Hello, and welcome
to Jesus for Asia Now.
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I'm Natalie Wood,
and today we've got
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a very special show for you.
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But first, I want to
share one of my favorite verses,
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and I know it's a favorite verse
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of our special guest today.
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James 1:27, "Pure religion
and undefiled before God
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and the Father is
this, To visit the fatherless
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and widows in their afflictions,
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and to keep one's self
unspotted from the world."
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There is a
challenge in that verse,
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and I know that our young man
who is our special guest today
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has answered that challenge
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in a special
way in his own life,
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and he's seen God
answer that challenge as well.
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You know, normally
I have my husband Jon
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on the show with me,
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but today I've got our
friend Christian Bunch.
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And welcome to
the show, Christian.
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Thanks for having
me. Good to be here.
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Nice to have you here.
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We want to a jump right
in and ask you who are you,
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and what are you doing
now, and let's start with that?
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Like you said my
name is Christian.
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I'm a senior
business administration major
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at Southern
Adventist University,
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and that's my life right now.
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Okay, okay.
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And you recently,
last school year, right?
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Last school year. You went...
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To India as a
student missionary,
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served in the southern
part of India in Tamil Nadu,
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and absolutely I loved it,
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completely fell in
love with the culture
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and the people.
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Okay, and what were you
specifically doing in India.
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I know your job had a
couple of different parts.
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Yeah, so I had a
few different roles,
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but probably the main one
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was sort of a stay
at home dad for 13 kids,
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who just completely
messed me up in a good way.
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And I really
fell in love with them
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and consider them family now,
but I had other things to do,
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I was doing some interviewing
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of our Bible
workers who were there,
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but mainly I was with the kids.
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Okay.
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And what was that
like as a business major,
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why would you choose
to go and work with kids?
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I mean, what was that like?
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Was that something
that you'd always planned,
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always wanted or...
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Yeah, I was little different,
I think I'm best at business,
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but I'm
passionate about ministry.
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And so finally, I'm meddling
between the two of those things
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is sometimes a
little bit difficult.
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But the reason I was
passionate about kids
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is because of that verse
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that you read at the
beginning of the show,
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James 1:27, "Pure religion
is loving other people."
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And it
specifically mentions orphans.
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And so, when the
opportunity was presented to me
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to be with these kids,
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it was just kind of
like a light bulb clicked on
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that there was an
opportunity that fit what was,
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what I had seen in the Bible.
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It's something that
was real and genuine
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and I wanted that for
myself, but also for the kids.
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Started out, focused
more on myself, I think,
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and then ended up
more in the right direction
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focusing on what God wanted.
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So these kids, what kind of
background did they come from,
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where they all
from good homes or...
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Only about 1% of orphans are...
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come from families where
both the mom and dad have died.
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And so the other 99%
come from just broken homes
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and broken
situations, and India,
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if I understand
correctly has more orphans
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than any other
country in the entire world.
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And so it's just,
just rampant with orphans
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and kids that need
love, and it's almost tougher
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when their parents have not died
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because instead
of feeling lonely,
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they feel
abandoned and unwanted.
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And there were two
kids in particular,
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when we first got there
who we learned their story,
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and just heard from them
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as I was hearing the translation
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that their dad
got drunk one night,
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and was so drunk that he brought
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both of these boys out and
put their heads on a stump,
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and raised a rock
with the intention
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of killing them, both of them.
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And luckily a neighbor came
out and stopped the situation,
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and took the kids
and brought them to us.
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And so for us to teach
them about a loving father
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is just such a tough
concept for them to grasp,
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but working through that
pain and that trauma with them
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and being able to
alternately point them to God
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who really does of
them brings a lot of joy,
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a lot of joy to
everyone involved.
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Yeah, separating the
father that they've known
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from a true Father...
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Yeah. The true Father.
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Yeah. That's a hard thing.
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And that was most of these kids
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had gone through
similar situations.
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Some sort of trauma. Wow.
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And tough family lives I mean,
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I know some of them
are very, very poor.
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Yeah.
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Some of them, their
parents just can't afford them,
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and so they have to go.
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That's really hard.
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That's really hard, and for them
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to feel that
rejection and to feel like that.
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That's rough.
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And there's such a need
there which was why it was,
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it's good to step into that,
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because it wasn't always
the easiest year of my life.
