Participants:
Series Code: LM
Program Code: LM000072
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00:39 India is a diverse country
00:41 with many types of subcultures, beautiful landscape 00:44 and it's the home of many religions. 00:59 On this trip we're flying into New Delhi, India 01:01 and then taking a flight to the city of Baghdogra. 01:11 Sandra Horner who leads out 01:13 in the Lifestyle Education Center 01:14 in the mountainous Manku region met us at the airport. 01:28 There was one quick stop we had to make 01:29 before we headed out in the city 01:32 and that was to pick up some of the literature 01:33 that had just been printed in Nepali language. 01:41 The press manager gave us a quick tour of his company 01:43 and demonstrated his high speed collating system. 01:52 We then loaded up all the literature 01:53 into an already well over-packed jeep. 01:58 Well, there was one more quick pit stop 02:00 we needed to make and that was to get gas 02:02 and some snacks for along the way. 02:27 Before along we were maneuvering the narrow highways 02:30 headed up into the Himalaya Mountains. 03:04 Here in Manku we're located 03:05 in the Himalaya Mountains coming down out of Nepal. 03:07 So we're fairly high elevation 03:09 and that's why we have so much cloud and fog here. 03:12 It's an interesting area 03:13 because it's strategically located 03:15 right between Nepal to the west and Bhutan to the east 03:19 and then to the south there's Bangladesh 03:21 and straight to the north 03:22 is the autonomous region of Sikkim. 03:24 Each one of these areas 03:25 are between 30 to 50 miles from this place. 03:27 So this is a very good place to have a training center 03:30 for Nepalese and Bhutanese people. 03:35 Sandra and her mother Terri 03:36 rent the upper storey of this spacious house 03:38 for their Lifestyle Education Center. 03:41 The landlords Mr. and Mrs. Blong, 03:43 who are Buddhists are strong supporters of the school. 03:47 Now the Lifestyle Education Center in Manku 03:50 we have the privilege to work with many young people 03:53 especially Nepali young people from Nepal 03:58 and also from India and some from Bhutan. 04:02 These young people we are training 04:03 to go back to their villages to be leaders in their villages 04:08 to be able to give natural treatment for disease, 04:10 to be able to help the leaders there, 04:12 to help raise the morality of the society. 04:16 They know a little bit 04:18 of what it means to be a believer 04:20 and so it's our goal to be able to help 04:22 teach many of these young people 04:24 to get a deeper understanding of the Bible 04:26 so when they go home 04:28 that they may help lead out in their churches 04:29 and to be able to share the knowledge of the Lord 04:32 with those in their own home churches. 04:35 I see the recognition and the light 04:37 in the eyes of these young people. 04:40 And the truth is sinking home to their hearts. 04:42 They have many questions and many times 04:46 the concepts of Christianity are very new to them. 04:50 And be able to meet the questions and needs 04:53 that they have is just a real joy. 04:56 Sandra's ability to speak Nepali is a real asset to the school 05:00 as most of the students and people in this region 05:02 speak the Nepali language. 05:04 Now speaking of language, 05:05 English is taught to the advance students. 05:08 Mr. Smith, a volunteer helps with these classes. 05:23 I really like the idea of how each student is taught 05:26 how to do public speaking on various topics. 05:29 Oh, by the way the LE on the ties 05:31 stands for Lifestyle Education. 05:34 We have students mostly from Nepali 05:36 but also from Bhutan and India. 05:50 Each year we have students graduating from this center. 05:57 They are also taught practical skills 05:59 so they can earn a livelihood and support their education. 06:04 Medical missionary work 06:06 is a central part of their training 06:08 as well as going into the remote villages 06:10 in the surrounding regions to hold seminars. 06:20 Each student does his or her part 06:22 in helping the school to operate. 06:24 Frankston Sara one of our bible workers from Nepal 06:28 is here helping in the kitchen 06:29 while Sandra folds tracks 06:31 for an upcoming community seminar. 06:58 The house we are renting provides a nice large kitchen 07:02 which also services a dining room. 07:10 This has got to be the ugliest fruit 07:12 I've ever seen in my life, it's called iscuse. 07:15 And they say it's a fruit 07:16 but really I think it's more of a vegetable. 07:18 And what they do is they take this stuff 07:20 and they peel off the skin 07:22 and you can see here its got little horns on it 07:24 and they prepare it pretty much like a potato. 07:28 I wasn't really impressed, it grows on a vine 07:30 and some places if you look up in trees here you will see that 07:33 it's a growing like a squash plant. 07:39 This area is located in high elevation. 