 He's the pastor in charge of the literature evangelists for our 01:20 Thailand Adventist Mission. 01:23 And so I wanted to talk to him to see how it's going with the 01:27 publishing work, and so find out, get an update from him. 01:31 How are you today? How long have you been here in Thailand? 01:36 Okay, four years and six months. 01:38 So I remember that Pastor Jun and I actually went into 01:43 Thai class together. 01:44 And when I was like maybe in module 3 or 4, 01:48 and then Pastor Jun and his family arrived, and so we went 01:52 back and forth every day. 01:54 And so that's where it kind of bonded us together. 01:58 So tell me, what do we have available to offer to the public 02:05 in the Thai language? 02:32 And how many people are there in Thailand? 02:41 Yes, 65 million. So we were able to print only a thousand. 02:45 That's not okay. Alright. 02:47 It's because our budget. Okay. 03:08 Alright. So that was from that one convention of the literature 03:12 evangelists who came. 03:14 They collected an offering of about $3,000.00, and that's what 03:20 you were able to use to print the 1,000 copies. 03:24 And in this last couple of years how has that book... 03:28 What's been the reception among the Thai people? 03:31 Are they interested in it? 03:48 So what's the price on it? 03:52 And the average person in Bangkok would make around 03:54 $10.00 US dollars a day. 03:56 And so that would be around... 04:11 If you had more budget you, instead of printing 1,000 04:14 you'd print 10,000 copies of the book. 04:18 Then you could bring down your price, then that way 04:21 it would be more affordable as well. That's right. 04:23 Tell me about your other book here. 04:57 We've been here now what, four years and six 05:00 months you've been here. 05:01 And you have two new books. 05:04 What did you have before then? 05:06 Because I know that you have a team of dedicated people who are 05:11 out visiting the Thai people around the city, 05:14 and around the country. 05:15 But what else do they have? Is this all? Yes. 05:48 What about... Do you have anything for kids? 06:22 Four and a half years ago when we arrived here to Thailand 06:25 I know what it was like for me to access what's going on here. 06:31 You know, you and I were given jobs here at the mission level. 06:35 Pastor Jun arrived here as a missionary from the Philippines, 06:39 and we landed here about the same time. 06:43 And what was it like for you when you saw... 06:47 You were used to doing ministry in the Philippines, 06:51 and you had many books. 06:57 And then you come to Thailand and you had limited resources. 07:02 So what was that like? 07:03 How does that make you feel? 08:31 Here's a suggested list of translating and printing. 08:34 So you've got kids books, health books and magazines, 08:37 young people and young adults, and then spiritual books. 08:40 And then, so why did you choose these? 09:25 Yeah, because Buddhists, they don't understand, they have no 09:29 context for understanding Christian concepts, 09:36 like salvation, or grace, or forgiveness. 09:42 So do we have any Thai authors? 09:45 I mean, because here's _. 09:47 You know, she's an author, and then here's her brother, 09:51 Dr. _. 09:56 So we have no Thai authors. 10:00 So do we have any books that actually can take a Buddhist and 10:04 explain what the Christian world view is; some of these concepts 10:08 in a bigger picture rather than... 10:10 Isn't it a Buddhist picks up a Bible usually they don't even 10:14 understand what it's saying. Yeah. 10:16 To verify this point I took some friends out to dinner. 10:19 And after our meal I asked, Pho, who is brand new Seventh-day 10:22 Adventist to read a passage of the Bible. 11:39 So then I asked her friend Charlie, who is a Buddhist, 11:42 to read something from the gospel of Luke, 11:44 which was the first time in his life to ever read the Bible. 13:02 I don't know. 13:04 It's the story of Jesus. 13:05 I mean I know the story of Jesus. What's the book? 13:37 Why is it in this translation? 13:38 It was translated, I think we have it. 13:41 Also Loren Wade. Loren Wade. 13:44 Okay, so and then The End Time Countdown in English 13:48 is by Alajandro Bullon. 13:50 He's the South American evangelist, kind of like the 13:55 Adventist equivalent of Billy Graham. 13:57 He's helped baptize thousands of people around the world. 14:03 So that's who... 14:07 They're from a... they're assuming a Christian background, 14:11 and world view, and so that... 14:17 At least from the demographics that I've done there are what, 14:23 less than 1% who are Christian. 15:20 I know our team in the field on Mother's Day and Father's Day, 15:24 twice a year, we will take this book, the Thai version, 15:28 and we'll distribute it in honor, as a gift to the mothers 15:34 and fathers of like our students, or the community. 