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But knowing
that kids needed love
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and I could provide it,
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because I had had
parents who loved me
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and people who loved me,
and I knew a God who loved me,
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being able to share
out of that overflow
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was a huge, huge
blessing, just awesome.
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So you've mentioned, you
had some difficult times.
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Do you have any stories of some
of the more difficult things
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that you'd like to share with us
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or would you
rather not talk about it?
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I mean, there's
quite a few, it wasn't...
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Overall it's really good.
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The climate was probably
the worst, so being there...
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The heat. The heat, it was...
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When we went to bed,
one night I remember,
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we would usually sleep outside
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just because it was
too hot to sleep inside,
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and so the breeze
would be running over us,
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and one night I
remember looking at the weather
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and the feels like
temperature was 104 at 10 pm.
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And so, it was
just, it was tough
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to be able to
physically function
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in that environment.
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As well as being in
a place where the devil
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is just so strong,
has such a stronghold.
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People often don't see
the Christianity in America,
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but if nothing else
you can see the fruit
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of hundreds of
years of Christianity
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and the benefits that
has brought to our country.
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Because people are honest
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and people have
higher moral standards
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and things like that,
so the opposite is India.
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And this is tough,
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it's a tough place
for people to live.
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And that's hard,
that's hard to see, yeah.
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That's one of the
biggest causes of culture shock,
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I think it's
learning that the world view
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and idea of right and
wrong and some of those things
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we take for granted, you know.
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Very much so.
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And we don't
realize that it's because
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God was in this country,
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the true God was in this country
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from the very beginning.
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Yeah.
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So not that He's
always here now unfortunately.
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But so the...
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The next thing I want to
ask is whether or not you went
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because you knew it was safe.
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I know that you
have some physical things
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to be aware of when
you travel and things.
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And a lot of people
think, "Well, I shouldn't go
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because it's not
a safe place to go
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or it's not safe for me."
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Did that ever enter your mind
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when you thought
about going to India?
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You know, I...
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It did, but I
think that we place way
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too much value on this life.
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Like we treat it as the
most precious thing in the world
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and that we could
never lose it no matter what,
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and it's just not the case.
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Life is completely of no value,
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if it's not lived for God.
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And so, when we
find an opportunity
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to spend our life and
to live our life for God,
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it just, it devalues
our own view of our own life
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and gives us a new perspective.
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And also I
remember, you sharing with me
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as well as somebody
else sharing with me
00:09:07.34\00:09:08.58
before I went that
the safest place to be
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is where God has called us.
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And so, you can be in a
cube with 10 feet of concrete
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all around you buried 100
feet, 100 feet beneath the earth
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completely locked in what
most people would consider
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the safest place on earth,
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but if God has
not called you there
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it's not the safest place.
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If He's called
you to in a war zone
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in the Middle East that
is safer than that block,
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full of concrete, 100
feet below the ground,
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because safety is not
a worldly view of safety.
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Safety is found in
doing what God wants us to do,
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because we know that
no matter what happens
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we have, we have
the greatest gift
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of heaven waiting
for us on the other side.
00:10:02.43\00:10:05.70
I want to ask you
about one of the young people
00:10:05.73\00:10:07.70
at the orphanage, the
little boy named Santos?
00:10:07.74\00:10:10.97
So Santos was, I
think about six years old,
00:10:11.01\00:10:14.44
maybe five when we got there.
00:10:14.48\00:10:17.38
And tons of energy, tons of joy,
00:10:17.41\00:10:20.45
never really gets down.
00:10:20.48\00:10:22.55
He would get frustrated,
00:10:22.58\00:10:23.62
but he would never
get down on himself.
00:10:23.65\00:10:26.09
And he had a deformity in
the left side of his body,
00:10:26.12\00:10:30.63
so his left hand kind
of curled up like this
00:10:30.66\00:10:34.60
and his left foot similarly
would just kind of curl up,
00:10:34.63\00:10:38.80
so he would always
walk on his tiptoes.
00:10:38.83\00:10:41.17
And very difficult for him
00:10:41.20\00:10:43.57
to interact with the other kids,
00:10:43.61\00:10:45.14
but because he was the youngest,
00:10:45.17\00:10:47.01
it didn't seem so bad for him
00:10:47.04\00:10:48.68
to be the slowest
or anything like that,
00:10:48.71\00:10:51.65
because normally the slowest
00:10:51.68\00:10:53.31
is gonna be the
youngest person anyways.
