(drum roll moving into
inspirational orchestral music)
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- Hello and welcome
to Jesus for Asia Now.
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I'm Natalie Wood, and my
husband Jon is here today
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to share with us a praise
report and a prayer request
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from Mumbai, India.
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Welcome to the show, dear.
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- Hi, darling,
it's good to be here.
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And I'm really excited
about what we're gonna share.
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It's got some some tough spots,
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but it's got
some praise reports,
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and I'm excited
about all of that.
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- Okay, so first of
all, tell us where we're at.
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- We are in Mumbai,
which used to be Bombay.
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Most people know of
the city of Bombay, okay?
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It's in the western
central part of India,
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right on the
coast, right on the beach.
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It's a very large city.
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The downtown area is
got about 12 million people.
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But the entire metropolitan
area is got 20 million people.
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So it's the size of New York.
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- Wow! - Yeah, it's massive.
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- Okay, so you went to Mumbai.
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Where did you stay
when you were there?
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- They have some guest
rooms at the headquarters
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in downtown Mumbai.
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- Okay, so we have a
picture of a building.
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Can you tell us
what this building is?
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- This the headquarters
of the Mumbai Metro Section.
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It's downtown Mumbai.
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It used to be a high-end area,
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but since the last 50 years,
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it's kinda gone
down hill a little bit.
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And I'll show you some of that.
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But as you can see, as we
lift up over the building,
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it's just a massive city,
and we're smack dab in downtown.
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- Okay, yeah,
there's high-rises around
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and all sorts of
buildings around.
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- Yeah, but right
outside the compound,
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we're leaving the property
right now of the headquarters.
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And we're gonna turn
left and go down this street.
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And what you're gonna see is
these are apartment buildings.
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These are
apartment houses, okay?
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And just a lot of families
come from the countryside
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and come in to find work.
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So these would be
transitory families,
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families who just settling
in trying get a good job
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and make and
establish themselves
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in their lives in the city.
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And this is where they end up.
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And they'll pay $40, $50 a month
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for one of these
little tiny dwellings.
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This is a picture
where we can just study
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what we're talking about here.
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Each one of those cubicles,
you can see a door and a ladder,
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for instance, up
to the second floor.
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That's one
apartment, or one room.
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One family will live there.
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And below that another
family will live there.
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- Wow, so that's the only
church in the downtown area.
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- [Jon] Yes, for the 12 million
people in downtown Mumbai,
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that's one church.
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- And what
language is that church in?
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- In English.
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- Well, which is
not the mother tongue
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of the people that live there.
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- No, people
that live in Mumbai,
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the main language, is Marathi.
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They also have
languages from all over India.
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- Wow. - So
there's Tamil, and Hindi,
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and lots of different languages.
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- Gujarati I remember. - Yeah.
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- Okay, so that's the only one
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in downtown. - Right.
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- But there's church work there.
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- Yes. - The church has been
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in that area for a long time.
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- Yeah, most of the
work is in the outskirts.
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- Okay. - So one
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of the churches
we're gonna go to
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is one of the nearest churches,
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and it's a 45-minute ride.
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- Okay, so we've got a
little video from that ride,
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but not 45 minutes worth.
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- No (laughing).
- Okay (laughing).
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- We've got a little
clip of coming into the suburb
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where the church is
located just to give you a feel
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for what it's like to
drive in the traffic down there.
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- Okay. - So these
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are called auto rickshaws, the
little black and yellow ones.
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And you can see it's just
people walking across the road
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and cars and auto rickshaws
just kind of weaving their way
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in and out and just
trying to get through there.
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- [Natalie]
Without hitting anyone.
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- [Jon] Yeah, it's
a little disconcerting
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the first time you go
there, but after a while,
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this is normal.
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- (chuckles) The hard part
is when you come back to America
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and try to cross
the street. (both laugh)
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People get very angry.
- You're trying to weave
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in between cars
and people are like,
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"What are you doing?"
- Yeah, freaks them out.
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So now we're on the street
and the church is in view,
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but the question
is, can you figure out
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which building is the
church, or where the church is?
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- If you look really
closely, you can see the symbol,
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the logo, of the Adventist
church on the front of it.
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I know which
building it is, (Jon laughing)
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because you've
asked me this before.
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But when you
first showed this to me,
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I didn't know
which building it was.
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I had to look closely
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- You don't see.
- to see the logo.
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- You sure don't see a building
that looks like a church.
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- No, they all look the
same. - There's no steeple.
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Yeah, so this one in
the middle is the church,
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Thane SDA Church.
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Now this is an established,
recognized, long-term church.
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It's one of the main
churches of the area.
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- Wow. (Jon laughing)
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And it's a single
story, and it's a single width,
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and - Very small.
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- very small. - And when people
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were meeting here,
they would be spilling out
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into the streets every Sabbath,
which doesn't work too well
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when it's raining.
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- Yeah, and they do have
a season where they get hit
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with heavy rains, monsoon,
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and that's not a good thing.
