Hello and welcome
to Jesus for Asia Now.
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I'm Natalie Wood, and
today my husband Jon and I
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want to talk with you
about one of the challenges
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in the mission field.
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Hello, love. Hi, darling.
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You know, today we're
going to be talking about
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something that's a need.
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In most of our programs we talk
about what we're already doing.
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Right.
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High impact projects
that are already out there.
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Yes, things that are happening,
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and we can go
and film and show you
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this is what's happening.
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Right.
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Which countries do we work in?
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Let's just review.
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Yeah, India,
Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines,
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Indonesia,
Malaysia a little bit,
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and Laos a little bit.
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Okay.
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So quite a number of
countries in Southeast Asia
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and of course
India in Southern Asia.
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Right.
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And we have around 50 projects.
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Yeah.
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So that's what we're
doing, but the question is
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or the real burden of this show
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is what we're not doing
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and not just us, but
what no one is doing.
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The sad truth is that
99% of all missionary videos
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show what we're doing.
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And so the impression
that is made on most people,
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most church members is
that a lot's happening,
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and the gospel is going
to every corner of the world,
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and there's a lot of
missionaries out there,
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and there's a lot
of projects out there,
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but the sad truth is that
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as you travel through
these different countries
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there is very little
that is actually being done.
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And the little
that's being done,
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we're focusing on that,
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we're going
there, we're videotaping,
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we're saying, "This
is what we're doing."
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And we're not really saying,
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"This is what is
not being done at all."
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And there's vast
swaths of God's vineyard
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that is completely untouched
by the Three Angels' Message.
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Right.
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Are there statistics to
back up what you're saying?
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Yeah.
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One statistic is that
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I've been told by several
different mission leaders
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that anywhere, I've
been told 92% to 96%
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of all
Christian giving worldwide
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goes to minister to
the 8% that speak English.
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So let me say it again,
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that means that
the remaining 4% to 8%
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of all
Christian giving worldwide
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goes to reach the
other 7,000 languages
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that are out there.
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So 4% of all Christian giving,
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the average
Christian in the entire world,
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the ministry tools,
the television stations,
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the radio
programs, the literature,
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the Bible
translations, all that stuff,
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they'll receive...
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A total.
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A total of 4% of all,
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4% to 8% of all Christian giving
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goes to
minister to those people.
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Everyone outside?
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Everyone outside.
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Not everyone that
knows the gospel already?
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Correct.
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But everyone,
unreached, reached, everything?
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That means that 92% to
96% of all Christian giving
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goes to provide
resources, spiritual books,
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translations of the Bible,
television, radio programming
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to the 8% that speak English.
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Wow. That's a huge disparity.
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Yeah, so you would
expect, I mean a lot of people
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that are in
English speaking countries,
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nobody will say
that the work is done
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here in English
speaking countries,
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there's still a
lot of work to do here,
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and there still needs to be
work done in these countries.
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However, comparing
English speaking countries
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with non-English
speaking countries,
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the disparity in
resources, attention, interests,
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knowledge about
how to do ministry
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in those countries is like this.
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So who are the unreached?
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What is the
unreach? What does that mean?
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Okay, the unreached is defined
as less than 2% Christian.
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Okay, less than 2% of
their population is Christian
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and why did they choose 2%?
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Well, they found
that if there's 4%,
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then those 4% Christians
really can affect the whole
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and that the whole
people group may have
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greater opportunity
to hear about Jesus,
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whereas if it's less,
if it's like 2% or less,
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then the likelihood of any
of the majority of any of them
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hearing even the name
of Jesus is very slim.
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And so the majority of people
in countries like that die,
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live, or born,
live their entire lives
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and die without ever
hearing the name of Jesus
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in their own heart language,
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much less the story of Christ
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and what He's done for us
and all this kind of stuff.
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Wow, that's a
really sobering thought...
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Yeah.
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To think about that likelihood
that they'll never hear.
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Yeah, and it's
going on all the time.
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A lot of people will say,
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"Well, God will finish
the work if we don't do it."
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But what about the
people that are dying today
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that never heard the gospel?
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Their time's up...
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They don't have any more chance.
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And what about the
people that are dying tomorrow
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or even next week?
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People that are living in
areas that no one's not just,
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I mean it's not that
there's no Christian there
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and there's no plan to
put a Christian there...
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No missionary, no
pastor, no church, no believer
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in those parts of the world,
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and no plans to
actually go there.
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I mean we say we need to,
you know, finish the work.
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I mean, almost every
Sabbath I hear that term
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finishing the
work, but I don't see
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very many people
saying, okay, that's...
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"I want to be a part of it?"
