Participants:
Series Code: IWTC
Program Code: IWTC000008A
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00:08 Over the past 60 years,
00:09 there's been a massive decline in foreign missions. 00:15 I'm sharing the gospel through church planting. 00:19 In the 1930s, if somebody gave $10 in tithe, 00:22 it gave an additional $6 in foreign missions. 00:24 Today, just $0.28. 00:27 We're doing the best we can with what we have, 00:29 but I'm still not satisfied. 00:31 Over 2 billion people in the world today 00:33 still have no access to the gospel. 00:36 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 00:44 about foreign missions. 00:45 Come with me as I follow my good friend 00:47 Pastor Doug Venn in his every day life 00:49 as a frontline missionary. 00:51 I pray for God's biggest dream 00:52 and He gave me this city of 12 million. 00:57 Welcome to my world. 01:11 What are you carrying? 01:14 This is the poster for the Adventist health expo. 01:17 Two days till ground zero. 01:19 Yeah, two days till health expo starts. 01:23 Anytime we do public meetings 01:25 we know that there is a behind the faith curtain, 01:28 there's a war going on between good and evil. 01:30 I'm feeling the weight of this battle in my heart, 01:35 the spiritual battles that we're facing are real 01:39 and you know this is a city 01:42 where we just need God's grace to flow 01:44 and through this kind of event or through this health ministry 01:49 we can actually see God's grace go forward, 01:53 that's why for me during these events 01:55 anchoring with Christ is just so vital 01:57 and so needed in to find the quiet moments. 02:01 I now know why Jesus ran away. 02:05 He ran away from the group 02:06 and He put his phone on silence, 02:08 but then people kept tracking Him and said 02:10 "Why aren't you returning your calls or your emails? 02:13 I now know why 02:15 because Jesus was anchoring to the Father 02:18 and so that's what I need to do too. 02:20 I read today on Wikipedia 02:22 that the Mormon Church has 14 million members? 02:26 Yeah. 02:28 And sends out 51,000 missionaries? 02:30 You and your irreverent questions. 02:38 What am I supposed to do with those facts, Jon, 02:41 what am I supposed to do? 02:42 You know, go to the local LDS ward and say, 02:46 you know, sign me up, 02:48 we've been given such a message of hope, 02:50 there's a disconnect though 02:51 because we have this bright hope 02:53 and yet we have this lack of workers, 02:56 lack of support. 02:58 You keep telling me that mission offerings are dropping 03:00 and I see it here you know. 03:04 The results of that here in Thailand 03:06 and so how do you close that gap 03:09 between a message that brings the brightest hope 03:11 and then the other hand that actually can support 03:15 in advancing that message forward. 03:17 How's that make you feel? How's that make me feel that? 03:20 Yeah, as a frontline missionary? 03:25 Sometimes when I go, when I go back to America, 03:28 you know, people ask, well, how's the mission field going, 03:30 you know, on Facebook, you know, how the friends say, 03:33 how's it going and you know, 03:35 typically they want to hear ruminative response, 03:38 everything's fine, 03:39 but it's at times like this that things aren't fine, 03:45 we're running full tilt 03:49 and we just don't have enough people 03:52 you know, I imagine that if we had 03:54 a 100 more workers here in the city 03:58 or even 10 or even one more. 04:03 You know what a difference it would make. 04:05 What motivates me is that, 04:07 you know, Christ emptied heaven to save me 04:11 and so how can I... 04:15 How can I respond? 04:17 And so that's what, you know, excites me 04:20 so it gives me an imagination for the work that's what, 04:25 you know, motivates me to learn this language 04:27 that I slaughter every day. 04:31 And, you know, 04:33 to make me a student of the people and the culture 04:36 and to, you know, try to, 04:40 you know, mobilize and to train and coach, 04:46 so yeah, that's what 04:50 motivates me is God's love and His grace 04:53 and so I can't shut up about that. 04:55 We've got to go to work though. Yeah, okay. 04:57 We'll catch up to you later. 05:03 I'm hungry, I just woke up. 05:06 So, it's the night before that health expo 05:09 and I slept in. 05:11 That's healthy. What time is it? 05:14 My humanity is showing. 05:17 So we got to go now and meet the team 05:19 because we're supposed to be there at nine. 05:21 And it is... I don't know, you tell me. 05:23 It's 8:33. 05:24 Yeah, we got to fly. Okay, let's go. 05:34 Several have said, 05:35 they have been dreaming for many years now 05:37 to do programs like this. 05:39 We're told to arrest the attention of the city 05:42 or to gather it 05:44 and so one way is through health, 05:48 and so I'm excited about seeing what that looks like 05:53 in a modern context of arrest in the attention of the city 05:58 so hopefully we can do that tomorrow. 