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- Yes, now this
picture was taken back in 2017.
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And we talked about
it on one of our shows.
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And people
responded, and they donated,
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because the church had been,
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and the whole metro section
of Mumbai had been praying
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for over six years to
raise the $8,000 was necessary
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to build a second floor.
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Now the building
next to it was for sale
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for 12,000, and they
just couldn't come up
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with that kind of money.
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So they were
praying for six years
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to raise the $8,000, and so
we presented it to our viewers.
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And praise God for
viewers that have a heart.
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And-- - And they gave.
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- They gave. -
And then we were able
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to send the funds.
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And then you were
able to visit one time
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while they were still building.
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- Yes, this is in 2018.
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And we dropped in
just for a few minutes.
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And they were so
thankful, even the builders
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were just really
believing in this project.
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And we all
gathered around and prayed.
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And it was in the middle
where the floor was all torn up.
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And they were
digging into the walls
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to put new steal beams
to support the second floor.
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And they said it's
such a wonderful miracle
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that we're doing this right now
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because the water had
gotten into the walls,
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and it was leaking in there.
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- Oh, no. - And it leached out
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all the cement, all
the bonding component,
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and the wall was
ready to collapse.
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- Oh, my. - So
we went back there
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just recently, and
they had finished it.
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- Wow. - So they scheduled
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the grand opening for the
time that we could be there.
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- Wow, what a blessing
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and a privilege. -
Oh, such a blessing.
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- Wow (chuckles). - So much joy
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to know that we could do
something for an entire church
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on the other side of the planet.
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- Wow, we have a video
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from the grand opening. - Yes.
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(gentle piano music)
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We are at the Thane Church.
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It's a district
outside of Mumbai.
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And this church has
been one of the main churches
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in the Adventist
circle for many years.
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(gentle music with piano)
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(congregants
singing in foreign language)
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(man speaking in
foreign language)
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- If my people, which
are called by my name,
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shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek my face,
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and turn from their wicked ways,
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then will I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin
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and will heal their land.
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- For the last
eight or nine years,
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they've been praying.
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And today we inaugurated
the second floor right up here.
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They built that second floor.
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You can see it's
overhanging the sidewalk,
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and it's going out the
back, so it's a bigger place
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for the people to worship.
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It's just a
wonderful, amazing experience
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to see the joy on
the people's faces
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that now they
have a bigger church.
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- God spoke to Israel.
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Let them make and
build a church for me.
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I will dwell among them.
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(gentle music with piano)
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(people clapping)
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(gentle music with piano)
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(people clapping)
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(gentle music with piano)
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(man speaking in
foreign language)
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- [Jon] God is very good.
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(man speaking in
foreign language)
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I see smiles on your faces.
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(man speaking in
foreign language)
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God has answered your prayers.
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(man speaking in
foreign language)
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And he has
responded to your faith.
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(man speaking in
foreign language)
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And it's packed.
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They need more space
(laughing), so we're praying
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that we can expand maybe
to the left or to the right.
00:10:00.13\00:10:02.50
But anyway, this is awesome.
00:10:02.50\00:10:04.97
(gentle piano music
with melodic bell chimes)
00:10:04.97\00:10:10.04
- Wow, that's really great.
00:10:11.04\00:10:12.81
- (laughing) I know.
- It just warms my heart
00:10:12.81\00:10:14.71
so much to see their joy,
00:10:14.71\00:10:16.38
- Yeah, for sure.
- to see that they
00:10:16.38\00:10:18.01
have the fulfillment
of their prayer requests.
00:10:18.01\00:10:22.22
And God is glorified.
00:10:22.22\00:10:23.59
I mean, that's awesome that
he did it in the right timing.
00:10:23.59\00:10:27.19
And just the way he
does things is so awesome.
00:10:27.19\00:10:31.73
- Yeah, and he designs his work
00:10:31.73\00:10:34.20
so that we get
to be a part of it.
00:10:34.20\00:10:36.30
We get to experience the joy
of seeing people come to him.
00:10:36.30\00:10:39.70
And so this is picture
00:10:39.70\00:10:41.20
that I took when I was
standing up on the platform.
00:10:41.20\00:10:43.41
And I says, "How many
people wanna say thank you
00:10:43.41\00:10:45.77
"to the donors that
made this church possible?"
00:10:45.77\00:10:48.51
- And everybody
raised their hands.
00:10:49.68\00:10:51.15
- And they were
very enthusiastic.
00:10:51.15\00:10:52.28
- Awesome. - I didn't get video
00:10:52.28\00:10:53.82
to show their enthusiasm,
but it was a big deal for them.
00:10:53.82\00:10:57.62
The union president was
there, other union executives.
00:10:57.62\00:11:01.66
It was all the local pastors.
00:11:01.66\00:11:03.63
It was just a
really big deal for them
00:11:03.63\00:11:07.13
for this $8,000 donation
00:11:07.13\00:11:09.23
to build the
second floor of a church.
