(dramatic music)
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- Hello, and welcome
to Jesus for Asia now.
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I'm Natalie Wood and
today my husband, John and I,
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would like to take you on
trip to Bangkok, Thailand.
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Welcome to the show, dear.
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- Hi, darling, I'm
really glad to be here.
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- Yeah, and you
know, I'm really excited
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about the show today, because
to me it's like Noah's ark.
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It's a testimony of
something only God can do.
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- Oh, yeah, yeah. -
Definitely the missionaries
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that are involved here that
we're gonna be talking about,
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did not do this on their own.
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There's no way they
could've done it on their own.
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- This is such a
testimony to faith,
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and God coming through
and doing something way bigger
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than I thought could happen.
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- Right, and God using
lots and lots of people
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to help to do this.
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- Oh yeah, yeah, God
likes to work in a community.
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He likes to work with
different people in their place.
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Some people are key, and
if they don't move forward,
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then God can't do that work.
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When He's calling them,
they need to answer by faith.
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The biggest
victories I've seen are people
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that step out, because
they know God is calling them.
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They're not sure
where He's calling them,
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but they take the first step.
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Say, well I'll do this much
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and God will reveal the
next step when it's time.
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- Right and so
they do it step-by-step.
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God reveals the next step,
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after they take the step
they can see at the moment.
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- Yeah, and some of
the steps are way bigger
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than they expected.
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- Yeah, they're
like giant leaps,
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and they're
like, what, Lord, what?
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And they keep going.
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- Yeah, so what
specifically are you talking
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about this time?
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- Okay, well, first we wanna
introduce some missionaries.
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We've got a picture here
of Brian and Jessica Atwell
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and their second son, Joseph.
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And Jessica's obviously pregnant
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and now they have a
daughter named Prudence.
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So, it's a family
of five at this point
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and this picture has all four
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of the family
members before Prudence.
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Their oldest son,
Asher is in there also,
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and Joseph with
Brian and Jessica.
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And some of our
viewers may remember
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hearing their story before.
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Because they went to Thailand,
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not knowing for sure what
God was asking them to do,
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but knowing for sure that
God was taking them to Thailand.
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- Yeah, in fact, when
they first decided to go
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to Thailand, she was pregnant
with Asher their first born.
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And when he was born, he
had some medical conditions
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that would've
convinced a lot of people,
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they need to stay in
America and take care of them.
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- Right.
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- But through some
miraculous interventions,
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and some amazing
developments, well, they decided
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that they wanted to go anyway.
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And that God would take care
of them if He was calling them.
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And so, some
miraculous things happened
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and they were able to go.
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- Right, and God
has taken care of Asher
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and his medical needs,
while they've been there.
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- So the first thing they did
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when they got to
Thailand is learn the language.
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And that's not easy. - No.
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But it's very important.
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Because without it
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you're not speaking the
people's heart language.
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They may know
English, but many of them,
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even when they speak English
well, don't believe they do.
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And so they're very
timid about speaking with you.
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- Right, and so they might
speak a little English to you,
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but then they'll speak
to Thai to their friends,
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and it might be a
totally different thing
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than what they're
talking to you about.
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So to understand Thai,
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especially if you're
gonna do business in Thailand--
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- Right, is very important.
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And so the Lord impressed
them that they were going
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to have a business there.
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And so this is part of
the reason why they started
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taking Thai and trying to
speak Thai as much as possible.
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- Yeah, and so they
felt impressed to go
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to a certain part of
Bangkok, called Ramkhamhaeng,
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it's like a fed or
a district of Bangkok.
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Because in the show I
walk the city that I shot
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back in 2010 an '11
with Pastor Doug Ven,
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we saw how that center, that
church plant had to be closed,
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and so they'd always
had a heart for that area.
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- Right.
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- In that district,
there is a university
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that's the 12th
largest in the world.
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- Right, over 500,000 students.
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- Yeah.
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And so, they
went into that area,
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God opened up a door,
they were able to get a rental
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to rent a house for their family
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and they were looking around
for a little roadside stand
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or a little shop or something
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where they could
have a fruit smoothie,
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or a little restaurant or some,
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they couldn't decide
what they wanted to do.
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- Right, and they
felt kinda flaky about it,
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because they'd have
this idea and then that idea
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and then the other idea.
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And I mean, what ties
together a restaurant,
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a smoothie shop and
a rock climbing wall?
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I mean, it just,
they felt very flaky.
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- Yeah, and so. - And then.
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- They were looking
and he saw an advertisement
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for a building that
used to be a dormitory,
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it's five stories tall,
this massive square footage
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and he's like, there's no way.
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It's gonna be way too expensive,
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and I don't need
that big of a building.
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- Right, over
15,000 square feet,
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I mean, that's really big.
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- Yeah, but it
kept coming back to him
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and finally he
went and checked it out,
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the landlord came
way down on the price
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and he felt
impressed and so he leased it.
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- [Natalie] Right, so the
next couple pictures we have,
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you can see there's a
building that's painted red
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on the front.
