Over the past sixty years
there's been a massive decline
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in foreign missions.
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I'm sharing the gospel
through Church Planting.
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In the 1930's if
somebody gave $10.00 in tithe,
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they'd give an additional
$6.00 in foreign missions.
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Today just 28 cents!
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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.
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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
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in his everyday 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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This three story
building is being rented by the
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Thailand Adventist Mission as
a Church Plant Center here in a
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Bangkok suburb called
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The first floor is where all
the meetings and activities are
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conducted, while the Church
Planting families live on the
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second and third floors.
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Today's a special day because
they're having a children's
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evangelism program and
graduation with Pastor Doug's
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family helping out.
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Dawn in telling the story of
the parable of the lost sheep.
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A story many of these kids have
probably never heard before.
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Pastor Reben is from the
Philippines, and he's here to
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reach out
through teaching English.
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He and his wife
Merissa are the Church Planters
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here at the Center.
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Normally there's also a
Thai pastor living here to help
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translate and
connect with the community.
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But there's a shortage right
now of Thai pastors due to the
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closing of the Thai Theology
Program eight years before.
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Pastor Jim is here from the
Division, and he gets the honor
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of handing out the
graduation certificates,
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along with a special gift.
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And, thanks to your mission
offering, he is able to give a
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little bit for this Church
Plant to try a new approach,
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to step outside
into the community.
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Who's going to get
all of my money if I don't
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have a lovely little boy?
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Back and forth,
and back and forth.
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Vote for him. Count the stars:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9...
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God said, That's how many
children you're going to have.
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And Abraham said, Oh, good!
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Sarah, good news, good news!
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Wake up, wake up! God said
you're going to have a baby!
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Good news!
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The new approach is this Health
Expo right here in the middle
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of the neighborhood.
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I asked Doug why
they were doing it.
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We're trying to share God's love
in practical ways to meet real
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needs combining health ministry
with the gospel ministry
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just like Jesus did.
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And in that context we can
then see the hearts opening.
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I'm not trying to count
baptisms, I'm not trying...
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Right now I'm not trying
to count how many people are
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paying their tithe.
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I'd like to step back and say
how many people have we helped?
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How many people
even know who we are?
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How many people know why we're
doing this community service?
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Is it to earn merit so in
that way we can be super holy,
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super spiritual people?
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No, it is because the
love of God motivates us,
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and then we
share that with others.
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What did he say?
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Okay, so he said he learned
through this to change his
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lifestyle,
because he has problems.
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He has been smoking.
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So he would smoke less,
and he would eat more fruits,
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and drink more water.
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And so she
learned about exercise,
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because she
doesn't exercise at all.
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So from now on she will start
doing exercise every morning.
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This kind of community
service; this is what it takes
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to reach these communities.
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Especially they
have to know who we are.
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They have to learn to trust us.
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And when we do drive
in church it doesn't work.
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She has learned a lot from
this, and what she would apply,
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well that would be exercise,
and eating healthy food,
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and drinking water.
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So she's learned a lot
from this Newstart program,
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and she's also
heard of the church here.
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She's walked past
the church many times
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because she lives around here.
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We've been in this
community now for what? in March
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it will be five years.
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And how do you feel
about this? Very sad.
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What's this feel like for you?
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The reason why this Church Plant
is moving today is why Reben?
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What's, what's going on?
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So the owner sold the building?
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So this wasn't about the
mission saying that you're
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not doing a good job.
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We don't want to
invest in this community.
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Okay, so I want
that to be clear. Right.
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But I know that it's an easy
decision now that we don't have
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enough Thai workers
we're dealing with budget cuts.
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Now that this could be instead
of we're going to relocate the
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center, or this Church
Plant, well we'll just combine.
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And so we'll close
this one and we'll go and
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move to another
place, so that's my fear.
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And as you've heard from
the Church Planter and his wife
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Merissa, the relationships that
we've built here over the last
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five years, we're in
jeopardy of losing those.
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It's starting over again.
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If we move. It's
starting over again.