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Well, some people may say,
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"Even I want to
be a part of it."
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But what does
that really look like?
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I mean, in my mind that
would mean going to the places
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where there is no Christian
and starting something there.
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Okay, this is what Jesus said,
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"The gospel would be
preached to every nation,
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kindred, tongue, and people."
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Yeah, that means every language
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and there's like 7,
000 languages out there.
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And praise God, our
church is almost in a 1000,
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we are in about 925,
maybe by now 928 languages,
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we've only got 6,000 to go.
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Yeah.
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You know, and so
there's a huge work to be done
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and it seems impossible.
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Right.
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But I believe that with
the revival of missions,
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it's not impossible,
in fact, it's very doable,
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6,000 languages, What if
we had 100,000 missionaries,
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front line missionaries
willing to learn a new language?
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You know, all of a
sudden 6,000 languages,
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well, we'll have to send
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more than one
person to each language.
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Yeah.
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Well and some people
do learn languages faster
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or more easily
than other people.
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Correct.
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But that doesn't mean that
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if we have
difficulty learning a language,
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there's no place for
us in the mission field.
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Right.
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Because we have
missionaries out there,
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they can't speak the
language very well at all...
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And they're doing amazing.
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But they just show
God's love in their lives
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and they have a good translator
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and God makes up the difference.
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Correct. Yes.
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So there are really no excuses
for us to not be involved.
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Right.
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Except that maybe
we want a good life.
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Yeah.
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The one that we can
plan out that we can see
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and we can expect
and know what to expect
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that we're in control, yeah.
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There's still a huge
amount of opportunity out there
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that we can take a
hold of, that you see,
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okay, this is my piece,
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you know, I get to help
here in a place where nobody...
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And this is the
purpose of this show
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is to look at
what we're not doing.
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Wow. Yeah.
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Part of that opportunity is that
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the fact that God has blessed
especially North America,
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the Western world
with extreme prosperity
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during the 20th century.
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Yeah.
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The prosperity
has really increased,
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unfortunately giving to foreign
missions has gone way down
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as our prosperity has increased.
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Yeah, that's kind of
a sad thought, isn't it?
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Very sad.
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That as we have more ourselves,
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we care less about
the lives of others.
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Right.
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What that demonstrates
or what that highlights,
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what that shows
is the human element,
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in my human nature
that the more I have,
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the more I want, so that's
the deceptiveness of riches.
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It feels like we need more,
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the more we get,
the more poor we feel.
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Coming back to the unreached...
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Okay.
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Where are they?
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The majority of the
unreached are in Asia.
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Okay.
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Yeah, 90% of all unreached
people groups live in Asia
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and that's why
we're Jesus for Asia
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'cause 90% of all unreached
people group is enough for us.
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Yeah.
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But you can find
them in different places.
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There are some in Thailand,
there are some in Burma,
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there are some in Laos,
I mean different countries,
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many in India,
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and a people group is
defined by having a barrier,
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some kind of barrier between
their group and another group
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whether it's
language or, you know,
00:09:19.75\00:09:21.96
maybe they speak a different
language, it's political,
00:09:21.96\00:09:23.89
maybe they live in
a different country,
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maybe geographical,
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there's a big
mountain in between them.
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It may be historical
where one tribe used to eat
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the people from the other tribe,
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and so it's hard for them...
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The gospel doesn't
cross those boundaries.
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It's really difficult.
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And so there's all
these different reasons
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why there's these
distinct people groups.
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We're going to
look at Thailand today.
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Thailand is a very comfortable
country, its convenience,
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its very traveler friendly,
foreigner, tourist friendly.
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Okay, so we're
looking at Thailand,
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we've established that.
00:09:54.26\00:09:55.29
So where in Thailand
are we going to be looking?
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Okay.
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We've got Bangkok
in the southern part
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of the big main
section of Thailand,
00:10:01.26\00:10:03.70
there's a little isthmus
that goes down peninsula,
00:10:03.70\00:10:07.00
but Bangkok is right here
00:10:07.00\00:10:08.60
and then up in the
north is Chiang Mai
00:10:08.60\00:10:11.91
and pretty much between Bangkok
00:10:11.91\00:10:14.44
and almost, little
bit south of Chiang Mai,
00:10:14.44\00:10:16.48
little bit north of Bangkok,
00:10:16.48\00:10:17.88
a bit north of Bangkok
00:10:17.88\00:10:18.95
is the
southernmost Adventist church,
00:10:18.95\00:10:21.12
Adventist presence in
that whole entire valley,
00:10:21.12\00:10:23.32
it's a big flat valley.