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That is their building.
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- Yes, now this is
a another angle at it,
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and you can see
that large, kind of wide,
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but multi-level, the tallest
building in that picture.
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That's the university.
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- Okay.
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- Not just that building,
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but that whole
campus is the university
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and in the next shot
we're gonna turn a little bit
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to the right, and
you get this view.
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- Okay, and this is the stadium.
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And if you read
the lettering on it,
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it's the national stadium,
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it's where the Olympic teams
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and the national
sports teams train.
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- Yeah.
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- There's also a
rock climbing wall here,
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where the Thai National
Rock Climbing team trains.
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And so, Brian and
Jessica had gone there
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climbing a few times
and had met some people.
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And so they started
kind of being more interested
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in having a rock climbing wall.
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- Yeah, being seen that
there's a small community
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that would
support this type of thing
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and very encouraging.
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- Right.
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- So, when you lease
a building in Bangkok,
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it's just a shell
and then it's up to you
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to go inside and put in water,
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put in electricity and
remodel it the way you want it.
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Now, this was a dormitory
and so they had to knock
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out a whole bunch of walls.
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- Right, 'cause
everything was small bedrooms.
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- Yeah. - Or small dorm rooms.
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- Right, so it was a lot
of work, huge amount of work.
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I have to be honest with you,
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when Brian first
told me about this plan,
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I thought, there's no way.
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It's gonna cost way too much.
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He says that remodeling
the interior was gonna cost
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like $45,000, I'm
like, "There's no way".
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Because I know
how long it, I mean,
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just, that's a lot of money.
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That's not gonna happen.
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- And it takes a long
time to fundraise sometimes.
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- Right.
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Well, that's
been our experience.
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- Yeah, we have
a video testimony
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from during this time.
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- [John] Okay.
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(bright piano music)
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- [Jessica] We know for sure
He led us to come to Bangkok
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and start a
business as ministry.
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We're gonna be the cutting edge,
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first vegan
pizzeria in Thailand.
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- It was just
really encouraging to see
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that God is directing and
God is building all this up.
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- Fishers of men
have their fishing holes
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and so we've
created a fishing hole
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where men are gonna hang out
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and hopefully we can catch
them for the kingdom of God.
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- The five Fs are
fun, fitness, faith,
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fellowship and fortitude.
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The renovation
process has been going on now
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for almost 15 months I think.
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We got an original
estimate of four months
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to fully renovate
everything, have it finished,
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and throughout this process
there was a lot of things
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that they were on the original
invoice from the builder.
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And I looked at it and I
was trying to save money,
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and so I started
cutting things out,
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I said, "Well, I
know how to do this,
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"I can do that, I can
do this, I can do that".
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For the most part I was
by myself for a lot of it,
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and so, I would just listen
to sermons on my headphones.
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And so that day
specifically I went home
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and I was talking to Jessica,
and I was kind of ranting
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about how I was
so frustrated with,
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there's all these
things I don't know how to do
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and there's things
I do know how to do,
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and I gotta do those and
those still don't even work out.
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And I said, you know what, I've
listened to so many passages
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and so many things today that
God will bless that city work
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if we trust Him and
we move forward in faith,
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and I said, I'm just
gonna hire some people
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to do this work.
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I said, even though
I know how to do it,
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I said, I need to be
focusing on the ministry side
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of things and not just
saving a couple hundred dollars.
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And I opened up my
phone, I was checking my emails,
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and there was an
email from someone,
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and they said, hey we
just wanted you to know
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that we're praying for
you, and also to let you know
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that we just sent you
a donation for $10,000
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to help with
the renovation work.
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And I literally just
went 'round the corner
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and I fell on the ground,
I was crying, I was praying,
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it was just like, I was
confessing how negative I've
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been, how selfish I've been in
trying to take what I could take
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from it and
there've been countless times
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when God has done things
like throughout the last year.
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Where it's just,
He's trying to remind me
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that this isn't your
project, this is My project
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and if you'll just let
go of it, I can do stuff.
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(bright piano music)
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- We have our cafe,
which you saw, the sea scene
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and that's where
students can cone and hang out
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and spend an
extended amount of time
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where we can build
relationships with them there
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and then the next floor
will be the restaurant floor,
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then you go up to the next level
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and that will be
where the church is,
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where we could
hold free clinics,
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and also holding lectures
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or maybe like
depression recoveries,
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alcoholics anonymous,
these sorts of things,
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it's a really
nice space for that.
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Then you go up to the next floor
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and that's like
saving the best for last,
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the rock climbing wall up there
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and the fitness
center on the roof.
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- So, we're trying to figure out
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how everything's
gonna get tied together,
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and I was messaging my
friend, Calvin, in the States
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and he said, "Have you
heard what we're doing?
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"The ministry
that we have going on?"
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I said, no, and he
sent me a link to it,
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he said it's
called F5 Challenge.
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They do fitness
events, the five Fs are fun,
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fitness, faith,
fellowship and fortitude.
