Participants: Jeff Reich
Series Code: LM
Program Code: LM000126
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00:35 My name is Sandra Horner. I have been working here in
00:39 India and Nepal since 1999. 00:42 With no one else helping her and her needing help so much I 00:46 finally decided to quit my job and come over here. 00:50 And I'm working here as the director of prayer in the 00:54 Lifestyle Education Center. 01:01 We have had several student missionaries here they have 01:03 been a real blessing. 01:05 At our school we are trying to train adventist young people 01:10 equip them for work in there own villages. 01:20 After nearly sixty hours of traveling 01:22 my cameraman and I finally arrived in India. 01:25 We landed at the airport in Bagdogra 01:27 where we met some of our missionaries and students. 01:30 Sandra Horner oversees our North Indian 01:32 and Nepal projects and operates 01:34 a Lifestyle Education Center. 01:36 We arrived a day later than we'd planned because the airline 01:39 misplaced one of our bags and as a result 01:42 we missed our connecting flight in Canada. 01:44 Thankfully our lost bag caught up with us in Delhi. 01:47 So now we needed to make up for some lost time and 01:49 quickly unpacked our heavier items at a bus stop. 01:55 I guess we're gonna go ahead and go to Nepal right now. 01:57 Its been quite a journey on this one it took us like sixty 02:00 some hours just to get to this point. 02:11 We were planning on visiting the remote village in Nepal 02:13 where some of our student missionaries 02:15 have been working to establish a church for four years. 02:19 To give you an idea how this mission project is moving along 02:22 and how it was started, let me first 02:24 take you back to the beginning. 02:27 We first started working in North India around the year 02:30 2000, and it sprung off our work in Nepal 02:33 under Joel and Joyce Myers. 02:36 I came to Nepal in 1997 to visit and to hold 02:40 a short course and then with the Lord's 02:43 help and Laymen's Ministries I came for a full time work 02:49 starting in January of 1999 so this is about eleven years that 02:53 we've been working together with 02:54 Laymen's Ministries here in Nepal and India. 02:58 After a string of incidents took place such as the 03:01 king and queen of Nepal being assassinated, the rise 03:05 of Maoist insurgents 03:06 and the basic political unrest throughout the country, we 03:09 decided to temporarily at least pull out of nepal. 03:13 Sandra who was working with the Myers 03:15 at the time moved across the border to 03:17 North India and opened a Lifestyle Education Center 03:20 in connection with Laymen Ministries. 03:24 The major objective of our Lifestyle Education Center 03:28 is to work for the Nepali speaking population of both 03:31 Nepal, India and Bhutan in helping to train workers for the 03:36 Seventh-Day Adventist Church 03:38 Those who can just help out in their church as a 03:41 deacon elders as well as those who can work as 03:45 lay pastors and others who can help also in more 03:51 formal positions as pastors in the churches. 03:56 Just a few years ago some of our 03:57 students embarked on such a task in a 03:59 remote village located in east central Nepal. 04:03 From there we had a couple of your men who were very 04:08 interested in sharing 04:09 the gospel with their own country. 04:11 They wanted very much to start in an area where 04:13 there weren't any 04:15 Christians at all. 04:16 As they began their work there they started by building 04:20 a small mud and 04:23 stick house with a thatched roof. 04:25 First we had a baptism of about fourteen people 04:30 there followed by 04:31 another one of twelve or so people. 04:36 This is where we're headed right now so we can see how the work 04:38 there is progressing. 04:54 It was getting late so we decided to get some much 04:57 needed rest at a local 04:59 bed bug infested hotel. 05:12 We've spent the night here at the border of Nepal 05:14 just inside Nepal 05:15 at a little Nepali hotel. 05:17 This morning we're gonna get on a bus and we're gonna 05:19 head into the more 05:21 central region into the Himalaya mountains of Nepal 05:23 to go up and check 05:24 on a church plant project. 05:49 We're almost they're we've been hiking for I don't know 05:52 probably about an 05:53 hour and ten minutes or so 05:55 and it's starting to get dark so we hope to get in there 05:57 before dark it's 05:58 a pretty good hike back in here. 06:01 I guess it's down in that riverbed area right 06:03 down in there 06:04 If you can see that. 06:05 Finally we arrived at the village just 06:08 slightly after dark. 06:16 We woke up cold and hungry early the next morning. 06:20 I slept all night with my clothes on including my shoes, 06:23 my coat, my long 06:24 underwear, a hat, and gloves, under a wool Nepali 06:27 blanket on a hard 06:29 wooden frame bed. 06:31 This was Sabbath morning and we were just in time for a short 06:35 morning devotional. 