(upbeat music)
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- Hello and welcome
to Jesus for Asia Now.
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I'm Natalie Wood and my
husband John is joining me today
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as we talk about a
new place in Thailand,
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where we're working
under this new approach
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to outreach and church planting.
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Hello, love. - Hi
darling, how are you?.
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- I'm doing good, I'm
looking forward to this show
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because there's a lot to share.
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- That's exciting.
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- Right, now we're
talking about Thailand.
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- Uh-huh. - And
we're talking about
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a new place. - Yep
and a new approach.
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- Do you wanna start us out with
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why we're doing
this new approach?
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- This is born
out of a frustration
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of traveling through Thailand
hour after hour in the car
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or in the bus
passing city after city
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with no
Adventists presence at all.
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And thinking, wow,
what's it gonna take
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to reach all these places?
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And we don't have the resources,
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we don't have the
manpower, we don't,
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and what's gonna work?
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I mean, you plant a ministry,
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but who knows if it's
actually gonna take off
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and be successful.
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So it's like,
Lord, what do we do?
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And in 2012, I was in a
tour group when we stopped
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in the city of Sukhothai,
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because it was the,
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it's the ancient
capital of Northern Thailand.
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And so there's all these ruins.
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Beautiful place, but there's
this modern city right there.
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35,000 people, no
Adventists presence.
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That shouldn't be.
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It should not be.
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That should not be.
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I mean, we're in a
time in earth history
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where that
should not be anymore.
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2000 years after
Christ resurrection
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and we're just
sitting bound by thinking
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that we can't do this.
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God's gotta have a way.
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If he says, "Go
into all the world."
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Behind that word go is
all the power of the universe,
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all the power of
God to make it happen.
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So what are we doing wrong?
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- That's a good question.
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- Yeah, yeah and so we thought,
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well, we don't have the power,
we don't have the resources,
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we don't have
the intelligence to-
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- The wisdom, the understanding,
none of those things.
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- Exactly but- - God does.
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- Exactly, so what should we do?
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- We should ask him.
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- Exactly, I mean,
it sounds so simple.
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- I know, but it's somehow-
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- Somehow we
just work in our own-
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- We do pray- - [Jon] Yeah.
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- But many times we've prayed
for him to bless our plans.
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You know, we look
around and we try to figure out
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what the need is or whatever.
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What we should do somewhere
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and then we ask
him to bless our plans.
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- Exactly. - We don't start out
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from the very
beginning with the understanding
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that we need him
first and foremost.
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In each step of the way
not just to make the plans
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or to bless plans, but in
each step of the way we need
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to put him back in
charge of his work.
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And what does Jesus say?
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The harvest is great,
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but the laborers are few.
- But the laborers are few.
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- Therefore work harder.
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(Jon and Natalie laughs)
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- No, therefore pray.
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- Pray. - [Natalie] Yeah.
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- The Lord of the harvest
that he send forth laborers.
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Now that word sent forth
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is more violent than
just, "Oh, would you like to go?
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Oh, you should go."
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It was more like a
forcibly eject people into-
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- Right, kicking them out
there into the mission field.
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(Jon laughing)
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I guess that might
be a little harsh but-
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- Well, it's sounds harsh.
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- It's kind of a throw them out
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into the mission
field kind of perspective.
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- Yeah, it sounds abrupt
but after what we've seen,
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the majority of people that go
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or get pushed out into the
mission field are thankful.
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- Right, but they kind of,
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some of them go
kicking and screaming.
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- Yeah.
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- And some of them,
there are so many obstacles.
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They're like, "Man,
this can not be God's will."
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And they have to fight
through every obstacle.
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God is this really your will?
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So they know whether or
not the obstacle is something
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that needs to
be overcome, right.
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- From God
telling them not to go.
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- Or God's
telling them not to go.
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- Yeah. - Yeah.
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So part of the
challenge in Sukhothai
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like you were talking about
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is that it's the
central Thai people.
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- Right. - And our church,
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the Adventist church has done-
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- Well, Christianity in general.
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- Okay. - Has done poorly
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in places where there's
already an established religion.
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And when there's like the
central core people group,
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majority people group,
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the Christianity has
done well in the hill tribes
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and the animists and
islands and places like that
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where it's sparsely populated.
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Hasn't done so well in
places where there's out,
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they already have
a strong religion,
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they already have
societal standards and norms
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and everything like that.