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And so, when we prayed about it,
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so this seemed like it would
just bring everything together,
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it's like one club
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and so on the front
actually we put the sign,
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the first sign we put
up was Club F5 and so,
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it's kinda like
a membership thing.
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You can sign up, you
can be a member of the gym,
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but then it also includes
a certain number of meals
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at the restaurants and
certain number of juices,
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it's kind of all one thing.
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And it really just
brings everything together
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and so, the idea is
that we have this gym,
00:11:06.86\00:11:10.03
people can come and kinda
learn and practice climbing,
00:11:10.03\00:11:12.77
but the real goal is that
once a month we take a trip,
00:11:12.77\00:11:15.20
we go outside of the
city, there's a few places
00:11:15.20\00:11:17.27
within three hours of here,
00:11:17.27\00:11:18.67
where there's some
really awesome outdoor climbing,
00:11:18.67\00:11:20.21
but then we can take people out,
00:11:20.21\00:11:21.51
we can do a
weekend camping trip,
00:11:21.51\00:11:23.04
get them out to where
they can be in nature,
00:11:23.04\00:11:25.21
see God's creation and
it gives us opportunities
00:11:25.21\00:11:27.82
to talk to them about God,
and we do worships with them
00:11:27.82\00:11:30.62
in the morning
and in the evening.
00:11:30.62\00:11:31.99
But the main important
thing is building a relationship
00:11:31.99\00:11:34.52
and when you're at
the bottom of a rope
00:11:34.52\00:11:36.73
and you're holding that rope
00:11:36.73\00:11:37.86
and you're the only reason
00:11:37.86\00:11:38.89
why that person
isn't gonna fall down,
00:11:38.89\00:11:40.93
it builds a lot of that trust,
00:11:40.93\00:11:42.66
it is an important factor in
being open to spiritual things
00:11:42.66\00:11:45.67
and these different
ideas that are contrary
00:11:45.67\00:11:48.80
to what they've
grown up believing.
00:11:48.80\00:11:50.54
So, right now, we
have a great staff,
00:11:51.91\00:11:54.74
we're really excited
for this and really excited
00:11:54.74\00:11:58.28
for things to open
00:11:58.28\00:11:59.55
and their wanting to
interact with people.
00:11:59.55\00:12:00.95
In reality we
need at least four more
00:12:00.95\00:12:04.19
to be able to operate properly,
00:12:04.19\00:12:06.42
probably a
couple more than that.
00:12:06.42\00:12:07.72
And so, we're just
asking that people can pray
00:12:07.72\00:12:10.23
that we can find
the right workers,
00:12:10.23\00:12:13.43
that have a heart for ministry.
00:12:13.43\00:12:15.03
We also need
somebody to come and help
00:12:15.03\00:12:17.97
with pizza baking.
00:12:17.97\00:12:20.64
It would be so much easier if
somebody that has the training
00:12:20.64\00:12:23.14
and the experience
could come and do that,
00:12:23.14\00:12:25.27
so that's definitely
another prayer request we have.
00:12:25.27\00:12:27.44
(bright piano music)
00:12:27.44\00:12:30.58
- Amazing, huh?
00:12:39.29\00:12:40.36
- Yeah, to see
where it came from
00:12:40.36\00:12:42.46
and where it's
at now is just so--
00:12:42.46\00:12:46.53
- [John] Inspiring.
00:12:46.53\00:12:47.96
- Yeah, it's such a
testimony to God's provision.
00:12:47.96\00:12:51.23
And how God encouraged them
time after time, after time.
00:12:51.23\00:12:54.60
- And He has such
a heart for the city.
00:12:54.60\00:12:56.97
- Hmm-mm, there's
a quote that a friend
00:12:56.97\00:12:58.81
of ours shared
this morning on Facebook
00:12:58.81\00:13:00.51
and I just wanted to share it.
00:13:00.51\00:13:02.08
It really ties to the
show and it was just like,
00:13:03.41\00:13:05.35
wow, we've got a
lot to think about.
00:13:05.35\00:13:08.68
"Often we have been told
00:13:08.68\00:13:09.82
"that our cities
are to hear the message,
00:13:09.82\00:13:11.39
"but how slow we are
to heed the instruction.
00:13:11.39\00:13:14.79
"I saw One standing on a high
platform with arms extended.
00:13:14.79\00:13:18.29
"He turned and pointed
in every direction, saying,
00:13:18.29\00:13:20.96
"'A world perishing in
ignorance of God's holy law
00:13:20.96\00:13:25.27
"'and Seventh-day
Adventists are asleep.'"
00:13:25.27\00:13:27.97
That's from a book
called "Evangelism", page 32.
00:13:27.97\00:13:31.04
- Wow.
00:13:31.04\00:13:31.94
Let's wake up.
00:13:32.81\00:13:33.61
- Yeah, it is time to wake up.
00:13:33.61\00:13:35.44
- Yes.
00:13:35.44\00:13:36.51
- And we have
lots of opportunity
00:13:36.51\00:13:37.65
and when God
does things like this,
00:13:37.65\00:13:39.41
it's just like, wow.