00:11:09.23\00:11:11.33
- Wow. - So that shows you,
00:11:11.33\00:11:12.70
number one, how much
they value the gospel
00:11:12.70\00:11:17.21
that they've been given.
00:11:17.21\00:11:18.61
And number two, it shows
you how poor and unable to live
00:11:18.61\00:11:23.18
in this massive
metropolitan expensive city
00:11:23.18\00:11:26.65
that they're living in.
00:11:26.65\00:11:28.18
- Yeah, well we have
opportunities for prayer
00:11:28.18\00:11:31.25
because they need to expand.
00:11:31.25\00:11:32.92
You said that at
the end of the video,
00:11:32.92\00:11:34.72
that it's too small already.
00:11:34.72\00:11:36.32
We can see that
from the pictures.
00:11:36.32\00:11:38.19
So our next story
is a prayer request.
00:11:39.29\00:11:41.50
- It's a huge prayer request.
00:11:41.50\00:11:43.83
And it has a little bit
of a history for us in it,
00:11:43.83\00:11:47.94
because you and I
visited this place
00:11:47.94\00:11:50.81
with our two children in 2011.
00:11:50.81\00:11:54.01
- Right, and we interviewed
some Bible workers there,
00:11:54.01\00:11:56.28
and we have shared
that footage on other shows.
00:11:56.28\00:11:58.91
People may have seen that.
00:11:58.91\00:12:00.88
But it's hard to see
00:12:00.88\00:12:04.42
and know what
happened after we were there.
00:12:04.42\00:12:06.39
Because when we were
there, they were talking
00:12:06.39\00:12:07.99
about needing to
make some needed repairs.
00:12:07.99\00:12:11.03
But because the
church is so poor,
00:12:11.03\00:12:13.36
those repairs were not made.
00:12:13.36\00:12:15.30
- Yeah, and-- - And so...
00:12:15.30\00:12:17.57
- But we have
that heart connection,
00:12:17.57\00:12:20.07
you know? - Right.
00:12:20.07\00:12:21.47
- It's one thing to see a
statistic or see a number,
00:12:21.47\00:12:24.17
it's another
thing to meet the people
00:12:24.17\00:12:26.27
and their individual people.
00:12:26.27\00:12:27.71
So in this little
video that we have here,
00:12:27.71\00:12:30.65
was taken in 2011
when we visited there.
00:12:30.65\00:12:33.95
- And we're just walking
to the church in this video.
00:12:33.95\00:12:36.18
- Yes. - Okay.
00:12:36.18\00:12:37.65
- We're walking down the outside
of the property right now.
00:12:37.65\00:12:39.89
The wall on the right is
the edge of our property.
00:12:39.89\00:12:42.82
And then we go up the
stairs, and there's this patio.
00:12:42.82\00:12:47.50
And then here's the church.
00:12:47.50\00:12:49.20
And inside the church is
where we gathered together.
00:12:49.20\00:12:52.07
Now this was just a
normal weekday evening,
00:12:52.07\00:12:54.24
so this isn't when people
gathered for a church service.
00:12:54.24\00:12:56.87
So people just came
on just regular night
00:12:56.87\00:13:00.14
and we had this many people.
00:13:00.14\00:13:01.54
- [Natalie] Right, and
some of them were Bible workers.
00:13:01.54\00:13:03.18
- [Jon] Yes.
00:13:03.18\00:13:04.31
(congregants
singing in foreign language)
00:13:04.31\00:13:06.88
(people speaking
in foreign language)
00:13:06.88\00:13:08.75
(people clapping)
00:13:08.75\00:13:12.32
(man speaking in
foreign language)
00:13:12.32\00:13:14.36
- Lord, it is
your your building.
00:13:14.36\00:13:15.86
(man speaking in
foreign language)
00:13:15.86\00:13:17.39
It is a lighthouse
for you in this community.
00:13:17.39\00:13:20.03
(man speaking in
foreign language)
00:13:20.03\00:13:23.30
And Lord, you've
allowed it to be damaged.
00:13:23.30\00:13:25.43
(man speaking in
foreign language)
00:13:25.43\00:13:27.67
And so I pray that
you will enable them
00:13:27.67\00:13:30.04
to do whatever
repair is necessary.
00:13:30.04\00:13:32.71
- [Jon] This was a
time when we weren't able
00:13:32.71\00:13:34.24
to send full salaries
for our Bible workers.
00:13:34.24\00:13:36.91
And so I asked our
Bible workers in this place,
00:13:36.91\00:13:39.58
"How do you manage?"
00:13:39.58\00:13:40.88
And they said, "God
first, money second."
00:13:40.88\00:13:44.72
So they really
focused on the value of God
00:13:44.72\00:13:48.59
and doing his work.
00:13:48.59\00:13:51.09
- Okay, so you
went back recently,
00:13:51.09\00:13:54.00
and this is what you saw. - Yes,
00:13:55.16\00:13:56.77
we're walking
down the same corridor.