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Already established, people
feel like everything's fine,
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especially in
the prosperous areas.
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- Okay.
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- But God still
loves those people.
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He still cares about them.
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- Yes, he does.
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- [Jon] Yeah. - So much.
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- And so we should to. - Right.
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(Jon laughs)
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- Yeah. - Right.
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So that's one of the challenges.
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The other
challenge is on our side
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as missionaries going
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or as missionary senders,
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we have this idea of
the missionary being-
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- The jungle
missionary whenever we-
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- Right, with the peace helmet.
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- Yeah, you know,
whenever we ask somebody,
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"Have you
considered being a missionary?"
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Immediately I can see in
their mind they are thinking,
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bamboo hut, you know, machete,
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you know, living very primitive
lifestyle, but the majority
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of the world's population
today lives in cities.
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And that's where we
should go to reach them.
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This is the model of the early,
New Testament Christianity.
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Paul went to the cities.
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He didn't go to the country
to do his evangelistic efforts,
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he went to the cities.
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Thessalonica, Ephesus, Colossus.
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All these places that
were the centers of literature,
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commerce, art, ideas
centers of all these places.
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And from there, that's
where he did his ministry
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and we tend to
avoid those places.
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And so we need to change
the way that we're thinking too.
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- Right, so we have a video
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where it's
introducing Kantharalak to us.
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- Okay, excellent.
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(gentle music)
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Many times we feel
discouraged when we see
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the huge need,
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entire cities without a
single Adventists presence.
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And we were asking,
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"God, how in the world are
we gonna reach all these cities?
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The way we've been
doing it is too slow."
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And we realized we need
to put him back in charge.
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And so we asked Him,
"Lord, what do we do?"
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And His main thing is
use your spiritual weapons
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'cause this is a spiritual
battle that we're doing,
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not a physical
battle, not a flesh battle.
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And so we started using prayer
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and we picked a city,
Sukhothai, it's in the north.
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No Adventists presence,
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no planner put any
Adventists presence in there.
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And so we just started praying
and the Lord did miracles.
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He brought a family,
sold everything in America
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and came over and
established something.
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And now they've
been there two years
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and the ministry
is just exploding.
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And it's amazing.
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And so then we said, "Okay,
the next city, Nakhon Sawan.
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We did a prayer walk
there not even a year ago
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and within a very
short time a young couple,
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Jonathan and Hannah
Hill felt God calling them
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to move to the city and God
did miracles to bring them here.
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And so we see the
success of putting God in charge
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and instead of planning
out what we're gonna do,
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we just pray.
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And now we're like,
"Okay, what's next?"
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(twinkling music)
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So I contacted my
good friend in Bangkok,
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he was from South Africa,
he and his wife moved here.
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He's pursuing his citizenship
because of his burden
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for the
unreached here in Thailand.
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So like, "Do you know any places
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where there's no Adventists?"
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He says, "Oh yeah, I
got three of them for you."
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So he listed Ko
Chang, which is an island,
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there's no Adventists presence.
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Bang Khun Thian,
which is a suburb of Bangkok
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and Kantharalak which is up
in the Northeast of Thailand,
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no Adventists
presence whatsoever.
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So we started
praying for those places.
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And in this last summer
a family has felt the call
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and is getting ready to go.
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And so with this
family preparing to move to
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Kantharalak, we wanted
to organize a prayer walk
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to always start opening doors
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and start calling
for the Holy Spirit
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to just fill the place and
start opening people's hearts
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and sensitizing their
hearts so that when they come,
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the Lord will do miracles.
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Like He has done in
Sukhothai and Nakhon Sawan.
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And will do in
the other places also.
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So that kind of lays out
the vision of what God has done
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and how we're moving
forward through prayer.
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- Right, so the next thing is
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that we scheduled a
virtual prayer walk,
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although it was
only partially virtual
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because Jonathan and
Hannah Hill went there
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and took, Abigail were with them
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and they actually
walked around the city
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while we were all on
Zoom praying together.
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- Yeah, and that was powerful.
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- [Natalie] Right. - Yeah.
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- And like you said,
there's nothing like magical
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or anything like that
in having this prayer walk.
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It's just that when
we're walking through,
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we're claiming the promises,
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we're seeing the
people who live there,
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we're seeing what
their lives look like
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and least on the outside,
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you know, we don't go
into people's homes usually
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and stuff like
that on the prayer call,
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but we're seeing little
glimpses into their lives.