00:10:53.35\00:10:56.12
So anyways, a donor contacted us
00:10:56.15\00:11:01.49
and asked if we could
take him to the hospital
00:11:01.52\00:11:03.73
and see if they
could do anything for him.
00:11:03.76\00:11:05.99
I'm like, "Why
didn't I think of this."
00:11:06.03\00:11:09.63
Yeah, of course we can.
00:11:09.66\00:11:11.27
So Santos and I,
00:11:11.30\00:11:13.54
and the
director in India Israel,
00:11:13.57\00:11:15.97
we rode on a
motorcycle to the hospital
00:11:16.00\00:11:18.81
and went in and saw the
doctor, he's a Hindu doctor
00:11:18.84\00:11:21.88
and he said, yeah, I
can do the operation.
00:11:21.91\00:11:23.88
And oh, he's an
orphan, I'll do it for free.
00:11:23.91\00:11:26.88
And so was able to do surgery
00:11:26.92\00:11:30.79
on Santos' leg
a few weeks later,
00:11:30.82\00:11:33.15
and just to see him go through
the process of the hospital,
00:11:33.19\00:11:37.96
and the pain of getting the cast
00:11:37.99\00:11:39.69
and all of those
things, but just super positive
00:11:39.73\00:11:42.16
through the entire
thing, huge blessing to me,
00:11:42.20\00:11:45.30
and now he's able to
run like the other kids.
00:11:45.33\00:11:49.74
And hand surgery is expected
within a couple of years
00:11:49.77\00:11:53.98
when his hand further
develops, they can kind of see
00:11:54.01\00:11:56.61
what areas they
need to improve so.
00:11:56.64\00:11:58.28
Okay. Wow.
00:11:58.31\00:12:00.48
Yeah, but that's
probably why he was orphaned
00:12:00.52\00:12:02.35
in the first place
00:12:02.38\00:12:03.52
is because that's a
disgrace to have a child
00:12:03.55\00:12:06.29
who's handicap in anyway,
00:12:06.32\00:12:08.16
and so they didn't
want him and we did.
00:12:08.19\00:12:12.33
Yeah. He's of value.
00:12:12.36\00:12:14.30
Yeah, huge value.
He's of value to God.
00:12:14.36\00:12:16.56
So you weren't just
there at the orphanage,
00:12:16.60\00:12:19.57
you did some other things
too, you traveled a little bit.
00:12:19.60\00:12:22.94
Can you explain a little about
00:12:22.97\00:12:24.21
what you did
outside of the orphanage?
00:12:24.24\00:12:26.64
So the great thing about
Jesus for Asia's work in India
00:12:26.68\00:12:30.58
is that it's very
supportive of the church.
00:12:30.61\00:12:32.91
And so there is a
great relationship
00:12:32.95\00:12:35.68
with the church leaders
and the church pastors with us.
00:12:35.72\00:12:38.95
So when we would say,
we're from Jesus for Asia,
00:12:38.99\00:12:41.42
we were invited to speak in
all these different churches
00:12:41.46\00:12:43.96
and to work with all
these different pastors,
00:12:43.99\00:12:45.79
and to work
accepting an opportunity
00:12:45.83\00:12:48.43
to do two weeks of evangelism
in a village in Tamil Nadu.
00:12:48.46\00:12:53.20
So we did one week at one church
00:12:53.23\00:12:56.40
and another week
at another church.
00:12:56.44\00:12:58.61
And the second week,
00:12:58.64\00:13:00.64
we were able to
pray with this one lady,
00:13:00.68\00:13:05.58
after the service she
requested special prayer.
00:13:05.61\00:13:08.42
She had been sick for
something like a month or two
00:13:08.45\00:13:12.75
and hadn't been able to eat,
00:13:12.79\00:13:14.29
just was really,
really struggling
00:13:14.32\00:13:16.16
and she looked very
frail and very thin.
00:13:16.19\00:13:18.83
And so we prayed over her,
and I just remember getting
00:13:18.86\00:13:22.36
very heavy in the room feeling,
00:13:22.40\00:13:25.63
feeling like there was
something more at stake
00:13:25.67\00:13:27.44
than just what we could see.
00:13:27.47\00:13:30.14
And so praying over her
and praying for healing,
00:13:30.17\00:13:32.64
and praying for God's Spirit
00:13:32.67\00:13:34.24
and all of those
things to come in powerfully.
00:13:34.28\00:13:37.85
And then, the very
next night going through
00:13:37.88\00:13:42.38
and we sprinkled
water all over her house.