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The relationships that we've
built with the neighborhood,
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with the community, with
the businesses, with even the
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district leader, all of those.
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You know, it's taken us
five years of investment.
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And everything in Thailand
works on the relationship.
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Right, you know. Long term.
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Long term relationships.
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When you're in the
community and the people see you
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day in and day out; you have
those relationships with the
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people, ministering to the
kids, hanging out, shopping,
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as well as when
people have a concern,
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or they stop by for prayer.
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When we don't have this
space it's really hard to do
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incarnational ministry.
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So, but how can
you even do church?
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When you come here on Sabbath
and you don't have space,
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do you just have
church in the street?
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We're paying
14,000 baht per month.
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Not quite $500 a month.
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We're trying to find a
place. It's not that...
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Oh, the place
that he found is 18.
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It's double the place.
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Yeah. When we rent a facility
we have to do improvements.
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We have to put in lights,
and electricity, and water,
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and all the other things.
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And, you know,
painting, fixing leaking roofs,
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and those kind of things.
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And so that's something where
we've already done that here.
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So I know that my officers
aren't very happy with when we
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have to move again and
then reincur all those costs.
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They just see that
we're wasting money.
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But because we don't buy
these places, or have long term
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agreements with the owners,
then what else can we do?
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I wish that you wouldn't
keep asking that question,
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but we can see a direct
cause and effect relationship,
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because when people don't
see the results of their giving,
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then we get to
experience this in the field
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where work is closed.
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In this case right now it's
supposed to be a relocation,
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but my fear is that
this could be the closing
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of this Church Plant.
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So, yes, there's a direct
relationship between those who
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give and those who live here.
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I see, I see, I
see it differently.
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I don't see it as dollars.
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I see it as the
influence of this community.
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This center is a
center of influence.
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I wish we could have been
here for the Christmas program.
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They had over a hundred people
here hearing of what the true
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meaning of Christmas; why
Jesus Christ came to this earth.
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Many of them may have
heard it for the first time.
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And many of them may have
heard it for the first time.
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To see five years'
worth of work just vanish...
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I don't know how
to react with that.
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It looks like it. You tell me.
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How do you read this?
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I'd say we're going backwards.
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And it looks like this Church
Plant is another victim of the
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decline in mission giving, which
by the way, has been getting
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worse for
nearly two generations.
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We have a small kitchen
right here that they use.
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No running water. And
this is where Reben's family
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lives, in this room.
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That's the new
condo that's coming in.
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Those apartments
range around 3 to 4 million,
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so each unit is
for purchase. Yeah.
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So that would be a
hundred thousand US dollars.
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There's a lot of people
who live in that building.
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They have like a thousand units.
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You know, there's a flood of
stories that are coming to my
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mind right now of people meeting
Jesus Christ and having their
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prayers answered. Of a God, a
personal God who really cares,
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that happened in this place.
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You know, prayers for
healing, prayers for jobs,
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prayer for families,
prayers for relationships,
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even the desperate prayers
of University students trying
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to cram to get exams.
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God, you know the
God of this place,
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can You help me pass my exams?
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And to hear those
stories of God even answering
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those kind of prayers.
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This Church Plant
has been an orphan.
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It's been orphaned because its
mother church here in Bangkok
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had four Church Plants and
couldn't care for any of them.
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It's been an orphan financially.
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Praise God we did have one
church in North America help
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financially, but
then that Church Plant
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closed down in America.
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And so that support,
prayers, and financial support;
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that has evaporated.
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And then the laymen here
in the city; everyone's busy
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with their own lives, and
yet Christ tells us to go.
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And where do we go?
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I heard something...
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I know, that people
like to go to the hills.
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But what about this
hill with a thousand people,
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a thousand families in it?
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But what about you
and me? Will we be there?
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We've been given a message of
hope, and with that comes also
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the privilege of
sharing that hope with others.
00:15:59.25\00:16:01.72
I was excited. I guess I'm
still excited about what has
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happened, and what
could happen here in Bangkok.
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But it's like after five
years we're just starting.