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And we can
recognize that God knows them,
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God knows their life.
00:10:04.20\00:10:05.97
And we can pray for them
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as the person
with a face, you know?
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It puts faces on the
people we're praying for.
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And it's not just
some nebulous city
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of so many thousands of people,
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it's this lady
that we saw that was,
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you know, this man
that we saw that, you know?
00:10:20.38\00:10:22.88
And so we get glimpses into them
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and it makes it a lot more real
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and God's burden
can be placed on us
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to pray more for these people.
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- Yeah, and this is
how it actually works.
00:10:31.49\00:10:33.96
I mean, it actually works.
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And so we organized another
prayer walk for Kantharalak.
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- Right.
00:10:38.83\00:10:39.63
(birds chirping)
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(gentle music)
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- So we're here in Kantharalak.
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We're about to do
a virtual prayer walk
00:11:00.89\00:11:03.89
and I'm just getting connected.
00:11:03.89\00:11:05.46
We're gonna walk and
there's gonna be people
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from all over the
world praying for this city.
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- [Woman 1] I wanna praise
you that you care about each one
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of those individuals
that are passing on the street
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as if there was only
one of them on this planet.
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- [Man 1] Amen. -
[Woman 2] Loving father,
00:11:34.52\00:11:36.16
I pray that you will lead
the precious people of this city
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to paths that they do not know,
00:11:40.70\00:11:43.20
turn their darkness
to light before them
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and straighten
their twisting roots.
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- [Woman 3] Father in
Matthew:16-18 you tell us
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that the gates of hell
will not prevail against
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the forward
movement of your kingdom.
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And we thank you that you
have the power over this city.
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We ask that you take it
and that Satan will be removed
00:12:01.52\00:12:05.62
because you are
the Almighty God.
00:12:05.62\00:12:08.29
- [Woman 4] Father,
you have said in your word
00:12:11.56\00:12:14.83
that as many has received
Him to then gave me power
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to become the sons of God.
00:12:20.07\00:12:21.77
- [Congregation] Amen.
- [Woman 4] Given to them
00:12:21.77\00:12:23.91
that believe on His name.
00:12:23.91\00:12:25.94
- [Woman 5] Yeah. -
[Woman 4] Oh Father,
00:12:25.94\00:12:28.21
please prepare the
hearts of people in Kantharalak
00:12:28.21\00:12:33.21
the very ones
who are looking long
00:12:34.38\00:12:36.99
and like fishing and longing.
00:12:36.99\00:12:39.49
Lord, please prepare
their hearts to receive you.
00:12:39.49\00:12:44.06
- [Congregation] Amen.
00:12:44.06\00:12:45.76
- [Woman 7] Father
thank you the people sat
00:12:45.76\00:12:47.76
in darkness will see
great light and follow you
00:12:47.76\00:12:51.60
and they'll be in heaven.
00:12:51.60\00:12:53.34
- [Jonathan] We've just
finished a virtual prayer walk.
00:13:13.39\00:13:17.19
I was walking around
so that people could see
00:13:17.19\00:13:20.33
the people that
they were praying for,
00:13:21.46\00:13:22.73
the city that
they were praying for.
00:13:22.73\00:13:24.23
And it was really a
precious, precious time together
00:13:24.23\00:13:26.97
of praying for God
to work in this city
00:13:26.97\00:13:30.77
in the hearts
of the people here.
00:13:30.77\00:13:32.94
And as one of the
sisters prayed it,
00:13:32.94\00:13:34.81
it just really struck me.
00:13:34.81\00:13:36.38
She was praying
about how in the Bible,
00:13:36.38\00:13:39.58
you know, those who
were raised from the dead.
00:13:39.58\00:13:42.28
They're dead,
they cannot cry out,
00:13:42.28\00:13:44.12
they cannot call
for help, they're dead,
00:13:44.12\00:13:46.59
but someone else can
call and pray and cry out
00:13:46.59\00:13:50.06
and raise them up
and that's the same here.
00:13:50.06\00:13:53.33
People are spiritually dead,
they're in spiritual darkness.
00:13:53.33\00:13:56.03
They don't know that there's
a God that they can cry to
00:13:56.03\00:13:58.87
and receive help and receive
joy and peace and salvation
00:14:00.40\00:14:03.57
and eternal life.
