Participants:
Series Code: IWTC
Program Code: IWTC000013A
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00:08 Over the past 60 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 1930s, if somebody gave $10 in tithe, 00:22 they'd give 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, 00:30 but I'm still not satisfied. 00:31 Over two billion people in the world today 00:34 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 Pastor Doug Venn 00:48 in his everyday life as a frontline missionary. 00:51 I pray for God's biggest dream and He gave me this city 00:54 of 12 million. 00:57 Welcome to my world. 01:10 I'm here at the headquarters 01:11 of the Thailand Adventist mission. 01:14 It rained a lot last night, and it seems as though 01:17 there's a bit of a leak. 01:18 We came to work today, and we found that 01:22 we had a swimming pool. 01:24 There is about a centimeter of water in here. 01:28 The water actually here and I think that 01:31 the water it came down from this ceiling here 01:35 because you can see here the secretary's, 01:39 they're all of their work, 01:40 it's just like completely soaked, 01:42 this book here, it's just like completely saturated, 01:46 just all this entire area, it is completely soaked. 01:50 These are the Sunday school lessons 01:52 that they were getting ready, 01:54 and was getting ready for Bangkok. 01:58 Luckily, she got the rest of the country's order 02:00 out yesterday. 02:01 On that side, you can see her lessons. 02:06 These are the registrations now from... 02:10 for the Voice of Prophecy discovered Bible school, 02:13 and so because this school is the official school 02:16 registered with the government, she's saying that, 02:18 "No, we have to have, you know, the school records." 02:21 Has this happened before, Vida? 02:23 Not much, just a little bit, you know. 02:25 But you can see and you can clean it 02:27 but this is very heavy. 02:30 You see my... cannot sit. 02:33 Yeah, sure, it's soaked. 02:34 This is another day in the mission field. 02:39 We're going to a church plant on the other side of the city, 02:41 takes about an hour and half to get there, 02:43 and I started wondering... 02:45 This neighboring that we're driving through right now 02:46 is there any Adventist presence here? 02:48 There are no Adventists in this neighborhood right now. 02:51 We drove another 20 minutes, and I asked him again. 02:53 And we're here in one of the central business districts, 02:56 there's no Adventists. 02:58 Are there any other communities in Bangkok 03:01 that don't have Adventist presence yet? 03:03 Bangkok has 50 districts. 03:05 There's actually now 23 church plants 03:07 across the city and 7 established churches. 03:09 Some have closed, others are started 03:11 over the last five and half years. 03:14 There are some others that are kind of incubating. 03:16 right now where we're going to... 03:18 they're having some other small groups 03:21 that they're starting, and so in time, 03:24 they will also then expand and multiply 03:28 and have other church plants. 03:31 And so that's kind of the goal is to expand the work. 03:36 Are there any Adventist church in this... 03:37 There's no Adventist church in this neighborhood here. 03:40 I know. We haven't planted one yet. 03:43 We don't have enough workers, others would say 03:45 we don't have enough money, and others may say that 03:48 there's not enough faith. 03:50 Okay, so you've got 50 districts 03:52 and 29 or 30 churches and church plants. 03:56 But if you look at the greater Bangkok metro area, 04:00 according to Wikipedia, it's around... 04:07 I have to look at Wikipedia. 04:10 I think it's like 1,200 square kilometers. 04:14 It's easy to point to 'cause I just have to 04:16 look on the map on my wall, that's the Bangkok metro area. 04:19 Every color on here is like a political, 04:21 you know, district. 04:23 This pink area, there's nothing, 04:24 this green area, nothing, and here in blue and orange, 04:30 and this green area, nothing, 04:33 and this kind of pink and yellow area, green area, 04:39 Downtown, well, if you call it Downtown, we have nothing. 