00:14:00.14\00:14:02.00
It's much dirtier.
00:14:03.37\00:14:04.67
- [Natalie] Wow,
that's all broken.
00:14:06.11\00:14:07.38
(soft crunching)
00:14:07.38\00:14:09.28
(phone ringing)
00:14:09.28\00:14:10.68
(soft crunching)
00:14:10.68\00:14:13.48
- You'll recognize
the stairs, the door.
00:14:14.55\00:14:18.09
And unfortunately now
the door is padlocked.
00:14:19.22\00:14:22.32
And what happened was in
2012, right after we were there
00:14:23.66\00:14:27.13
as a family, the city
came in and inspected,
00:14:27.13\00:14:30.70
did a building inspection,
realize it was completely
00:14:30.70\00:14:34.34
unsafe. - Wow. -
And they condemned
00:14:34.34\00:14:35.30
the whole property.
00:14:35.30\00:14:36.00
- Oh. - So this church
00:14:36.00\00:14:38.81
has been closed since 2012.
00:14:38.81\00:14:41.34
- Wow. - Here's a little video
00:14:43.21\00:14:44.81
that we have
where we talk about it
00:14:44.81\00:14:46.72
and we talk about
some of the dreams
00:14:46.72\00:14:48.38
that could take place
because there's a lot of people
00:14:48.38\00:14:51.22
in that neighborhood
that we could engage
00:14:51.22\00:14:54.96
into God's work
and in his message
00:14:54.96\00:14:57.29
if we did the right thing.
00:14:57.29\00:14:58.83
- Okay. - So...
00:14:58.83\00:15:00.13
(gentle piano music)
00:15:01.13\00:15:04.30
- He is Mr. Ramchandra Gygwar.
00:15:07.77\00:15:10.01
He works in Sathe Nagar in
suburb called Chembur area.
00:15:10.01\00:15:14.41
(man speaks in foreign language)
00:15:14.41\00:15:18.51
Right now he says we
are without church building.
00:15:18.51\00:15:22.15
There used to be a church,
a good constructed church,
00:15:22.15\00:15:25.99
but as the time passed, the
church is not in a good shape.
00:15:25.99\00:15:30.96
He says that due to
unavailability of a place
00:15:30.96\00:15:35.83
the Mumbai Metro Section
has hired a Methodist church
00:15:35.83\00:15:40.70
in Chembur area itself
00:15:40.70\00:15:43.07
but little far distance away.
00:15:43.07\00:15:44.97
And over there we are
paying 10,000 rupees every month
00:15:44.97\00:15:49.84
just for four days in a month.
00:15:49.84\00:15:53.08
He says people
with great difficulty,
00:15:53.08\00:15:56.55
they come to the church
because the hired church,
00:15:56.55\00:16:00.32
of Methodist church, is
very far from where they live.
00:16:00.32\00:16:04.36
And he says we
sincerely pray to the Lord
00:16:04.36\00:16:07.23
that we may get a very
good church building for prayer.
00:16:07.23\00:16:11.73
(gentle music)
00:16:11.73\00:16:14.80
- There were 50 people
meeting in this building.
00:16:14.80\00:16:17.91
And we've got five or six
Jesus for Asia Bible workers
00:16:17.91\00:16:20.51
surrounding this area.
00:16:20.51\00:16:21.81
But for the last six
years, the government came in
00:16:21.81\00:16:23.88
and they
checked out the building
00:16:23.88\00:16:25.81
and they condemned
it 'cause it's unsafe.
00:16:25.81\00:16:27.52
Any moment this floor
could fall out from under us.
00:16:27.52\00:16:30.12
So they closed it.
00:16:30.12\00:16:31.02
They've shuttered it.
00:16:31.02\00:16:32.09
So they have to
come in and they have
00:16:32.09\00:16:33.56
to totally demolish
this entire building
00:16:33.56\00:16:35.86
and start from scratch.
00:16:35.86\00:16:37.23
And it's really, really sad
to come back here now in 2019
00:16:37.23\00:16:40.50
and see the place shuttered
00:16:40.50\00:16:41.73
and got cobwebs.
(sudden scraping)
00:16:41.73\00:16:44.23
(man speaks in foreign language)
00:16:44.23\00:16:45.33
(foot kicks loudly)
Church members locally
00:16:45.33\00:16:46.74
keep coming back, and they're
sad that the place is closed.
00:16:46.74\00:16:49.90
They miss their place
of worship on Sabbaths.
00:16:49.90\00:16:51.94
And so this
community is a real opportunity
00:16:51.94\00:16:56.04
to make a difference.
00:16:56.04\00:16:57.41
(gentle bubbly music)
00:16:57.41\00:17:01.35
One of the things that
we were thinking about doing
00:17:01.35\00:17:03.62
is that India has a
very high rate of diabetes.
00:17:03.62\00:17:06.52
In fact, driving down the street
I've seen diabetes center.