00:13:39.41\00:13:41.28
I wanted to mention, they
were talking about the pizza
00:13:42.65\00:13:44.52
there, a couple of
times they mentioned it.
00:13:44.52\00:13:47.42
And it was amazing how
God provided the equipment
00:13:47.42\00:13:50.83
for them to have a pizzeria,
00:13:50.83\00:13:52.23
they were just gonna have
a restaurant of some kind.
00:13:52.23\00:13:54.40
But then they were looking
around for restaurant equipment,
00:13:54.40\00:13:58.13
and they found an
advertisement from somebody
00:13:58.13\00:14:00.94
that had boxes of
restaurant equipment for sale.
00:14:00.94\00:14:04.74
- Yeah, crates. - Yeah.
00:14:04.74\00:14:05.57
- Yeah.
00:14:05.57\00:14:06.61
- And the guy
said, I can't open.
00:14:06.61\00:14:08.64
He let them open a couple
of them and showed them things
00:14:08.64\00:14:11.41
that were in it, but he said,
I can't open anything else.
00:14:11.41\00:14:14.08
So, he had to buy
these crates without knowing
00:14:14.08\00:14:17.82
what was inside, except a
couple pieces that he saw.
00:14:17.82\00:14:20.66
But he knew that based on
the value of those pieces,
00:14:20.66\00:14:24.83
what he was
getting was a good deal.
00:14:24.83\00:14:26.46
- Yeah, and this guy
that was selling them,
00:14:26.46\00:14:28.70
he was from Italy, he
was actually from Rome,
00:14:28.70\00:14:31.43
he had set up a
pizzeria in Bangkok,
00:14:31.43\00:14:34.04
but then he had to
go back home to Italy,
00:14:34.04\00:14:35.84
but he also knew
how to make vegan pizza.
00:14:35.84\00:14:38.31
- Right and so he
went and taught them
00:14:38.31\00:14:40.14
after they got it there.
00:14:40.14\00:14:41.74
It was kinda crazy, because
they had to bring the pizza oven
00:14:41.74\00:14:45.81
into the second
floor with a crane--
00:14:45.81\00:14:48.82
- Through the
window. - Through the window,
00:14:48.82\00:14:49.82
it was kinda crazy.
00:14:49.82\00:14:50.89
But anyway, so they
have more equipment now,
00:14:50.89\00:14:54.59
and it's just they
don't have the people
00:14:54.59\00:14:57.16
to help to run it.
00:14:57.16\00:14:58.26
- Yeah, so out
of all five floors,
00:14:58.26\00:15:01.73
how many floors are
actually operational right now?
00:15:01.73\00:15:04.43
- Well, right now, because
they don't have enough personnel
00:15:04.43\00:15:07.20
to open the smoothie
shop and the restaurant,
00:15:07.20\00:15:09.30
the climbing wall area and
the gym at the top are open.
00:15:09.30\00:15:14.38
They also are
making special breads
00:15:15.41\00:15:17.41
and other things to sell.
00:15:17.41\00:15:19.31
So, they go to
special events and sell breads
00:15:19.31\00:15:21.82
and sometimes they
stand out in front,
00:15:21.82\00:15:23.65
they have a table out front,
00:15:23.65\00:15:25.05
and offer people that
walk by, if they wanna purchase
00:15:25.05\00:15:28.39
their baked cooks.
00:15:28.39\00:15:29.49
- Yeah and a lot
of people walk by.
00:15:29.49\00:15:30.76
- Right, well this is something
they're doing right now.
00:15:30.76\00:15:33.13
- Yeah, so they really are
in need of a business partner,
00:15:33.13\00:15:36.60
or somebody that knows
how to run a restaurant
00:15:36.60\00:15:38.27
to come and open up that
portion of their ministry.
00:15:38.27\00:15:41.14
- Right. - Yeah.
00:15:41.14\00:15:42.27
- All right, you got to
be at the grand opening.
00:15:42.27\00:15:44.17
- [John] Yeah.
00:15:44.17\00:15:44.97
- And our next video shows--
00:15:44.97\00:15:47.14
- The grand opening
of the climbing wall.
00:15:47.14\00:15:49.48
(inspirational piano music)
00:15:49.48\00:15:53.21
- So recently we've
been working really hard,
00:16:15.50\00:16:18.31
preparing for a
grand opening event.
00:16:18.31\00:16:21.04
We had a bouldering competition,
00:16:21.04\00:16:23.71
and it was kind of a
sneak peek for all the climbers
00:16:23.71\00:16:26.78
in this area, and
what was really amazing is,
00:16:26.78\00:16:29.52
we had over 200 people show up
00:16:29.52\00:16:32.19
and the only advertisement
we did was word of mouth
00:16:32.19\00:16:34.69
and through social media
and it was absolutely amazing,
00:16:34.69\00:16:37.76
we had 75 competitors show up.
00:16:37.76\00:16:40.10
The competition lasted for what?