00:13:42.42\00:13:48.06
We prayed over some
water and then we sprinkled it
00:13:48.09\00:13:50.46
which was a symbol
of removing the demons
00:13:50.49\00:13:52.86
or anything that
had been in her house,
00:13:52.89\00:13:54.50
because she was Hindu
00:13:54.56\00:13:56.03
and just
cleansing, cleansing it.
00:13:56.06\00:13:58.73
And then a few nights
later, we made the call
00:13:58.77\00:14:02.14
and she wanted to
accept Jesus into her life.
00:14:02.17\00:14:05.51
And so the very
next night, she had a...
00:14:05.54\00:14:10.65
There was a
celebration for her decision
00:14:10.68\00:14:13.52
and a few others
their decision as well.
00:14:13.55\00:14:15.98
And we were asked
to give them new names,
00:14:16.02\00:14:19.39
because everyone is
born typically with the name
00:14:19.42\00:14:21.96
of a Hindu god or
something like that.
00:14:21.99\00:14:25.03
And so when they take on Christ,
00:14:25.06\00:14:27.00
they also take on a new name,
which is really cool tradition.
00:14:27.03\00:14:31.10
And so they asked
me if I would give her
00:14:31.13\00:14:32.80
and her husband a new name,
00:14:32.83\00:14:34.50
and I thought about
it and prayed about it,
00:14:34.54\00:14:37.01
and I selected
Rebecca and Isaac.
00:14:37.04\00:14:40.08
And so, Israel gets up
there to announce their new name
00:14:40.11\00:14:45.21
and he tells
everyone, this is Rebecca
00:14:45.25\00:14:49.02
and so the whole
village is pronouncing Rebecca,
00:14:49.05\00:14:51.85
Rebecca, Rebecca.
00:14:51.89\00:14:53.69
And then they, it's like okay,
00:14:53.72\00:14:56.09
setting stone from
now on she is Rebecca.
00:14:56.12\00:14:58.73
And then he gets to
her husband and he's like,
00:14:58.76\00:15:01.60
and this is Ezekiel.
00:15:01.63\00:15:03.00
Uh-oh.
00:15:03.03\00:15:04.30
And he, and I was like
what, what, what happened?
00:15:04.33\00:15:08.47
And so then they all pronounced
it Ezekiel, Ezekiel, Ezekiel.
00:15:08.50\00:15:14.01
And so it's done and
Israel sits back down beside me
00:15:14.04\00:15:18.71
and I was like, anna,
which means older brother like,
00:15:18.75\00:15:23.25
I said Isaac and he was like,
00:15:23.28\00:15:26.59
oh, but it is
done what do we do?
00:15:26.62\00:15:30.59
I said, okay, fine.
00:15:30.63\00:15:31.79
So we just moved on and...
00:15:31.83\00:15:33.60
He is Ezekiel.
00:15:33.63\00:15:34.56
He is Ezekiel now,
hanging out in the village,
00:15:34.60\00:15:38.07
everyone calls him by name
that was never intended for him,
00:15:38.10\00:15:40.94
but I'm sure there's some
greater purpose and it was...
00:15:40.97\00:15:43.27
Yeah. It was really funny.
00:15:43.30\00:15:45.31
So did you find out
later, how they were doing?
00:15:45.34\00:15:48.48
Yes.
00:15:48.51\00:15:50.01
She's better, physically better.
00:15:50.05\00:15:52.48
Awesome.
00:15:52.51\00:15:53.78
And God healed her
in, which is expected.
00:15:53.82\00:15:56.69
Right.
00:15:56.72\00:15:57.72
We don't see
those things in America,
00:15:57.75\00:15:59.12
so it's a little bit awkward.
00:15:59.15\00:16:01.19
But over there
it's on a daily basis,
00:16:01.22\00:16:04.63
you see things like that,
00:16:04.66\00:16:06.06
because you see people being
rescued from a darker world
00:16:06.09\00:16:09.00
into a world of light,
00:16:09.03\00:16:11.33
whereas a lot of us here
are sort of in the middle.
00:16:11.37\00:16:14.97
Yeah, which is a
scary place to be.
00:16:15.00\00:16:17.77
Yeah, it's a scary place to be.
00:16:17.81\00:16:19.17
And we don't have a
recognition of the supernatural,
00:16:19.21\00:16:22.68
because we don't
feel like we need it,
00:16:22.71\00:16:24.61
I can provide my own
food, put it on the table.