06:38 We'll be talking here today about the part that each one 06:42 has to play in the 06:43 church, How each one has a responsibility. 06:49 It's a reminder that we all have a large part to play 06:51 in the success or 06:52 failure of our mission as a church to reach those 06:56 in our communities. 07:05 It's Sabbath morning here and we're getting ready to 07:06 go to church, this 07:08 little church here in this village represents several 07:10 different churches 07:12 that we have planted in the various hills around this 07:13 part of Nepal. 07:15 And also one of our teams is planting churches like four 07:17 or five churches 07:18 over in the central part of Nepal. 07:20 We actually hiked into this village and all it was was 07:22 a mud house and we 07:24 were meeting there and Heman and Daniel were two of our 07:26 workers started 07:27 a church plant here and now it's four years later and 07:29 we have this 07:30 little church built. 07:32 And since they were having baptisms that afternoon 07:35 I chose to speak about 07:36 the Significance of baptism and what it really means 07:39 to forsake the ways of 07:40 the world and to follow Christ. 07:42 But the most important for you getting baptized is to have 07:45 a relationship with Jesus Christ. 07:47 Afterwards many of the candidates got up before the 07:50 church and started to 07:51 share a brief imony how God has worked in their life 07:54 and led them to 07:55 this important decision. 07:57 After church we hiked about forty-five minutes through 08:00 deep canyons and 08:01 ravines to find a place with enough water for the baptisms. 08:05 Today we get the great privilege of going out here towards 08:08 the river it's 08:10 a very shallow river but it has a deep spot where we're 08:13 going for baptism, 08:15 this is the third baptism here in Daumoti 08:17 And Pastor Kumar has joined us for these three baptisms. 08:21 Today we have twenty ready for baptism and we're all 08:25 excited about it. 08:26 It was at this beautiful spot at the base of this cliff 08:29 deep in a canyon we 08:31 sang Nepali Christian songs, Prayed and then Pastor Kumar 08:35 baptized nineteen people. 08:37 Jewelry in this culture is a very important part 08:40 of their culture 08:41 because it's a status symbol of how wealthy you are and 08:47 everyone wants to show off how wealthy they are and 08:50 people will respect 08:51 them according to that. 08:58 Before the women were baptized they chose on there own 09:01 to remove there 09:02 jewelry as a way of showing there commitment to God. 09:06 The students from our Lifestyle Education Center take 09:08 the truths of 09:09 the word and experiences they have gained back 09:12 to there own people 09:13 They meet the peoples needs, treat the sick uplift 09:16 Christ who draws 09:18 them unto himself. 09:20 Please keep these souls in your prayers and that they 09:23 will be used by 09:24 God to bring others into the truth. 09:29 We walked back to the village and then participated in the 09:31 Lord's supper and 09:33 the ordinance of humility outside the church as the 09:36 sun was setting. 09:38 It was a beautiful Sabbath. 09:48 To make the most of our day we got up and headed out just 09:51 before sunrise. 09:52 Finally we arrived later that evening at our Lifestyle 09:55 Education Center in 09:56 Mungpoo North India. 09:59 We got in from Nepal last night and we're here at the 10:02 Mungpoo Health and 10:03 Lifestyle Training Center that's operated by Laymen Ministries. 10:06 They have quite a large group of students this year 10:08 and Sandra and 10:09 Terri are having actually morning worship right now. 10:12 6:30 we have morning worship. 10:15 I've been trying to have singing for 20 minutes. 10:20 In the morning we have English hymns and in the evening 10:22 the same hymns 10:24 from the Nepali songbook. 10:26 And then in the mornings I also try to teach a new 10:29 scripture song each week. 10:30 After worship is breakfast. 10:37 For the next couple days we're gonna be here going through 10:39 watching how the 10:40 classes are operat and such and then we're gonna 10:41 go from here to the 10:42 autonomous region of Sikkim where they're going to 10:44 be doing a Daniel 10:45 and Revelation seminar. 10:46 So I'm excited to see the progress thats happened 10:49 we're gonna also 10:50 check out thnew church that's just built up behind 10:51 the center here 10:53 to while we're here. 10:54 When I come to North India I enjoy spending time with 10:56 the students and 10:57 getting to know them better. 10:58 It's important for me to hear their thoughts and 11:01 feelings about the 11:02 school, their struggles and successes. 11:05 It also makes me to know how we can improve our program to make 11:07 it better for the future. 11:10 Many of these students have pretty amazing stories 11:12 how they heard 11:13 about Laymen Ministries and made the decision 11:15 to attend our school. 