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People like to hear, Oh, there's
a missionary come to town.
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And so they'd like to hear
the two minute story, you know.
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How's the mission field going?
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How's the work going
in the mission fields?
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And I can share, Well,
God's changing my heart.
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And I see God answering prayers,
and changing lives in the lives
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of the people around
myself, my team, and my family.
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But there's not that exuberant
group of people saying,
00:17:04.75\00:17:09.22
What can we do?
There's a faithful few who say,
00:17:09.26\00:17:14.60
What can we do to help?
00:17:14.63\00:17:17.10
Some come, check
it out for themselves.
00:17:17.13\00:17:19.80
So what's your answer to that?
00:18:02.61\00:18:04.65
So there you go; Absolutely not.
00:18:08.15\00:18:11.65
There's a token support for the
work; especially in the cities.
00:18:11.85\00:18:16.19
Do I see young people who
are committing their lives?
00:18:16.22\00:18:22.13
I see old people who are being
awakened to the fact that Jesus
00:18:22.16\00:18:28.34
died for us; Jesus died
for me, not just for us.
00:18:28.37\00:18:34.24
And because of that that
means that I have the privilege
00:18:34.28\00:18:39.41
of sharing that
news with others.
00:18:39.45\00:18:41.48
And guess what?
Jesus is coming again!
00:18:41.52\00:18:43.65
And with that good news of
Jesus coming again, who will go
00:18:43.69\00:18:49.36
and share it with the
community? this community?
00:18:49.39\00:18:52.13
Who will live it? Who will walk
with the drug abusing mother?
00:18:54.53\00:18:59.20
Who will walk with
the couple who's going
00:18:59.23\00:19:03.77
through marital problems?
00:19:03.81\00:19:05.91
Who will walk with these people?
00:19:05.97\00:19:08.08
This is my life, and
so what else can I do?
00:19:08.11\00:19:14.92
Jesus Christ died for me.
00:19:14.95\00:19:16.85
And that reality of His
soon return propels me forward.
00:19:16.89\00:19:25.09
I've experienced grace, and that
means I now have the privilege
00:19:25.13\00:19:30.73
of sharing that grace.
00:19:30.77\00:19:32.10
I don't know about other people,
but I know that that love of
00:19:32.13\00:19:39.44
Christ, that joy,
that assurance, that peace,
00:19:39.47\00:19:44.45
that hope, it's
real in my heart.
00:19:44.48\00:19:47.75
And that's what I want to share.
00:19:47.78\00:19:50.02
That's what I'm trying to share.
00:19:50.05\00:19:52.22
That's what this
team is trying to share.
00:19:52.25\00:19:54.12
That's what they have
done in the last five years.
00:19:54.16\00:19:56.93
Are we done? Are we done?
00:19:56.99\00:20:00.33
I don't think
so. I don't think so.
00:20:04.27\00:20:07.37
Well, why are we meeting
in the street? you may ask.
00:20:14.94\00:20:19.25
We don't have a place, and so,
because the owner repossessed
00:20:19.28\00:20:25.22
the building, and
so we had to move.
00:20:25.25\00:20:27.82
And so now what we're facing
is that we've been working
00:20:27.86\00:20:30.69
in this community
now for five years.
00:20:30.73\00:20:32.93
And so we can't just abandon,
and so that's why we're here now
00:20:32.96\00:20:39.13
is to continue to
work among the kids,
00:20:39.17\00:20:42.10
and to do this
Branch Sabbath School.
00:20:42.14\00:20:45.04
And so then that way when
we relocate, hopefully, in this
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neighborhood again.
00:20:48.21\00:20:49.54
And that way we
can have continuity.
00:20:49.58\00:20:51.15
So, but this does highlight
the need for partnership with
00:20:51.18\00:20:58.22
our people, and finding
locations, because the physical
00:20:58.25\00:21:03.63
assets for the buildings
are probably some of our most
00:21:03.66\00:21:06.90
expensive purchases, so we have
yet to buy one here in the city.