07:42 In the winter it can become cold and damp 07:44 and even gets snow in some places. 07:47 Make shift houses are prompt up on the steep hillsides. 07:50 And if you go around to the front of these buildings, 07:53 you will find out that they're actually vendors 07:55 in small wooden stores fronts 07:56 who hope to make a sale 08:01 while others operate trades to make a living. 08:05 Unemployment in this area runs high making life very difficult. 08:09 The diet and lifestyle in this area is poor, 08:12 making the Health Education Center 08:14 a real light in this community. 08:18 Buildings now set empty that were once used 08:20 for drying the bark from the cinchona trees 08:22 which for decades was used for the manufacturing of quinine 08:25 modern synthetic process have reduced the need of the bark, 08:28 so a once thriving industry here has died. 08:32 I spent an afternoon helping these men 08:34 break these rocks with a large sledgehammer, 08:36 much of the work here is done like this, the hard way. 08:40 And by the way even though these guys are small, 08:43 these guys are really strong. 08:47 This is the local Buddhist temple. 08:49 Buddhism's birth place was in Nepal 08:52 which is about 50 miles from this area. 08:54 So it will only make sense 08:55 that there's a Buddhist influence here. 09:00 The local priest has become friends with Terri and Sandra. 09:03 And she often shares her health problem with them. 09:06 She along with a lot of other people 09:08 in this area have become very nervous 09:10 when they have medical needs. 09:12 Superstitions are also attached to many of the illnesses. 09:22 Even this neighbor comes to the health center 09:24 to receive treatment after receiving 09:25 this nasty dog bite on his hand. 09:28 But why would they come to us 09:30 rather than go to the hospital, you may wonder. 09:32 This is why. Welcome to the local hospital. 09:39 This is the place you do not want to end up in, 09:41 in the case of a medical emergency. 09:51 Daniel, one of our workers 09:52 leads out in the health awareness event 09:54 for the local community held at the lifestyle center. 09:57 The focus is on temperance 09:59 against the use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco. 10:02 The people listen with intense interest 10:05 as each has been affected in some way by these wises. 10:08 The idea shared here were new to a lot of the people. 10:13 Literature was also distributed 10:14 to everyone attending on the subjects presented. 10:17 Oh, by the way these meetings help 10:19 these young people to overcome their shyness. 10:27 After the meetings, free blood pressure test are given. 10:31 Some had very high blood pressure 10:33 and shared with workers 10:35 that they wanted to stop drinking and smoking. 10:38 The answer of course is found in the living Savior 10:42 who wants to give them newness of life. 10:52 While blood pressure tests were being done 10:54 the rest of the team was busy 10:55 preparing free meal for all who came. 10:58 Not only was this showing hospitality 11:01 but it gave the people a taste of food 11:03 cooked in a healthy way. 11:04 The people who attended were mostly Buddhist or Hindu. 11:08 The local chief of police came by right after the meetings 11:11 and expressed to me how much he appreciated 11:13 what the lifestyle center was doing in his community. 11:17 Two of the former students, Hemen and Bernice were married 11:20 and now are full time workers sponsored by Laymen Ministries. 11:25 They went back to neighboring Nepal 11:26 and started to work in a remote area. 11:29 At first the people were hesitant to come 11:31 as they held meetings in a small room, 11:32 two times a week. 11:34 But soon a new building was erected 11:36 and a church was established, each Sabbath attendance grows. 11:45 Laymen ministries workers in Nepal 11:47 share literature with friends 11:48 and hold Sabbath services in their home. 11:52 In each case baptisms are taking place, 11:55 sometimes it's our students, sometimes it's those who 11:58 our students have been studying with. 12:17 On our way to church. 12:41 This small room is rented for holding church services 12:44 every Sabbath near the lifestyle center. 12:47 As I looked upon these young people, 12:49 it was apparent that the Word of God 12:51 was transforming their lives. 12:53 Each would end up going back to their own countries, 12:56 workers among their own people. 13:24 Even though I've been involved in mission work before 13:27 it was a big decision to come here to India. 13:30 But I'm very thankful that I did 13:32 and any of us can go to work in the Lord's vineyard 13:38 at whatever age if they have something to share. 13:42 And so don't ever think that you're too old, 13:44 you're too young, not educated enough, 13:47 if the Lord calls you He has a place for you. 13:55 Our next destination is to the city Chennai 13:58 formally known as Madras. 