(gentle music) 00:00:00.53\00:00:02.83 - Hello, and welcome to Jesus for Asia Now. 00:00:21.62\00:00:24.22 I'm Natalie Wood, 00:00:24.22\00:00:25.35 and my husband, Jon, is joining me today. 00:00:25.35\00:00:27.52 Hello, love. - Hi, darling. 00:00:27.52\00:00:29.02 How are you? 00:00:29.02\00:00:29.69 - I'm doing good. 00:00:29.69\00:00:31.06 I'm looking forward to sharing what we have to share today. 00:00:31.06\00:00:33.80 - We have some pretty amazing stories today. 00:00:33.80\00:00:35.70 - Yeah, and it's stories about a city 00:00:35.70\00:00:38.30 that's dear to our hearts. - [Jon] Right. 00:00:38.30\00:00:40.60 - Because so many people lived there. 00:00:40.60\00:00:42.34 - Yeah, and we spent some time there. 00:00:42.34\00:00:43.77 - [Natalie] Right. - And so 00:00:43.77\00:00:45.04 we know it more than just a city. 00:00:45.04\00:00:47.11 - Right, right. - [Jon] Yeah. 00:00:47.11\00:00:48.38 - So, which city are we talking about? 00:00:48.38\00:00:49.81 - Bangkok, Thailand. 00:00:49.81\00:00:51.08 - Okay, can you tell us a little bit 00:00:51.08\00:00:52.51 about Bangkok? - Sure. 00:00:52.51\00:00:53.92 Well, my family first went there in 1969. 00:00:53.92\00:00:57.62 - [Natalie] A few days ago. 00:00:57.62\00:00:58.89 (both laugh) 00:00:58.89\00:01:00.09 - Yes, and I remember parts of it. 00:01:00.09\00:01:02.06 I was five years old. 00:01:02.06\00:01:03.26 We were returning missionaries from New Guinea. 00:01:03.26\00:01:06.46 I don't know how many days we spent there, 00:01:06.46\00:01:08.00 but we rode on the klong, we rode an elephant, 00:01:08.00\00:01:11.53 we watched some dancers, and we went to little Thailand, 00:01:11.53\00:01:15.64 all that in the time that we were there. 00:01:15.64\00:01:18.04 And I remember it just being a really happy, fun time. 00:01:18.04\00:01:21.44 And I remember the front 00:01:21.44\00:01:23.28 of the Thailand Adventist Mission Headquarters building. 00:01:23.28\00:01:26.92 It's the same front when I went back 40 years later, 00:01:26.92\00:01:30.45 same front. - Wow. 00:01:30.45\00:01:31.82 - And then we went back to do mission work in Thailand, 00:01:31.82\00:01:35.52 and that's where we met Pastor Doug Van 00:01:35.52\00:01:37.53 in Bangkok. - Right, right. 00:01:37.53\00:01:38.89 - You were there, and we really connected with him. 00:01:38.89\00:01:42.10 I did a little video of him talking 00:01:42.10\00:01:44.43 about his passion for the city. 00:01:44.43\00:01:46.03 And I'd never met anybody that had a passion for this city. 00:01:46.03\00:01:49.60 - Right, we usually meet people with passions 00:01:49.60\00:01:51.91 for the country. 00:01:51.91\00:01:52.87 - Yeah, or passion for missions, 00:01:52.87\00:01:54.68 and then the country is where they prefer to go. 00:01:54.68\00:01:57.01 - [Natalie] Right. - But here's a person 00:01:57.01\00:01:59.01 that had a passion for the work in the city, 00:01:59.01\00:02:01.62 and it was very intriguing to me. 00:02:01.62\00:02:04.25 So, we did a whole entire television series on his work 00:02:04.25\00:02:08.92 in church planting in Bangkok. 00:02:08.92\00:02:10.89 - Right, it's called, 00:02:10.89\00:02:11.83 I Want This City. - Yes. 00:02:11.83\00:02:13.56 (gentle music) 00:02:13.56\00:02:16.20 And you can watch that on iwantthiscity.com. 00:02:19.03\00:02:21.60 - Right. - And in shooting that show, 00:02:21.60\00:02:23.20 I got to spend nine and a half months living in Bangkok. 00:02:23.20\00:02:26.01 And you came over there for four and a half months. 00:02:26.01\00:02:28.34 You and I and our two kids lived in two apartments. 00:02:28.34\00:02:31.65 - At the opposite ends 00:02:31.65\00:02:32.61 of the hall. - Yeah. 00:02:32.61\00:02:33.78 (both laugh) 00:02:33.78\00:02:34.88 Yeah, there were studio apartments. 00:02:34.88\00:02:36.52 - Right, one room. - So when we slept in one, 00:02:36.52\00:02:38.09 it was, we slept in one. - All of us, 00:02:38.09\00:02:40.29 all the four of us. - Yeah. 00:02:40.29\00:02:42.12 - It was quite tight. - [Jon] Yeah. 00:02:42.12\00:02:43.79 - Snugly. - So, in seeing his passion, 00:02:43.79\00:02:45.76 and spending that time in the city 00:02:45.76\00:02:47.93 and walking through the streets of the city, 00:02:47.93\00:02:50.77 my whole perspective on city ministry changed. 00:02:50.77\00:02:54.34 When I first was there, it's like I walked down the streets 00:02:54.34\00:02:57.24 and I would see man's success. 00:02:57.24\00:02:59.67 You know, the costly high-rises, 00:02:59.67\00:03:02.68 the expensive cars, 00:03:02.68\00:03:04.65 you know, everything seems to be man-made. 00:03:04.65\00:03:07.92 And so I started to feel like that was my, 00:03:07.92\00:03:10.59 like an acid bath on my faith. 00:03:10.59\00:03:13.12 I feel my faith eroding. - Yeah. 00:03:13.12\00:03:15.06 - And then after some time, 00:03:15.06\00:03:17.83 I remember one evening, I was standing out on the street, 00:03:17.83\00:03:21.33 it was at eight o'clock at night, 00:03:21.33\00:03:22.43 videotaping for the show and remember thinking, 00:03:22.43\00:03:25.17 "Wow, you know, I'm so far from God." 00:03:25.17\00:03:27.44 I didn't have very good devotions that morning. 00:03:27.44\00:03:30.01 And I felt like he was so far away. 00:03:30.01\00:03:31.87 I should just go back to my apartment, 00:03:31.87\00:03:33.54 pray, read the Bible, get back close to God. 00:03:33.54\00:03:36.34 And then I remembered something. 