00:21:06.93\00:21:13.10
How much would
it cost to buy it?
00:21:13.13\00:21:15.30
It's around $50,000.
00:21:15.34\00:21:17.34
It's, we've got the
lowest offer in this community.
00:21:17.41\00:21:20.74
$50,000.00? $50,000.00.
00:21:20.78\00:21:22.91
And that would buy a
three to four story shop house.
00:21:22.94\00:21:27.22
You know, like you see here.
00:21:27.25\00:21:29.42
So you have all the floors?
00:21:29.45\00:21:31.55
So that's where. We
did find some other ones.
00:21:31.59\00:21:34.62
Here are some of the kids now.
00:21:34.69\00:21:36.02
Reben found them, and it looks
like they're wanting to play.
00:21:36.06\00:21:39.46
We're in right, up right,
down right, happy all the time.
00:22:30.65\00:22:34.08
I'm in right, up right,
down right, happy all the time.
00:22:34.12\00:22:37.52
Since Jesus Christ came
in, I gave my life to Him.
00:22:37.55\00:22:40.86
I'm in right, out
right, up right, down right,
00:22:40.89\00:22:44.16
happy all the time.
00:22:44.23\00:22:46.59
And it's now been four months
since we shut down the Center,
00:23:27.57\00:23:30.94
and we're still in the process
of trying to find a new place
00:23:30.97\00:23:34.34
here in this neighborhood.
00:23:34.38\00:23:35.71
So the team has had to
refocus and have their community
00:23:35.74\00:23:40.68
activities, which like today, we
saw this Branch Sabbath School.
00:23:40.72\00:23:43.99
I really like the fact that
the kids were singing Scripture
00:23:44.02\00:23:46.45
songs, and that just
warmed my heart to see them
00:23:46.49\00:23:49.92
enthusiastically sharing
God's word from their souls,
00:23:49.96\00:23:57.17
and their entire beings
singing these Scripture songs.
00:23:57.20\00:24:00.70
In many of these cases the homes
that they go back to the only
00:24:00.74\00:24:05.64
Scripture that these people have
ever seen is what these kids are
00:24:05.67\00:24:09.84
now testifying and sharing.
00:24:09.88\00:24:12.15
And so that's what
excites me about serving in this
00:24:12.18\00:24:15.18
neighborhood is that God's
word is now a living word in the
00:24:15.22\00:24:20.02
lives of these boys and girls.
00:24:20.06\00:24:21.46
It broke my heart to see this,
but I know that until we find
00:24:25.99\00:24:31.30
a location it's a, I
guess I'm still not satisfied.
00:24:31.33\00:24:38.81
I'm still not happy that we
can only do this every so often
00:24:38.84\00:24:44.28
instead of on a daily basis.
00:24:44.31\00:24:45.95
We've been in this
neighborhood for five years now,
00:24:45.98\00:24:48.38
and so I don't want to
just, because it's inconvenient,
00:24:48.42\00:24:52.92
that just to move out.
00:24:52.95\00:24:54.66
We need to
continue what we started.
00:24:54.69\00:24:57.56
We've seen the sacrifice of
other missionaries who traveled
00:24:57.59\00:25:00.60
many hours to come and help
not only this Sabbath afternoon,
00:25:00.63\00:25:05.80
but other Sabbath afternoons.
00:25:05.83\00:25:07.24
So their commitment also is a
testimony that warms my heart,
00:25:07.27\00:25:14.41
that God's people are seeing
the need here in the field.
00:25:14.44\00:25:17.81
So we just need a few more.
00:25:17.85\00:25:21.08
According to Wikipedia, the
city is big; like I think it's
00:25:25.45\00:25:31.99
of city, so that's kind of big.
00:25:35.10\00:25:39.00
And so we're just here in one
neighborhood, and we're touching
00:25:39.03\00:25:45.47
the lives of the
families in this neighborhood.
00:25:45.51\00:25:48.11
And we've been doing
that now for five years.