00:16:40.10\00:16:43.30
Almost 12 hours and people
stayed through the whole thing,
00:16:43.30\00:16:47.14
it was just a great
day, it was a huge success.
00:16:47.14\00:16:49.84
(inspirational music)
00:16:49.84\00:16:53.54
(crowd cheering)
00:16:53.54\00:16:56.38
(crowd cheering)
00:17:01.55\00:17:04.35
(crowd cheering)
00:17:12.69\00:17:15.50
- Yesterday, we had
over 200 people coming,
00:17:18.90\00:17:20.57
and 80% of them we didn't
know, we never met before,
00:17:20.57\00:17:24.51
and they're from
various walks of life.
00:17:24.51\00:17:26.37
It affords us an opportunity
to connect with those people.
00:17:26.37\00:17:29.78
I would've never met
probably any of them,
00:17:29.78\00:17:32.71
if it hadn't been
for them coming here.
00:17:32.71\00:17:34.78
They aren't people that
I'm interacting with everyday,
00:17:34.78\00:17:37.12
they're not in my circle
of influence, you could say.
00:17:37.12\00:17:40.16
But this facilitated
and opportunity to build a
00:17:40.16\00:17:43.93
connection, to build a
relationship and to be able
00:17:43.93\00:17:45.53
to broaden that
and strengthen that
00:17:45.53\00:17:47.13
into a relationship become.
00:17:47.13\00:17:48.73
- In Asia, it's definitely
true that you are the only Bible
00:17:48.73\00:17:52.90
some people will ever read.
00:17:52.90\00:17:54.84
And because they're
so experiential based,
00:17:54.84\00:17:58.37
they learn
about God through you.
00:17:58.37\00:18:01.31
- We told everyone
that we were shutting down
00:18:02.81\00:18:04.95
on Friday evening and we weren't
going to continue working.
00:18:04.95\00:18:08.02
They were all very confused,
00:18:08.02\00:18:09.12
they said, you're not ready yet
00:18:09.12\00:18:10.15
and they were not
gonna work on Saturday,
00:18:10.15\00:18:11.89
they said, you're
not ready to be open yet.
00:18:11.89\00:18:13.76
You have to open Sunday
morning at eight o'clock,
00:18:13.76\00:18:15.89
how are you gonna close down?
00:18:15.89\00:18:17.23
I said, you know what,
God is gonna work it out,
00:18:17.23\00:18:18.56
but He's asked us to rest
and so we're going to do that.
00:18:18.56\00:18:20.83
So we're giving opportunities
through these experiences
00:18:20.83\00:18:24.40
to witness to
people without using words,
00:18:24.40\00:18:27.24
without sitting down
and studying the Bible,
00:18:27.24\00:18:29.34
but we're giving
them an understanding
00:18:29.34\00:18:31.07
and a real
picture of how God works.
00:18:31.07\00:18:33.78
- [Jessica] We're so glad
that God has given us a ministry
00:18:35.28\00:18:38.18
that is fun, because
Thai people wanna have fun.
00:18:38.18\00:18:41.42
- They're also
very focused on health,
00:18:41.42\00:18:43.15
because they're having
all these lifestyle diseases
00:18:43.15\00:18:46.02
on the rise, coming up
and they don't know anything
00:18:46.02\00:18:49.09
to deal with
them, they don't know,
00:18:49.09\00:18:50.19
the doctors don't
know how to deal with it,
00:18:50.19\00:18:51.96
nobody knows how to
deal with these things,
00:18:51.96\00:18:53.96
they don't think that
there's any connection
00:18:53.96\00:18:55.30
to their lifestyle and so
we have something that's fun,
00:18:55.30\00:18:58.13
but it also
addresses a felt need,
00:18:58.13\00:19:00.24
a need that is
clearly out in the public.
00:19:00.24\00:19:02.27
So it gives us an
opportunity to bridge both
00:19:02.27\00:19:04.74
of those things and
they're interested in it.
00:19:04.74\00:19:07.08
Throughout this
process, there've been so many
00:19:08.54\00:19:11.18
challenges. And
there've been ups and downs,
00:19:12.28\00:19:13.58
but every time
we're at a bottom,
00:19:13.58\00:19:15.82
it's a point where God, I feel
personally calls me to prayer
00:19:15.82\00:19:19.12
and reminds me that
I'm focusing too much
00:19:19.12\00:19:21.16
on what I can do, and
it's almost immediately,
00:19:21.16\00:19:24.13
I stop and I pray and God
comes through with something
00:19:24.13\00:19:26.63
that's completely
disconnected, it's not somebody
00:19:26.63\00:19:28.46
that I talk to and have
told them these problems,
00:19:28.46\00:19:30.33
it's somebody who just
randomly sends a message
00:19:30.33\00:19:33.20
and says, we felt
pressed that you need this help.
00:19:33.20\00:19:35.60
And so we're gonna send this,
00:19:35.60\00:19:37.27
and so God has just worked
00:19:37.27\00:19:38.37
in so many
amazing ways like that.