00:17:06.52\00:17:10.13
And so I was thinking
00:17:10.13\00:17:11.19
that maybe this
could be a health center
00:17:11.19\00:17:13.53
focusing on
diabetes, healthy living.
00:17:13.53\00:17:16.40
We could sell healthy
snacks, because this area,
00:17:16.40\00:17:19.10
they produce,
manufacture, a lot of snacks.
00:17:19.10\00:17:22.00
Most of 'em are deep-fried,
so we could do lectures
00:17:22.00\00:17:26.04
on diabetes, have
a diabetes center,
00:17:26.04\00:17:29.04
maybe hire some local
people, Sabbath-Keepers,
00:17:29.04\00:17:32.91
so that they can
have Sabbaths off,
00:17:32.91\00:17:35.02
and to make healthy snacks.
00:17:35.02\00:17:37.72
I mean, there's just a
lot of possibilities here.
00:17:37.72\00:17:39.95
We can build a
three-story building.
00:17:39.95\00:17:41.82
First floor can
be a shop or a store.
00:17:41.82\00:17:44.56
Second floor can be a church.
00:17:44.56\00:17:45.63
And then the third
floor can be the quarters
00:17:45.63\00:17:48.36
for the pastor, or the Bible
workers, something like that.
00:17:48.36\00:17:50.43
So there's a lot
of opportunities here.
00:17:50.43\00:17:52.50
Let's pray about this.
00:17:52.50\00:17:53.90
They have to draw up
some plans, get some estimates
00:17:53.90\00:17:56.50
about what this is gonna cost.
00:17:56.50\00:17:58.37
But let's pray
and see how God works.
00:17:58.37\00:18:02.01
(uplifting
undulating piano music)
00:18:02.01\00:18:06.31
- So what an awesome
opportunity to rebuild
00:18:07.42\00:18:10.25
and make it something that
helps the people around them
00:18:10.25\00:18:12.99
with a real need.
00:18:12.99\00:18:14.02
- Yeah, yeah. - Wow.
00:18:14.02\00:18:15.72
- So building that
place, it's a metropolitan city.
00:18:15.72\00:18:18.39
It's not gonna be super cheap.
00:18:18.39\00:18:20.20
It's gonna be pretty expensive.
00:18:20.20\00:18:21.53
And we're talking
about they were looking
00:18:21.53\00:18:23.77
at a two-story for
65,000, but I'm praying
00:18:23.77\00:18:27.50
for a three-story so that
we can have more functionality,
00:18:27.50\00:18:32.31
make it a center
of influence, a church
00:18:32.31\00:18:34.81
and a center of influence,
so we can serve the community
00:18:34.81\00:18:37.35
throughout the week as
well as have church service
00:18:37.35\00:18:40.38
and teach people
healthier lifestyles,
00:18:40.38\00:18:43.55
because a lot of people
go into open heart surgery
00:18:43.55\00:18:46.25
in their 50s.
00:18:46.25\00:18:47.29
- Yeah, it's really bad.
00:18:47.29\00:18:49.26
- Yeah, but those people,
they're just as valuable to God
00:18:49.26\00:18:52.26
as anyone else.
00:18:52.26\00:18:53.83
Now we're gonna go
00:18:53.83\00:18:54.93
to another church on a
different part of town.
00:18:54.93\00:18:58.43
And we're driving through
this section of the city.
00:18:58.43\00:19:02.74
And for a lot of
people, this is normal.
00:19:02.74\00:19:06.07
- Right. (Jon chuckling)
00:19:06.07\00:19:08.41
Right, it's a lot of motion.
00:19:08.41\00:19:10.51
(Natalie
chuckles) - Yes (chuckles).
00:19:10.51\00:19:11.65
Now we've gotten
out of the auto rickshaw
00:19:11.65\00:19:13.28
and we're walking down
the street to the church.
00:19:13.28\00:19:15.98
And this is the church.
00:19:15.98\00:19:17.49
Can you see the church?
00:19:17.49\00:19:18.55
- (chuckles) I
don't see anything
00:19:18.55\00:19:20.26
that represents a church.
00:19:20.26\00:19:21.36
And actually, I
don't see anything
00:19:21.36\00:19:23.22
that looks
representative of God.
00:19:23.22\00:19:25.19
- (chuckles) No,
00:19:25.19\00:19:26.29
doesn't it look--
- It looks very sad.
00:19:26.29\00:19:27.60
- Right, so that's the church.
00:19:27.60\00:19:29.46
- I see the logo up there, so...
00:19:29.46\00:19:31.93
- This is the pastoral
family that lives up there
00:19:33.27\00:19:35.50
and runs this church and
has several other churches
00:19:35.50\00:19:39.14
that he watches
and takes care of.
00:19:39.14\00:19:41.21
And he also supervises
some of our Bible workers
00:19:41.21\00:19:44.11
to help them in their ministry.
00:19:44.11\00:19:45.45
This is the group that was there
on the day that we visited.
00:19:45.45\00:19:49.02
It was mainly our
group, couple photographers,
00:19:49.02\00:19:51.89
and their family.