00:10:23.32\00:10:25.52
And then up in the
north, way up in the north,
00:10:25.52\00:10:27.72
up in the hills there's
another Adventist church.
00:10:27.72\00:10:30.93
But you can drive for
like 6 hours straight,
00:10:30.93\00:10:34.20
8 hours in a bus and
never come within 100 kilometers
00:10:34.20\00:10:37.70
of another Adventist church.
00:10:37.70\00:10:40.14
And so that whole central valley
00:10:40.14\00:10:41.87
has got about 5
million people, no Adventist.
00:10:41.87\00:10:46.27
In fact, there was no
Adventist at all until about,
00:10:46.27\00:10:48.54
I don't know, 5 or 6 years ago
00:10:48.54\00:10:50.11
when someone intentionally
went into Ayutthaya,
00:10:50.11\00:10:52.95
in the southern
part of that valley,
00:10:52.95\00:10:54.65
planted a church.
00:10:54.65\00:10:56.32
And so that
church is still thriving.
00:10:56.32\00:10:57.95
Right.
00:10:57.95\00:10:59.02
But the whole from
there all the way up
00:10:59.02\00:11:00.66
there's no
Adventist presence, no member,
00:11:00.66\00:11:04.46
no outreach center, no church,
00:11:04.46\00:11:07.93
no pastor, no plan that
I know of to even go there.
00:11:07.93\00:11:13.54
In fact, just to
give you a bigger picture
00:11:13.54\00:11:16.67
of all the 50
provinces of Thailand,
00:11:16.67\00:11:20.51
the Adventist
church is in like 22.
00:11:20.51\00:11:24.21
Okay.
00:11:24.21\00:11:25.21
So less than half of all
the provinces of Thailand
00:11:25.21\00:11:29.62
has an Adventist presence.
00:11:29.62\00:11:31.69
Right.
00:11:31.69\00:11:32.75
And all Christian,
not taking Adventist only,
00:11:32.75\00:11:38.73
all Christian in
Thailand is less than 1%...
00:11:38.73\00:11:41.40
Correct. Of the
country's population.
00:11:41.40\00:11:43.77
Yeah. So there's a huge need.
00:11:43.77\00:11:45.37
Yeah.
00:11:45.37\00:11:46.53
So this first video is
from when you went to Sukhothai.
00:11:46.53\00:11:50.77
Now, Sukhothai is a
city of how many people?
00:11:50.77\00:11:52.74
About 35,000 people. Okay.
00:11:52.74\00:11:55.28
And it's in the
northern end of this big valley,
00:11:55.28\00:11:57.98
this big plain.
00:11:57.98\00:11:59.65
It's the rice
basket of Thailand.
00:11:59.65\00:12:01.68
Okay.
00:12:01.68\00:12:02.78
You went there in
October with your dad.
00:12:02.78\00:12:05.05
Yes.
00:12:05.05\00:12:06.12
First time I got to
take him to Thailand.
00:12:06.12\00:12:09.56
He took me to
Thailand when I was five.
00:12:09.56\00:12:11.23
Right.
00:12:11.23\00:12:12.63
Now I get to take him
to Thailand when he was 85.
00:12:12.63\00:12:15.50
All right.
00:12:15.50\00:12:16.87
And he loved it. Yeah.
00:12:16.87\00:12:18.70
All right, let's
watch the video now.
00:12:18.70\00:12:19.97
Okay.
00:12:19.97\00:12:22.30
There are many
areas in the world,
00:12:22.30\00:12:24.17
there are many
cities in the world
00:12:24.17\00:12:26.21
in which there are
no Adventists at all.
00:12:26.21\00:12:30.91
We are in a little city called
Sukhothai about 35,000 people.
00:12:30.91\00:12:36.15
It's actually
difficult to talk about
00:12:36.15\00:12:37.92
and to know what to show
00:12:37.92\00:12:39.42
because normally we just go
and we meet other Adventists
00:12:39.42\00:12:42.49
and then they show us
the work that they're doing.
00:12:42.49\00:12:45.46
But here there are
no other Adventists,
00:12:45.46\00:12:47.30
so we're going to
go out into a town
00:12:47.30\00:12:51.60
that knows nothing
about Seventh-day Adventism.
00:12:51.60\00:12:54.40
We have a strawberry smoothie.
00:12:54.40\00:12:55.97
Strawberry smoothie? Yeah.
00:12:55.97\00:12:58.84
You want something? Okay.
00:12:58.84\00:13:01.34
Yeah. It's all right.
00:13:01.34\00:13:05.28
I can get rid of
my change finally.
00:13:05.28\00:13:06.98
Try this out.