00:19:38.37\00:19:40.14
(chattering)
00:19:40.14\00:19:42.61
- I love that shot,
that smile at the end.
00:19:48.75\00:19:50.79
- Yeah, and Brian
and Jessica's passion
00:19:50.79\00:19:52.99
and their ability to connect,
it's just a beautiful thing.
00:19:52.99\00:19:56.76
- Right.
00:19:56.76\00:19:57.83
- And their
testimony of how God has led
00:19:57.83\00:19:59.19
and directed, yeah, by their
faith has done amazing stuff.
00:19:59.19\00:20:04.47
- Right.
00:20:04.87\00:20:06.00
- So you can see
how this draws people in
00:20:06.00\00:20:07.27
and provides an
opportunity to make connections
00:20:07.27\00:20:09.90
and in Thailand especially,
00:20:09.90\00:20:11.84
it's the
connections that matter.
00:20:11.84\00:20:14.01
- Right, so part
of what they're doing
00:20:14.01\00:20:15.74
with the climbing
wall is taking people out
00:20:15.74\00:20:18.65
into the country
to learn how to climb,
00:20:18.65\00:20:22.25
but also to be out in
nature, away from the city.
00:20:22.25\00:20:25.32
- Yeah, and it's
an all day event,
00:20:25.32\00:20:26.89
they drive out early
morning, climb most of the day
00:20:26.89\00:20:29.39
and then drive
back, a huge bonding time.
00:20:29.39\00:20:32.03
And Brian talks about
that in this next video.
00:20:32.03\00:20:34.56
- Okay.
00:20:34.56\00:20:36.06
(inspirational music)
00:20:36.06\00:20:39.20
- F5 is actually the
refresh key on a computer.
00:20:46.34\00:20:48.71
And so, the idea is
that, we have this here,
00:20:48.71\00:20:52.31
people can come and kind of
learn and practice climbing,
00:20:52.31\00:20:55.02
but the real goal is that
once a month we take a trip.
00:20:55.02\00:20:57.99
We go outside of the
city, there's a few places
00:20:57.99\00:21:00.09
within three hours of here,
00:21:00.09\00:21:01.49
where there's some
really awesome outdoor climbing,
00:21:01.49\00:21:03.22
but then we can take people out,
00:21:03.22\00:21:04.26
we can do a
weekend camping trip,
00:21:04.26\00:21:05.83
get these people
away from the city,
00:21:05.83\00:21:07.20
a lot of these people
have not even left this area
00:21:07.20\00:21:08.93
of town, let
alone this giant city,
00:21:08.93\00:21:11.80
so get them out to
where they can be in nature,
00:21:11.80\00:21:14.07
see God's creation and
it gives us opportunities
00:21:14.07\00:21:16.64
to talk to them about
God, we do worships with them
00:21:16.64\00:21:18.91
in the morning and evening.
00:21:18.91\00:21:20.28
The main important thing
is building a relationship
00:21:20.28\00:21:23.88
and when you're at
the bottom of a rope
00:21:23.88\00:21:25.61
and you're holding that rope
00:21:25.61\00:21:27.02
and you're the only reason why
that persons isn't gonna fall
00:21:27.02\00:21:29.28
down and bust their
head open on a rock,
00:21:29.28\00:21:32.25
it really builds a
trust and a connection.
00:21:32.25\00:21:35.09
Our climbing trainer
yesterday was telling me,
00:21:35.09\00:21:38.46
I was trying to test and see
00:21:38.46\00:21:39.56
if the guys were
paying attention,
00:21:39.56\00:21:41.00
and so I didn't tell
them I was gonna fall
00:21:41.00\00:21:42.43
and I just let go
and dropped off the wall.
00:21:42.43\00:21:44.37
And I'm thinking
that was a terrible idea,
00:21:44.37\00:21:46.47
'cause what if they
weren't paying attention,
00:21:46.47\00:21:47.77
you would've went
down, but even in that,
00:21:47.77\00:21:49.50
it's building trust.
00:21:49.50\00:21:50.91
I mean, he's building
trust with the workers,
00:21:50.91\00:21:52.87
the workers are
building trust with him.
00:21:52.87\00:21:54.41
It builds a lot of that trust
that is an important factor
00:21:54.41\00:21:57.81
in being open
to spiritual things
00:21:57.81\00:21:59.78
and these different
ideas that are contrary
00:21:59.78\00:22:02.68
to what they've
grown up believing.
00:22:02.68\00:22:04.39
(gentle violin music)
00:22:04.39\00:22:07.62
One of the lessons that I
gave the workers was to ask,
00:22:20.80\00:22:23.91
what spiritual
lessons did you learn
00:22:23.91\00:22:25.71
from our last climbing trip
00:22:25.71\00:22:26.78
when we went out and
you went onto a mountain
00:22:26.78\00:22:28.24
and climbed in a cave?