15:36 And so that way, because there is a chapter on honoring your 15:40 father and your mother, and so then that way we share 15:46 that with the community. 15:47 I don't see on this list any of the books by Ellen White. 15:51 so is that on here? 16:19 Well, here's his work flow right here. 16:22 I think he needs someone like for Newstart or these stories. 16:29 He's a translator, an editor, a photographer, 16:33 layout and design, a Graphic Designer. 16:36 Then we go into printing, and then we need someone in charge, 16:40 and then it goes to secretariat. 16:42 The fields are blank. 16:45 I think that's for all of them. 16:48 Why are those fields blank? 18:04 Right. As I've seen here we have witnessed, since you and I have 18:08 come to Thailand, the Thailand publishing, 18:11 or the printing press is closed. 18:16 This is what happens when we stop giving 18:18 our mission offerings. 18:20 This place was where the Thailand Adventist Press was, 18:25 and I want to find out why is it closed, and what's going on. 18:30 Let's go find out. 18:32 Pastor Chanchai, can you tell us the story of this place? 19:13 Why did this place close here in the Thailand 19:17 Adventist Publishing House? 19:19 Can you tell the... 20:31 So that way you're outsourcing the printing rather 20:37 than doing it in-house. 20:38 So the printing ministry will still continue? 22:12 From what I understand, using an outside press is cheaper only 22:16 when the printing volume is low. 22:18 But if there were sufficient funds, funds to print the books 22:20 they need, it may have been more cost effective to continue 22:24 using this press, or to upgrade it to the latest model. 22:27 What's happening here? 22:46 Uh huh. Yeah. Excellent, excellent. 22:49 I came to Thailand to see how the lack of giving to missions 22:52 has affected the frontline work, and this is what I found. 22:55 It is collapsing. There are no Desire of Ages or 23:00 Steps to Christ books available in the book store, 23:03 yet tens of millions of Thai's still live with no clue 23:06 that Jesus even exists. 23:08 To us this is just a statistic, but to these dear committed 23:11 leaders it's a reality they have to live with every day. 23:15 The real issue is, Am I ready to let it stay this way? 23:18 Do I care that there are so few Adventist books in print? 23:21 Do I care that the average Thai cannot understand the Bible? 23:25 Do I care enough to do something? to give something 23:27 more than the $21.00 a year that the average 23:30 North American Adventist gives? 23:32 And just a few months ago the translation center at the 23:39 college has closed, and so maybe this... 23:44 And then we just heard from Dr. Sirchet, even again this 23:47 morning that the Thai Theology Program has closed, 23:52 even though they restarted the lay training, 23:55 and they've restarted this Bible Junior College, you know, 23:58 bible college thing. 24:00 But I just see this lack of Thai workers across the board. 24:05 Then how many Thai workers now do you have? 24:07 I have two for the nine church plants, and then we're 24:10 trying to expand as well. 24:11 And we're trying to then support the other fourteen church 24:14 plants across the city. 24:15 And I've got two workers now. 24:17 And so I'm having to... Right now one of my staff was 24:22 just transferred down to Phuket, down to Southern Thailand. 24:25 And I don't have a missionary there, a foreign missionary, 24:29 and now I don't have a Thai. 24:30 And so we just had to put a sign up on the door saying, 24:35 Closed until further notice. 24:39 And so we've got kids coming, and people coming for class, 24:43 and what kind of witness is that? 24:46 But that's a different story. 25:47 They're moved by God to help. 27:38 Thank you Pastor Jun. 27:52 What do you say? 28:13 It's such a tragedy to see presses closing, to see a lack 28:17 of literature, to see basic mission functioning's just 28:22 stopping because of lack of funds. 28:23 And in the West we take so many things for granted. 28:26 We expect that we'll have Bibles in the house, 28:29 that we'll have literature to read, and we forget that many people 28:32 around the world are living on less than a dollar a day. 28:35 So I want to thank you for your prayers, and for your financial 28:39 support for mission, because a little bit goes a long way 28:43 to make a difference. 28:44 Our work in Bangkok is still small, 28:46 but it is reaching hearts. 28:48 And it exists because you gave. 28:51 Thank you so much, especially those in North America 28:54 who've sacrificed for mission. 28:56 Let's pray together that many will see, and fear, 29:00 and put their trust in the Lord God. |
Revised 2018-01-16