14:07 The cities of south India in comparison to north India 14:10 have many similar characteristics, 14:12 overcrowded, heavy traffic, 14:14 noisy, polluted and a lot of vendors. 14:19 The countryside varies from arid dry lands to tropical forests. 14:24 Many products are harvested by hand 14:26 like these ladies picking cotton. 14:28 South India is rich in agricultural resources, 14:31 coconuts, rubber trees, rice 14:33 and many other agricultural products. 14:36 You can find people of all ages 14:38 putting in a really hard day's work. 14:45 Rocket dosa which is named after its long shape and size 14:48 is one of my favorite south Indian foods 14:50 which is made from a thin bread 14:52 stuffed with potatoes and curry and dipped in dall. 14:59 These ladies are making twine from the husk of a coconut. 15:05 These fibers have to dry before they are tied. 15:08 Then these ladies use large metal spinning wheel 15:10 to spin the fiber into spans and then later rope. 15:20 These ladies make probably around a dollar a day. 15:38 The finished product is something you might find 15:40 even in your local hardware store. 15:49 Cultural Hindu dancing is very popular in India, 15:52 on TV, in the cinemas 15:54 and even in live performances such as this. 16:08 Pastor Shadrach Samuel wanted to take me to a special event. 16:29 We traveled to one of the highest hills 16:31 on the edge of the city. 16:33 From this viewpoint one can overlook 16:35 the whole city of Chennai formally known as Madras. 16:43 On the top of this hill our ancient ruins 16:45 of an old Muslim mosque and a Christian church, 16:48 both of which played an instrumental part 16:50 in the history of India. 16:52 Once a week, some of Laymen Ministries Bible workers 16:55 meet on top of this hill to pray for the city of Chennai. 17:01 These dedicated workers are fulltime 17:03 in giving Bible studies and visiting door to door. 17:06 They are under the direction of Pastor Johnson 17:09 and are the ones instrumental in doing the ground work 17:11 and follow up for the national evangelistic meetings 17:14 held by Pastor Shadrach Samuel and Pastor Johnson. 17:24 Meetings such as these are held for very little money. 17:29 The good news is that those who make their stand for Christ 17:32 are grounded in the truth as it is in Jesus 17:34 and often become workers in their local church 17:37 or in the newly established church in that area. 17:39 This evangelism is done by Indians for Indians. 17:44 In the year 2004, over a hundred souls 17:46 made a solid stand for Jesus Christ 17:48 and the three angels messages. 18:05 Think about it, gospel programs in the Tamil language 18:08 reaching almost 75 million potential viewers 18:11 with 4 to 6 million regular viewers. 18:13 Jaya TV holds the second highest amount of viewers in India. 18:17 With televisions being almost as common as rickshaws in India, 18:20 God's message of hope is going where no man could go 18:23 into the privacy of people's homes. 18:26 In the Jaya TV it is very hard to get slot. 18:31 But God has given a very good timeslot 18:36 still last three years giving the same timeslot 18:41 that is another wonderful opportunity 18:44 we are getting from the TV station. 18:47 We have plans to extend 18:50 all our TV ministry to other languages. 18:53 Especially in Hindi, in the north 18:56 where there is a great demand, 18:58 need to reach out for millions and millions of people. 19:02 As we go forward, we realize that we need 19:06 the power of the Holy Spirit. 19:08 When we see the condition of our own church, 19:11 our own people and the condition outside, 19:15 all around us there is a great need 19:18 for the power of the Holy Spirit. 19:20 This young lady explain how she was having 19:22 a lot of problems at her home and then she started watching 19:24 the Saving Hands TV program 19:26 and started calling the prayer line for spiritual help. 19:29 She is just now starting to attend church services. 19:32 This high caste Hindu family 19:34 came all the way from Bangalore, India 19:36 to express their thankfulness for the TV program. 19:39 Saving Hands has a prayer line at the church. 19:41 They take not only requests for prayer but for literature 19:44 and get addresses for visitations 19:46 for the Bible workers. 19:50 One of the big boost given to the Saving Hands TV program 19:53 happened when Pastor Johnson started coming to the studio 19:55 at Laymen Ministries to produce some of the programs. 19:58 Phone calls jumped dramatically 20:00 when these high quality programs started to air. 20:03 Letters and calls came in from France, 20:05 Saudi Arabia and other parts of the world. 20:08 When God provided this high end 20:10 TV production facility at Laymen Ministries, 20:12 it was dedicated for the production 20:14 of TV programs for around the world. 20:16 We are now producing Indian, Russian and our own programs. 20:20 We have several networks both local and by satellite 20:23 that have started broadcasting these foreign programs. 