00:22:28.24\00:22:29.58
And they were all kinda
like, oh, but one guy was like,
00:22:29.58\00:22:31.28
"Oh, I can tell you",
and he talked for 10 minutes,
00:22:31.28\00:22:33.78
he's like, "I've
been thinking about this",
00:22:33.78\00:22:34.88
the rope is like
this and it's God's mercy
00:22:34.88\00:22:37.35
and I mean, he's
explaining all these things
00:22:37.35\00:22:39.65
and he finished and
he's kinda looking at me,
00:22:39.65\00:22:41.56
I said, good, the next time
we take a group of people out,
00:22:41.56\00:22:43.79
you're sharing that with them.
00:22:43.79\00:22:45.16
He's thinking about that and
so he's getting an opportunity
00:22:45.16\00:22:48.30
to think about that and he
can share with other people
00:22:48.30\00:22:50.70
in a more personal
setting when they're talking
00:22:50.70\00:22:52.50
and it just gives
that opportunity to share
00:22:52.50\00:22:55.47
about these certain things.
00:22:55.47\00:22:57.01
That's the biggest door
that we brought into here,
00:22:57.01\00:22:59.91
is that door of trust
and like, I don't know
00:22:59.91\00:23:01.98
if I can really trust you,
00:23:01.98\00:23:03.24
are you trying to
take advantage of me,
00:23:03.24\00:23:05.08
everything here
is really tricky,
00:23:05.08\00:23:06.68
but when you fall
and somebody catches you,
00:23:06.68\00:23:09.18
it's like, okay, I
think I can trust you,
00:23:09.18\00:23:11.62
and so it breaks
down that big barrier
00:23:11.62\00:23:14.46
and leads to open
discussion about other things.
00:23:14.46\00:23:18.19
- Hey, wow.
00:23:18.19\00:23:20.60
(laughing) (gentle music)
00:23:20.60\00:23:25.53
- Pretty cool, huh?
00:23:32.67\00:23:33.71
- yeah, that's really neat.
00:23:33.71\00:23:35.01
- Yeah.
00:23:35.01\00:23:36.34
- What an opportunity for
people to get out of the city.
00:23:36.34\00:23:38.48
- Yeah, and so if
somebody comes with them
00:23:38.48\00:23:40.48
to go out to this climbing
event out in the country,
00:23:40.48\00:23:43.85
they might be
the only Christians
00:23:43.85\00:23:46.12
that those people have
ever known or interacted with.
00:23:46.12\00:23:49.49
- Right.
00:23:49.49\00:23:50.86
- They can get a real picture
of what Christianity can do.
00:23:50.86\00:23:52.86
- Right.
00:23:52.86\00:23:54.36
- And they've got
stories of people going out
00:23:54.36\00:23:56.20
and never have gone
rock climbing before
00:23:56.20\00:23:59.53
and they come back and they
say what a great time they had.
00:23:59.53\00:24:02.97
One young lady
went out in the morning
00:24:02.97\00:24:05.51
and she was not
interactive, she was kinda sulky
00:24:05.51\00:24:08.81
and she just
warmed up during the day
00:24:08.81\00:24:10.81
and then she texted
her friend that evening,
00:24:10.81\00:24:12.61
she said, wow, I wish,
I had such a great time,
00:24:12.61\00:24:15.02
I wish I hadn't spend all
night drinking the night before.
00:24:15.02\00:24:17.92
- Yeah. - You know?
00:24:17.92\00:24:19.05
I would've been
able to enjoy it better.
00:24:19.05\00:24:20.42
And so there's
these positive things
00:24:20.42\00:24:22.52
that are already happening.
00:24:22.52\00:24:23.59
And it's still a
brand new ministry.
00:24:23.59\00:24:25.26
- [Natalie] Right, so we
have a few other pictures
00:24:25.26\00:24:27.46
from when they
went out climbing,
00:24:27.46\00:24:29.10
we'll just go
through those quickly.
00:24:29.10\00:24:30.87
Just different people, climbing,
00:24:30.87\00:24:33.37
different looks and views and--
00:24:33.37\00:24:35.57
- [John] Lotsa ropes
and they get up pretty high.
00:24:35.57\00:24:39.14
- [Natalie] Yeah, they
do, I don't think I wanna go
00:24:39.14\00:24:41.31
climbing with them
there. (John laughing)
00:24:41.31\00:24:43.21
Although it's a lot of fun
at the climbing wall itself,
00:24:43.21\00:24:45.61
learning how to use
the equipment properly,
00:24:45.61\00:24:48.02
learning how to tie
the knots they have to tie,
00:24:48.02\00:24:50.59
learning how to
belay each other and depend
00:24:50.59\00:24:53.09
on each other, these things
are all really important skills.
00:24:53.09\00:24:56.62
- [John] Especially
even for the Thai team.
00:24:56.62\00:24:58.63
The Thai, his own employees,
for learning all these skills
00:24:58.63\00:25:02.66
and also learning
the spirit of outreach
00:25:02.66\00:25:05.50
and friendship
building for the kingdom.
00:25:05.50\00:25:09.14
- Right. - Yeah.
00:25:09.14\00:25:10.64
- Yeah, there's some
good challenges there
00:25:10.64\00:25:12.34
from what
they've described to us.