00:03:36.34\00:03:38.68 The Lord put a thought in my mind. 00:03:38.68\00:03:39.78 He says, "He pursued me before I pursued him." 00:03:39.78\00:03:43.95 And lo, I'm with you to the-- 00:03:43.95\00:03:46.86 - Ends of the earth. - Ends of the earth. 00:03:46.86\00:03:48.16 And this feels like the end of the earth, 00:03:48.16\00:03:50.29 but, so that means he's here. 00:03:50.29\00:03:53.33 And so when I stepped on that word by faith, 00:03:53.33\00:03:56.90 it's like, he showed up. 00:03:56.90\00:03:58.40 It's like, you know how he can be there with you always, 00:03:58.40\00:04:00.10 but sometimes he reveals his presence to you. 00:04:00.10\00:04:02.84 It's like he showed up in such a strong way. 00:04:02.84\00:04:04.71 I was almost like, "Whoa, what are you doing here?" 00:04:04.71\00:04:06.71 (both laugh) 00:04:06.71\00:04:07.84 And he says, "I'm where the need is. 00:04:07.84\00:04:09.54 I'm where the people are. 00:04:09.54\00:04:10.85 I'm where the people 00:04:10.85\00:04:11.88 with the greatest need are." - Wow. 00:04:11.88\00:04:13.25 - And so he was there, so that changed everything. 00:04:13.25\00:04:16.48 Now, I walked down the city streets, 00:04:16.48\00:04:19.09 and I see, "Wow, there's a person. 00:04:19.09\00:04:20.96 God died for that person." 00:04:20.96\00:04:23.93 And this is what-- - God loves them. 00:04:23.93\00:04:25.19 - This is what Pastor Van had said. 00:04:25.19\00:04:26.56 I'd asked Doug, "What do you see when you're in the city?" 00:04:26.56\00:04:30.70 He says, "I see people. 00:04:30.70\00:04:32.57 You know, I look at that high-rise, 00:04:32.57\00:04:34.00 I see people in there. 00:04:34.00\00:04:35.60 God loves those people." 00:04:35.60\00:04:37.04 And even in the open of the show, 00:04:37.04\00:04:38.54 he says, "I sense God's spirit hovering over the city." 00:04:38.54\00:04:41.68 - Yeah. 00:04:41.68\00:04:42.68 - [Jon] Such a different perspective. 00:04:42.68\00:04:44.15 - Yeah. - You know, 00:04:44.15\00:04:45.21 it's walking by faith, not by sight. 00:04:45.21\00:04:46.82 - Yeah. - And since then, 00:04:46.82\00:04:48.32 it's like, both of our hearts have just been moved 00:04:48.32\00:04:51.52 by the work, the need in Bangkok. 00:04:51.52\00:04:55.36 - Yeah, definitely. - [Jon] Yeah, yeah. 00:04:55.36\00:04:57.56 - All right, so we have some video today, 00:04:57.56\00:05:00.36 and let's go ahead and share this one. 00:05:00.36\00:05:01.96 This is one from Bangkok. - Okay. 00:05:01.96\00:05:04.67 (gentle music) 00:05:04.67\00:05:07.34 When I first came here, 00:05:11.37\00:05:13.14 I was five years old and my parents were coming back 00:05:13.14\00:05:16.04 from being missionaries in New Guinea. 00:05:16.04\00:05:18.35 And I have a slide, a picture of Bangkok, 00:05:18.35\00:05:22.65 and the slide has the paper around it, you know? 00:05:22.65\00:05:25.99 And on it, in my mother's handwriting, 00:05:25.99\00:05:28.29 she says, "Wow, how in the world are 00:05:28.29\00:05:30.86 we ever gonna reach this massive city of 3 million people?" 00:05:30.86\00:05:34.93 That was 3 million people in 1969. 00:05:34.93\00:05:37.37 Now, it's 13 million people. 00:05:37.37\00:05:39.27 Same question, how are we gonna reach the city? 00:05:41.54\00:05:45.17 It needs to be done. 00:05:45.17\00:05:46.37 Are we putting it off for somebody else? 00:05:47.44\00:05:49.84 (gentle music) 00:05:49.84\00:05:52.48 If we look at the New Testament model of reaching the world 00:05:55.75\00:06:00.22 with the gospel in a short amount of time, 00:06:00.22\00:06:02.62 we see Paul going to one city after another. 00:06:02.62\00:06:05.33 As far as we can tell, 00:06:05.33\00:06:06.59 he did all of his preaching work in the cities. 00:06:06.59\00:06:09.03 I think over 50% of the world lives in cities these days. 00:06:09.03\00:06:14.10 And so, if we're gonna reach the people, 00:06:15.17\00:06:17.84 then we need to go where the people are. 00:06:17.84\00:06:20.71 And yet today, it seems like when our missionaries think 00:06:20.71\00:06:23.85 about going to reach the world, 00:06:23.85\00:06:26.01 they think about going to the country. 00:06:26.01\00:06:28.02 (gentle music) 00:06:28.02\00:06:31.35 You know, when I first started filming the show, 00:06:31.35\00:06:33.82 I want this city, it was obviously in the city. 00:06:33.82\00:06:37.16 And I would walk through the city 00:06:37.16\00:06:39.69 and feel like my faith was going through like an acid bath. 00:06:39.69\00:06:43.53 Like, I could look around 00:06:43.53\00:06:45.13 and I see the work of man and the success of man 00:06:45.13\00:06:48.90 and God seemed far away, 00:06:48.90\00:06:50.94 and I couldn't really sense his presence. 00:06:50.94\00:06:54.51 But the pastor that I was filming, Pastor Doug Van, 00:06:54.51\00:06:58.41 he would say, "You know, 00:06:58.41\00:07:00.25 I sense God's spirit hovering over the city." 00:07:00.25\00:07:03.39 And I'm like, "Wow, I don't sense that." 00:07:03.39\00:07:06.79 And one night, I was walking down the street, 00:07:06.79\00:07:09.56 and I felt really distant from God. 00:07:09.56\00:07:12.13 Like, here's these high-rise buildings 00:07:12.13\00:07:14.56 that shows the success of man 00:07:14.56\00:07:17.00 and all these expensive cars going past 00:07:17.00\00:07:19.07 that I couldn't afford. 