00:16:24.65\00:16:28.85
I have a car to
get where I need to go.
00:16:28.88\00:16:31.32
I have glasses and all
of those kinds of things.
00:16:31.35\00:16:33.82
But when I need
something in India,
00:16:33.86\00:16:37.73
I can't always get it
00:16:37.76\00:16:39.43
and so I really
have to have God's power,
00:16:39.46\00:16:41.46
I have to have that faith,
00:16:41.50\00:16:43.30
otherwise my life is
gonna be in shambles,
00:16:43.33\00:16:45.70
kind of like up on
the mountain, and so,
00:16:45.73\00:16:48.47
just an
opportunity to exercise faith.
00:16:48.50\00:16:51.21
Yeah, so that was one
of my next questions was,
00:16:51.24\00:16:53.34
what happened to your faith walk
00:16:53.38\00:16:55.64
because of these experiences?
00:16:55.68\00:16:58.51
So I think the biggest
thing that affected me was,
00:16:58.55\00:17:02.78
when I first went to
India, I had more of,
00:17:02.82\00:17:07.32
more of a selfish
outlook on missions
00:17:07.36\00:17:10.23
that it was
self growth and self,
00:17:10.26\00:17:13.29
a chance to figure
out who I was in Christ,
00:17:13.33\00:17:15.30
which I don't
think were bad goals.
00:17:15.33\00:17:18.07
I think we all
have to kind of have
00:17:18.10\00:17:19.53
our wilderness
experience with Christ,
00:17:19.57\00:17:23.37
wherever that may be.
00:17:23.41\00:17:27.08
But one day, I just
kind of had a realization
00:17:27.11\00:17:29.84
that it wasn't, wasn't about me,
00:17:29.88\00:17:32.51
like God didn't send me
there to work on my own life,
00:17:32.55\00:17:35.02
He sent me there for those kids,
00:17:35.05\00:17:36.58
and for those
people who didn't know Him.
00:17:36.62\00:17:39.42
And that was so freeing for me,
00:17:39.45\00:17:43.19
because I could go to bed
in the most hot humid place
00:17:43.22\00:17:47.50
I could ever
imagine and not think oh,
00:17:47.56\00:17:52.07
why am I here.
00:17:52.10\00:17:53.17
But I know I am here,
God helped me get through it.
00:17:53.20\00:17:55.97
And so that, that
paradigm shift for me,
00:17:56.00\00:17:59.34
it was just huge to realize
that it really is not about me,
00:17:59.37\00:18:03.68
my whole life, my
spirituality everything
00:18:03.71\00:18:06.88
that I'm doing, my education
is not for my own purposes,
00:18:06.92\00:18:11.32
it's for God's
purposes to advance His kingdom
00:18:11.35\00:18:14.42
and to give other
people the joy of knowing Him.
00:18:14.46\00:18:17.56
And it kind of sounds
like that would be a setback,
00:18:17.59\00:18:21.20
but it's really so freeing
00:18:21.23\00:18:23.37
because I no longer have
to focus on my own needs,
00:18:23.40\00:18:26.03
I no longer have to wake up,
00:18:26.07\00:18:27.24
look in the mirror and think,
"Oh, what is wrong with me?"
00:18:27.27\00:18:29.80
I don't even focus on it,
I just look to Christ and...
00:18:29.84\00:18:33.44
Well, I mean, I tried.
00:18:33.48\00:18:35.08
I've looked to Christ and
say, "What can I do for you?"
00:18:35.11\00:18:39.78
And then come what may,
00:18:39.81\00:18:43.12
I'll be okay
because I'm not here for me.
00:18:43.15\00:18:46.05
And that plays
into my next question.
00:18:46.09\00:18:48.96
What about love, what
did you learn about love?
00:18:48.99\00:18:51.59
Or what did you see about
love while you were over there?
00:18:51.63\00:18:56.43
Yeah, love is difficult.
00:18:56.46\00:19:01.77
Not easy,
00:19:01.80\00:19:03.57
but the kids
really exemplified it,
00:19:03.61\00:19:09.04
because we would come, we
would come back from working
00:19:09.08\00:19:13.72
or whatever and we're just
sweaty and nasty and dirty,
00:19:13.75\00:19:19.05
nobody would want to touch us,
and these kids are just like,
00:19:19.09\00:19:23.53
they just surround you.