00:13:13.52\00:13:14.62
Wow.
00:13:19.23\00:13:20.90
Not bad.
00:13:20.90\00:13:23.80
So this entire valley
has no Adventist church,
00:13:23.80\00:13:26.57
no Adventist member, no
Adventist presence at all,
00:13:26.57\00:13:30.04
and that shouldn't be.
00:13:30.04\00:13:31.71
God has already
given us the city,
00:13:31.71\00:13:34.18
it's just a
matter of claiming it,
00:13:34.18\00:13:36.11
stepping forward by faith,
00:13:36.11\00:13:37.98
trusting that He will provide
the people and the resources
00:13:37.98\00:13:42.32
to make an impact in the
city because I believe God
00:13:42.32\00:13:44.89
has His children
right here in this city.
00:13:44.89\00:13:47.66
So I'm excited to see
what God's going to do.
00:13:47.66\00:13:49.49
Let's move on
down the street here.
00:13:49.49\00:13:54.10
Okay, I don't know
if you can see this,
00:13:54.10\00:13:55.80
but there are hundreds of
people out here, hundreds,
00:13:55.80\00:14:00.30
and they are just
out for the evening.
00:14:00.30\00:14:02.64
Friendship evangelism
00:14:02.64\00:14:03.81
is a serious
option here in Thailand.
00:14:03.81\00:14:07.31
See what we got going here?
00:14:07.31\00:14:08.81
Okay, I'm going to
order pad Thai jay.
00:14:12.95\00:14:16.35
Yeah.
00:14:16.35\00:14:18.52
So we're in this
little roadside cafe
00:14:18.52\00:14:21.29
and I just bought
this food for a dollar.
00:14:21.29\00:14:26.36
And I look around and
I see all these people
00:14:26.36\00:14:28.53
out here eating their supper,
and I see there's hardly any,
00:14:28.53\00:14:31.83
maybe less than
1% of all the people
00:14:31.83\00:14:34.07
that we see are
Christian of any denomination.
00:14:34.07\00:14:37.94
And there is no
Adventist in this entire city.
00:14:37.94\00:14:42.01
No church, no member,
no pastor, no missionary,
00:14:42.01\00:14:46.92
nothing in this entire
city and it just breaks my heart
00:14:46.92\00:14:50.25
because here these
precious people have no idea
00:14:50.25\00:14:53.56
that Jesus is coming soon.
00:14:53.56\00:14:55.56
And so, what can we do?
00:14:55.56\00:14:58.06
Well, the most
important thing is to pray.
00:14:58.06\00:15:02.33
And if man
works, then man works,
00:15:09.10\00:15:11.51
but if man
prays, then God works.
00:15:11.51\00:15:14.21
And that's powerful.
00:15:14.21\00:15:15.91
So please pray for Sukhothai.
00:15:15.91\00:15:17.85
It's really sobering to
think about all those people
00:15:27.52\00:15:30.16
and no witness among them.
00:15:30.16\00:15:35.00
Yeah, it was really weird
to be in that city and think
00:15:35.00\00:15:39.10
and know that there's no
other Adventist whatsoever.
00:15:39.10\00:15:41.70
Wow. Yeah.
00:15:41.70\00:15:43.37
And I know there's places like
that here in America, you know,
00:15:43.37\00:15:46.88
and that shouldn't be either,
00:15:46.88\00:15:49.31
but you go through
vast areas with no...
00:15:49.31\00:15:53.11
The likelihood of
what happening over there,
00:15:53.11\00:15:56.55
or something
happening there is very small.
00:15:56.55\00:15:58.92
Right.
00:15:58.92\00:16:00.56
So at the end of the video,
there was an aerial shot of,
00:16:00.56\00:16:04.16
it looked like some ancient...
00:16:04.16\00:16:06.93
Ruins. Ruins of some kind...
00:16:06.93\00:16:08.50
Yes. What was that?
00:16:08.50\00:16:09.60
Well, this city, the
first time I went to this city
00:16:09.60\00:16:11.43
was on a little tour group
00:16:11.43\00:16:12.73
and we weregoing to
see the ancient ruins.
00:16:12.73\00:16:15.67
Sukhothai was the
capital of Thailand
00:16:15.67\00:16:17.97
way back in the 1200s.
00:16:17.97\00:16:20.84
Their capital
for about 140 years.
00:16:20.84\00:16:22.94
So that's what
those ruins are all about.
00:16:22.94\00:16:25.41
In the next video
we'll be looking at,
00:16:25.41\00:16:28.02
we'll be walking
through those ruins.
00:16:28.02\00:16:29.82
All right, let's watch that now.