04:45 By the airport, we have nothing. 04:48 So yeah, we just... 04:51 We still have the majority of the city to reach, 04:54 and although we praise God for this success, 04:58 we could just do a driving tour and it probably take us a week 05:01 to do it and just to go to all the neighborhoods at... 05:04 There are no Adventists and there are no schools 05:07 or they've never heard about the three angels' message 05:10 and what Jesus is wanting to do in our lives today 05:13 and the hope that we have in Him, 05:15 in His grace, and His soon return. 05:16 Are there any church plants... 05:18 We're now in this, we just passed the Silom exit, 05:21 and there's no Seventh-day Adventist church 05:23 in this neighborhood either. 05:24 Again, this is another one of the central business districts 05:27 here in Bangkok 05:28 and we don't have the funds for staff, 05:32 we don't have the funds for the rental 05:36 or buying a place. 05:37 I don't think we could afford to even buy. 05:41 But there's places, you can see, 05:42 there's a retail shop in restaurant space for rent, 05:46 so we could go there. 05:49 I can see how the progress of the Gospel 05:51 is directly affected by the decline in giving. 05:54 During the 20th century, prosperity in North America 05:56 increased on a scale never before seen 05:59 in human history as you can see 06:01 reflected in this graph of tithe. 06:03 But with the increased wealth, came a huge decline 06:05 in giving to foreign missions to the point where today 06:08 they can barely maintain what is already established, 06:11 much less venture into new territory. 06:23 How will they hear? 06:26 How will they know? 06:29 How will they ever find the truth 06:32 If we don't go? 06:35 How can we fear 06:38 God's love to show? 06:41 Jesus desires every child His love to know 06:47 We've now crossed the river 06:49 and there are no established churches. 06:51 All we have on this side of the river is church plants. 06:54 We've been traveling for about an hour and half now. 06:56 Is there a church plant in this neighborhood? 06:58 Yes! There's a church plant here in this neighborhood. 07:02 Thanks for the sacrifice and the vision of 07:04 actually one of our physicians, Dr. Supachai, 07:06 in partnership with one of our laymen brother Vinay, 07:10 we have a church plant here. 07:11 And this just kind of a normal Bangkok neighborhood 07:15 and people live in these kind of shop houses, 07:19 and they'll have their work, you know, on one level 07:22 and then there are bedrooms in houses, you know, 07:24 on, you know, second, third, or fourth floors. 07:26 You can see our neighbors here. 07:28 Now she's fixing clothes. 07:32 My neighbor, he makes noodles. 07:35 And the church plant... 07:36 And then the church plant is these 07:37 two shop houses, next to it. 07:39 It's like a... It's not really a cathedral, is it? 07:42 Oh, it is actually at the cathedral 07:44 where God's glory can be seen in the people, 07:46 in the lives of the people whose lives have been changed. 07:49 It blends really well. 07:50 Right, well, He's really right where the people are. 07:53 So many of these people here are coming from this community 07:57 because over the last five years, 07:59 this church plant has been doing 08:01 consistent daily community service and through that, 08:05 we've been able to gain the trust 08:07 as well as develop relationships. 08:09 People have been able to see Jesus Christ. 08:11 I'm here now with Vinay. 08:13 And Vinay is one of our church members. 08:16 Can you tell us the story, how did this place start? 08:18 It began in the year of 2005 on that year the tenants 08:22 who were living in these two shop houses 08:24 informed me that they would be leaving in a few months. 08:27 So I was impressed to dedicate these 2 buildings to God. 08:30 So I approached the Thailand Adventist Mission. 08:33 I told them that we have these two shop houses 08:35 and we want it to be used for the cause of God 08:38 as a Gospel outreach center. 08:40 So I approached the Pastor and he was quite enthusiastic. 08:43 He made an appointment with me and he said, 08:45 "Well, let's go and look at the place." 