00:14:03.57\00:14:05.11
And so we together there
was about 50 of us on the call,
00:14:05.11\00:14:09.04
we were those ones
crying out and praying for God
00:14:09.04\00:14:13.28
to bring light to this city.
00:14:13.28\00:14:15.68
And it was just a really,
really precious time together
00:14:15.68\00:14:19.15
of praying and I'm so
looking forward to seeing
00:14:19.15\00:14:22.59
what God is going to do
here because of those prayers.
00:14:22.59\00:14:27.56
- Beautiful, huh?
00:14:47.58\00:14:48.85
- Yeah, it makes
me homesick actually.
00:14:48.85\00:14:51.22
- [Jon] Really? - Yeah.
00:14:51.22\00:14:53.05
- We haven't
been to that city yet.
00:14:53.05\00:14:54.56
- No, but God has
given us the privilege
00:14:54.56\00:14:59.06
of meeting people like them.
00:14:59.06\00:15:02.06
And so it's like to me,
00:15:02.06\00:15:03.77
I see the little
lady with her cart
00:15:03.77\00:15:06.03
or I see the ladies cooking
on the side of the street
00:15:06.03\00:15:08.27
and I think about our
friend that makes orange juice
00:15:08.27\00:15:10.97
on the street in
Bangkok and I think,
00:15:10.97\00:15:13.14
you know, they're just like her.
00:15:13.14\00:15:14.68
They have a life, they have
children, they have parents,
00:15:14.68\00:15:17.81
they have, you know- - Cares.
00:15:17.81\00:15:19.48
- Yeah- - Concerns.
00:15:19.48\00:15:20.72
- Cares and concerns
and they need to know
00:15:20.72\00:15:22.38
the one who loves them so much.
00:15:22.38\00:15:23.72
- Yes, yes.
00:15:23.72\00:15:25.22
- And so anyway, God has given
us a privilege of traveling
00:15:25.22\00:15:29.09
and meeting people.
00:15:29.09\00:15:30.59
And so to us they are a lot
more real than to some people
00:15:30.59\00:15:33.90
that have never
gotten to travel.
00:15:33.90\00:15:35.76
And I think
that's a great privilege,
00:15:35.76\00:15:37.70
but it also is why
we have this burden
00:15:37.70\00:15:41.10
and we wanna share
it with other people
00:15:41.10\00:15:43.37
so they can see
the beauty of this love
00:15:43.37\00:15:46.34
that God can put in
your heart for other people.
00:15:46.34\00:15:48.64
- Right, you know, a lot of
people I hear is, are praying,
00:15:48.64\00:15:51.58
"Lord, please come soon."
00:15:51.58\00:15:53.65
But the sad fact is that if
Jesus came today, those people
00:15:53.65\00:15:58.09
that's game over for them.
00:15:58.09\00:16:00.66
They don't have any other option
00:16:00.66\00:16:03.56
that would be the
close of probation.
00:16:03.56\00:16:06.29
And I don't believe that all
of them will be lost, you know?
00:16:06.29\00:16:09.46
If, I think that Jesus
understands their situation.
00:16:09.46\00:16:13.37
- Right. - So
there will be a group
00:16:13.37\00:16:14.87
that's gonna end up in
heaven that has never heard
00:16:14.87\00:16:17.07
the name of Jesus before.
00:16:17.07\00:16:18.87
And then
there's gonna be a group
00:16:18.87\00:16:20.38
that will not make it to heaven
00:16:20.38\00:16:23.21
even though they have
heard the name of Jesus.
00:16:23.21\00:16:25.88
But then there's the third group
00:16:25.88\00:16:27.92
that will not be in
heaven unless they hear
00:16:27.92\00:16:30.29
the name of Jesus and that group
00:16:30.29\00:16:32.62
that's who Christ
came to earth for.
00:16:33.82\00:16:37.19
- Right, because
without the knowledge of Him,
00:16:37.19\00:16:40.96
without the light that
He brings into our lives-
00:16:40.96\00:16:43.40
- You can't just give up.
00:16:43.40\00:16:44.33
- You can't make the choice.
00:16:44.33\00:16:45.87
Yeah, they can't give up,
they can't make the choice
00:16:45.87\00:16:48.54
to choose Him because
they've never seen him,
00:16:48.54\00:16:51.17
they've never, not
that He can be seen,
00:16:51.17\00:16:53.58
but they don't know He
exists and they've never seen
00:16:53.58\00:16:56.01
that He's the one who's
been working in their lives.