00:25:48.14\00:25:50.68
And so literature works, media
works, but it's this ground
00:25:50.71\00:25:56.99
saturation of making
friendships, and building those
00:25:57.02\00:26:01.66
connections in the community
that that's really where
00:26:01.69\00:26:03.93
the gospel is seen.
00:26:03.96\00:26:06.90
The tithes, at least when
I've talked to them, they aren't
00:26:06.93\00:26:09.90
interested in what you believe
until they see how it's lived.
00:26:09.93\00:26:12.87
They'd rather see a
sermon than to hear it.
00:26:12.90\00:26:15.50
So this is her
daughter. And I need...
00:26:18.54\00:26:20.78
Oh, her name is...
00:26:28.55\00:26:29.88
So I was asking when was
the first time she heard...
00:26:34.72\00:26:37.23
How old was she when she
first heard the name of Jesus?
00:26:40.80\00:26:43.20
And her answer was, I was 45.
00:26:43.23\00:26:45.70
Yeah, she still
hasn't heard the story.
00:26:46.27\00:26:49.04
Yeah, so she's heard the name,
but she hasn't heard the story.
00:26:50.71\00:26:54.18
Well I'm nearing the end
of my time here in Bangkok,
00:26:55.01\00:26:57.18
and I've seen firsthand the
effect of the decline in giving
00:26:57.21\00:27:00.55
to foreign missions.
00:27:00.62\00:27:01.95
To be honest, our
work is collapsing.
00:27:01.98\00:27:03.99
It's being strangled by a
lack of resources and interest.
00:27:04.02\00:27:07.19
Church Plants are closed.
00:27:07.22\00:27:08.56
The typology program is closed.
00:27:08.59\00:27:10.36
The press is closed.
00:27:10.39\00:27:11.73
There have been no Ellen
White books in print for years,
00:27:11.76\00:27:13.80
and there's an
increasing lack of Thai pastors,
00:27:13.86\00:27:15.96
yet nobody seems to know about
this situation or even care.
00:27:16.00\00:27:19.30
Where are the true believers?
00:27:19.33\00:27:21.07
The fact is that unless we
make a drastic change the work
00:27:21.10\00:27:24.41
overseas will
continue to decline.
00:27:24.44\00:27:26.71
Have we turned out back on
God and His desire to take the
00:27:26.74\00:27:30.21
healing gospel to a
lost and dying world?
00:27:30.25\00:27:32.75
If so, then how will God feel
about us when He comes again
00:27:32.78\00:27:36.25
in the clouds of glory?
00:27:36.28\00:27:37.62
You know, when you see a
program like we've just viewed,
00:28:10.85\00:28:13.76
you say, Who is
sufficient for these things?
00:28:13.79\00:28:16.19
But we've been called to
make a difference in our world.
00:28:16.22\00:28:19.33
And I want to encourage you
to keep praying for mission.
00:28:19.36\00:28:22.46
Find ways to get
involved, and please continue to
00:28:22.50\00:28:26.00
support financially.
00:28:26.03\00:28:27.37
Thank you for
what you are giving.
00:28:27.40\00:28:28.74
And if you want to find out
more about the 10/40 window,
00:28:28.77\00:28:31.94
the growing
challenge of the cities, go to:
00:28:31.97\00:28:34.41
And may God bless you as
you continue to support mission.
00:28:35.74\00:28:39.01
I want to thank our members,
especially in North America,
00:28:39.41\00:28:42.32
for support and sacrifice
of the mission offering.
00:28:42.38\00:28:46.49
The mission work of this church
cannot exist unless it's through
00:28:46.55\00:28:50.59
our partnership, so let us
not grow weary in doing good,
00:28:50.63\00:28:54.43
for in due season we
shall reap, if we don't give up.
00:28:54.46\00:28:57.80
Next week experience Christ's
power in new Church Plants,
00:29:20.82\00:29:24.49
and face the painful reality
of districts where we have
00:29:24.53\00:29:27.56
no churches at all.
00:29:27.60\00:29:28.93
Watch next Wednesday.
00:29:28.96\00:29:30.63