00:16:29.82\00:16:31.29
Okay.
00:16:31.29\00:16:32.35
One of the challenges
of being a missionary,
00:16:47.90\00:16:51.14
doing missionary work
in Thailand is that it feel
00:16:51.14\00:16:55.71
so comfortable,
it feel so normal.
00:16:55.71\00:16:58.11
And when you drive down the road
00:16:58.11\00:16:59.51
you don't see a lot of,
00:16:59.51\00:17:01.28
you know, grinding
poverty, people have cars,
00:17:01.28\00:17:04.59
they have houses, there's
not a lot of trash on the street
00:17:04.59\00:17:08.66
and so you don't see the need,
00:17:08.66\00:17:10.89
but there may be
physical prosperity,
00:17:10.89\00:17:14.13
but at the same time
there may be spiritual poverty.
00:17:14.13\00:17:19.17
Once we start to
peel away the surface
00:17:19.17\00:17:21.14
and see that
there may be a heart cry
00:17:21.14\00:17:25.57
for deeper meaning, deeper hope,
00:17:25.57\00:17:29.68
connection with God.
00:17:29.68\00:17:32.38
Those are the
things that we're wanting
00:17:32.38\00:17:34.98
to bring into this country.
00:17:34.98\00:17:37.39
Most of the people
don't know a Christian,
00:17:37.39\00:17:39.95
and don't know what
it means to know God,
00:17:39.95\00:17:42.09
and the Christianity
that they may have seen,
00:17:42.09\00:17:46.23
may have been only
what they saw in the movies,
00:17:46.23\00:17:48.83
so how can they
know what Christianity,
00:17:48.83\00:17:51.50
what Christ actually stood for?
00:17:51.50\00:17:53.50
So we're
claiming Joshua 1:3 today.
00:17:53.50\00:17:56.67
It says, "Wherever you
place the sole of your foot,
00:17:56.67\00:18:00.91
I have already
given it unto you."
00:18:00.91\00:18:03.11
So God is opening up
a door here in Sukhothai
00:18:03.11\00:18:06.85
for His Word to go forth,
for the Three Angels' Message,
00:18:06.85\00:18:10.75
and for the establishment
00:18:10.75\00:18:12.95
of a beacon of
light here in the city.
00:18:12.95\00:18:16.83
And how is He going to
do that? I have no idea.
00:18:16.83\00:18:19.59
It's impossible
as far as I can see,
00:18:19.59\00:18:22.96
but the truth is
that God has His ways
00:18:22.96\00:18:26.23
because in this entire valley,
00:18:26.23\00:18:28.17
from here all
the way down about,
00:18:28.17\00:18:30.21
you can drive 8
hours straight south
00:18:30.21\00:18:31.97
and not come within a 100
miles of an Adventist church,
00:18:31.97\00:18:35.18
and so this would be like
first step so and so forth.
00:18:35.18\00:18:40.02
So what do we need
to make this happen?
00:18:40.02\00:18:43.28
Well, the first
thing is we need somebody,
00:18:43.28\00:18:46.35
somebody that's
willing to give their lives
00:18:46.35\00:18:48.46
to set aside
their own interests,
00:18:48.46\00:18:50.29
set aside their own lives
00:18:50.29\00:18:51.59
to come and pursue
God's kingdom in this place,
00:18:51.59\00:18:55.33
in Sukhothai, and
that's the main thing.
00:18:55.33\00:18:58.43
God can provide all the rest,
He can provide the funding,
00:18:58.43\00:19:02.37
He can provide the ideas,
00:19:02.37\00:19:04.94
the resource,
whatever is needed,
00:19:04.94\00:19:07.04
but it's that
person, that family,
00:19:07.04\00:19:09.98
that couple whatever
that's willing to come
00:19:09.98\00:19:12.88
and just settle here.
00:19:12.88\00:19:16.25
Lot of people
retire to Thailand.
00:19:16.25\00:19:19.35
It's a beautiful
and comfortable country,
00:19:19.35\00:19:21.69
but there's some huge
challenges, number one,
00:19:21.69\00:19:23.89
the language, cultural,
separation from the home,
00:19:23.89\00:19:28.56
from family and
friends back home,
00:19:28.56\00:19:30.40
and those will
be the challenges.
00:19:30.40\00:19:32.50
But God can overcome those.
00:19:32.50\00:19:34.67
We just have to step out
00:19:34.67\00:19:35.64
and the gospel of this
kingdom will be preached
00:19:35.64\00:19:37.91
before the end of
the world will come,
00:19:37.91\00:19:39.74
before the Second
Coming will happen.