00:19:23.56\00:19:24.86
And I saw a
picture of God in that way,
00:19:24.89\00:19:28.33
no matter how filthy we are,
He wraps His arms around us.
00:19:28.36\00:19:31.73
Additionally, I just...
00:19:31.77\00:19:34.34
Before I went
out 1 Corinthians 13
00:19:34.37\00:19:36.40
really stuck out to me.
00:19:36.44\00:19:38.01
And if I do all of these things,
00:19:38.04\00:19:40.88
but if I don't
love, I have nothing.
00:19:40.91\00:19:43.71
And so without sounding
like we get salvation by works
00:19:43.75\00:19:49.18
that's not what I mean,
00:19:49.22\00:19:51.92
I just mean that
if all of our religion
00:19:51.95\00:19:53.92
is in our heads,
00:19:53.96\00:19:55.69
if it doesn't
translate into something better,
00:19:55.72\00:19:58.13
it's not really
doing a lot of good.
00:19:58.16\00:20:00.96
And I see such a great need
00:20:00.96\00:20:07.94
in our church for people
00:20:07.97\00:20:10.27
to take what they
have in their head
00:20:10.31\00:20:13.07
and to transfer
it to their hands
00:20:13.11\00:20:15.21
and their feet and say,
00:20:15.24\00:20:17.41
"How can I
alleviate this suffering
00:20:17.45\00:20:20.55
that is in the world."
00:20:20.58\00:20:22.45
And maybe, a lot of
people don't realize it,
00:20:22.48\00:20:25.15
it's our own ignorance,
and that's where travel
00:20:25.19\00:20:27.39
and missions really
opens us up to the vast needs
00:20:27.42\00:20:31.73
that are in the world.
00:20:31.76\00:20:33.96
And I don't think it
always has to come from a plan.
00:20:34.00\00:20:36.16
It doesn't always have to
come from a different country.
00:20:36.20\00:20:38.50
It doesn't have to come from
00:20:38.53\00:20:41.20
some student
mission's experience.
00:20:41.24\00:20:44.04
It can just be
simply saying, "Okay, Lord,
00:20:44.07\00:20:46.68
I want to be
Your hands and feet.
00:20:46.71\00:20:48.91
Truly I want to be
Your hands and feet."
00:20:48.94\00:20:51.45
Not just
throwing that in a prayer
00:20:51.48\00:20:53.25
but how do I do that?
00:20:53.28\00:20:55.05
And really living
that out is the life blood
00:20:55.08\00:20:59.85
of spirituality for me,
00:20:59.89\00:21:02.52
because if my faith
just stays in my faith,
00:21:02.56\00:21:06.29
well, then it's gonna die.
00:21:06.33\00:21:09.13
We have this kind of
philosophy that I just get Jesus
00:21:09.16\00:21:14.34
and then it's done, period.
00:21:14.37\00:21:16.44
So you're converted,
now you're in the faith,
00:21:16.47\00:21:18.47
you're going to church,
00:21:18.51\00:21:19.61
you're regularly
attending, awesome,
00:21:19.64\00:21:22.51
but if that just
means you get to warm a pew
00:21:22.54\00:21:25.28
the rest of your
life, what is, what is that?
00:21:25.31\00:21:28.48
It only benefits you. Right.
00:21:28.52\00:21:30.19
But if you take
what you've learned
00:21:30.22\00:21:32.25
and you take how God has led you
00:21:32.29\00:21:34.26
and you say, how can I change
this dark world around me?
00:21:34.29\00:21:38.73
Then it's gonna make waves.
00:21:38.76\00:21:41.23
And so love in action
really is Christ in action,
00:21:41.26\00:21:48.20
and it's a picture of Christ
00:21:48.24\00:21:50.81
that the world
really needs to hear.
00:21:50.84\00:21:53.64
So can you share
with us a little bit
00:21:53.68\00:21:55.51
about a
difficult thing that came,
00:21:55.54\00:21:58.11
it started before you left
00:21:58.15\00:22:00.08
and then it came after you left,
00:22:00.12\00:22:02.05
it sort of finished,
well, it's not finished yet,
00:22:02.08\00:22:06.09
because God
hasn't been glorified,
00:22:06.12\00:22:07.72
but before you left,
00:22:07.76\00:22:10.49
we started having
challenges at the orphanage.