11:16 Your whole family baptist? 11:18 Yes 11:19 In Assam 11:20 Is there very many Christians in Assam? 11:28 Recently we've been working in the book Great Controversy 11:32 this has been a 11:33 real challenging book. 11:34 We have a class in Nepali and a class English. 11:38 Such things as Bible doctrines, Daniel or Revelation, 11:42 Christian home, basic 11:44 subjects like this. 11:45 The major objective of our Lifestyle Education Center 11:49 is to work for the 11:50 Nepali speaking population of both Nepal, India and 11:53 Bhutan in helping to 11:56 train workers for the Seventh-Day Adventist church. 11:59 We don't charge the students a tuition fee for attending 12:04 our school here. 12:06 Many of them come from quite poor families. 12:10 So we ask the students to help out with a lunch and breakfast 12:15 preparation in the kitchen 12:17 and we have a rotating schedule so that only once every 12:21 other day are 12:22 they in the kitchen. 12:23 and when they aren't in the kitchen then they can be 12:25 learning typing on 12:27 the computer, or a washing there clothes, taking bathe 12:32 or different things like this. 12:37 Every week we need to come into Siliguri to get our 12:42 weekly groceries. 12:44 So get a, forty kilos of potatoes, onions. 12:56 You can see here we're getting our weekly supplies, 12:59 this will last 13:00 us a week and a half or so. 13:04 We're off to the Autonomous region of Sikkim now after 13:06 spending a couple 13:07 days here at the Lifestyle Center. 13:08 A new church has been opened in Rhenock and there the 13:12 church elder has 13:13 invited us to come hold a Daniel and Revelation seminar. 13:16 This should be a real enjoyable time I've never been 13:19 to the autonomous 13:20 region of Sikkim before it's a very cultural area 13:22 in North India. 13:23 We're all packing up our bags bringing out blankets it may be 13:26 a little cold there. 13:28 The program here in North India is Mission Minded and 13:31 designed not only 13:32 to reach the students but to prepare them to teach 13:35 others about God, 13:36 Scripture, Prophecy and the health message. 13:42 Driving in India can be quite Mmmm, treacherous, in fact 13:46 I've always said 13:47 that one is only millimeters away from death on the 13:51 roads in India. 14:00 Looks like we're going to have a short delay, this guy 14:02 thats taking us to 14:04 Sikkim is fuel gauge said that he had fuel but a it's not 14:08 working apparently 14:09 so we are stranded here on our way to Sikkim. 14:14 Not sure whats going to happen, this is part of the 14:16 interesting things of 14:17 doing these kind of trips you never know whats gonna 14:19 happen it makes it 14:20 more of an adventure. 14:23 Since we were traveling in two jeeps we sent the other 14:25 jeep to get some 14:26 fuel, while we waited along side of the road. 14:30 Before long the other driver was back with the much needed fuel. 14:38 We pored it into the jeep and we were back on our way. 14:43 While we made it to Sikkim but now we have another 14:44 obstacle it turns out 14:46 that since this is an autonomous region that the 14:49 Nepali workers that 14:50 are coming with us are not to come into the country 14:52 because they don't 14:53 have there national ID cards 14:55 From Nepal coming into this area and that's unfortunate 15:00 because Joseph is 15:01 our main speaker for this series that's going on 15:03 and he's from Nepal and they're saying that all the Nepali 15:05 people have to go 15:06 back to the Center now and back to India. 15:09 So we're not sure what we're doing yet we're kinda 15:11 regrouping at this point. 15:12 Ok, I will send a Hanna to meet you....... 15:26 Final decision looks like the Nepali students are gonna 15:28 go back to the Center. 15:30 Joseph who's the main speaker does have a Nepali 15:33 passport so he's gonna 15:35 be able to come back tomorrow and maybe the other 15:37 students will come 15:38 back tomorrow to and 15:39 They're thinking if they come in in a smaller group they 15:41 might be able to 15:42 all get back into Sikkim here. 15:43 So we're gonna go on up to another hour into to the 15:47 heartland of Sikkim 15:48 and they're gonna head on back. 15:50 Really disappointing but, what else can you do. 15:56 This highway reminded me of something that you would see 15:58 out of a National 15:59 Geographic's magazine and was quite a frightening experience. 16:05 To go there is not so difficult but takes a little time 16:11 over the roads 16:12 that have been torn by landslides and never seem 16:15 to be kept up very well 16:16 with lots of dust and bumpy roads. 16:19 Finally late that night we reached our 16:22 destination in Sikkim. 16:23 We were surprised and happy to find out the Nepali 16:26 students were on their 16:27 way to the church that was a relief and an answer to prayer. 16:31 The next morning after breakfast the prophecy seminar 16:35 began on schedule. 