00:19:39.74\00:19:40.98
And so, I believe that
00:19:40.98\00:19:43.45
Sukhothai is
part of that prophecy.
00:19:43.45\00:19:46.38
And Christ says go,
and as you go, if you go,
00:19:46.38\00:19:52.12
I will be with you even
unto the end of the world.
00:19:52.12\00:19:55.66
It's amazing when you're there.
00:20:10.67\00:20:13.78
Although, you know, it's
easy to blow through a town,
00:20:13.78\00:20:16.08
just drive through
the town and keep going
00:20:16.08\00:20:17.45
and not even think about it.
00:20:17.45\00:20:19.31
When you stop and you
think, look beyond what we see,
00:20:19.31\00:20:22.98
and we see eternal
reality is the Second Coming.
00:20:22.98\00:20:28.99
It's like, and then
you start meeting people
00:20:28.99\00:20:31.46
and it's not just
the statistic anymore,
00:20:31.46\00:20:33.43
it's somebody.
00:20:33.43\00:20:36.56
They have names,
00:20:36.56\00:20:37.67
they have
faces, they have lives,
00:20:37.67\00:20:39.43
they have hearts,
they have stories.
00:20:39.43\00:20:43.07
And Jesus knows them.
00:20:43.07\00:20:45.77
And He's with them every day,
right now He's there with them.
00:20:45.77\00:20:49.61
And they don't
know. And they don't know.
00:20:49.61\00:20:52.75
Now you talked in that
video about God opening a door
00:20:52.75\00:20:55.08
and then toward the
end you started saying,
00:20:55.08\00:20:58.65
I just want to bring
that point out again,
00:20:58.65\00:21:01.39
what kind of
door is God opening?
00:21:01.39\00:21:03.36
Okay, it's by faith.
00:21:03.36\00:21:06.90
We don't see anything yet...
00:21:06.90\00:21:08.60
It's because of
claim to promises.
00:21:08.60\00:21:10.67
Exactly. Right. Yeah.
00:21:10.67\00:21:12.50
Because what we're praying for,
00:21:12.50\00:21:14.67
we don't know
what we're praying for,
00:21:14.67\00:21:16.10
it's like how
do you start a work
00:21:16.10\00:21:18.17
when nothing has
ever been started there.
00:21:18.17\00:21:21.44
And the best I can think of is,
00:21:21.44\00:21:23.38
well, maybe an
English language school,
00:21:23.38\00:21:25.15
maybe some kind of service
00:21:25.15\00:21:26.51
we can provide to the community,
00:21:26.51\00:21:28.42
maybe it's just
somebody to go there and live
00:21:28.42\00:21:32.29
a Christian life and pray,
00:21:32.29\00:21:35.56
and maybe have a worship center,
00:21:35.56\00:21:38.03
maybe a couple that can pray
on a regular basis together,
00:21:38.03\00:21:41.23
have their own
worship, start making friends,
00:21:41.23\00:21:43.43
maybe there's some
curiosity built up,
00:21:43.43\00:21:45.57
maybe they'll like
with the Sharon's people
00:21:45.57\00:21:47.74
in the village just stay back
00:21:47.74\00:21:49.47
and just watched
for like a whole year,
00:21:49.47\00:21:52.01
and then they're like,
"Wow, this is awesome."
00:21:52.01\00:21:53.78
And now all of a sudden
00:21:53.78\00:21:54.84
a bunch of people
want to become Christians,
00:21:54.84\00:21:56.85
you know, just by watching
00:21:56.85\00:21:57.91
'cause the
majority of these people
00:21:57.91\00:21:58.98
have never seen a Christian.
00:21:58.98\00:22:01.08
They have no idea what
they think maybe well...
00:22:01.08\00:22:03.52
They learned about
Christians from movies,
00:22:03.52\00:22:05.75
which is not a good thing.
00:22:05.75\00:22:06.96
Exactly.
00:22:06.96\00:22:08.02
Hollywood movies
are not a good example
00:22:08.02\00:22:10.29
of what a Christian is.
00:22:10.29\00:22:11.36
Yeah, America's a
Christian country,
00:22:11.36\00:22:12.89
so America must be, and
it's not, what we believe
00:22:12.89\00:22:17.43
the Christian
life is really like.
00:22:17.43\00:22:20.40
And so just to be there
and provide that example.
00:22:20.40\00:22:23.34
Right.
00:22:23.34\00:22:24.41
Now about 5
hours south of there,
00:22:24.41\00:22:26.61
there's another city...
00:22:26.61\00:22:27.71
Yes. And what is that city?