00:07:19.07\00:07:20.40 And I was kind of feeling like I should go back 00:07:20.40\00:07:23.10 to my apartment and read my Bible 00:07:23.10\00:07:24.91 and pray and get closer to God. 00:07:24.91\00:07:28.11 As I was standing there in the street corner, 00:07:28.11\00:07:29.78 I'm like, "You know what? 00:07:29.78\00:07:31.48 According to the word of God, he says, 00:07:31.48\00:07:33.35 'Lo, I am with you always, 00:07:33.35\00:07:35.48 even until the end of the world.'" 00:07:35.48\00:07:37.22 And I felt like I was at the end of the world. 00:07:37.22\00:07:39.72 But according to that statement that Jesus made, 00:07:39.72\00:07:43.12 he's at the end of the world, so he must be here. 00:07:43.12\00:07:45.79 And so I claimed by faith and realized that by faith, 00:07:45.79\00:07:48.63 that even though I didn't feel him, he was there. 00:07:48.63\00:07:50.93 He was here, he was here in Bangkok, 00:07:50.93\00:07:53.40 in the center of all this stuff. 00:07:53.40\00:07:54.90 And from then on, I walked through the city 00:07:54.90\00:07:56.67 and I'd see people, I'd see disorder, 00:07:56.67\00:07:59.54 I would see people in poverty, I would see smog. 00:07:59.54\00:08:03.21 Whatever I saw, 00:08:03.21\00:08:04.01 you know, brokenness, whatever, 00:08:04.01\00:08:05.58 I would say, "Wow, God's here. 00:08:05.58\00:08:07.05 God loves that person. 00:08:07.05\00:08:08.48 He's here, he's working with that person. 00:08:08.48\00:08:10.39 He's not afraid of the dirt, he's not afraid of the grime, 00:08:10.39\00:08:13.39 he's not afraid of the noise. 00:08:13.39\00:08:14.86 He can come into a situation of sin, of darkness, 00:08:14.86\00:08:18.69 and bring light into that situation 00:08:18.69\00:08:20.60 without being contaminated." 00:08:20.60\00:08:22.53 (gentle music) 00:08:22.53\00:08:25.17 You know, if we move in the strength and presence of God, 00:08:26.53\00:08:29.77 can he bring light into dark areas? 00:08:29.77\00:08:33.01 And can we live in that light instead of living 00:08:33.01\00:08:35.84 in what we see? 00:08:35.84\00:08:37.21 Can we walk in the faith of his presence and his power 00:08:37.21\00:08:41.55 into areas and bring the light of the gospel 00:08:41.55\00:08:43.55 into these areas? 00:08:43.55\00:08:44.92 You know, as it is in heaven, 00:08:44.92\00:08:47.22 you know, let it be on earth. 00:08:47.22\00:08:48.72 This is our assignment. 00:08:48.72\00:08:49.79 This is the great commission, 00:08:49.79\00:08:51.13 is to bring the reality of heaven, the spirit of heaven, 00:08:51.13\00:08:55.70 the principles of heaven into the darkest places on earth. 00:08:55.70\00:08:59.70 (gentle music) 00:08:59.70\00:09:02.37 - God is so good. - He is very good. 00:09:08.74\00:09:10.85 - And he desperately loves those people. 00:09:10.85\00:09:12.85 - Yeah, more than we can imagine. 00:09:12.85\00:09:15.12 He died for each one of them. - Yeah. 00:09:15.12\00:09:17.29 - While we were yet sinners, 00:09:17.29\00:09:19.05 they're yet sinners-- - [Natalie] Yeah. 00:09:19.05\00:09:20.66 - Christ died for them. - Yeah. 00:09:20.66\00:09:22.39 As a missionary friend, 00:09:22.39\00:09:23.53 was expressing just yesterday actually, 00:09:23.53\00:09:27.00 like they are still living the way they're living, 00:09:27.00\00:09:29.20 in the darkness that they're living in, 00:09:29.20\00:09:30.77 because we as a church, have not stepped up and done the job 00:09:30.77\00:09:34.44 that God gave us. - [Jon] Right, shame on us. 00:09:34.44\00:09:36.17 - And it's like, yeah, 00:09:36.17\00:09:37.54 it's not their fault that they're living in darkness, 00:09:37.54\00:09:39.54 that they're worshiping the way they're worshiping, 00:09:39.54\00:09:42.01 that they're living the way they're living, 00:09:42.01\00:09:43.71 it's our fault. - [Jon] Yeah. 00:09:43.71\00:09:44.98 - Because we have not told them. 00:09:44.98\00:09:46.41 - Right, right, but we still have a chance. 00:09:46.41\00:09:49.18 - [Natalie] Yeah, yeah. - You know, 00:09:49.18\00:09:50.89 the story's not over yet. - Right, right. 00:09:50.89\00:09:53.49 (indistinct) It's still not endgame. 00:09:53.49\00:09:55.06 - [Jon] No, not yet. - Probation has not closed. 00:09:55.06\00:09:57.29 - Yeah, so as many people as possible, 00:09:57.29\00:10:00.50 we need to push the message out there. 00:10:00.50\00:10:02.83 - [Natalie] Right. - Live the message. 00:10:02.83\00:10:04.10 - Right, so we have another video from Bangkok. 00:10:04.10\00:10:07.10 - Okay. 00:10:07.10\00:10:08.47 (gentle music) 00:10:08.47\00:10:11.11 You know, when I was filming Pastor Doug Van back 00:10:13.48\00:10:15.61 in 2010, 2011, 00:10:15.61\00:10:17.98 he had this project called Hope for Bangkok, 00:10:17.98\00:10:20.55 and he had church plants 00:10:20.55\00:10:22.55 where he would bring English-speaking person, 00:10:22.55\00:10:25.89 usually Filipino, and a Thai pastor, 00:10:25.89\00:10:29.16 put them together and rent a place, 00:10:29.16\00:10:32.29 like a center of influence type of place. 