06:04 And the mall closes at 10 o'clock at night 06:07 and so that's, that's when they want us to be there 06:10 to help set things up so that way 06:13 we're already for the program in the morning. 06:16 Which starts at? 06:18 We are supposed to leave here at 7, 06:19 get there by 8, 8:30, 06:21 set up for an hour or so we're ready by 9, 9:15 06:25 and then the minister of health will come around 10. 06:28 Minister of health, is he like...? 06:30 He's the equivalent of the certain US sergeant general. 06:34 This is the only way to travel here in the city 06:37 with the sky train. 06:38 It's like a light rail system over the city 06:40 so we can go far. 06:47 We're right here across the street is where 06:50 that health fair is gonna to be at 06:52 and you can see around us just the life of the people. 06:55 We were walking through the traffic 06:57 faster than the cars are going 06:59 because it's just so crazy here. 07:06 Tomorrow morning this place will be all transformed, 07:09 so we will have the stage here 07:12 and then the concert and the demonstrations 07:16 and the music and all that kind of stuff 07:18 will be here and then behind us 07:21 you can see where the tents are, 07:23 here's the health screening. 07:25 I just kind of wish that the traffic flow 07:28 was more like what we just came through, 07:32 because if you look down here 07:33 there's just one or two friends. 07:36 And, you know, the bus stops there. 07:39 So we know that God brought us to this place 07:41 and God will then also bring the people here too. 07:44 Nicole, what are you doing? 07:47 I'm trying to design for the health expo website. 07:51 It's due tomorrow at 9:00 am 07:53 Where are you? 07:55 I'm at MBK, so this is design on spot. 07:59 I was just talking to my friend here 08:02 and you know as we were waiting for the team to gather, 08:05 I was trying to explain what's going on here, 08:07 and so I gave her one of the brochures 08:09 because the Thai is more clearer 08:11 than what I can say 08:13 and so she said that she's interested 08:16 because her eyes, 08:17 you know, she needs to get them checked up. 08:19 She lives here in the city 08:21 but she comes from another one of the... 08:24 Province. Province, yeah. 08:27 I wanted to say changwat. 08:29 Changwat which is like the province in Thai. 08:32 So Thai is coming out of me now. 08:44 Nicole right now is, this is her design 08:47 and so we just wanted her to get a chance to open it. 08:51 I was taking a peek already. I like hers. 08:54 Okay, go ahead, Nicole. 08:57 The unveiling of Nicole's design. 09:18 I'm excited to see that the team working 09:21 but most of all I'm also excited 09:23 that our team is also able to see 09:26 how we can mobilize many people 09:28 so then that way Christ can be uplifted, 09:31 so that's what excites me the most right now, 09:34 so I'm just seeing it come alive. 09:37 Even though it was late at night 09:38 I enjoyed watching them all staff set things up, 09:41 especially the stage, 09:42 I watched them a long time, 09:44 it's like they've done it before. 09:46 Here let's talk to this trouble maker. 09:48 How do you feel now that you see this? 09:50 I just say this that praise the Lord 09:52 because it's just perfect. 09:55 All the boards that you see that line up. 09:57 And you see that both sides, people will walk on both sides. 10:02 When we look at, at the place 10:05 I believe that there will be many people will come and, 10:08 will see that what we are doing here. 10:10 And thank all of our people for their hard work. 10:14 Many people say that 10:15 our work as Seventh-day Adventist Christians 10:17 that we even heard it this morning 10:20 with one of our pastor telling our leaders that 10:22 we've gone, the gospel has gone to the whole world 10:25 and we're finished, 10:27 so is that's the case here in Thailand? 10:28 No, no, no, no. 10:30 You see, in Thailand, we have 64 million. 10:34 And not even 1% of the population in Thailand 10:38 are Christian. 10:40 And the Seventh-day Adventist Church had been, 10:42 you know, here for 100 years. 10:45 So far, we have only about 12,000 church members. 10:49 We still have... 10:52 tremendous work to do. 10:55 But, we do believe in one thing, that is, 10:58 when God wants his gospel 11:01 to go to the Buddhist people. 11:04 And yes, you understand that the Thai people are very kind. 11:08 They welcome everyone to their home. 11:10 You want to talk with them, fine. 11:12 But it is very difficult for them to change. 11:15 That's where I found that 11:16 instead of trying to change them, 11:18 let Christ change them and then that way 11:22 they are able then to see that difference, 11:24 that is what Christ makes. 11:26 It's not a intellectual, trying to convince the people, 11:31 one is better than another. 