16:37 Recently they have invited us to the church there 16:41 in Rhenock to help with 16:42 the church members they have knowledge of God but not 16:47 much knowledge 16:48 of his word and so 16:49 they invited us to come and hold programs on Daniel 16:52 and Revelation 16:54 with many commitments here at the center my mother and 16:57 I have not been 16:58 able spend so much time so one of our teachers here 17:02 Joseph and Hanna have 17:05 gone to hold this Daniel and Revelation program. 17:11 Joseph is presenting the classes on Daniel and 17:14 Revelation and Hanna is 17:16 sharing in a simplified version to the children. 17:19 My name is Hanna yesterday I was teaching to the 17:23 children about Daniel 17:26 and his three friends, also about Daniel 2 studying 17:31 about the dream 17:33 of king Nebuchadnezzar. 17:41 Mostly the part that I enjoyed was teaching them about 17:44 the prophecy and 17:46 how God can use even a heathen king to let him know that 17:52 what is going to 17:54 come in the worlds history and I hope that the 17:58 children understood. 18:00 Visiting the homes in the area to invite them to a prophecy 18:03 seminar is very difficult. 18:05 In a place like this you just can't mail out fliers or have 18:09 advertisements on TV and radio like we do in America 18:14 On top of the Adventist church is a megaphone speaker 18:17 that broadcasts 18:19 everything that's happening in the church and it echoes 18:21 across the valley. 18:27 Megaphones like this on top of churches are common all 18:29 through India. 18:30 If people hear something happening or hear there is a 18:33 meeting being held 18:35 they may stop by at the church and see what's going on. 18:42 Joseph is one of our missionaries who works 18:44 closely with Sandra 18:45 and Terri Horner. 18:47 I like the prophecy sequence of the nations that comes 18:51 one after another 18:53 and falls and its tells interestingly in the Bible. 18:57 It tells me about more about a sure existence of God and 19:02 that God is there 19:03 and that he is leading everything and every 19:06 circumstances and every events 19:09 that is taking place in this earth. 19:20 Here at the Rhenock Seventh-Day Adventist church 19:23 in Sikkim the local 19:24 church elder invited me to come and share with the members 19:27 on what baptism is. 19:30 What does it mean, what the steps are in baptism, how 19:34 to get ready and what 19:37 the purpose of baptism is. so today we had a presentation 19:41 on it and it's been 19:43 a blessing to be able to share with them 19:45 how in Christ we can become new and give away our wash away our 19:51 old life in baptism. 19:53 While we were there in Rhenock we took a little excursion 19:56 up to the top of 19:57 the mountain beautiful part of Sikkim it's such a beautiful 20:02 country there in 20:04 the view of the snow capped Himalayas 20:07 we were able to go for a nice outing with the students 20:10 on the pond up there 20:12 and paddle boats it was really enjoyable many of them had never 20:15 been on boats before 20:17 and so they had a great time going around the pond 20:20 there it was 20:21 really enjoyable. 20:23 My name is Joseph Mugar and I'm working in the 20:27 Lifestyle Education 20:28 Center as a teacher and as a translator also and I have been 20:33 working for the last year translating the Great 20:37 Controversy. 20:38 In Nepal from 1999 we started a publishing committee 20:43 to work together 20:45 to try to translate the books of Ellen White into the Nepali 20:48 language it has 20:49 been a very difficult work. 20:52 So many of the people that have promised to do the 20:53 work they have 20:54 never done it and many of the times we have found that 20:59 the translation 21:00 is very poor quality. 21:01 Many sentences are missing many paragraphs are missing 21:05 and so Joseph 21:06 who's just a 7th grade graduate. 21:12 He has been studying the spirit of prophecy over the 21:15 last four or five 21:16 years and his English has grown so much that he's taken 21:20 on the challenge 21:21 of translating Great Controversy. 21:23 My biggest challenge is the words vocabulary words 21:26 it's very difficult 21:28 to understand and the sentence structure is very different. 21:32 I think if I have the time to work continually it will 21:37 take about three 21:38 months or so to finish translation work. 21:42 Please pray for us that we might work efficiently we may 21:46 work for Nepal and 21:48 they may be blessed by this book. 21:52 On our last Sabbath in North India we all went for a hike. 21:57 Towards the top of the mountain we came to a large 21:59 Buddhist temple. 22:01 Buddhism was founded in Nepal and it along with 22:04 Hinduism are the two 22:06 predominate religions in India. 