00:19:51.89\00:19:53.86
So on the wall
inside the church,
00:19:54.92\00:19:56.96
I noticed they had a
bulletin board with pictures
00:19:56.96\00:19:59.79
of their church family life.
00:19:59.79\00:20:01.83
So I got some close-ups here.
00:20:01.83\00:20:03.23
You can see it seems to
be a warm, there's a baptism.
00:20:03.23\00:20:06.20
Seems to be a warm
family gathering together every
00:20:06.20\00:20:11.27
Sabbath, lot of love, children
that are learning about Christ
00:20:12.67\00:20:14.51
through this church.
00:20:14.51\00:20:15.81
And it just looks like a
regular family, church family,
00:20:15.81\00:20:20.88
that I'd like to be a part of.
00:20:21.68\00:20:22.72
- Yeah. (Jon laughing)
00:20:22.72\00:20:24.85
Wow. - And we can by...
00:20:24.85\00:20:27.29
- Helping them. - Yes.
00:20:27.29\00:20:28.69
- Rebuilding this one,
00:20:28.69\00:20:30.09
do have any idea what
that would cost at this point?
00:20:30.09\00:20:31.93
- I'm gonna estimate
that this is gonna cost
00:20:31.93\00:20:33.86
about the same as the other one.
00:20:33.86\00:20:35.13
This, it would be really awesome
00:20:35.13\00:20:37.23
to do a center of
influence here as well,
00:20:37.23\00:20:40.14
maybe even an evening school,
like we have in the south,
00:20:41.57\00:20:44.41
where we provide a free meal
00:20:44.41\00:20:46.61
and some education every
single evening of the week
00:20:46.61\00:20:48.91
except for Saturday night.
00:20:48.91\00:20:51.51
And this really
breaks down barriers
00:20:51.51\00:20:54.45
and helps the
village in a long-term effect
00:20:54.45\00:20:57.82
that's just really powerful.
00:20:57.82\00:20:59.45
But yeah, I'm guessing
that this is gonna cost
00:21:00.62\00:21:02.42
maybe $100,000
as well to rebuild.
00:21:02.42\00:21:06.33
And it feels like we have
to battle every square inch
00:21:06.33\00:21:10.70
against Satan and his territory.
00:21:10.70\00:21:12.50
And that's what it
is, it's this battle.
00:21:12.50\00:21:14.74
And so the prayer,
00:21:14.74\00:21:16.14
weapons of our
warfare are not carnal,
00:21:16.14\00:21:19.11
but they are mighty. - Mighty.
00:21:19.11\00:21:20.94
(Jon laughing softly)
00:21:20.94\00:21:22.04
And they pull
down the strongholds
00:21:22.04\00:21:23.88
and then God can
raise up his standard
00:21:23.88\00:21:26.31
on these places. -
Absolutely, absolutely.
00:21:26.31\00:21:28.42
- In these places.
- And this may seem
00:21:28.42\00:21:30.72
like a waste of money
'cause we're never gonna see.
00:21:30.72\00:21:33.92
I mean, we're not gonna move
there and become members there,
00:21:33.92\00:21:37.53
but we're gonna move to heaven.
00:21:37.53\00:21:40.13
- Yeah, we'll see
them - They're gonna move
00:21:40.13\00:21:41.33
- in heaven, right. - to heaven.
00:21:41.33\00:21:42.56
- And we'll become members
00:21:42.56\00:21:43.60
of the same family there.
00:21:43.60\00:21:45.70
And wow, what an
investment that's gonna be.
00:21:45.70\00:21:49.44
The payoff, it's gonna be huge.
00:21:49.44\00:21:52.44
So that's what keeps us going.
00:21:52.44\00:21:54.28
- Friends for eternity.
00:21:54.28\00:21:55.44
- (laughing) Exactly, yes.
00:21:55.44\00:21:57.78
- So then you went
back to the downtown area
00:21:57.78\00:22:00.88
to the main church,
to the section office,
00:22:00.88\00:22:03.59
and had a meeting with
all of our Bible workers.
00:22:03.59\00:22:06.22
And you took a picture
there so we have a picture
00:22:06.22\00:22:08.46
of all our Bible
workers with you.
00:22:08.46\00:22:10.09
- I, yeah, I
brought a friend with me.
00:22:10.09\00:22:12.13
His first time to
India, he just absolutely,
00:22:12.13\00:22:14.50
he was overwhelmed, but
it just changed his life.
00:22:14.50\00:22:17.60
And he's so on fire
for these Bible workers,
00:22:17.60\00:22:20.34
for the people and for
the kids that he met there.
00:22:20.34\00:22:23.61
It's just a
fantastic experience for him.
00:22:23.61\00:22:26.57
- Praise the
Lord, praise the Lord.
00:22:26.57\00:22:28.18
- But these Bible workers,
it looks like we have a bit
00:22:28.18\00:22:31.25
of a force, bit of a work force.