11:33 We find out that 11:34 health can penetrate in any home. 11:39 'Cause in every home 11:41 at least there will be one person 11:43 that have health problem. 11:46 And that's how we can, 11:48 we as Adventists, can give them the answer. 11:51 And we as Adventists, we have the message. 11:55 And I do believe that 11:56 this is how we can work with the Buddhists. 11:58 And the Buddhists believe that when you help someone, 12:02 when you heal someone, you are making merit. 12:06 You are accumulating 12:09 your own merit for the next life. 12:11 What we're doing is what Christ, 12:14 if He is here today, He would do the same thing. 12:18 This place, if you rent them, it would be so expensive! 12:24 How did you afford that? 12:25 No, this is free of charge. 12:28 Yes! This is free of charge. 12:30 Yah! 12:32 Everything is free of charge, 12:33 including the stage at the back. 12:35 You know the chairs that we use, 12:37 all the tables that we have here, 12:39 they provided for us, everything for free. 12:42 How'd you do that? How'd you pull that off? 12:45 Well, I believe that the Holy Spirit 12:48 worked ahead of us. 12:49 Amen. Amen. 12:51 The Holy Spirit prepare for us. 12:53 The Lord has been so good 12:54 and He prepare everything for us. 12:56 You see that nearby here, there is a sky-train, 12:59 that travels, that millions of people 13:01 are traveling everyday by this sky-train 13:05 and the company offer us free of charge 13:10 to put up our poster 13:14 at every BTS stations around Bangkok. 13:17 Besides that, they gave us 50% discounts for 600 tickets 13:23 round-trip for our staff, throughout the four days. 13:28 Today... 13:30 the Minister of Health, one of his advisors called me 13:34 said that they need 13:36 more information about Adventists. 13:38 And so I sent all the materials. 13:41 To tell them that 13:43 we bring the love of Christ to the Thai people. 13:48 And by tomorrow he will know everything, 13:51 that why we are doing these things. 13:54 So, thank God for that. 13:56 He wanted to start off with something small, 10 people. 13:59 Now we're at one of the biggest malls 14:02 and 90,000 people, the mall staff told us 14:05 come every day and on the weekend a 150,000. 14:09 And so this is where God took our little small faith 14:12 and He said it's not big enough. 14:14 Not big enough. 14:15 So what's gonna happen next? 14:17 The government trying to cope with 14:20 the health problems of the people. 14:22 They have been trying with many methods 14:26 but they failed. 14:28 They neglect one thing that is the spiritual part. 14:32 And that is what we expecting that. 14:36 Maybe in the future, they may call us or ask us 14:39 that what can we do to help. 14:41 And of course, that is the time when we can show to them that, 14:45 here it is, the true happiness, 14:49 the true health methods 14:53 is found in the Bible. 14:56 And the Seventh-Day Adventists is now showing to the people, 15:01 our health message is the key, is the answer, 15:05 for this country. 15:07 I happened to run into another missionary, 15:09 so I asked him about the progress of the gospel. 15:11 It's estimated that there are probably 15:14 between 8,000 and 10,000 unreached people groups 15:17 still remaining in the world 15:19 that are completely untouched by any form of Christianity 15:23 and numbering somewhere between 15:25 two and three billion people. 15:26 We dare not actually come to the conclusion 15:29 that the world's almost reached because it's not. 15:31 You have to define 15:33 what's reached and unreached look like. 15:35 In the reached part of the world, 15:37 people have access to Christianity. 15:40 You know, they can walk down the street 15:42 and they walk by Christians, they... 15:45 You know, they can go to a hotel 15:46 and get a Gideon Bible out of a hotel drawer. 15:50 There's Christian bookstores everywhere. 15:52 That's reached when people have access to Christianity 15:56 basically it will, 15:58 and there are vast populations in the world 16:01 who have none of that. 16:03 I feel Christianity is dying in America. 16:04 Why? 16:06 I think it's because of lack of purpose, 16:08 because of lack of engagement, 16:10 that we have become a people focused on ourselves, 16:14 and as soon as you focus on yourself 16:18 we lose God's Spirit 16:20 because God's Spirit wasn't given 16:21 for our personal edification, 16:23 it was given so that we could serve Him. 16:26 It's midnight and we're finally heading home. 16:31 And we're back after a very short night. 16:34 The Lord provided us an umbrella for cloud cover 16:37 so that way outside is customarily humid 16:40 or customarily hot. 16:46 We're just praying for the people 16:48 who see this poster 16:49 that the Lord will open their hearts 16:51 and that they'll come. 16:53 The big moment is approaching 16:54 and all the last minute preparations 16:56 are being made to welcome the minister of health. 