00:16:56.01\00:16:58.65
Like our friend in Thailand.
00:16:58.65\00:17:00.62
We love this story
because she shared with us
00:17:00.62\00:17:02.25
after she learned about
God and she was converted.
00:17:02.25\00:17:06.19
She said, "I knew
there was someone helping me,
00:17:06.19\00:17:10.23
working for my good,
but I didn't know who it was
00:17:10.23\00:17:13.26
and now I know who it is."
00:17:13.26\00:17:14.66
- [Jon] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:17:14.66\00:17:15.93
- And we want them to
have that opportunity.
00:17:15.93\00:17:17.47
- Absolutely, so the question
is God did amazing miracle
00:17:17.47\00:17:22.47
and brought a
family to Sukhothai.
00:17:23.57\00:17:25.24
- Then another amazing miracle,
00:17:25.24\00:17:26.64
He brought a
family to Nakhon Sawan.
00:17:26.64\00:17:28.78
- Right. - Can He
do it a third time?
00:17:28.78\00:17:30.78
- Right, and the answer is?
00:17:30.78\00:17:32.98
- Yes. - Yes.
00:17:32.98\00:17:34.52
Because there's a family,
and they are a family of six,
00:17:34.52\00:17:39.09
parents and four children
00:17:39.09\00:17:40.59
and they are
headed for Kantharalak.
00:17:40.59\00:17:43.19
- That's right.
00:17:43.19\00:17:44.39
- They came to
Faith Camp this summer
00:17:44.39\00:17:45.83
and they had never
heard of Faith Camp.
00:17:45.83\00:17:48.00
They didn't know
what Faith Camp was,
00:17:48.00\00:17:49.56
but some friends
of theirs told them,
00:17:49.56\00:17:50.90
"You should go to Faith Camp."
00:17:50.90\00:17:52.87
And so they went not
knowing what to expect.
00:17:52.87\00:17:55.44
- Yeah, and halfway
through the meetings,
00:17:55.44\00:17:57.41
he had to go for a walk and say,
00:17:57.41\00:17:58.77
"Lord, what are
you trying to say?"
00:17:58.77\00:18:00.98
And so by the end of
Faith Camp they're like,
00:18:00.98\00:18:03.41
"Okay, God, I think
is calling us to go."
00:18:03.41\00:18:06.51
And so they've been
preparing, selling everything,
00:18:06.51\00:18:10.02
getting everything managed
00:18:10.02\00:18:11.42
so that they can
leave for Thailand.
00:18:11.42\00:18:14.89
- Right, and, you know,
they've had a lot of obstacles
00:18:14.89\00:18:18.26
on the way, but
they keep asking God,
00:18:18.26\00:18:20.63
"Is this an obstacle that
the devil throwing in our way
00:18:20.63\00:18:24.20
or is this an obstacle that
you're telling us not to go?"
00:18:24.20\00:18:27.30
Because they wanna
follow God's leading.
00:18:27.30\00:18:29.47
And each time
God has assured them,
00:18:29.47\00:18:31.71
"This was from somebody
else, keep moving forward."
00:18:31.71\00:18:34.98
And every time God
clears the obstacle.
00:18:34.98\00:18:37.38
And even when they
were on the prayer call,
00:18:37.38\00:18:39.08
they were traveling to
see some family members
00:18:39.08\00:18:41.28
and they had a tire
problem and they got off.
00:18:41.28\00:18:44.29
I mean, they were traveling
in a no man's land area,
00:18:44.29\00:18:47.12
they were having
trouble staying connected
00:18:47.12\00:18:48.72
that's kind of where
they were even in America.
00:18:48.72\00:18:51.23
And so they got off
the freeway the next exit
00:18:51.23\00:18:54.83
and there was a tire place there
00:18:54.83\00:18:56.67
and they could get them in
00:18:56.67\00:18:57.87
and they could
fix it right away.
00:18:57.87\00:18:59.63
And so it's like,
they're just seeing how God
00:18:59.63\00:19:02.17
is providing for them in
so many little and big ways.
00:19:02.17\00:19:06.07
- [Jon] Right, yeah. -
And it's just beautiful.
00:19:06.07\00:19:07.61
- Yeah, so they know
that when they go over there,
00:19:07.61\00:19:10.78
we've talked that
their primary purpose
00:19:10.78\00:19:13.38
is not to start a
ministry or plant a church.