20:26 Please pray for these programs as they go around the world. 20:30 We thank the Lord for the privilege we have 20:34 of circulating video CDs, sharing our message 20:39 with many hundreds and thousands of people 20:42 in Madras and also in other states in India. 20:45 Thousands of CDs are being circulated. 20:48 One very special CD 20:51 is Panorama of Prophecy by Doug Batchelor. 20:55 I have the privilege of distributing this 20:57 to many pastors also of other denominations. 21:01 And we are very thankful to God for this. 21:04 We are glad to have many video CDs of our Bible subjects 21:09 and Revelation CDs by Mark Finley. 21:11 We have another set, New Beginnings 21:15 which is also presenting 21:16 our fundamental doctrines of our church. 21:19 The Next Millennium Seminar by Elder Doug Batchelor 21:23 is also 28 CDs. 21:25 Once again I want to thank everyone 21:28 who is praying for this ministry 21:30 and supporting this ministry in so many ways. 21:50 These are Great Controversy books in Tamil 21:54 that we have recently printed here in Chennai, in India. 21:58 We thank God for these books. 22:00 Laymen Ministries helped us to print these books here. 22:05 We have being longing 22:07 to get these books in the local language. 22:09 Our laymen person, our pastors are very happy, 22:12 they are extremely happy 22:13 to have these books in the local language. 22:16 When the Great Controversy books came off the press, 22:18 both General Conference president Elder Paulson 22:21 and division president Ron Watts 22:23 gave their blessings upon the book. 22:35 Late at night Pastor Shadrach Samuel 22:38 and myself went to the train station. 22:48 We were taking a train from Chennai in Tamil Nadu state 22:52 to the state Andhra Pradesh to the city of Guntakal. 23:08 This is in Andhra Pradesh, we just got here, 23:10 its 6 o' clock in the morning. 23:12 It's been a whole night on the train. 23:15 This is what Pastor Shadrach has been doing some training 23:17 with the gospel outreach people. 23:19 We're gonna spend some two days here working with him. 23:37 It looks better like we're get to put in prison here. 23:40 Get guards on the door. 23:42 He is sure this is not a prison though. 23:53 From a long ways away we could hear the Indian music 23:55 as we headed over to the church 23:57 where the training classes are going to take place. 24:07 Near was a house he used to stay. 24:09 He came on an occasion. 24:12 Now that we're going to introduce ourselves 24:14 not like servants. 24:16 We will be happy to say I'm the chief minister, 24:18 I'm the principal, I'm the president, right? 24:26 Verily I said unto you. 24:30 Whosoever committed sin is a servant of sin. 24:36 Pastor Samuel once a month trains all the Gospel Outreach 24:39 and Gospel Mission workers in this area. 24:41 His straight forward style comes home to the heart. 24:44 He desires that these workers understand the gospel 24:47 and the three angels' messages 24:49 and how to share with the people that they work with. 24:51 These workers are among the most valuable workers 24:54 in the grounding of the hundreds of people in the truth 24:56 that have recently been baptized in this region. 25:04 After the meetings we were surprised 25:05 on how they fast they could serve up a good hot lunch. 25:15 When we were there we found that Ron Oliver, 25:18 our regional ASI treasurer 25:19 was holding a series of meetings. 25:22 It's always exciting to see lay people 25:24 that are willing to step out 25:25 of their comfort zone to do something for Christ. 25:39 Speaking of stepping out of comfort zones, 25:41 the mission president tried to prepare me 25:43 for what was about to happen. 25:45 We were driving out to speak in a few 25:47 of the newly organized churches in some of the remote villages 25:50 and we were greeted by loud music and well, 25:53 I guess you will see. 25:57 Both Pastor Samuel and myself 25:59 became quickly uncomfortable with this hearty greeting. 26:02 Stick dances persuaded us 26:04 as they paraded us through the village. 26:16 We quickly found out that 26:18 they would now become really upset 26:20 if you try to refuse this unnecessary hospitality. 26:25 To tell you the truth 26:26 when we were going into the church 26:27 I almost felt like we were getting married. 26:35 In each church we faithfully shared the truth 26:38 as it is in Christ with these new believers 26:40 and we made a call to dedicate their lives 26:42 totally to Jesus Christ and the three angels' messages. 27:51 That they've seen the world over It's poverty in strife 27:58 We've got to go into the nations with the good news of salvation 28:05 We've got to go and tell the world 28:09 And share the gospel song 28:13 It's everyone that's out there 28:16 Is a soul that Jesus die for 28:20 We've got to go and tell the world 28:24 The Lord is ready to come |
Revised 2014-12-17