17:00 Here he is being greeted by the top leadership 17:03 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Thailand. 17:05 Pictures taken, he is then escorted 17:07 through the MBK mall, 17:08 so that he can be brought to the entrance 17:10 of the health expo. 17:11 This is an important and influential man 17:14 and it's a great honor for him to come 17:15 to the opening of this event. 17:17 As they passed through the expo, 17:19 the president of the Adventist hospital 17:21 is explaining our approach to total health. 17:25 They then watch a special number. 17:26 Nation and brothers and you receive Father 17:33 For you and for me... 17:35 And the Thai minister of health takes the podium. 17:48 The cutting of the ribbon 17:49 and the health expo is officially open. 17:55 The health checks, consultations, 17:56 training and services to the people have begun 17:59 and will continue for four long days. 18:02 Volunteer nurses come from the Adventist mission hospital 18:04 bringing their equipment to do 18:06 rather sophisticated health checks 18:07 and services free of charge. 18:11 Pastors, church planters, dedicated church members 18:14 and students from the Adventist high school 18:15 also volunteer to help. 18:18 The Thais are very interested in health, 18:19 so a lot of people came through the different stations. 18:22 There's even a children's corner 18:24 where they can do crafts 18:25 and talk with student missionaries 18:26 while waiting for their parents. 18:28 Some of the tests they do include cholesterol, 18:30 bone density and eye checks 18:32 along with services like teaching and massage, 18:35 all designed to show the people 18:36 God's love for them in real and practical ways. 18:40 The volunteers work all day long. 18:42 This Thai event would not be complete 18:44 without a traditional Thai dancer reminding us 18:47 we're not in Kansas anymore. 18:49 It's almost 5 o'clock now 18:50 and rush hour has already started. 18:52 There's several rush hours in the city 18:54 but one of them is right after school gets out. 18:57 The other one is right after five. 18:59 Why don't we go with our friends 19:01 and we're gonna go and invite a few more hundred people 19:05 to come to the health screening. 19:08 For some reason we in the west make a strong distinction 19:11 between physical health and spiritual health, 19:13 between church and hospital. 19:16 This is the first time 19:17 I'm seeing the two brought together. 19:20 Here we have a pastor 19:21 initiating and helping coordinate a health expo 19:24 as a way to bring the gospel to the people. 19:26 Incredible, unheard of, 19:28 but he had done this before in America 19:30 where he had doctors on pastor salaries, 19:32 teaming up with pastors 19:34 for the purpose of medical ministry. 19:35 And did you know that once upon a time, 19:37 Loma Linda University was called 19:39 Loma Linda College of Medical Evangelists. 19:43 Our normal strategy is to hold an evangelistic series, 19:47 yet I've seen traditional direct evangelism 19:49 just not working here. 19:50 In fact I witnessed a series conducted just a month before 19:53 this health expo and although they spent about 19:55 the same amount of money, only about two non believers 19:58 showed up for the meetings, 20:00 but here almost 2,000 people registered 20:02 and about 10% of those requested further studies 20:05 in spiritual health principles. 20:07 Maybe Pastor Doug is on to something, 20:10 but isn't that the way Jesus worked. 20:12 He healed the people and cared for their physical well being 20:15 and then bid them "follow Me." 20:17 In fact He healed people 20:18 whether they followed Him or not, 20:20 and He healed free of charge. 20:23 We're just talking to the other leaders about, 20:25 we've got some machines that are overheating 20:28 like the bone density, the EKG and some of these other things 20:31 that there is too much to use. 20:33 Do you want to shut it down? 20:35 Why do you shut it down when, if you look around 20:37 this is gonna be one of the busiest times. 20:39 What we're noticing is that many people are going through 20:44 the health expo but we're not able to get 20:46 their names and their information. 20:48 Do you have things that 20:49 when they come through the booth 20:50 that we can give them besides a gospel tract? 20:54 We've got Bible studies, but, see, 20:57 it kind of throws off that personal relationship 21:00 that you meet them, you serve them 21:02 and then you offer further service to them 21:06 you know, whether it's health, or Bible study or other, 21:09 you know other follow up. 21:12 And the team over there, they're praying with people, 21:15 and that's one of the most important. 21:17 Pastor Konkar, one of our church planters 21:19 is having a Bible study with someone. 