00:22:31.25\00:22:33.55
But the truth is that
this is more than half
00:22:33.55\00:22:36.02
of all the gospel
workers in Mumbai,
00:22:36.02\00:22:38.99
a city of 20 million people.
00:22:38.99\00:22:41.09
And the vast
majority of all of them
00:22:41.09\00:22:43.46
work outside the city center,
00:22:43.46\00:22:46.36
because living inside the
city center is too expensive.
00:22:46.36\00:22:50.13
And you, our
viewers may be wondering,
00:22:50.13\00:22:52.20
why can't the local
church take care of the needs
00:22:52.20\00:22:54.24
of upkeeping and
rebuilding these churches?
00:22:54.24\00:22:56.64
Well the fact is that
these churches were all planted
00:22:56.64\00:22:59.87
in slum areas with
very low income levels,
00:22:59.87\00:23:04.35
very poor people.
00:23:04.35\00:23:05.48
And so the church
has-- - So the church members
00:23:05.48\00:23:08.25
are poor. - Yeah.
00:23:08.25\00:23:09.05
- And so their offerings...
00:23:09.05\00:23:11.15
- Are very little. - Yeah.
00:23:11.15\00:23:12.82
- Just to give
you a perspective.
00:23:12.82\00:23:15.16
This isn't
India, but in Cambodia,
00:23:15.16\00:23:17.33
the average annual offering
of the average church member
00:23:17.33\00:23:21.60
is $35 a year.
00:23:21.60\00:23:23.80
How are you supposed
to build infrastructure
00:23:25.13\00:23:27.44
with $35 a year?
00:23:27.44\00:23:28.94
- Yeah, and in
India, it would be similar.
00:23:28.94\00:23:31.71
- Similar or less, yeah.
- Or maybe even less, yeah.
00:23:31.71\00:23:34.34
- And so the
church was never planted
00:23:34.34\00:23:36.85
in the middle or
upper-class sections of society
00:23:36.85\00:23:40.92
in the city, and so this
is why you get this problem
00:23:40.92\00:23:44.75
that we have now.
00:23:44.75\00:23:45.55
And so my dream (chuckles)
00:23:45.55\00:23:48.02
is to start
planting select people.
00:23:48.02\00:23:52.83
Hire somebody,
full-time Bible worker,
00:23:52.83\00:23:55.93
and then pay them
a housing allowance.
00:23:55.93\00:23:58.23
So if you wanted to get
an apartment, let's say,
00:23:58.23\00:24:00.97
on this street right here,
00:24:00.97\00:24:02.27
there's an apartment building
across the street there,
00:24:02.27\00:24:03.91
you're talking
five, $600 a month
00:24:03.91\00:24:06.64
for an apartment.
- That's what you pay
00:24:07.71\00:24:08.91
in some areas of America.
00:24:08.91\00:24:10.41
- Absolutely, but
it's-- - And if you're lucky,
00:24:10.41\00:24:12.35
but, I mean-- - I
mean, you pay way more
00:24:12.35\00:24:14.28
than that in
downtown San Francisco.
00:24:14.28\00:24:16.69
- Right, way more. - 2,500 to 35
00:24:16.69\00:24:18.79
to $4,500 a month for an
apartment in San Francisco.
00:24:18.79\00:24:21.39
But here, you know...
00:24:21.39\00:24:23.83
- Yeah, they can't afford that.
00:24:23.83\00:24:25.19
I mean, our Bible workers
currently make $90 a month,
00:24:25.19\00:24:29.30
and that's not even enough
for them to live in Mumbai.
00:24:29.30\00:24:31.60
Many of them have
other jobs as well.
00:24:31.60\00:24:33.84
- It's not enough for
them to live in the slums
00:24:33.84\00:24:35.87
in Mumbai, - No, no.
00:24:35.87\00:24:37.14
- let alone the
metropolitan sections of Mumbai.
00:24:37.14\00:24:40.01
And so you've got
these vast swaths of society
00:24:40.01\00:24:42.98
in this massive city that
have no access to the truth
00:24:42.98\00:24:47.68
that we know.
00:24:47.68\00:24:49.15
And not only that,
they are not able to then
00:24:49.15\00:24:51.35
to help support the church.
00:24:51.35\00:24:54.72
And so the dream is
to just start small,
00:24:54.72\00:24:57.89
one or two, maybe, plant them,
00:24:57.89\00:25:00.43
give them the extra
housing allowance and move them
00:25:00.43\00:25:03.00
into a section of society.
00:25:03.00\00:25:05.33
Now we've seen this work
in Manila, remember that?
00:25:05.33\00:25:08.24
- Mm-hm. (Jon chuckling)
00:25:08.24\00:25:09.64
Yep, they got a apartment
in an apartment high-rise,
00:25:09.64\00:25:14.31
and they were able to
use the community center
00:25:14.31\00:25:17.21
of the
high-rise to have meetings
00:25:17.21\00:25:19.41
and invited friends that
lived next door, whatever.