00:10:32.29\00:10:34.83 And they would do English lessons and different things 00:10:34.83\00:10:38.47 to try to connect and make friends with the local 00:10:38.47\00:10:41.60 community. And when Pastor Doug left and that program, 00:10:41.60\00:10:44.47 it was this GC-sponsored program, 00:10:44.47\00:10:46.24 when that program shut down, 00:10:46.24\00:10:48.48 there's a lot of places that just shut down. 00:10:48.48\00:10:51.51 And so those church plants aren't there anymore. 00:10:51.51\00:10:53.58 There's some, you know, 00:10:53.58\00:10:54.82 the local lay church member has carried it on 00:10:54.82\00:10:58.95 and done amazing. 00:10:58.95\00:11:00.06 God is really blessed. 00:11:00.06\00:11:01.39 But there's so many more here in Bangkok that it's like, 00:11:01.39\00:11:04.43 it's my dream to get that program going again. 00:11:04.43\00:11:08.56 (gentle music) 00:11:08.56\00:11:11.20 We visited the Ramkhamhaeng church plant 00:11:14.50\00:11:18.01 and we visited there when they were just shutting it down. 00:11:18.01\00:11:22.28 They had been asked to move by the owner of the building. 00:11:22.28\00:11:25.81 And they were supposed to go and find a new place 00:11:25.81\00:11:28.68 to put the church plant, but they never found another place, 00:11:28.68\00:11:32.19 and that was completely shut down. 00:11:32.19\00:11:35.39 Praise God, one of our friends from America saw that 00:11:35.39\00:11:40.46 and felt a heart burden and moved to Thailand, 00:11:41.63\00:11:44.50 and in Ramkhamhaeng, we rented a large building, 00:11:44.50\00:11:48.54 five story building. 00:11:48.54\00:11:50.41 And that is still there. 00:11:50.41\00:11:51.91 That couple had to go home to America, 00:11:51.91\00:11:54.48 but God arranged it in perfect timing 00:11:54.48\00:11:57.88 that another couple stepped in, 00:11:57.88\00:11:59.75 and now they are just now establishing 00:11:59.75\00:12:02.18 and starting to develop that ministry even farther. 00:12:02.18\00:12:05.75 And so that's one light in one community on one street. 00:12:05.75\00:12:10.29 They happen to be 400 feet from a university 00:12:10.29\00:12:12.83 with 500,000 people, so it's a pretty significant location. 00:12:12.83\00:12:17.40 But what about the other places? 00:12:18.70\00:12:20.20 Last I heard, there's 50 districts in Bangkok, 00:12:20.20\00:12:23.97 and the Adventist church is in maybe 22 of them. 00:12:23.97\00:12:26.78 So we think, how in the world could I reach 00:12:28.44\00:12:31.01 that many people? 00:12:31.01\00:12:32.31 Or we feel this burden, 00:12:32.31\00:12:33.68 like we need to finish the work so that Jesus can come. 00:12:33.68\00:12:36.58 What if we look at it like, 00:12:36.58\00:12:38.32 here's an opportunity for me to work closely with Christ 00:12:38.32\00:12:43.39 in taking the gospel to this place? 00:12:44.43\00:12:46.83 God has preserved these people for me. 00:12:46.83\00:12:50.03 I can pray for them, I can work for them, 00:12:51.27\00:12:53.94 I can cry for them. 00:12:53.94\00:12:55.77 I can let my heart break for them, maybe I can go for them. 00:12:55.77\00:13:00.21 But maybe God has preserved these unreached peoples 00:13:00.21\00:13:04.35 for this generation. 00:13:04.35\00:13:06.21 It's worth exploring. 00:13:06.21\00:13:07.52 It's a question worth exploring and saying, 00:13:08.65\00:13:11.52 "Lord, what do you have for me?" 00:13:11.52\00:13:14.66 (gentle music) 00:13:14.66\00:13:17.29 It's definitely a question worth exploring for each of us. 00:13:24.97\00:13:27.90 It's like, Lord, what do you have for me? 00:13:27.90\00:13:29.90 - Right. - Which is talking 00:13:29.90\00:13:30.71 to my friend who is 75, retired, 00:13:30.71\00:13:34.84 just got a call for full-time ministry to Indian tribes 00:13:34.84\00:13:38.51 in Northeast Montana. - Wow. 00:13:38.51\00:13:41.18 - He came to a faith camp and he's like, 00:13:41.18\00:13:42.88 "Wow, Lord, am I not done yet?" 00:13:42.88\00:13:45.99 At 75, his wife has some health challenges, 00:13:45.99\00:13:48.96 and then immediately, it's like within a few days, 00:13:50.33\00:13:52.06 he got this call, 00:13:52.06\00:13:53.70 "Can you come be a full-time pastor for three churches?" 00:13:53.70\00:13:56.40 - Wow. - District pastor. 00:13:56.40\00:13:57.60 And he's like, "Whoa, okay, Lord." 00:13:57.60\00:13:59.70 - [Natalie] Yeah. 00:13:59.70\00:14:00.87 - But he sees the Lord working out the details, 00:14:00.87\00:14:02.97 like a place to live through the winter, 00:14:02.97\00:14:04.64 and it's beautiful. 00:14:04.64\00:14:07.18 You know, the thing that we need as people is purpose. 00:14:07.18\00:14:11.98 And this is what God has given us 00:14:11.98\00:14:13.92 in the face of the unreached. - Right. 00:14:13.92\00:14:16.69 - And so with this huge opportunity, 00:14:16.69\00:14:18.82 this huge fast field where there's really, 00:14:18.82\00:14:22.76 almost no work being started, how do we approach that? 00:14:22.76\00:14:25.93 How do we deal with that? 00:14:25.93\00:14:27.13 I mean-- - Right. 00:14:27.13\00:14:28.63 - We can't be in all places at once. 00:14:28.63\00:14:30.63 - So, that's where what we were just talking 00:14:30.63\00:14:32.43 about comes into play, asking God 00:14:32.43\00:14:34.94 where we should be. - [Jon] Yes. 00:14:34.94\00:14:36.17 - Because God knows 00:14:36.17\00:14:37.34 where each worker should be. - [Jon] Right. 