08:47 After a few weeks I learned that 08:49 this Pastor had sent his proposal 08:51 to the Chinese Church. 08:53 Since it's close to the Chinese Church 08:54 the matter went to the board of Chinese church 08:56 even though most of the members were not quite... 08:59 supportive. 09:01 But Dr. Supachai, who was 1 of their team 09:04 I think the Lord impressed him that... 09:06 to move forward with this plan. 09:09 So he talked with me, he said, let's do it together 09:12 we'll renovate everything and then we started. 09:17 Vinay, thank you for sharing that perspective 09:20 as we worked together this last, almost six years, 09:23 I've seen how our laymen can sometimes step up by faith 09:27 and then the mission will then start to go forward as well, 09:30 and so that's been a beautiful partnership. 09:32 What advice would you say to the other laymen 09:35 to have this kind of partnership 09:36 because sometimes, I sense that people just wait 09:39 for the mission or in our case, the church, 09:41 why aren't they doing anything? 09:43 So what advice would you have to say? 09:47 Yeah, I have to agree with you. 09:48 There should be a cooperation between the lay people and... 09:52 the clergy, if you please or the mission office 09:54 in this case. 09:55 And I think that's what Spirit of Prophecy also reveals 09:59 that the work will not be finished 10:01 on the clergy side alone 10:03 but it needs the cooperation of the lay people. 10:07 The whole church needs to be involved. 10:08 God calls everyone. 10:10 If you give your heart to Him and you surrender to Him, 10:14 so what I would say to all the lay people is that 10:19 hear the call and move forward by faith, 10:22 God will provide and prepare everything for you. 10:26 And He will do greater works than you can think. 10:29 We've had over 43 people come to Christ, 10:33 and through the partnership between the church 10:37 or the organized church, in our cases, 10:40 the Thailand Adventist Mission, with people like Vinay 10:44 and our laymen working together to advance the Gospel 10:47 here across the city. 10:48 Here comes the Pepsi guy. 10:57 Do you believe that there's room 10:59 for other church plants here in Bangkok? 11:02 I'm sure because everywhere we go, 11:04 there's a soul hungry and thirsty for God's work. 11:08 Have you met anyone that has never heard 11:11 about Jesus before? 11:13 Many of them. 11:15 Many people here in Bangkok have never heard of Jesus? 11:19 There are many of them who have never heard of Jesus. 11:21 Some of them have heard the name Jesus, 11:24 but they never understood what Jesus did for them 11:27 and who really Jesus is. 11:29 Are there any people here in Bangkok 11:31 that don't have access to learn about Jesus? 11:33 I think a lot of them. 11:35 We need these kind of church plants 11:36 in every neighborhood across the city. 11:38 Now there's a 190,000 people 11:41 just in this 8 square kilometer region called Thonburi, 11:45 and so this is like super, you know, 11:48 super packed with people. 11:49 How do you see foreigners from America 11:51 getting involved with church plants 11:53 what are ways that we can help? 11:54 Pastor Venn has mentioned earlier that 11:56 we are offering English Teaching 11:59 for Spiritual Purposes to the community in this area 12:02 and through that many people have also accepted Christ. 12:05 So and one thing, when people come to learn English 12:08 they expect to see Westerners native speakers 12:12 so I think in this way, if there would be 12:15 some volunteers, in fact, in the past 12:17 there have been student volunteers 12:19 coming in to help from United States 12:22 and that has been a blessing for the people 12:24 in this community at large. 12:26 Right now, we don't have those volunteers, 12:29 so there's still opportunities to server here 12:31 in this community, so we just pray that 12:34 the Lord will call those to come and serve. 12:38 How do you get that painting up there? 12:39 Well, like I said, this place is holy ground in the fact that 12:42 when God moves up on someone's life, 12:45 He also then gives burden. 