00:22:27.71\00:22:29.81
That is a Nakhon Sawan,
00:22:29.81\00:22:32.05
it's a city about two-thirds
00:22:32.05\00:22:33.58
of the way down
that big open valley.
00:22:33.58\00:22:35.58
It's the largest
city in that whole area.
00:22:35.58\00:22:38.25
They say it's a
population of about 1,35,000,
00:22:38.25\00:22:41.66
but with the surrounding
area it could be up towards
00:22:41.66\00:22:44.39
a million with all
the different little towns
00:22:44.39\00:22:46.80
and villages
scattered around that place.
00:22:46.80\00:22:48.43
Okay.
00:22:48.43\00:22:49.66
And we went down there also,
we drove about 4-5 hours south,
00:22:49.66\00:22:53.40
and spent the
night in that city,
00:22:53.40\00:22:55.34
not a single
Adventist, not a single church,
00:22:55.34\00:22:58.24
and at this point as
far as I know no known plan
00:22:58.24\00:23:02.44
to even start something there.
00:23:02.44\00:23:05.38
And so we went
there and we prayed.
00:23:05.38\00:23:07.55
Okay. And we have a video.
00:23:07.55\00:23:09.45
Yes. Okay.
00:23:09.45\00:23:10.59
We're on a hill overlooking
the city of Nakhon Sawan,
00:23:23.10\00:23:26.27
a city with over
1,20,000 people in it
00:23:26.27\00:23:29.47
and yet there's not a
single Seventh-day Adventist
00:23:29.47\00:23:32.71
in this entire city,
00:23:32.71\00:23:34.18
not a pastor,
not a congregation,
00:23:34.18\00:23:36.38
not even a single
church member that we know of.
00:23:36.38\00:23:39.45
And I think that needs to change
00:23:39.45\00:23:41.58
because we have no
representation of Jesus Christ
00:23:41.58\00:23:45.39
and the Soon Coming of
the Three Angels' Message,
00:23:45.39\00:23:47.42
and the health message,
00:23:47.42\00:23:48.46
and all those
things woven together
00:23:48.46\00:23:50.03
in the beautiful
way that we know it.
00:23:50.03\00:23:51.69
When I found in
the last day and a half
00:23:56.16\00:23:59.53
that we've been
here is that I have
00:23:59.53\00:24:01.74
very little
passion for the lost,
00:24:01.74\00:24:05.64
and that's really sad,
born and raised an Adventist,
00:24:05.64\00:24:10.01
hardly any passion for the lost,
00:24:10.01\00:24:11.98
does that mean that
I'm really close to Christ
00:24:11.98\00:24:15.02
or is there a gap?
00:24:15.02\00:24:16.62
Is there something I'm
missing in my experience
00:24:16.62\00:24:18.82
and in my life?
00:24:18.82\00:24:20.39
But coming here has
helped me to realize that
00:24:20.39\00:24:22.96
because here is a
city 1,20,000 people,
00:24:22.96\00:24:25.79
not a single Adventist.
00:24:25.79\00:24:28.26
What does that do to me?
00:24:28.26\00:24:29.53
What does that do in
my emotions, in my stress?
00:24:29.53\00:24:33.10
Is it just, "Oh,
that's an interesting fact.
00:24:33.10\00:24:35.17
Oh, somebody
should be a missionary.
00:24:35.17\00:24:37.24
How come
nobody's..." Or is it like
00:24:37.24\00:24:38.94
"Okay, Lord, what
would You have me do?
00:24:38.94\00:24:42.08
Here's my life.
00:24:42.08\00:24:44.25
What would You have me do?
00:24:44.25\00:24:45.81
And what am I
willing to sacrifice
00:24:45.81\00:24:47.88
for someone that has
not yet had the opportunity
00:24:47.88\00:24:50.42
to know what I
know, what we know?"
00:24:50.42\00:24:53.46
What would Jesus
do? What did Jesus do?
00:24:53.46\00:24:56.39
He took that step,
00:24:56.39\00:24:57.53
He did the cross cultural thing.
00:24:57.53\00:24:59.96
Am I willing to follow?
00:24:59.96\00:25:02.40
Yeah, 'cause this
is where the joy is.
00:25:02.40\00:25:05.17
Can you imagine
starting a church,
00:25:09.40\00:25:11.57
starting something
that no one has done?
00:25:11.57\00:25:13.58
And it's like Paul saying,
00:25:13.58\00:25:15.18
"I will build on
no man's foundation."
00:25:15.18\00:25:17.38
This is fresh.
00:25:17.38\00:25:18.48
This is like a big smorgasbord
00:25:18.48\00:25:21.02
with God leading
of spiritual feasts.