00:14:37.34\00:14:39.27 - And it's more than that, 00:14:39.27\00:14:40.81 asking God what kind of work we should do. 00:14:40.81\00:14:43.21 - [Jon] Yes. 00:14:43.21\00:14:44.21 - Asking God to provide for everything. 00:14:44.21\00:14:47.25 - Yes. - Our needs, 00:14:47.25\00:14:48.05 our circumstances, our housing, 00:14:48.05\00:14:50.02 our everything. - [Jon] Right. 00:14:50.02\00:14:52.15 - And that's what the Lord has been leading us into, 00:14:52.15\00:14:54.92 or back to or however you wanna put it. 00:14:54.92\00:14:57.69 That is that he's 00:14:57.69\00:14:58.69 in charge of his work. - [Jon] Right. 00:14:58.69\00:15:00.56 - And our job is to connect 00:15:00.56\00:15:02.36 with him and ask him. - Right. 00:15:02.36\00:15:04.03 - So, do you wanna share a little bit, 00:15:04.03\00:15:05.80 I know some of our viewers are familiar 00:15:05.80\00:15:08.07 with some of the stories, but let's reiterate anyway, 00:15:08.07\00:15:11.11 because it's really good for us to remember. 00:15:11.11\00:15:13.78 - We visited a city called Sukhothai 00:15:13.78\00:15:16.04 in the Northern end of the big central plane 00:15:16.04\00:15:18.38 of Thailand in 2012. - Right. 00:15:18.38\00:15:20.32 - And this is a beautiful city. 00:15:20.32\00:15:22.22 It's the old historic city. - [Natalie] Right. 00:15:22.22\00:15:25.12 - Capital of Northern Thailand, 00:15:25.12\00:15:26.76 way back before the big unification. 00:15:26.76\00:15:28.79 And I found out there's no Adventist there. 00:15:29.86\00:15:32.19 There's no church, there's no church planter. 00:15:32.19\00:15:34.20 So I started thinking, it's like, 00:15:34.20\00:15:35.30 "Lord, what can we do for that city?" 00:15:35.30\00:15:37.27 And then when we visited-- 00:15:37.27\00:15:38.37 - Yeah, the bus would stop there, 00:15:38.37\00:15:39.17 we'd hop off the bus, pray, 00:15:39.17\00:15:41.84 'cause we're claiming Joshua 1:3, 00:15:41.84\00:15:43.77 "Everywhere you put the sole of your foot 00:15:43.77\00:15:46.24 that have I already given you." 00:15:46.24\00:15:47.78 Then we'd get back on the bus and keep driving. 00:15:47.78\00:15:49.58 - And then I started thinking about that. 00:15:49.58\00:15:51.95 It's like, "Okay, what we're trying 00:15:51.95\00:15:53.28 to accomplish here is a spiritual goal, okay?" 00:15:53.28\00:15:57.62 It's, we're trying to connect people 00:15:57.62\00:15:59.75 with the heavenly Father who is unseen, 00:15:59.75\00:16:02.56 but we are trying to plan in earthly tools, okay? 00:16:03.93\00:16:08.36 A ministry, some kind of, 00:16:08.36\00:16:10.40 you know, all this, 00:16:10.40\00:16:12.00 well, what if we-- - Outreach. 00:16:12.00\00:16:12.97 What is our outreach plan? 00:16:12.97\00:16:14.27 What is our-- - Yeah. 00:16:14.27\00:16:15.60 And is it gonna be successful? 00:16:15.60\00:16:17.21 Because very few things are actually successful in Thailand. 00:16:17.21\00:16:20.71 We started thinking, "Well, if it's a spiritual goal, 00:16:22.08\00:16:23.81 shouldn't we start using spiritual tools?" 00:16:23.81\00:16:26.82 The most obvious spiritual tool is prayer. 00:16:26.82\00:16:28.95 - [Natalie] Right. - So we did some prayer walks. 00:16:28.95\00:16:31.39 Almost immediately, God answered by sending a family, 00:16:31.39\00:16:35.02 sold their house, moved to Thailand, 00:16:35.02\00:16:37.93 and we told them, "Your job is to connect with God." 00:16:37.93\00:16:41.93 - Right. - Stay connected with God, 00:16:41.93\00:16:43.70 anything else doesn't matter 00:16:43.70\00:16:45.20 as much as your connection with God, 00:16:45.20\00:16:47.14 because it's that spirit in them 00:16:47.14\00:16:49.97 that will make a difference. 00:16:49.97\00:16:51.81 Not their ministry, not their method, 00:16:51.81\00:16:54.58 not what they do, 00:16:54.58\00:16:55.71 it's the spirit that's in them. 00:16:55.71\00:16:57.38 And if they're a missionary, 00:16:57.38\00:16:59.01 but they have an evil spirit or a spirit of irritation-- 00:16:59.01\00:17:02.65 - If they're grumbling and complaining 00:17:02.65\00:17:04.12 or arguing or whatever. - [Jon] Exactly. 00:17:04.12\00:17:06.52 - The people are very sensitive-- 00:17:06.52\00:17:08.26 - Yeah. - That they're gonna see it. 00:17:08.26\00:17:09.52 - Yeah, in Thailand, 00:17:09.52\00:17:10.33 we don't need to convince people 00:17:10.33\00:17:11.36 that they're unseen spirits. - No. 00:17:11.36\00:17:14.30 - You know, here in America, 00:17:14.30\00:17:15.20 we do. - They know. 00:17:15.20\00:17:16.03 - But they know. 00:17:16.03\00:17:17.40 Some missionaries go over and they have the truth, 00:17:17.40\00:17:21.94 but they're kind of grumpy or they are not very friendly, 00:17:23.30\00:17:27.18 or they're critical. - [Natalie] Right. 00:17:28.28\00:17:28.94 - Things like that, 00:17:28.94\00:17:29.81 and it turns people off. - Right. 00:17:29.81\00:17:31.98 - So we told them, 00:17:31.98\00:17:32.81 "Your main job is 00:17:32.81\00:17:33.88 to connect with God." - [Natalie] Right. 00:17:33.88\00:17:35.68 - "Stay connected with God 00:17:35.68\00:17:37.92 and make that your main focus of your time there." 00:17:37.92\00:17:40.39 And so we saw God work in that city, 00:17:40.39\00:17:42.82 and then we saw him do the same thing 00:17:42.82\00:17:44.86 in another city. - Right. 00:17:44.86\00:17:45.93 - And we see him doing the same thing 00:17:45.93\00:17:47.76 in a third city-- - Right. 