12:48 So we had Cory Goodwin, he was a young adult, 12:50 animation major from Southern Adventist University, 12:53 and he came to this church plant 12:55 to help us with their video work. 12:56 The Holy Spirit moved on him and said, "Pastor Venn, 12:59 I'd like to do a wall mural that we could then use that 13:02 on ongoing basis to share the Gospel. 13:06 Cory was inspired by fine art, and as a result, 13:09 he and our student missionaries working towards 13:12 some of the tithes, then painted this wall mural 13:15 depicting Christ's second coming. 13:18 And so it's a living witness every day to the people. 13:22 What do the people think? 13:24 It's caused a lot of conversation starters, 13:26 and I guess that's what we hope for is that 13:28 whether it's through art 13:30 or through our community service 13:31 that then people can then say, 13:33 "Tell me that story, what's going on," 13:35 or then "Tell me why are you guys doing this, 13:37 why are you serving this community." 13:39 Sawatdee-krap. 13:41 So what is about their name related... 13:43 Sawatdee-krap Sawatdee-krap. 13:44 If you stand over there, 13:46 we can get Jesus in the picture too. 13:51 This is just... 13:52 Like I said, the art is used as a conversation starter, 13:56 and like, you know, our neighbor, Mr. Noodle man, 13:59 he will make noodles as the sermon is going on. 14:05 So this is my work... 14:07 That's why he won't come to the church, 14:08 but he'll stand there and listen to the songs 14:11 and prayers as well as to the scripture, 14:13 to the testimonies of how God is changing 14:15 his neighbors' lives as well as unto the Word of God. 14:18 How important is it to be where the people are, you know? 14:22 It's vital for us as Christians, 14:25 and especially Seventh-day Adventist 14:28 to go 'cause this is the command of Christ. 14:31 It's not just through media ministry, 14:33 not just through the printed work, 14:35 but we're to go and have human contact with the people. 14:41 I begin to wonder if the people there 14:43 in the church plant valued this work. 14:45 I'm here with Viti Da, and her nick name is Kunmi. 14:49 She first heard about the Seventh-day Adventist church 14:52 because she wanted to study English. 14:56 And here at this church plant. 15:00 She was able to study the Bible, 15:02 and study English here 15:04 with a missionary Jackson Ingara. 15:05 And then that's where she over time 15:07 was able to learn more. 15:09 This is Muan Noi, and she's one of the... 15:11 She's a college student. And she also... 15:14 Her life was changed as a result of coming here 15:17 to the church plant. 15:18 Bundrome has watched English TV before, 15:21 but she doesn't know what it means 15:22 'cause she can't understand. 15:41 I'm 45 now... 15:43 I'm 45 years old now, she says, and 3 years ago, 15:46 I was baptized, and so I first heard about Jesus here 15:49 at this church plant when I was 42 years old. 15:53 So I have greater happiness now than I did before. 15:57 Are you happy that this church planted here? 16:03 I'm very happy that this church planted here. 16:06 Why? 16:12 In the past I used to just live my life for myself, 16:14 do my own thing and just live my life on my own, 16:19 but now... God... 16:21 I've been able to see His love 16:23 and that's because of this church plant. 16:25 You think these church plants are a good thing? 16:35 She says, "They're good, 16:37 but we need to have more of them." 16:39 So we need to have more of them. 16:41 Okay, around seven years ago is when she first heard the story 16:45 about Jesus coming again and the Adventist movement. 16:52 "We need to have like over 400 church plants 16:56 here in Bangkok." 16:57 So we're at 29 right now, so... 16:59 Twenty nine to four hundred, maybe next year. 17:06 Forty, not four hundred. 17:10 Okay, sorry, I mistranslated, she said that, 17:13 "Maybe we could at least have 40." 17:17 I like 400 better. 17:18 Yeah. Four thousand. 17:23 She said, "If we had 400, that would be good too." 17:26 Four thousand, how about 4000? 17:33 "And then that way if we had 4000 church plants, 17:35 then even more people can know more." 17:37 Yeah. 17:39 That's right. 