00:25:21.02\00:25:25.89
These are God's people out here,
00:25:25.89\00:25:28.02
they just don't know it yet,
00:25:28.02\00:25:29.16
they don't know
that He's their Daddy.
00:25:29.16\00:25:32.16
Will you tell
them? Will I tell them?
00:25:32.16\00:25:35.60
I'm going to make an effort,
I'm going to do everything
00:25:35.60\00:25:37.90
I can to see that the
gospel gets to the city.
00:25:37.90\00:25:41.37
Yeah, so that was my pledge
with all the other projects
00:25:46.61\00:25:51.15
we have going,
best I can do is pray
00:25:51.15\00:25:54.35
and just present
this to God's people,
00:25:54.35\00:25:56.85
you know, we're put
together as a community,
00:25:56.85\00:26:00.32
and this
commission is to everyone.
00:26:00.32\00:26:02.86
And maybe there's somebody
out there that would say,
00:26:02.86\00:26:04.99
"Wow, there's a need,
00:26:04.99\00:26:06.63
you know, I want to surrender
my life to God's need."
00:26:06.63\00:26:12.70
And everyone that I
know that has done that
00:26:12.70\00:26:15.07
has ended up blessed.
00:26:15.07\00:26:16.34
Right, so
there's need for prayer.
00:26:16.34\00:26:17.47
Yes.
00:26:17.47\00:26:18.57
A lot of prayer for God
to raise up the right people
00:26:18.57\00:26:21.41
and to open the
right opportunity.
00:26:21.41\00:26:23.08
We can't just go somewhere
and assume we understand
00:26:23.08\00:26:25.71
that needs of that area.
00:26:25.71\00:26:27.45
Correct.
00:26:27.45\00:26:28.52
We don't know if they
need a literacy place,
00:26:28.52\00:26:31.15
or they need an English school,
00:26:31.15\00:26:33.25
or they need a
computer lab, or a... who knows?
00:26:33.25\00:26:37.16
Well, they might
need all of that.
00:26:37.16\00:26:38.89
So God knows what
would be most affective.
00:26:38.89\00:26:40.60
Exactly. Right.
00:26:40.60\00:26:42.60
Yeah. So we need to pray.
00:26:42.60\00:26:44.00
Yeah, and this is where
giving to Jesus for Asia
00:26:44.00\00:26:47.10
will help us be able to
go into places like this,
00:26:47.10\00:26:51.14
to rent a place, maybe
somebody is willing to go
00:26:51.14\00:26:53.98
but they don't have support,
00:26:53.98\00:26:55.71
so let's go rent a
place and even put,
00:26:55.71\00:26:57.88
maybe put a Thai
national in that place,
00:26:57.88\00:27:00.98
a couple that I can just
pray and see what God does.
00:27:00.98\00:27:05.62
Better than
doing nothing, right?
00:27:05.62\00:27:07.22
Right. Better than nothing.
00:27:07.22\00:27:08.59
Better than nothing.
00:27:08.59\00:27:10.26
If you would like
to join Jesus for Asia
00:27:10.26\00:27:12.49
in sending the gospel to
the unreached people groups
00:27:12.49\00:27:15.50
there in
Sukhothai and Nakhon Sawan,
00:27:15.50\00:27:18.43
to these beautiful
people that Jesus loves,
00:27:18.43\00:27:20.94
please pray, pray for labors
that are willing to go out
00:27:20.94\00:27:24.27
into the harvest
field, pray for the people
00:27:24.27\00:27:26.94
to be willing to hear
and able to understand
00:27:26.94\00:27:30.78
what this beautiful gospel is
00:27:30.78\00:27:33.11
that we have to share with them.
00:27:33.11\00:27:35.12
If you would like
to give financially,
00:27:35.12\00:27:37.12
you can send your
tax deductible love gift
00:27:37.12\00:27:39.55
to Jesus For Asia, PO Box 1221,
00:27:39.55\00:27:42.89
Collegedale, Tennessee 37315.
00:27:42.89\00:27:46.46
Call us at 423-413-7321,
00:27:46.46\00:27:50.43
or visit our
website at Jesus4asia.org.
00:27:50.43\00:27:54.20
Please, please pray
for these beautiful people
00:27:54.20\00:27:57.97
in these two cities
that they will be able
00:27:57.97\00:28:00.44
to know the Lord
before it's too late for them.
00:28:00.44\00:28:03.68
May God richly bless you
00:28:03.68\00:28:04.85
until we see you again next time
00:28:04.85\00:28:06.95
on Jesus for Asia Now.
00:28:06.95\00:28:08.25