00:22:10.53\00:22:12.86
Yeah, so orphanages in
non-Christian countries
00:22:12.89\00:22:19.80
are very, very difficult to run.
00:22:19.83\00:22:22.44
And we started learning
more and more of the problems
00:22:22.47\00:22:27.54
and of all of the
red tape and the things
00:22:27.58\00:22:30.25
that the government wanted
us to do for our orphanage
00:22:30.28\00:22:34.55
that were just
financially impossible
00:22:34.58\00:22:37.62
and logistically impossible.
00:22:37.65\00:22:40.36
And so the government
started checking in on us,
00:22:40.39\00:22:44.19
and it never went
well, it never went well,
00:22:44.23\00:22:49.76
but we tried to comply
with their regulations,
00:22:49.80\00:22:52.73
and I remember
saying goodbye to the kids
00:22:52.77\00:22:55.80
when we left in
May, and realizing
00:22:55.84\00:23:00.08
that I might
never see them again.
00:23:00.11\00:23:02.38
And how hard, how hard
that was and also just saying,
00:23:02.41\00:23:06.95
God I have no
control, I have no power.
00:23:06.98\00:23:09.88
And that's exactly
what happened is we left
00:23:09.92\00:23:12.62
and about a month
later the government came
00:23:12.65\00:23:15.32
and they took our kids
back to some orphanage,
00:23:15.36\00:23:19.43
which I'm sure is
not giving them the home
00:23:19.46\00:23:23.70
and the family and the community
00:23:23.73\00:23:25.20
and the space to run
00:23:25.23\00:23:26.67
and play cricket
that the kids needed.
00:23:26.70\00:23:30.97
And I got a call from the girls,
00:23:31.01\00:23:33.41
when they, when
they were leaving that,
00:23:33.44\00:23:37.81
that just were
saying, they're taking us,
00:23:37.85\00:23:40.35
like what do we do
and just praying with them
00:23:40.38\00:23:42.32
one last time.
00:23:42.35\00:23:43.89
And trying to have
some sort of strength
00:23:43.92\00:23:47.66
to tell them that
God would be with them
00:23:47.69\00:23:49.86
and He would be their Father
and that was, it was hard.
00:23:49.89\00:23:55.83
So yeah, the government
in Tamil Nadu requires
00:23:55.86\00:23:59.83
for 25 orphans,
00:23:59.87\00:24:02.07
they want 13 full time
staff, which is ignorant of...
00:24:02.10\00:24:06.51
Wow that's...
00:24:06.54\00:24:07.74
Yeah, especially when the kids
are in school most of the day,
00:24:07.78\00:24:10.48
that's a lot of people.
00:24:10.51\00:24:12.01
And they want this
building for eating
00:24:12.05\00:24:13.52
and this building for worship
and this building for study,
00:24:13.55\00:24:16.02
and all of
these different things
00:24:16.05\00:24:17.29
that are just impossible
00:24:17.32\00:24:18.89
and ignorant of the fact
that right down the road,
00:24:18.92\00:24:21.29
there are families
living in ten by ten houses
00:24:21.32\00:24:24.26
with six people and that's okay.
00:24:24.29\00:24:26.53
But somehow, we have
orphans and therefore,
00:24:26.56\00:24:29.86
it's not okay for them to
live in these environments,
00:24:29.90\00:24:32.17
and they have so
many regulations,
00:24:32.20\00:24:34.20
which we believe are primarily
just to keep Christians
00:24:34.24\00:24:36.94
from having an influence.
00:24:36.97\00:24:39.74
India does not value
Christian non-profits coming in
00:24:39.77\00:24:44.01
but they do value education
00:24:44.05\00:24:47.02
and they really value
international education.
00:24:47.05\00:24:50.35
And so just learning about this
and kind of doing some research
00:24:50.39\00:24:54.59
while I was over there,
what alternatives did we have
00:24:54.62\00:24:57.43
because it was impossible
to meet all of the regulations
00:24:57.46\00:25:00.40
for an orphanage,
translated into a school.
00:25:00.43\00:25:04.80
We can have a school,
and these kids will come in
00:25:04.83\00:25:08.27
instead of as orphans,
00:25:08.30\00:25:09.87
they will just come
in as boarding students.
00:25:09.90\00:25:13.17
And the plan is to
only accept orphans,
00:25:13.21\00:25:16.85
so we won't be
doing it for the ritz,
00:25:16.88\00:25:19.08
for the ritzy and for
the high class people,
00:25:19.11\00:25:21.38
it'll be the
lowest of the low class
00:25:21.42\00:25:23.39
that will be a part of our dorm.