17:40 Bye-bye. God bless you, bye. 17:43 Hi, I'm Chris, I'm translating for her. 17:46 Hi. 17:58 Okay, I first know God because I ran into a health expo in MBK 18:04 which is the biggest shopping district in Bangkok. 18:07 And then I know more about our health, 18:09 and thank God I learned that my body is a temple of God 18:12 and I need to take care of it. 18:14 And then I came to church because of a friend, 18:16 and he's a teacher. 18:20 And today, we have the communion service. 18:22 As we were doing communion service, 18:24 eating the bread and drinking the wine... 18:32 And as I closed my eyes, I thought about 18:34 how Jesus was crucified on the cross. 18:43 I don't know why, but I just cried, 18:45 my tears just ran out. 18:56 It is as if Jesus is telling me to be humble. 19:04 And asking the Holy Spirit to once again dwell in me. 20:01 There was one time, as a Buddhist, 20:02 she ran out of hope, there's no more hope in our life, 20:05 and she went to the 23rd storey of the building, 20:07 and she was going to jump off, and then, and her life... 20:12 And then that's where the Holy Spirit impressed her 20:15 to then call, 20:16 and she didn't know who to call, 20:18 and so she just called directory assistants, 20:20 and the operator came online, and said to her, 20:22 "What number do you want?" 20:23 And she's like, "Give me a Christian church." 20:27 She didn't know why she said that, 20:28 but she can look back and see, 20:30 that was God's spirit working in our life. 20:32 Then she found a church in her own neighborhood, 20:35 and that's our church plant. 20:37 And I was asking her what did she feel about that, 20:40 and she says, "Man, we got to go out 20:41 and share the Gospel, to give everyone a chance 20:43 to hear the Gospel for the first time, 20:46 and then that way they can hear God's work every day, 20:51 and so then that way it can be a blessing and that way..." 20:53 The hope that she has and how God has answered her prayers 20:56 and worked in her life, and provided for the things 20:59 in her life that can be shared with 21:01 so many other who've never heard. 21:03 How would she feel if this church plant 21:05 was shut down? 21:20 She'd be broken-hearted if it's really going to happen. 21:24 She doesn't like your question. 21:26 I'm sorry. 21:31 Can you say your name please? 21:34 It's difficult to... I know. 21:36 Ulai. Ulai. 21:38 This is Ulai. 21:40 And I have the privilege of baptizing her last year. 21:44 When did you first hear about Jesus? 21:47 And how old were you? Twelve years. 21:50 My life is better because I don't fear in the future 21:55 because I think God will stand by me, always, all the time. 21:58 How about your family, when was the first time 22:01 that they heard about Jesus? 22:03 After I was baptized. 22:05 Her parents were 53 years old 22:07 when they first heard the story about Jesus. 22:10 They think Jesus is very, very kind to help the people. 22:14 They're very happy to hear. 22:17 The town that you grew up in, 22:19 were there any Christians in that town? 22:20 I think no. Thank you. 22:23 If the church planting can work? 22:25 Yeah. 22:27 When the church planting projects 22:28 are neighborhood-based, we've seen that 22:29 a greater kind of contact. 22:32 Yes, it'd be like Christ can be seen more clearly 22:36 because of the fact that the people live here 22:38 and the outreach and service that they offer 22:41 to the community, people can see 22:43 on a day-in, day-out basis. 22:44 It's not that we're just Seventh-day Adventist 22:47 driving for church on Saturday and we're there at the church 22:50 for three hours and then everyone goes home. 22:52 Here, in this setting, we're here seven days a week, 22:56 the team lives here, the team serves here, 22:59 and they share God's love every day 23:02 through their life and witness. 23:08 We're just landed on another part of Bangkok. 23:12 There's 190 buildings, you know, 23:14 these apartment complex in this housing project, 23:16 it's like a forest. 23:18 And we're gonna go to a small group right now, 23:20 this is another government housing project 23:22 that were just built for the factory workers 23:25 in this area. 23:26 There's all kinds of factories. And so let's go, check it out. 23:30 Hello. 