22:08 Its presence in here in this area is obvious as well. 22:12 The building is large and unique and the sound 22:14 of hypnotic drums beating 22:16 will grab the attention of any who passes by. 22:19 We hear in the Bible about demon possession and how 22:23 Jesus with just a 22:24 prayer and a word the demons were gone. 22:29 Some of the challenges working with them here and people 22:32 who from their 22:33 heart did not want to leave separate from the demons has 22:36 been a real trial 22:38 and a challenge in working with the people here. 22:44 One of our young ladies in the women's ministries course 22:48 from the day she was 22:50 married she had problems with demon possession. 22:54 It would attack her and she would just be thrown 22:58 violently around it would 23:01 take several men to hold her down 23:04 and to keep her from running off and a killing herself 23:07 or hurting herself 23:08 severely and so whhe came to the Lifestyle Education 23:11 Center she said 23:12 she was free of this problem but slowly as she let other 23:17 things get in 23:18 the way between her and God satan got the opportunity 23:22 to attack her. 23:24 At first started out very minimal, very short attacks, 23:27 but as the time 23:29 increased some of the attacks would last as long as 23:32 an hour and sometimes 23:36 maybe two hours and with prayer and singing reading 23:44 Gods word she 23:46 would find release but 23:49 It requires on the person who is demon possessed if they 23:53 want freedom that 23:55 they give their heart and their life totally to the Lord. 24:00 For others to work for them it gives a temporary relief, 24:03 but unless they 24:05 themselves seek for it, you can only do so much and 24:10 so this has been a big 24:12 challenge working with people who aren't willing 24:14 to make the 100% 24:15 commitment with the Lord. 24:18 After walking by the Buddhist temple we all stopped to rest in 24:21 a large gazebo. 24:23 It was a nice opportunity for me to share some 24:25 encouraging stories of my 24:26 own spiritual experiences with the students before I left 24:30 to fly to south India. 24:32 Our students will be going out in a few months for their 24:36 field work of one 24:38 year of helping out in evangelism both 24:41 in India and Nepal. 24:43 We need to be able to equip them for this work help them 24:48 to feel that they 24:49 have tools in which to work. 24:54 The challenge of financing the Bible workers is continual need 24:59 that we have. 25:00 As I've been in Nepal and seen the blessings of having 25:03 even just a little 25:04 small portable computer and be able to show 25:07 pictures to people, 25:09 you know people are even here are addicted to television and 25:13 it's hard to keep 25:14 their attention but if we have pictures to show them 25:17 it draws instant crowds. 25:20 We have developed the New Beginnings program 25:23 in Nepali and to have the 25:26 words their in their own language to have pictures 25:29 to go along with it is 25:30 just been a real blessing. 25:32 We also need student missionaries who can come over 25:36 and help those who are 25:39 strong in the their love and knowledge of the Lord, that 25:42 have a desire to 25:45 work with the people love the people and to help share 25:51 the gospel to the 25:52 people here of Nepal and India. 25:55 And of course always there is the needs of building churches 26:00 in different areas. 26:02 We have workers in Nepal and here at the Center right now, 26:07 but some of 26:08 these students are going to be graduating we see 26:10 promise in a number 26:11 of them and it will be helpful if we could have funds 26:16 to be able to 26:17 sponsor, support some of these young people as they go out 26:21 into mission work. 26:23 We're trying to give our students a vision 26:25 of doing mission work 26:28 themselves it's not just for Americans to do mission work 26:31 but they need to be 26:33 able to go to their own people or to new unentered areas. 26:38 One of the rewards you know as we've been trying to teach 26:43 scripture songs 26:44 is to hear the young people singing these 26:46 scripture songs when 26:47 it's not class time. 26:51 I guess that's a teachers reward. 27:23 As you can see there are many projects underway 27:25 in North India. 27:27 From training missionaries, church planting, 27:29 to translating books and 27:30 holding Bible seminars. Even in spite of the 27:33 many challenges 27:34 and struggles Sandra and Terri face they and the 27:37 students are pressing 27:38 forward in faith. 27:40 By the faithfulness of there efforts God is blessing and the 27:44 fruit is coming forth. 27:45 This project in North India and Nepal continues to be 27:48 a blessing and a 27:49 source of truth and hope to many people. 27:59 If you'd like to help support this project or if you 28:02 are interested in 28:03 missionary opportunities, please contact our ministry at Laymen 28:08 Ministries 414 Zapada Rd. 28:11 St. Maries, ID 83861. 28:14 Our email address is office@lmn.org and 28:18 our website is 28:19 www.lmn.org. you can 28:23 find us on Facebook and Youtube just search for 28:27 Laymen Ministries. |
Revised 2014-12-17