00:25:23.42\00:25:26.49
And there we can educate
them and we can share with them
00:25:26.52\00:25:31.06
the love of Christ in a way
00:25:31.09\00:25:32.16
that is
sustainable over the long term,
00:25:32.19\00:25:36.13
and hopefully bring those
kids back hopefully, hopefully,
00:25:36.16\00:25:40.24
praying about that,
believe that God can do it.
00:25:40.27\00:25:42.77
Yeah.
00:25:42.80\00:25:44.34
So how much would
it cost to do a school?
00:25:44.37\00:25:47.21
It's about anywhere
from 80,000 to 120,000
00:25:47.24\00:25:52.31
so, we're trying to raise 100,
00:25:52.35\00:25:54.65
but really want to
give these kids a life
00:25:54.68\00:26:01.39
that is so awesome
compared to what they have.
00:26:01.42\00:26:05.66
I mean, they deserve so much
after all they've been through,
00:26:05.69\00:26:08.13
and the
positivity that they have,
00:26:08.16\00:26:10.20
and it's such a
great environment for them
00:26:10.23\00:26:12.03
to grow up in.
00:26:12.07\00:26:13.47
And I want to give them
the opportunity to have a life
00:26:13.50\00:26:18.11
that so many of
us have deserved,
00:26:18.14\00:26:20.41
or not deserved, not
deserved but received anyways,
00:26:20.44\00:26:23.95
and they do deserve it
and they haven't received it.
00:26:23.98\00:26:28.08
And, so that's the plan,
00:26:28.12\00:26:30.52
Lord willing we'll be
able to build a school
00:26:30.55\00:26:33.56
and bring in kids.
00:26:33.59\00:26:36.93
Now the other
thing, the other reason
00:26:36.96\00:26:38.66
that we would like
to have our own school
00:26:38.69\00:26:40.16
anyway is the challenges
with the government schools
00:26:40.20\00:26:43.50
and testing and
things like that.
00:26:43.53\00:26:45.27
Can you share a little
bit about the Sabbath issues?
00:26:45.30\00:26:49.67
Yeah, so when we were there,
00:26:49.70\00:26:51.71
many of the kids
had Sabbath exams
00:26:51.74\00:26:54.71
that they were
not allowed to go to.
00:26:54.74\00:26:56.51
And these are final
exams or very important exams
00:26:56.54\00:26:59.71
that can hold them back a grade.
00:26:59.75\00:27:04.39
And so, if we
had our own school,
00:27:04.42\00:27:07.12
we get to set our own schedule,
which prevents them from having
00:27:07.16\00:27:10.43
to go to school on Sabbath,
00:27:10.46\00:27:13.29
which would make
a huge difference.
00:27:13.33\00:27:14.56
And we think that
00:27:14.60\00:27:16.23
with an
international quality education,
00:27:16.26\00:27:21.17
we would be well
supported by the government,
00:27:21.20\00:27:22.94
and the locals,
and the community,
00:27:22.97\00:27:24.77
and it could be, has potential
00:27:24.81\00:27:27.58
to do wonderful,
wonderful things.
00:27:27.61\00:27:31.01
All right. Well, I appreciate
you coming and sharing with us.
00:27:31.05\00:27:33.45
Christian, I know you've
got a class coming up soon,
00:27:33.48\00:27:35.62
you've got to go to.
00:27:35.65\00:27:36.99
So we want to finish here.
I'm sure we could keep talking.
00:27:37.02\00:27:40.02
You have a lot more experiences
and stories to share.
00:27:40.06\00:27:43.29
But I just want to
challenge our viewers.
00:27:43.32\00:27:45.59
If you would like to be a
part of making this a school,
00:27:45.63\00:27:49.00
please send your tax
deductible love gifts
00:27:49.03\00:27:51.30
to Jesus For Asia,
00:27:51.33\00:27:53.34
PO Box 1221,
Collegedale, Tennessee 37315.
00:27:53.37\00:27:59.81
Call us at 423-413-7321.
00:27:59.84\00:28:04.38
Or check out our
website at Jesus4asia.org.
00:28:04.41\00:28:08.18
May God bless you richly
00:28:08.22\00:28:09.58
until we see you
again on Jesus for Asia Now.
00:28:09.62\00:28:12.52