23:31 Hi. Hi. 23:51 This is the first time that these kids have ever prayed, 23:55 so he's teaching them. 23:57 You get... 24:00 Put your hands like this like you're going to 24:02 and then you close your eyes and bow your head 24:05 and then you are quiet. 24:08 It's really cool. 24:10 Pastor Konkrit has asked Khun Kamsi to lead out 24:12 in the small group discussion and the Bible study tonight. 24:16 It's really cool to see how that, you know, 24:19 the Pastor's doing his job and training the laymen 24:23 to do the work in school. 24:24 This little boy... He can't read Thai. 24:29 Pastor Konkrit compared a Bible study to... 24:32 We got a couple like Isaiah 10:18 here, 24:36 and then Psalms 32:1, 2. 24:39 This kind of discipleship, 24:40 this is what the truth is all about 24:42 because, you know, 24:44 they're encouraging and that mind and, you know, 24:49 applying God's word to, you know, our lives. 24:54 This is exciting. 24:57 You know, the Bible study is coming to a close now, 25:00 we're singing the song, talking about tomorrow 25:06 that, you know, what will tomorrow bring. 25:12 We don't know what tomorrow will bring, but it will meet, 25:16 you know, where we find happiness. 25:31 For how much suffering you will go through, 25:37 we know that tomorrow... 25:43 Whatever problems we face right now, 25:48 that we can give to Jesus Christ, 25:51 and He will lead us through just like He's done today. 26:00 Tomorrow, we don't know if it's good or bad 26:06 or if we're to have face evil, 26:09 but we don't have to be scared, 26:11 we can trust completely in Jesus Christ 26:15 that He will lead us. 26:20 It was first at the Bang Na Udoom Suk church plant 26:23 where Pastor implied that 26:24 she first got one of her brochures, 26:26 "And on that my second year, Pastor Konkrit then invited me 26:30 to take that step of faith, and then to be baptized. 26:36 And so I want to open my home to do my part 26:38 and helping to proclaim the Gospel 26:41 to those people who never heard." 26:43 Thank you so much. 26:46 So that was awesome. 26:48 A special funding program for these church plants 26:51 is coming to an end, and Mission Giving 26:53 is continuing to decline at a rate of about 5% per year. 26:57 But there are still thousands of neighborhoods 26:59 in Bangkok and other cities 27:01 that have never seen a Christian 27:02 and are waiting for someone to live among them 27:04 and show them what a Christian looks like. 27:07 Maybe it's you, maybe you're one 27:10 to share the good news through your life, 27:13 maybe you'll make friends, learn a culture 27:15 or a new skill along the way. 27:17 But if you can't go, could you possibly 27:19 enable someone else to go through your prayers, 27:22 encouragement, and supportive Adventist Mission. 27:25 You could even give on your tithe envelope 27:27 in the place marked world budget, 27:29 and what a difference you could make, 27:31 and if we all pitch in and do our part, 27:34 we can hasten His coming and make His sacrifice 27:36 so much sweeter. 28:09 Did you know that 92% of all Christian Giving 28:12 goes to the 8% of the English-speaking 28:15 population of the world? 28:17 It's really staggering, particularly when you think 28:19 that three billion people in the world 28:22 have never heard the name of Jesus. 28:25 We can make a difference. 28:26 You and I, together can do something for Christ, 28:29 your mission offerings given in Sabbath school 28:34 make a difference in the lives of millions of people. 28:39 Check it out AdventistMission.org. 28:42 I thank my God every time I remember you. 28:45 The Philippian supported the Apostle Paul 28:48 when he was doing his mission work, 28:50 and it was through, today, it's through your sacrifice 28:54 that you're able to encourage and support the Gospel workers 28:58 around the world as they share Jesus. 29:20 Learn how you can help reach cities like Bangkok, 29:23 visit facebook.com/IWantThisCity 29:26 or go to our website MissionToTheCities.org. |
Revised 2018-02-07