00:19:13.38\00:19:16.92
- Right, it's not some certain
thing that their goal is.
00:19:16.92\00:19:21.22
- Right, their primary purpose
00:19:21.22\00:19:24.16
is to stay
connected with Christ.
00:19:24.16\00:19:25.99
- Right. - Yeah.
00:19:25.99\00:19:26.93
And host the holy spirit.
00:19:26.93\00:19:28.43
And just follow where He leads.
00:19:28.43\00:19:30.67
Now, they also feel
like they might end up
00:19:30.67\00:19:32.90
with some kind of
children's home also.
00:19:32.90\00:19:35.14
- So we have a
video from Jonathan
00:19:35.14\00:19:36.94
because the Lord has placed
a burden on Jonathan's heart.
00:19:36.94\00:19:39.57
- [Jon] Yes. - And so he wanted
00:19:39.57\00:19:41.51
to share his
burden with us also.
00:19:41.51\00:19:43.38
- Right, and I have
to say this really quick.
00:19:43.38\00:19:46.78
I love how this, that God
is, you know, when He moves,
00:19:46.78\00:19:51.19
He involves everybody. - Right.
00:19:51.19\00:19:52.95
- And so we all
have a place in this.
00:19:52.95\00:19:55.62
We don't have to be in Thailand
00:19:55.62\00:19:57.23
to pray for
Kantharalak, you know?
00:19:57.23\00:20:00.23
We can pray from
here and intercede.
00:20:00.23\00:20:02.96
And it's those prayers
that give God the permission
00:20:02.96\00:20:06.47
to do what he does over there.
00:20:06.47\00:20:07.97
- Right, and it also gives
us something to connect with
00:20:07.97\00:20:11.77
to keep praying.
00:20:11.77\00:20:13.27
So it's not a one-time thing.
00:20:13.27\00:20:15.48
But we are connected
now, we've seen it ourselves
00:20:15.48\00:20:18.48
and we keep praying for them.
00:20:18.48\00:20:20.42
And it's interesting too,
00:20:20.42\00:20:22.15
because we're
seeing how God leads
00:20:22.15\00:20:25.25
out of our weakness, you know?
00:20:25.25\00:20:26.79
- [Jon] Mm-hmm, yes.
- Because we're going in
00:20:26.79\00:20:28.82
and the focus is to
be connected with him.
00:20:28.82\00:20:31.86
So we're recognizing
that we don't know everything,
00:20:31.86\00:20:34.76
we don't have the wisdom,
00:20:34.76\00:20:36.03
we don't have the
financial resources,
00:20:36.03\00:20:37.73
we don't have
anything that's really needed
00:20:37.73\00:20:40.90
to do what needs
to be done there,
00:20:40.90\00:20:43.04
but we're recognizing
that out of that weakness,
00:20:43.04\00:20:45.21
He can show His strength.
00:20:45.21\00:20:47.71
He can lead and guide.
- Well, this is exactly
00:20:47.71\00:20:49.21
what happened with the first
family that went, the Norton's.
00:20:49.21\00:20:52.51
You know, they were
supposed to do six months
00:20:52.51\00:20:54.15
of language training and culture
training up in Chiang Mai
00:20:54.15\00:20:57.09
and then moved to Sukhothai,
but the Lord made it very clear
00:20:57.09\00:21:00.76
that he wanted
them there right away.
00:21:00.76\00:21:03.46
And so they went down
there and their weakness was
00:21:03.46\00:21:06.96
a means for
connecting with their neighbors.
00:21:06.96\00:21:10.27
Like they didn't know how
to buy the basic supplies.
00:21:10.27\00:21:13.67
And so their
neighbors were like,
00:21:13.67\00:21:14.84
oh, I'll take you to the store
00:21:14.84\00:21:16.44
and introduce them
to the store manager
00:21:16.44\00:21:18.44
and you give them a good price
00:21:18.44\00:21:20.21
and you take care of
these people and help them out.
00:21:20.21\00:21:22.08
So there's those connections
right away from their weakness.
00:21:22.08\00:21:25.51
- Yeah. - Yeah.
00:21:25.51\00:21:26.75
- And the
connections that they're seeing
00:21:26.75\00:21:28.48
and the connections that
Jonathan and Hannah are seeing,
00:21:28.48\00:21:31.29
it's just so amazing.