00:17:47.76\00:17:48.86 - As a result of this prayer walks. 00:17:48.86\00:17:50.73 And so we started saying, 00:17:50.73\00:17:51.60 "Where else can we go?" - Right. 00:17:51.60\00:17:53.90 - And so a missionary that lives there 00:17:53.90\00:17:56.30 from South Africa told us about a district in Bangkok 00:17:56.30\00:17:59.37 in which there's no Adventist Church, 00:17:59.37\00:18:01.21 and there may be no church of any denomination, 00:18:01.21\00:18:04.65 and it's Bang Khun Thian. 00:18:04.65\00:18:06.41 - [Natalie] Right. - Okay. 00:18:06.41\00:18:07.85 180,000 people, so not a big place. 00:18:07.85\00:18:10.95 - No, not a big place. 00:18:10.95\00:18:14.76 - And so recently, we organized a prayer walk 00:18:14.76\00:18:17.49 in that district. - Right. 00:18:17.49\00:18:19.53 So, what we've started doing with these prayer walks is 00:18:19.53\00:18:22.00 we invite people to join by video conference. 00:18:22.00\00:18:24.90 We set a time that works over there as well as over here. 00:18:24.90\00:18:28.34 And then as we have representatives 00:18:28.34\00:18:30.67 on the ground over there walking through the city, 00:18:30.67\00:18:32.91 some of them are on the video conference call. 00:18:32.91\00:18:36.21 And then the people that are 00:18:36.21\00:18:37.81 on the video conference call from over here, 00:18:37.81\00:18:40.22 can see where we're passing. 00:18:40.22\00:18:42.28 They see the people driving 00:18:42.28\00:18:43.55 by the people walking down the street, 00:18:43.55\00:18:45.25 whatever they're doing-- - Yeah. 00:18:45.25\00:18:46.72 - Wherever they are in the city, 00:18:46.72\00:18:48.19 they see those things 00:18:48.19\00:18:49.36 and then people can pray-- - [Jon] Yes. 00:18:49.36\00:18:51.56 - Along with wherever they are. 00:18:51.56\00:18:53.66 I mean, like in Nakhon Sawan when 00:18:53.66\00:18:56.03 we did the prayer walk there, we saw the giant dragon. 00:18:56.03\00:18:59.67 You know, we went through a park 00:18:59.67\00:19:01.44 and we saw person after person after person, 00:19:01.44\00:19:03.51 they're exercising and it's like, 00:19:03.51\00:19:04.87 well, you know, we don't know their circumstances. 00:19:04.87\00:19:06.84 - [Jon] Right. 00:19:06.84\00:19:07.91 - But God has known them from birth. 00:19:07.91\00:19:08.84 - Yeah. - And his delight is 00:19:08.84\00:19:10.61 for him to pour his spirit out in their lives, 00:19:10.61\00:19:12.61 for him to send the angels to touch them, you know. 00:19:12.61\00:19:15.18 This is God's delight. - Yes. 00:19:15.18\00:19:16.25 - And so people from over here really love it 00:19:16.25\00:19:19.12 because we see what 00:19:19.12\00:19:20.52 we're praying for. - [Jon] Yeah. 00:19:20.52\00:19:21.32 - It's not so disconnected. 00:19:21.32\00:19:23.09 - This prayer walk lasted a little over an hour 00:19:23.09\00:19:25.76 as we went on a course 00:19:25.76\00:19:27.30 throughout the district. - Right. 00:19:27.30\00:19:29.33 - And we saw different people 00:19:29.33\00:19:30.83 and people from America were praying. 00:19:30.83\00:19:33.07 I had the little AirPod thing in my ear. 00:19:33.07\00:19:35.47 I was listening and I was talking and I was showing, 00:19:35.47\00:19:38.14 and it was just, it was a powerful time, 00:19:38.14\00:19:40.78 really powerful time. 00:19:40.78\00:19:41.84 And we've got some video from it. 00:19:41.84\00:19:43.24 - So, let's play that now. - Okay. 00:19:43.24\00:19:45.08 Go ahead and let's begin and pray. 00:19:46.18\00:19:47.92 And let's not be afraid, 00:19:47.92\00:19:49.45 but just have faith in the word of God 00:19:49.45\00:19:51.72 and what he's gonna be doing today. 00:19:51.72\00:19:53.79 - [Man] Father God in heaven, we pray, 00:19:53.79\00:19:55.66 especially, for this is new ground, 00:19:55.66\00:19:57.43 fertile soil that has not yet been toiled, 00:19:57.43\00:20:00.36 that has not yet had seeds scattered. 00:20:00.36\00:20:02.56 And I pray that whoever you send, Father, 00:20:02.56\00:20:04.83 that you give them the armor of God, 00:20:06.07\00:20:08.27 that they have the constant hope of salvation before them. 00:20:08.27\00:20:10.77 The shield of faith, the sword of the spirit, 00:20:10.77\00:20:13.14 and above all, a breastplate of righteousness and love 00:20:13.14\00:20:16.81 in Jesus name and his blood, amen. 00:20:16.81\00:20:19.95 - [Female] Heavenly Father, 00:20:19.95\00:20:21.05 we just want to lift up these people to you 00:20:21.05\00:20:23.62 because they are yours by creation and redemption. 00:20:23.62\00:20:27.46 You shed your blood for them. 00:20:27.46\00:20:29.92 And Lord, we ask for their salvation, Lord, 00:20:29.92\00:20:32.96 that you would save them. 00:20:32.96\00:20:34.83 Lord, you have forgiven them their sins, 00:20:34.83\00:20:36.70 but they don't know it. 00:20:36.70\00:20:38.20 So, Lord, we ask that you would give them opportunities, 00:20:38.20\00:20:40.94 help them be searching, 00:20:40.94\00:20:42.54 help them to be dissatisfied with the way life is. 00:20:42.54\00:20:45.71 Help them to experience your love. 00:20:45.71\00:20:48.28 They don't know you, 00:20:48.28\00:20:49.11 and Lord, so I just ask 00:20:49.11\00:20:50.35 that you would reveal yourself to them, 00:20:50.35\00:20:52.28 and that you would work on them 00:20:52.28\00:20:54.95 so that they would not give up. 00:20:54.95\00:20:56.72 They would not stop searching 00:20:56.72\00:20:58.45 for you until they have found you. 00:20:58.45\00:21:00.26 - [Jon] Amen. 00:21:00.26\00:21:01.26 - [Female] I'm praying for this city. 00:21:01.26\00:21:03.66 I am praying for the rulers. 