00:25:19.41\00:25:22.62
And they just
starting having church there.
00:25:22.62\00:25:24.92
And people started
connecting with them and coming.
00:25:24.92\00:25:28.19
And they have a
vibrant church now.
00:25:28.19\00:25:29.79
- Yes, and the
Sabbath that we were there,
00:25:29.79\00:25:31.59
they had a baptism.
00:25:31.59\00:25:32.56
- Right, in the
hot tub (Jon laughing)
00:25:32.56\00:25:34.20
without the heat on,
00:25:34.20\00:25:35.06
of course. -
Yeah, I can't imagine
00:25:35.06\00:25:37.20
turning the heat on in Manila.
00:25:37.20\00:25:39.50
It's so hot already.
00:25:39.50\00:25:40.84
But so the leader of
this group there in Manila
00:25:40.84\00:25:43.51
is a pastor, and I've
already talked to him.
00:25:43.51\00:25:45.57
"Would you come to Mumbai
to do the same kind of thing,
00:25:45.57\00:25:48.81
"to train us how to do that?"
00:25:48.81\00:25:50.05
He, "Oh, I'd love to."
00:25:50.05\00:25:51.41
He would love to.
00:25:51.41\00:25:52.81
But how do we even start?
00:25:52.81\00:25:54.38
We're not even in that section.
00:25:54.38\00:25:56.72
Anyway, so the--
- We need prayer.
00:25:56.72\00:25:59.12
- We, (laughing)
yeah, this big open door.
00:25:59.12\00:26:01.79
God has given us the imagination
00:26:03.09\00:26:05.03
of seeing something
that hasn't been done yet
00:26:05.03\00:26:07.76
and if we don't do
it, it won't get done.
00:26:07.76\00:26:11.63
- Right, we will never
know if it would have worked.
00:26:11.63\00:26:13.94
- Yeah, but if we do
something and something happens,
00:26:13.94\00:26:17.61
it could change
the history - One soul.
00:26:21.14\00:26:22.34
- of the church. - One soul.
00:26:22.34\00:26:23.78
- Even one soul.
00:26:23.78\00:26:24.85
- If one soul can be
won, then it's worth it.
00:26:24.85\00:26:27.48
- We see
sometimes we get overwhelmed
00:26:27.48\00:26:30.02
with the work
that has to be done.
00:26:30.02\00:26:32.25
And sometimes this
can be really overwhelming
00:26:32.25\00:26:34.92
saying, "How in the world
are we gonna do all this?"
00:26:34.92\00:26:37.99
God's not asking
us each to do it all.
00:26:37.99\00:26:41.56
He's asking us
each to do our part.
00:26:42.83\00:26:45.93
And I'm praising God that
he's kept so many opportunities
00:26:45.93\00:26:50.77
just for our generation.
00:26:50.77\00:26:52.77
He's preserved all
these opportunities
00:26:52.77\00:26:55.04
that we get to be a part of it.
00:26:55.04\00:26:56.41
- Right, well thank you
so much for sharing this,
00:26:56.41\00:26:58.78
stories and the pictures, today
00:26:58.78\00:27:01.45
and for giving us
a bit of a challenge.
00:27:01.45\00:27:04.12
I know that this is God's plan,
and he will open the doors.
00:27:04.12\00:27:08.42
- Amen.
00:27:08.42\00:27:09.82
- I would like to invite
you to pray for these projects.
00:27:09.82\00:27:13.40
These are not directly
Jesus for Asia projects.
00:27:13.40\00:27:16.43
These buildings are
owned by the church.
00:27:16.43\00:27:18.53
But what a privilege
it's been to be a part
00:27:18.53\00:27:21.50
of rebuilding this church
00:27:21.50\00:27:23.34
and providing
these beautiful believers
00:27:23.34\00:27:25.37
with a place to worship God.
00:27:25.37\00:27:27.38
And what opportunities there
are in the other two places
00:27:27.38\00:27:31.38
to provide, not
only a place of worship,
00:27:31.38\00:27:33.72
but a center of
influence, maybe a clinic
00:27:33.72\00:27:36.52
where people that
have health challenges
00:27:36.52\00:27:38.22
or diabetes can come
and find real solutions
00:27:38.22\00:27:42.06
from God's plan
for their health.
00:27:42.06\00:27:45.66
If you would like to be a part,
00:27:45.66\00:27:47.00
you can get in touch
with us at Jesus for Asia,
00:27:47.00\00:27:49.53
PO Box 1221,
Collegedale, Tennessee, 37315.
00:27:49.53\00:27:53.90
Call us at 423-413-7321
00:27:55.20\00:27:57.21
or visit our
website at jesus4asia.org.
00:27:59.27\00:28:02.91
Please pray for
our Bible workers
00:28:02.91\00:28:04.88
until we see you next
time, on Jesus for Asia Now.
00:28:04.88\00:28:08.02
(inspirational majestic music)
00:28:08.02\00:28:12.02