21:22 That's super cool. 21:23 Having Bible studies here at MBK is a divine appointment, 21:28 although that wasn't part, specific course, 21:31 they have Bible studies right away. 21:55 I saw the lady on the bus. 21:57 She's trying to look and trying to figure out 21:59 what's going on over there. 22:01 And so I went and grabbed the brochure 22:03 and gave it to her. 22:05 I said, hey, when you're free, stop by, 22:07 we're doing this health screening for four days. 22:23 It's the fourth day of the health expo 22:24 and I'm tired. 22:26 The first day we had 457, the next day we had 403 22:31 and yesterday Sabbath we had over 600. 22:33 As result of our first day's data 22:36 that as we complied, 22:37 we found out of that 457 people that 10% or 49 people 22:43 are requesting resources 22:45 to improve their spiritual health 22:47 and that includes Bible study, 22:49 and so that to me is just a giant win back on. 22:53 The team here is discovering that when combined 22:57 the physical, and spiritual, and mental health all together, 23:01 then we are able to minister in a holistic way 23:05 that is completely relevant to the Thai society. 23:08 We had a goal of serving like a thousand people. 23:12 We've already exceeded that goal 23:14 as well as in another, 23:16 one of our goals to more like city, 23:18 the church members in our schools 23:20 but as the goal of reaching the city, 23:22 praise God that we've been able to reach several, 23:26 impacts several thousand people 23:28 but again this is, it's just the start. 23:32 The Thai society combines lifestyle with faith, 23:37 and so this is something where as Christians 23:42 many denominations are separated what you believe 23:46 from what you practice. 23:48 Like here in Thailand, 23:49 what difference does it make in the life, you know, 23:52 the fact that you believe 23:55 me to make a difference in everyday life. 23:58 And so this is something where when, 24:00 when we combine the health message 24:02 with the gospel message, the society is able to see 24:05 a clear picture of God 24:08 and His love, His grace His plan 24:10 as well as Seventh-day Adventist. 24:13 The Adventist message is truly to prepare people 24:16 for Christ's second coming, and just like 24:18 Christ cared for people, social needs, 24:22 the woman at the well, you know, 24:24 Christ met her at a level 24:26 that He was able to minister to her in a short time 24:30 to meet those social needs that transformed her life, 24:34 and thus that transformed the village 24:37 and thus it transformed the people, the Samaritans. 26:11 When we separate the medical ministry 26:14 from the gospel ministry, 26:16 it's like we're hacking out the body of Christ 26:20 and so thus we, 26:22 pastors become irrelevant in trying to meet the needs. 26:27 And so thus the physician becomes 26:29 the almighty super hero 26:31 in his or her white cape or white jacket 26:34 and they can conquer anything. 26:36 But see, that's not the picture that Christ portrayed. 26:40 Christ portrayed an holistic picture. 26:43 Unfortunately there's many pastors 26:45 like myself who... 26:48 We are trying to do our best 26:51 but when we don't partner with the doctors, 26:54 then our ministry is limited. 26:56 One author, he puts it this way 26:57 that the physician is 10 times more effective 27:01 in ministry coming close to the heart than the pastor, 27:04 and so this kind of effectiveness 27:05 I'm looking for, I'm looking for every edge 27:08 and if it means getting out of the way, 27:10 so that way we got people 27:12 who are more effective can do the work 27:13 than I would do that. 27:15 The physicians are happy that they can actually minister 27:19 not only just to the physical body. 27:21 When the physician is able to see 27:24 the change in attitude 27:26 and change that the gospel brings, 27:29 that just brings in so much more joy. 27:32 We're here with this Adventist health expo 27:34 are doing a community service, 27:39 but it's also then in that process, 27:41 in that relationship then to point them 27:44 to the great physician, 27:46 so that way they can have the best life now 27:48 as well as then the opportunity to choose, 27:50 you have the best life in heaven. 28:13 Bangkok is just one of the cities 28:15 where we have barely touched the surface 28:17 in reaching the people with the gospel. 28:19 In 1910, Ellen White wrote 28:21 and it's recorded in Medical Ministry, page 304, 28:25 "When the cities are worked as God would have them, 28:27 the result will be 28:28 the setting in operation of a mighty movement 28:32 such as we have not yet witnessed." 28:34 Your support of mission giving will help us 28:37 to reach the big cities with God's plans 28:41 helping to initiate 28:42 that wonderful heavenly mighty movement. 29:19 Next week, 29:21 what's it like to try to reach a large city like Bangkok 29:24 when the funds aren't there? 29:26 We can't work. 29:27 Watch, I want this city, Wednesday. |
Revised 2017-12-18