00:21:03.66\00:21:05.83 I'm praying for the mayors. 00:21:05.83\00:21:07.60 I am praying for the children. 00:21:07.60\00:21:09.50 I am praying for each and every one of the people 00:21:09.50\00:21:12.87 that are in this city. 00:21:12.87\00:21:14.34 Please, Lord, may you save them. 00:21:14.34\00:21:16.60 May you send someone that is willing to walk under you, 00:21:16.60\00:21:20.61 to be here, to tell them about Jesus Christ, 00:21:20.61\00:21:23.65 to tell them about your love, 00:21:23.65\00:21:25.41 to tell them that you are the creator, 00:21:25.41\00:21:27.62 to tell them that you can solve all their problems. 00:21:27.62\00:21:31.52 Please, Lord, you say, 00:21:31.52\00:21:33.12 "If we ask anything according thy will, 00:21:33.12\00:21:35.79 oh Lord, that you will do it." 00:21:35.79\00:21:37.73 Your will is that these people might be saved 00:21:37.73\00:21:40.53 in Jesus name, amen. 00:21:40.53\00:21:42.90 - [Man] Amen, amen. 00:21:42.90\00:21:44.43 Please send those who go who will be inhabited by you 00:21:44.43\00:21:47.87 and by your Holy Spirit, Father, 00:21:47.87\00:21:49.44 we ask in Jesus name. - [Female] Amen. 00:21:49.44\00:21:53.48 - [Female] Father God in heaven, 00:21:53.48\00:21:54.81 we do pray and ask that you will send laborers 00:21:54.81\00:21:59.01 into this part of the vineyard. 00:21:59.01\00:22:01.95 We ask that Father that you will equip the laborers 00:22:01.95\00:22:06.82 and fill them with the Holy Spirit 00:22:06.82\00:22:09.39 to be led by you in sharing the gospel, 00:22:09.39\00:22:13.50 and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. 00:22:13.50\00:22:17.70 Father, we pray that hearts will be open 00:22:17.70\00:22:21.94 to receive the message from the laborers that you will send, 00:22:21.94\00:22:27.01 and that they will submit and surrender their hearts 00:22:28.41\00:22:32.68 to you wholeheartedly. 00:22:32.68\00:22:35.02 Help them to resist the idols that are before them, 00:22:35.02\00:22:39.25 and that Satan will flee from them 00:22:39.25\00:22:42.36 as they continue to hear the good news of salvation. 00:22:42.36\00:22:47.23 So remember each one in a special way, Father, 00:22:47.23\00:22:50.40 please hear our cry in Jesus' name, amen. 00:22:50.40\00:22:55.20 - [Man] I claim the promise you say, 00:22:55.20\00:22:57.27 "Not by might, nor by power, 00:22:57.27\00:22:58.91 but by spirit, saith the Lord," amen. 00:22:58.91\00:23:01.31 - [Jon] Amen. 00:23:03.01\00:23:04.41 - [Man] Father, I want to lift up second Peter 3:9. 00:23:04.41\00:23:07.98 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise 00:23:07.98\00:23:11.02 as some men count slackness, 00:23:11.02\00:23:12.69 but he's long-suffering to us for not willing 00:23:12.69\00:23:15.62 that any should perish, 00:23:15.62\00:23:17.59 but that all should come to repentance." 00:23:17.59\00:23:19.69 This is you, Lord. 00:23:19.69\00:23:20.96 This is who you are. 00:23:20.96\00:23:22.73 And John 3:17, "For God sent not His Son 00:23:22.73\00:23:27.40 into the world to condemn the world." 00:23:27.40\00:23:29.04 Lord, you shed your blood, 00:23:29.04\00:23:31.11 so that the world through him might be saved. 00:23:31.11\00:23:34.74 - [Man] Yes. - [Man] In Jesus name, amen. 00:23:34.74\00:23:37.71 - [Man] Amen. 00:23:37.71\00:23:38.58 - [Both] Amen. - [Man] Amen. 00:23:38.58\00:23:40.25 - [Man] I would like to claim Joshua 1:3. 00:23:41.38\00:23:44.49 "Wherever you will step the sole of your foot, 00:23:44.49\00:23:48.26 I have already given unto you." 00:23:49.19\00:23:51.83 We've put our foot on Bang Khun Thian, 00:23:51.83\00:23:54.93 Father, we claim these people for your kingdom. 00:23:54.93\00:23:59.80 - We just finished doing a prayer walk here 00:23:59.80\00:24:01.67 in Bang Khun Thian and it was really amazing. 00:24:01.67\00:24:06.74 I could hear that people were being moved 00:24:07.78\00:24:08.58 by what they were seeing. 00:24:08.58\00:24:10.61 And that's the power of these kind of prayer walks is, 00:24:10.61\00:24:14.98 you know, it's one thing to pray 00:24:14.98\00:24:16.08 for the people on the other side of the ocean, 00:24:16.08\00:24:18.49 but when you see them, that's real life. 00:24:18.49\00:24:21.76 When we're sitting in our homes in America, 00:24:21.76\00:24:25.03 it's really hard to imagine what that's really like. 00:24:25.03\00:24:28.06 But when you see it, 00:24:28.06\00:24:29.40 it puts a burden on your heart for those people 00:24:29.40\00:24:32.20 that you wouldn't have any other way. 00:24:32.20\00:24:34.40 - It just makes me think of the beautiful people over there. 00:24:34.40\00:24:36.71 - Yeah. - You know, 00:24:36.71\00:24:38.07 we've had the privilege of interacting with Adventists, 00:24:38.07\00:24:41.68 with Christians, and with Buddhists there as well as 00:24:41.68\00:24:45.75 animus. And it's like, God loves every single one of them. 00:24:45.75\00:24:48.85 - Yeah. 00:24:48.85\00:24:50.19 - And your heart just goes out and you're like, 00:24:50.19\00:24:51.52 "What will eternity be like without them there?" 