00:25:12.34\00:25:13.84
- Yeah.
00:25:13.84\00:25:15.08
It's a very non-traditional
form of outreach.
00:25:15.08\00:25:18.01
But we're told that we
should try every method.
00:25:18.01\00:25:21.25
- Right.
00:25:21.25\00:25:22.25
- To arrest the
attention of the people
00:25:22.25\00:25:23.72
and to make those connections.
00:25:23.72\00:25:25.85
- Yeah, also the area
for health ministry meetings
00:25:25.85\00:25:29.46
and things like that is
unfinished at this point.
00:25:29.46\00:25:32.09
So, that's another opportunity.
00:25:32.09\00:25:34.46
- But you can imagine
00:25:34.46\00:25:35.53
that all these
different ministries is too much
00:25:35.53\00:25:37.83
for one man to do,
especially with three kids
00:25:37.83\00:25:41.37
and one of them
being a brand new baby.
00:25:41.37\00:25:42.94
- Right,
Jessica's hands are full.
00:25:42.94\00:25:44.97
- And they're
stretched to the limit.
00:25:46.84\00:25:48.68
And so they're
really praying for God
00:25:48.68\00:25:51.85
to provide more
workers, especially workers
00:25:51.85\00:25:54.28
with business
skills or experience
00:25:54.28\00:25:57.45
with restaurant management,
and that type of thing.
00:25:57.45\00:26:02.22
- The last picture we
have shows the baked goods
00:26:02.22\00:26:04.63
that have come out of the oven.
00:26:04.63\00:26:05.76
We have a friend from
America that went over
00:26:05.76\00:26:08.40
and taught the team
how to bake different types
00:26:08.40\00:26:11.27
of breads, different
types of crusts for pizzas
00:26:11.27\00:26:14.24
and stuff like that, and
he's a very talented chef
00:26:14.24\00:26:18.37
and so, it was a
great thing for this team,
00:26:18.37\00:26:21.54
and he empowered
them and so they've begun,
00:26:21.54\00:26:25.08
actually making their own
recipes which is really neat.
00:26:25.08\00:26:27.72
- And they take them out
and sell them out on the street,
00:26:27.72\00:26:30.39
and they go to
different expos or fairs
00:26:30.39\00:26:33.09
and they sell them there,
and it's doing quite well,
00:26:33.09\00:26:36.56
they're very
popular items to sell.
00:26:36.56\00:26:39.86
So we need to really pray
00:26:39.86\00:26:41.43
that the Lord
will provide the people
00:26:41.43\00:26:43.63
and resources they need
to make this large investment
00:26:43.63\00:26:46.90
of time, effort, money, people,
00:26:46.90\00:26:49.04
to really come to fruition
and be all that it can be.
00:26:49.04\00:26:52.04
When we say the word,
missionary, we always think
00:26:52.04\00:26:54.64
of somebody in the jungle.
00:26:54.64\00:26:55.74
But what about
the concrete jungle?
00:26:55.74\00:26:57.98
Over half the world
lives in cities now.
00:26:57.98\00:27:00.92
We should go
where the people are.
00:27:00.92\00:27:02.55
And so Bangkok is a huge city.
00:27:02.55\00:27:05.72
My first time there was in 1969.
00:27:05.72\00:27:08.16
I was five years old,
and my dad took pictures,
00:27:08.16\00:27:11.86
took slides, and on one of
the slides I was looking at,
00:27:11.86\00:27:14.83
recently, my mom had
written, how are we gonna reach
00:27:14.83\00:27:18.50
this city of 3 million people?
00:27:18.50\00:27:20.67
- Three. - Now it's 12.
00:27:20.67\00:27:23.64
So we really need to do
something, we really need
00:27:23.64\00:27:25.91
to support the
hands of these people
00:27:25.91\00:27:27.68
that have stepped out by faith,
00:27:27.68\00:27:29.08
and invested their
life and their kids' lives
00:27:29.08\00:27:31.15
into reaching the city.
00:27:31.15\00:27:33.55
- Right.
00:27:33.55\00:27:34.88
If you would like to
help this awesome ministry
00:27:34.88\00:27:37.89
or you know someone
with restaurant or business
00:27:37.89\00:27:41.12
experience, please contact us at
Jesus for Asia, P.O. Box 1221,
00:27:41.12\00:27:45.96
Collegedale, Tennessee, 37315.
00:27:45.96\00:27:49.66
Call us at 423 413 7321.
00:27:49.66\00:27:53.74
Or visit our
website at Jesus4asia.org.
00:27:53.74\00:27:57.14
Please remember to
pray for Brian and Jessica
00:27:57.14\00:27:59.61
and their family as they work
00:27:59.61\00:28:01.41
to reach the
unreached in Bangkok.
00:28:01.41\00:28:03.51
May God bless you,
until we see you next time
00:28:03.51\00:28:06.72
on Jesus For Asia Now.
00:28:06.72\00:28:08.35
(dramatic music)
00:28:08.35\00:28:11.15