00:21:31.29\00:21:32.92
- Yeah, yeah, God is moving.
00:21:32.92\00:21:35.59
- [Natalie] Right. - Yeah.
00:21:35.59\00:21:37.13
- So speaking of Jonathan,
God has given him a burden
00:21:37.13\00:21:39.26
and he wanted to
share his burden with us.
00:21:39.26\00:21:41.26
- [Jon] Okay.
00:21:41.26\00:21:42.50
(gentle music)
00:21:42.50\00:21:45.07
- [Jonathan] Right
now, we're standing
00:22:06.35\00:22:07.62
in the middle of
the city of Kantharalak
00:22:07.62\00:22:10.49
in Eastern Thailand.
00:22:10.49\00:22:12.63
This is a relatively small
city of about 36,000 people,
00:22:12.63\00:22:16.33
but there is a
burden for this city to hear
00:22:16.33\00:22:20.07
the three angels messages.
00:22:20.07\00:22:21.90
(keys clacking)
00:22:24.94\00:22:28.14
There are no Seventh-day
Adventist churches here.
00:22:28.14\00:22:29.98
There is no one here
00:22:29.98\00:22:31.48
that is a
Seventh-day Adventist believer
00:22:31.48\00:22:33.62
or anyone here to proclaim
the three angels messages
00:22:33.62\00:22:38.62
to the precious people here.
00:22:38.62\00:22:40.96
And we believe that needs
to change because every person
00:22:40.96\00:22:45.96
on this earth,
including Kantharalak,
00:22:47.03\00:22:49.10
will hear the message
before Jesus can come back.
00:22:49.10\00:22:53.23
So this is
really, really important.
00:22:53.23\00:22:55.70
Now, how are we gonna
reach a city like this?
00:22:55.70\00:22:59.84
(birds chirping)
00:23:01.31\00:23:04.05
In this very
prophecy, it talks about
00:23:11.12\00:23:13.86
the power of a well-ordered,
well-disciplined family
00:23:13.86\00:23:18.43
and what that witness
tells of Christianity.
00:23:20.10\00:23:25.07
In fact, that it tells
more about Christianity
00:23:26.23\00:23:28.64
than all the sermons
that can be preached.
00:23:28.64\00:23:33.27
Now that's pretty powerful.
00:23:33.27\00:23:34.94
She also says that if
families would move to areas,
00:23:36.34\00:23:40.78
communities of
spiritual darkness,
00:23:40.78\00:23:44.22
they would be a light
00:23:44.22\00:23:45.49
and a great work
would be accomplished there.
00:23:45.49\00:23:48.46
So if there was a family
00:23:48.46\00:23:51.49
that came and just lived here,
00:23:52.46\00:23:55.60
(cars engines revving)
00:23:55.60\00:23:56.56
that family would tell more
00:23:56.56\00:24:01.27
on behalf of Christianity
00:24:01.27\00:24:03.67
than all the
preaching that could happen.
00:24:03.67\00:24:06.78
So there's great power in that
witness of Christ like living
00:24:06.78\00:24:11.78
and sharing with people.
00:24:12.51\00:24:15.12
And there happens to
be, not happens to be,
00:24:15.12\00:24:17.89
God has ordained
there to be a family
00:24:17.89\00:24:20.96
that is planning to come here.
00:24:20.96\00:24:23.09
The really
amazing thing about this
00:24:32.97\00:24:34.97
is we don't know
what it's gonna look like,
00:24:34.97\00:24:37.01
we don't know
what God's plans are.
00:24:37.01\00:24:38.44
The reason is God is
God and we're humans, right?
00:24:38.44\00:24:41.38
We can have all the
most amazing human plans
00:24:41.38\00:24:45.88
for reaching this city
00:24:45.88\00:24:47.12
and they could all
come to absolutely nothing.
00:24:47.12\00:24:49.72
But God, His thoughts
00:24:49.72\00:24:51.72
are as high as the
heavens are above our thoughts
00:24:51.72\00:24:54.42
and His ways are
that high above our ways.
00:24:54.42\00:24:56.66
And so God has
plans for this city
00:24:56.66\00:24:58.79
that are beyond
our wildest dreams.
00:24:58.79\00:25:01.90
And so it's
really just a matter of,
00:25:01.90\00:25:04.00
okay, we're gonna follow
God and see what, how he leads.