00:24:51.52\00:24:54.22 I'm sorry, but I don't want that. 00:24:54.22\00:24:55.76 - [Jon] Yeah, I don't either. 00:24:55.76\00:24:57.13 - I want them to know this place where there's no sin, 00:24:57.13\00:25:00.36 there's no dirty water, there's no health problems, 00:25:00.36\00:25:03.10 there's no cancer, 00:25:03.10\00:25:04.27 there's no endless merit building, 00:25:06.57\00:25:09.60 there's no endless lives of just, you know, 00:25:09.60\00:25:13.34 you don't know what you're gonna come back as next 00:25:13.34\00:25:15.98 and you won't remember it anyway. 00:25:15.98\00:25:18.31 It's just this endless cycle of nothingness. 00:25:18.31\00:25:21.75 - Endless cycle of pain. 00:25:21.75\00:25:23.75 - I don't know how to put it 00:25:23.75\00:25:25.19 so that we really understand it, 00:25:25.19\00:25:26.76 but I just, that's too sad. 00:25:26.76\00:25:30.33 - [Jon] Yeah. - And God loves these people. 00:25:30.33\00:25:32.09 - [Jon] Yeah. - God loves them 00:25:32.09\00:25:33.43 and he gives us an opportunity 00:25:33.43\00:25:34.93 to love them too. - Yeah. 00:25:34.93\00:25:36.40 - We have a family in Sukhothai. 00:25:36.40\00:25:38.60 We have a couple in Nakhon Sawan. 00:25:38.60\00:25:41.00 We have a family preparing to go to Kantharalak, 00:25:41.00\00:25:43.87 and in Bang Khun Thian, 00:25:43.87\00:25:45.61 God is calling someone. Yes. 00:25:45.61\00:25:47.31 - And we don't know who they are yet, 00:25:47.31\00:25:49.24 maybe they don't know who they are yet, 00:25:49.24\00:25:50.88 but God is calling someone. - [Jon] Yeah. 00:25:50.88\00:25:52.91 - Maybe it's a couple, maybe it's a family, 00:25:52.91\00:25:55.72 someone God is calling 00:25:55.72\00:25:57.02 to go there. - Yeah. 00:25:57.02\00:25:58.19 - To make a difference 00:25:58.19\00:25:59.25 in that area. - Yeah. 00:25:59.25\00:26:00.92 - And I'm looking forward 00:26:00.92\00:26:02.62 to God answering our prayers. - Yeah. 00:26:02.62\00:26:04.39 Well, this is where we can all partner together, 00:26:04.39\00:26:07.23 is most of us cannot go. - Right. 00:26:07.23\00:26:10.10 - But we can definitely pray. - [Natalie] Right. 00:26:10.10\00:26:12.50 - And this is what's so beautiful is 00:26:12.50\00:26:14.30 that now we know a name, 00:26:14.30\00:26:16.71 we know a name of a place-- - Right. 00:26:16.71\00:26:18.54 - In which there is no representative 00:26:18.54\00:26:20.81 of the three angels' message. - Right. 00:26:20.81\00:26:22.54 - And we can join and pray knowing 00:26:22.54\00:26:24.61 that our prayers are the most powerful thing. 00:26:24.61\00:26:27.15 - Right, and we've seen some 00:26:27.15\00:26:28.42 of their faces. - [Jon] Yes. 00:26:28.42\00:26:29.78 - We know what some of them look like. 00:26:29.78\00:26:31.12 We don't know their names. - Yeah. 00:26:31.12\00:26:32.85 - We've seen a little glimpse 00:26:32.85\00:26:34.06 of their daily life. - [Jon] Yeah. 00:26:34.06\00:26:35.26 - You know, how they get around 00:26:35.26\00:26:36.42 or you know-- - Yep, like the little baby, 00:26:36.42\00:26:39.53 all those people kneeling in front of the priest. 00:26:39.53\00:26:41.50 - Right. - You know, those people, 00:26:41.50\00:26:42.86 Jesus knows them. 00:26:42.86\00:26:44.10 We don't know them. - The lady with the blind son 00:26:44.10\00:26:46.23 that was picking up bottles. - Yeah. 00:26:46.23\00:26:47.94 But Jesus walks with them every single day. 00:26:47.94\00:26:51.14 He knows them intimately and he's working with them. 00:26:51.14\00:26:53.58 His spirit is calling them. - Right. 00:26:53.58\00:26:55.44 - Well, I had a friend that became a Christian 00:26:55.44\00:26:58.55 in her 20s. - Right, in Thailand. 00:26:58.55\00:27:00.85 - And she said, "Man, when I got to know God, 00:27:00.85\00:27:04.49 I recognized this is the man, 00:27:05.45\00:27:07.16 this is the being, this is the one 00:27:07.16\00:27:09.66 who has been working with me since I was a child. 00:27:09.66\00:27:12.96 I recognize some force out there calling me to good, 00:27:12.96\00:27:16.26 but I didn't know who he was, and now I know who he is, 00:27:16.26\00:27:19.77 and he's filling me and he just makes me so happy. 00:27:19.77\00:27:22.17 - Yeah, yeah. - God's there working. 00:27:22.17\00:27:24.67 - Yep. - But he needs people 00:27:24.67\00:27:26.24 to be his conduits-- - [Natalie] Right. 00:27:26.24\00:27:27.88 - From heaven to earth. - Yeah. 00:27:27.88\00:27:30.15 I would like to invite you to pray for Bang Khun Thian. 00:27:30.15\00:27:33.52 this unentered area in Bangkok, 00:27:33.52\00:27:36.08 and there are many other places as well. 00:27:36.08\00:27:39.22 Please pray for the right person or people 00:27:39.22\00:27:42.22 to step forward to answer the call to these places. 00:27:42.22\00:27:45.53 And if you would like to be involved in other ways, 00:27:45.53\00:27:47.86 please contact us at Jesus for Asia, PO Box 1221, 00:27:47.86\00:27:52.90 Collegedale, Tennessee, 37315. 00:27:53.70\00:27:55.87 Call us at (423) 413-7321, 00:27:55.87\00:27:58.67 or visit our website at jesus4asia.org. 00:28:00.51\00:28:04.25 May God richly bless you until we see you next time 00:28:04.25\00:28:07.18 on Jesus for Asia Now. 00:28:07.18\00:28:09.25 (gentle music) 00:28:09.25\00:28:11.89