00:25:04.00\00:25:08.44
I wanna invite you
to pray for this family
00:25:11.61\00:25:14.61
that's planning to come
soon to this city to live here,
00:25:14.61\00:25:19.61
to be a light, to be
a conduit of blessing
00:25:20.78\00:25:25.12
that the Holy
Spirit can work through
00:25:26.25\00:25:27.49
to reach the
hearts of the people here
00:25:27.49\00:25:29.72
and to bring
light and truth to them.
00:25:29.72\00:25:33.43
- Wow, that's powerful.
00:25:48.44\00:25:50.68
- [Natalie] Yeah. -
Yeah, what God wants to do.
00:25:50.68\00:25:52.88
And, you know, as we surrender
our lives and live for him
00:25:52.88\00:25:55.72
and live for the
purpose of taking his truth
00:25:55.72\00:25:58.35
into the dark
places of the world,
00:25:58.35\00:26:00.86
life starts to take on meaning,
00:26:00.86\00:26:03.26
it starts to take on purpose.
00:26:03.26\00:26:04.89
And it's not just us
saying that we've seen this
00:26:04.89\00:26:07.50
over and over with
many families in the last,
00:26:07.50\00:26:10.23
over 15 years that Jesus
for Asia has been in existence
00:26:10.23\00:26:14.94
is that every family that
does that with whole heart,
00:26:14.94\00:26:18.37
whole heartedly serves
God and sacrifices everything
00:26:18.37\00:26:21.98
for that purpose,
what happens to them?
00:26:21.98\00:26:24.61
- Oh, they become happy.
00:26:24.61\00:26:25.81
(Jon laughs)
00:26:25.81\00:26:27.28
It's not that they
never have obstacles,
00:26:27.28\00:26:29.05
it's not that
they never have trials
00:26:29.05\00:26:31.22
and never go
through anything hard,
00:26:31.22\00:26:34.19
but they know that God
is working in their lives
00:26:34.19\00:26:37.66
and they can see it and they
have some amazing testimonies.
00:26:37.66\00:26:41.90
- Yeah, their faith just grows
00:26:41.90\00:26:43.87
and their experience with
Christ just grows like crazy.
00:26:43.87\00:26:46.50
- Right. - So praise God.
00:26:46.50\00:26:47.94
And this is why God has
given us this task, this work,
00:26:47.94\00:26:51.87
this opportunity, this
pleasure of taking the gospel
00:26:51.87\00:26:56.88
to the rest of
the world. - Right.
00:26:58.05\00:26:59.28
- So there's a
lot of opportunity.
00:26:59.28\00:27:00.62
And after these
cities there's gonna be more,
00:27:00.62\00:27:04.42
which means that
there's something for everybody.
00:27:04.42\00:27:07.32
You know, I used to think,
00:27:07.32\00:27:09.16
"Wow, so much to
do, it's overwhelming."
00:27:09.16\00:27:12.09
No, there's just
opportunities for everybody.
00:27:12.09\00:27:15.96
God has preserved these
unreached places and people for
00:27:15.96\00:27:20.97
us. There's still
something for us to do
00:27:22.17\00:27:24.44
and there's still a reason.
00:27:24.44\00:27:25.91
There's still people out
there that will accept Jesus
00:27:25.91\00:27:28.38
if we put that
effort into reaching them.
00:27:28.38\00:27:31.68
- [Natalie] Right. - Yeah.
00:27:31.68\00:27:32.88
- Right, well, I
would like to invite you
00:27:32.88\00:27:34.92
to be a part of God's plan
for these unreached places,
00:27:34.92\00:27:38.85
for these beautiful people
that He loves so very much,
00:27:38.85\00:27:42.32
just as much as he
loves each one of us.
00:27:42.32\00:27:45.29
If you would
like more information,
00:27:45.29\00:27:46.90
please contact us at
Jesus for Asia PO Box 1221,
00:27:46.90\00:27:51.87
Collegedale, Tennessee, 37315.
00:27:52.73\00:27:55.80
Call us at (423) 413-7321
00:27:55.80\00:28:00.24
or visit our
website @jesus4asia.org.
00:28:00.24\00:28:03.98
And may God richly bless
you until we see you next time
00:28:03.98\00:28:07.38
on Jesus for Asia Now.
00:28:07.38\00:28:09.55
(upbeat music)
00:28:09.55\00:28:12.12